A protocol is a set of formalized rules describing how to transmit data across a network, or within a computer. A software implementation is known as a protocol stack.

Description

Low level protocols define the electrical and physical standards to be observed, bit- and byte-ordering and the transmission and error detection and correction of the bit stream. High level protocols deal with the data formatting, including the syntax of messages, the terminal to computer dialog, character encoding, and sequencing of messages.^[1]

Examples

• AppleTalk
• Ethernet
• FireWire
• TCP/IP
• USB
• Wi-Fi (IEEE 802.11)

References

External links

• ntpq: Network Time Protocol Query User's Manual at Apple Open Source
  • The Network Time Protocol Version 4 Management Information Base (MIB) (2010-05-17)
• Communication protocol and Protocol (object-oriented programming) at Wikipedia

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This page uses GFDL licensed content from the Free On-line Dictionary of Computing.