Flow Control in Computer Networks

Flow control in computer networks ensures efficient communication by managing the data transmission rate between the sender and receiver. The primary objective of flow control is to prevent the sender from overwhelming the receiver with more data than it can process, thereby avoiding buffer overflow and ensuring smooth communication.

This tutorial explores flow control in detail, covering its significance, common challenges, and the techniques employed to address them. You can visit the detailed tutorial here.

What is Flow Control?

Flow control is a mechanism used in computer networks to match the sender’s data transmission rate with the receiver’s capacity to process that data. In the absence of effective flow control, the receiver may become overloaded, resulting in data loss or retransmissions that can degrade overall network performance.

For example, if a sender is capable of transmitting data at 100 Mbps but the receiver can only handle 50 Mbps, the excess data will fill up the receiver’s buffer and eventually overflow, leading to packet loss. Flow control ensures that such mismatches are managed gracefully.

Significance of Flow Control

Flow control is critical for maintaining reliable communication in networks for several…