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In computer networking, wire speed or wirespeed refers to the hypothetical peak physical layer net bit rate (useful information rate) of a cable (consisting of fiber-optical wires or copper wires) combined with a certain digital communication device, interface, or port. For example, the wire speed of Fast Ethernet is 100 Mbit/s^[1] also known as the peak bitrate, connection speed, useful bit rate, information rate, or digital bandwidth capacity. The wire speed is the data transfer rate that a telecommunications standard provides at a reference point between the physical layer and the data link layer.^[2]

Related terms

The wire speed should not be confused with the line bitrate, also known as gross bit rate, raw bitrate or data signalling rate, which is 125 Mbit/s in fast Ethernet. In case there is a physical layer overhead, for example due to line coding or error-correcting codes, the line bitrate is higher than the wire speed. The theoretical channel capacity of the cable may be much higher, especially if the cable is short, but this is not utilized in the communication standard. The channel capacity depends on the physical and electrical properties of the cable, while the wire speed also depends on the connection protocols. The wire speed may also refer to maximum throughput, which typically is a couple of percent lower than the physical layer net bit rate in wired networks due to data-link-layer protocol overhead, data packet gaps, etc., and much lower in wireless networks.

Communicating "at wire speed"

The term at wire speed, or the adjective wire speed, describes any computer system or hardware device that is able to achieve a throughput equal to the maximum throughput of the communication standard. This requires that the CPU capacity, bus capacity, network switching capacity, etc., be sufficient. Network switches, routers, and similar devices are sometimes described as operating at wire speed. Data encryption and decryption and hardware emulation are software functions that might run at wire speed (or close to it) when embedded in a microchip.

The wire speed is rarely achieved in connections between computers due to CPU limitations, disk read/write overhead, or contention for resources. However, it is still a useful concept for estimating the theoretical best throughput, and how far the real-life performance falls short of the maximum.

The term wire speed (or wirespeed) is considered a non-formal language term.^{[clarification needed]}

References

^ Robert Breyer, Sean Riley, Switched and fast Ethernet: how it works and how to use it, 1995
^ Atlantic, Encyclopaedia of Information Technology

[1] Robert Breyer, Sean Riley, Switched and fast Ethernet: how it works and how to use it, 1995

[2] Atlantic, Encyclopaedia of Information Technology

[1]

[2]

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+{{Short description|Theoratical maximum speed of a network connection}}
-'''Wire speed''' or '''wirespeed''' is a non-formal language term referring to the hypothetical peak [[data transmission]] [[bit rate]] of a [[cable]] (consisting of fiber-optical wires or [[copper wire]]s) combined with a certain digital communication device/interface/port. The wire speed of [[fast Ethernet]] is 100 Mbps<ref>Robert Breyer, Sean Riley, Switched and fast Ethernet: how it works and how to use it, 1995</ref> also known as the  [[physical layer]] [[net bitrate]], ''peak bitrate'', ''connection speed'', ''useful bit rate'', ''information rate'' or [[digital bandwidth]] capacity. The wire speed is the data transfer rate that a telecommunications standard provides at a reference point between the [[physical layer]] and the [[datalink layer]].<ref>Atlantic, [http://books.google.com/books?id=4cKg4B4YgvUC&pg=PA556&dq=%22wire+speed%22+microships&ei=YZRYS53BDYmuzQSm3JGqCQ&hl=sv&cd=1#v=onepage&q=&f=false Encyclopaedia of Information Technology] </ref>.
+In [[computer networking]], '''wire speed''' or '''wirespeed''' refers to the hypothetical peak [[physical layer]] [[net bit rate]] (useful information rate) of a [[Electrical cable|cable]] (consisting of fiber-optical wires or [[copper wire]]s) combined with a certain digital communication device, interface, or port. For example, the wire speed of [[Fast Ethernet]] is 100&nbsp;Mbit/s<ref>Robert Breyer, Sean Riley, Switched and fast Ethernet: how it works and how to use it, 1995</ref> also known as the ''peak bitrate'', ''connection speed'', ''useful bit rate'', ''information rate'', or [[digital bandwidth]] capacity. The wire speed is the data transfer rate that a telecommunications standard provides at a reference point between the [[physical layer]] and the [[data link layer]].<ref>Atlantic, [https://books.google.com/books?id=4cKg4B4YgvUC&dq=%22wire+speed%22+microships&pg=PA556 Encyclopaedia of Information Technology]</ref>
+==Related terms==
-The wire speed should not be confused with the [[line bitrate]], also known as ''gross bit rate'', ''raw bitrate'' or [[data signalling rate]], which is 125 Mbps in fast Ethernet. In case there is a physical layer overhead, for example due to [[line coding]] or [[error-correcting code]]s, the line bitrate is higher than the wire speed.
+The wire speed should not be confused with the [[line bitrate]], also known as ''gross bit rate'', ''raw bitrate'' or [[data signalling rate]], which is 125&nbsp;Mbit/s in fast Ethernet. In case there is a physical layer overhead, for example due to [[line coding]] or [[error-correcting code]]s, the line bitrate is higher than the wire speed.
+The theoretical [[channel capacity]] of the cable may be much higher, especially if the cable is short, but this is not utilized in the communication standard. The channel capacity depends on the physical and electrical properties of the cable, while the wire speed also depends on the connection [[Protocol (computing)|protocols]].
+The wire speed may also refer to [[maximum throughput]], which typically is a couple of percent lower than the physical layer net bit rate in wired networks due to data-link-layer protocol overhead, data packet gaps, etc., and much lower in wireless networks.
+==Communicating "at wire speed"==
-Note also that the theoretical [[channel capacity]] of the cable may be much higher, especially if the cable is short, but this is not utilized in the communication standard. The channel capacity depends on the physical and electrical properties of the cable, while the wire speed also depends on the connection [[Protocol (computing)|protocols]].
+The term ''at wire speed'', or the adjective ''wire speed'', describes any computer system or hardware device that is able to achieve a throughput equal to the maximum throughput of the communication standard. This requires that the CPU capacity, bus capacity, network switching capacity, etc., be sufficient. [[Network switch]]es, [[Router (computing)|router]]s, and similar devices are sometimes described as operating at wire speed. Data encryption and decryption and hardware emulation are software functions that might run at wire speed (or close to it) when embedded in a microchip.
+The wire speed is rarely achieved in connections between computers due to [[Central processing unit|CPU]] limitations, [[Disk storage|disk]] read/write overhead, or contention for resources. However, it is still  a useful concept for estimating the theoretical best throughput, and how far the real-life performance falls short of the maximum.
-The wire speed may also refer to [[maximum throughput]], which is a couple of percent lower than the physical layer net bitrate in Ethernet due to datalink layer protocol overhead, data packet gaps, etc, and much lower in wireless networks.
+The term wire speed (or wirespeed) is considered a non-formal language term.{{clarify|date=March 2014}}
-The term ''at wire speed'', or the adjective ''wire speed'', describes any computer system or hardware device that is able to achieve a throughput equal to the maximum throughput of the communication standard. This requires that the CPU capacity, bus capacity, network switching capacity, etc, is sufficient. It is common to refer to functions embedded in microchips as working at wire speed, especially when compared to those implemented in software.{{Clarify|date=January 2010}} [[Network switch]]es, [[router]]s, and similar devices are sometimes described as operating at wire speed. Data encryption and decryption and hardware emulation are software functions that might run at wire speed (or close to it) when embedded in a microchip.
-The wire speed is rarely achieved in connections between computers due to [[Central processing unit|CPU]] limitations, [[Disk storage|disk]] read/write overhead, or contention for resources. However, it is still  a useful concept for estimating the theoretical best throughput, and how far the real-life performance falls short of the maximum.
 ==References==
 <references/>
+{{DEFAULTSORT:Wire Speed}}
 [[Category:Data transmission]]
-For the corporation WireSpeed see [http://www.wstelco.com WireSpeed Telecommunications]
-[[de:Wire speed]]
-[[it:Wire speed]]
-[[ja:ワイヤー・スピード]]