Your source for the most up-to-date terms, definitions, and acronyms for and about internet service providers.
Search for an ISP term
jitter buffer
Last modified: Monday, February 28, 2005
Also called a jitter filter, a hardware device or software process that eliminates jitter caused by transmission delays in an Internet telephony (VoIP) network. As the jitter buffer receives voice packets, it adds small amounts of delay to the packets so that all of the packets appear to have been received without delays. Voice signals are sequential by nature (i.e., they must be played back in the order in which they were sent) and the jitter buffer ensures that the received packets are in the correct order. Without a jitter buffer to smooth the transmission, data can be lost, resulting in choppy audio signals.
There are two types of jitter buffers - dynamic and static. A static jitter buffer is hardware-based and configured by the manufacturer. A software-based jitter buffer is called a dynamic jitter buffer and can be configured by the system or network administrator.
