(n.) The de facto standard Ethernet protocols for Internet communications. The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) developed TCP for internetworking. It encompasses both network layer and transport layer protocols. IP is a packet-switching protocol, whereas TCP checks, tracks, and corrects transmission errors. Although TCP and IP specify two protocols at specific layers, the term TCP/IP is often used to refer to the entire protocol suite based on TCP and IP. That suite includes Telnet, FTP, User Datagram Protocol (UDP), and Realtime Transport Protocol (RTP).
Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol [TCP/IP]
« BACK TO DICTIONARY INDEX