Editing Jitter (section)

===Packet jitter in computer networks===
In the context of computer networks, packet jitter or [[packet delay variation]] (PDV) is the variation in latency as measured in the variability over time of the [[end-to-end delay]] across a network. A network with constant delay has no packet jitter.<ref name="Comer">{{Cite book|last=Comer |first=Douglas E. |title=Computer Networks and Internets |publisher=Prentice Hall |year=2008 |page=476 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tm-evHmOs3oC&pg=PA476 |isbn=978-0-13-606127-4}}</ref> Packet jitter is expressed as an average of the deviation from the network mean delay.<ref>{{cite IETF |last=Demichelis |first=C. |rfc=3393 |title=IP Packet Delay Variation Metric for IP Performance Metrics (IPPM) |date=November 2002 |publisher = [[IETF]]}}</ref> PDV is an important [[quality of service]] factor in assessment of network performance.

Transmitting a burst of traffic at a high rate followed by an interval or period of lower or zero rate transmission may also be seen as a form of jitter, as it represents a deviation from the average transmission rate. However, unlike the jitter caused by variation in latency, transmitting in bursts may be seen as a desirable feature,{{citation needed|date=December 2018}} e.g. in [[variable bitrate]] transmissions.