ELI5: Explain Like I'm 5

Delay calculation

Do you know when you play a game online with your friends and sometimes the game might be slow or laggy, making it difficult to play properly? This can happen because of something called delay.

Delay is the time it takes for a signal to travel from one place to another. Think of a person sending a message to their friend through a walkie-talkie. The time it takes for the message to reach the friend's walkie-talkie is the delay.

When we talk about delay calculation, we mean figuring out how long it takes for a signal to travel from one place to another. This can be important in many different situations, like when sending information over the internet or when sending and receiving signals in a radio system.

To calculate delay, we need to know two things: the distance the signal has to travel and the speed at which it travels. Just like how it takes longer to run a race if the finish line is further away, signals take longer to travel a longer distance. And just like how a faster runner can finish the same race in less time, signals that travel at a faster speed take less time to cover the same distance.

So, to calculate delay, we use a simple formula: distance divided by speed. This gives us the amount of time it should take for the signal to travel from one place to another.

Sometimes, there can be things that slow down or interfere with the signal, like other devices or obstacles in the way. When this happens, the delay can be longer than expected. That's why it's important to calculate delay so we know what to expect and can plan accordingly.