Intra-flow interference

Imagine you are playing with your friends on a slide where only one person can go at a time. However, sometimes two of your friends try to go down the slide at the same time, causing a bit of a traffic jam. This is kind of like what happens with data flowing through a network.

In a network, data travels along a pathway called a flow. When multiple flows share the same path, there can be interference, just like your friends trying to slide down the same slide.

This interference is called intra-flow interference, and it happens when packets of data, which are like little pieces of information, collide with each other on the same flow pathway. This can cause delays or even lost data.

To prevent this interference, networks use various techniques such as prioritizing certain types of data, separating different flows onto different pathways, and altering the timing of data transmission.