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Glossary of Data Communications Terms
Courtesy Enterprise-Wide Computing, Inc.
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Term:
contention
Definition:
On a network, competition among stations for the
opportunity to use a communications line or network
resource. In one sense, contention applies to a situation
in which two or more devices attempt to transmit at the
same time, thus causing a collision on the line. In a
somewhat different sense, contention also applies to a
free-for-all method of controlling access to a
communications line, in which the right to transmit is
awarded to the station that wins control of the line. See
also CSMA/CD. Compare token passing.
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