Traffic flow (computer networking)

In packet switching networks, traffic flow, packet flow or network flow is a sequence of packets from a source computer to a destination, which may be another host, a multicast group, or a broadcast domain. RFC 2722 defines traffic flow as "an artificial logical equivalent to a call or connection."RFC 3697 defines traffic flow as "a sequence of packets sent from a particular source to a particular unicast, anycast, or multicast destination that the source desires to label as a flow. A flow could consist of all packets in a specific transport connection or a media stream. However, a flow is not necessarily 1:1 mapped to a transport connection." Flow is also defined in RFC 3917 as "a set of IP packets passing an observation point in the network during a certain time interval."

Conceptual description

A flow can be uniquely identified by the following parameters within a certain time period:

Flow (mathematics)

In mathematics, a flow formalizes the idea of the motion of particles in a fluid. Flows are ubiquitous in science, including engineering and physics. The notion of flow is basic to the study of ordinary differential equations. Informally, a flow may be viewed as a continuous motion of points over time. More formally, a flow is a group action of the real numbers on a set.

The idea of a vector flow, that is, the flow determined by a vector field, occurs in the areas of differential topology, Riemannian geometry and Lie groups. Specific examples of vector flows include the geodesic flow, the Hamiltonian flow, the Ricci flow, the mean curvature flow, and the Anosov flow. Flows may also be defined for systems of random variables and stochastic processes, and occur in the study of ergodic dynamical systems. The most celebrated of these is perhaps the Bernoulli flow.

Formal definition

A flow on a set X is a group action of the additive group of real numbers on X. More explicitly, a flow is a mapping

Flow (Foetus album)

Flow is a Foetus album released in 2001. It is also seen as a return to form for Foetus. The album was remixed as Blow.

Track listing

All songs written and composed by J. G. Thirlwell. 

Personnel

References

External links

Factor

Factor, a Latin word meaning "who/which acts", may refer to:

Commerce

Science and technology

Biology

Computer science and information technology

Factor (agent)

A factor, Latin for "doer, maker" (from Latin facit, "to do, make"), is a mercantile fiduciary who receives and sells goods on commission (called factorage), transacting business in his own name and not disclosing his principal, and historically with his seat at a factory (trading post). A factor differs from a commission merchant in that a factor takes possession of goods (or documents of title representing goods) on consignment, whereas a commission merchant sells goods not in his possession on the basis of samples. Most modern factor business is in the textile field, but factors are also used to a great extent in the shoe, furniture, hardware, and other industries, and the trade areas in which factors operate have increased.

In the UK, most factors fall within the definition of a mercantile agent under the Factors Act 1889 and therefore have the powers of such. A factor has a possessory lien over the consigned goods that covers any claims against the principal arising out of the factor's activity. A debt factor, be it a person or firm (factoring company), accepts as assignee book debts (accounts receivable) as security for short-term loans; this is known as factoring.

Factoring (finance)

Factoring is a financial transaction and a type of debtor finance in which a business sells its accounts receivable (i.e., invoices) to a third party (called a factor) at a discount. A business will sometimes factor its receivable assets to meet its present and immediate cash needs.Forfaiting is a factoring arrangement used in international trade finance by exporters who wish to sell their receivables to a forfaiter. Factoring is commonly referred to as accounts receivable factoring, invoice factoring, and sometimes accounts receivable financing. Accounts receivable financing is a term more accurately used to describe a form of asset based lending against accounts receivable.

Factoring is not the same as invoice discounting (which is called an "Assignment of Accounts Receivable" in American accounting – as propagated by FASB within GAAP). Factoring is the sale of receivables, whereas invoice discounting ("assignment of accounts receivable" in American accounting) is a borrowing that involves the use of the accounts receivable assets as collateral for the loan. However, in some other markets, such as the UK, invoice discounting is considered to be a form of factoring, involving the "assignment of receivables", that is included in official factoring statistics. It is therefore also not considered to be borrowing in the UK. In the UK the arrangement is usually confidential in that the debtor is not notified of the assignment of the receivable and the seller of the receivable collects the debt on behalf of the factor. In the UK, the main difference between factoring and invoice discounting is confidentiality.