Retransmission (data networks)

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Retransmission, essentially identical with automatic repeat request (ARQ), is the resending of packets which have been either damaged or lost. Retransmission is one of the basic mechanisms used by protocols operating over a packet switched computer network to provide reliable communication (such as that provided by a reliable byte stream, for example TCP).

Such networks are usually "unreliable", meaning they offer no guarantees that they will not delay, damage, or lose packets, or deliver them out of order. Protocols which provide reliable communication over such networks use a combination of acknowledgments (i.e. an explicit receipt from the destination of the data), retransmission of missing or damaged packets (usually initiated by a time-out), and checksums to provide that reliability.