Congestion
Congestion is a state of excessive accumulation or overfilling or overcrowding. This general definition is broadly correct across all uses of the word. However in specific contexts the word has a more precise definition and usage.
In
telecommunication, the term has the following meanings:
- In a communications switch, a state or condition that occurs when more subscribers attempt simultaneously to access the switch than it is able to handle, even if unsaturated.
- In a saturated communications system, the condition that occurs when an additional demand for service occurs.
Sources:
Federal Standard 1037C and
MIL-STD-188
In
medicine and
pathology the term is used to describe excessive accumulation of
blood or other
fluid in a particular part of the
body.
See the
traffic congestion article for a discussion of congestion in transportation.
In
electric power transmission it means the inability to supply an area with the cheapest available
generation due to a binding constaint on the point to point transmission route. Some plant or equipment could be causing the constraint due to thermal overload or security limits being potentially breached.
See also