nagling coalescence

from The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing (8 July 2008)

Nagling Coalescence

   <networking, algorithm> An algorithm for improving {TCP/IP}
   network performance by combining small {packets} ("tinygrams")
   into larger ones, thus reducing the per-packet overhead.  The
   server transmits the packet either when it has reached a
   preset size or when it receives an acknowledgment of the
   previous packet.

   [Who was Nagling?]

   (1998-11-06)