<s>
In	O
computer	B-Architecture
networking	I-Architecture
,	O
the	O
interpacket	B-Protocol
gap	I-Protocol
(	O
IPG	O
)	O
,	O
also	O
known	O
as	O
interframe	B-Protocol
spacing	I-Protocol
,	O
or	O
interframe	B-Protocol
gap	I-Protocol
(	O
IFG	O
)	O
,	O
is	O
a	O
pause	O
which	O
may	O
be	O
required	O
between	O
network	B-Protocol
packets	I-Protocol
or	O
network	B-Protocol
frames	I-Protocol
.	O
</s>
<s>
Depending	O
on	O
the	O
physical	B-Application
layer	I-Application
protocol	O
or	O
encoding	B-Protocol
used	O
,	O
the	O
pause	O
may	O
be	O
necessary	O
to	O
allow	O
for	O
receiver	O
clock	O
recovery	O
,	O
permitting	O
the	O
receiver	O
to	O
prepare	O
for	O
another	O
packet	B-Protocol
(	O
e.g.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
may	O
be	O
considered	O
as	O
a	O
specific	O
case	O
of	O
a	O
guard	B-Protocol
interval	I-Protocol
.	O
</s>
<s>
Ethernet	O
devices	O
must	O
allow	O
a	O
minimum	O
idle	O
period	O
between	O
transmission	O
of	O
Ethernet	O
packets	B-Protocol
.	O
</s>
<s>
A	O
brief	O
recovery	O
time	O
between	O
packets	B-Protocol
allows	O
devices	O
to	O
prepare	O
for	O
reception	O
of	O
the	O
next	O
packet	B-Protocol
.	O
</s>
<s>
While	O
some	O
physical	B-Application
layer	I-Application
variants	O
literally	O
transmit	O
nothing	O
during	O
the	O
idle	O
period	O
,	O
most	O
modern	O
ones	O
continue	O
to	O
transmit	O
an	O
idle	O
pattern	O
signal	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
standard	O
minimum	O
interpacket	B-Protocol
gap	I-Protocol
for	O
transmission	O
is	O
96	O
bit	B-Protocol
times	I-Protocol
(	O
the	O
time	O
it	O
takes	O
to	O
transmit	O
96	O
bits	O
of	O
data	O
on	O
the	O
medium	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
time	O
is	O
measured	O
from	O
the	O
end	O
of	O
the	O
frame	B-Protocol
check	I-Protocol
sequence	I-Protocol
of	O
one	O
frame	O
to	O
the	O
start	O
of	O
the	O
preamble	O
for	O
the	O
next	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
During	O
data	O
reception	O
,	O
some	O
interpacket	B-Protocol
gaps	I-Protocol
may	O
be	O
smaller	O
due	O
to	O
variable	O
network	O
delays	O
,	O
clock	O
tolerances	O
(	O
all	O
speeds	O
)	O
,	O
and	O
the	O
presence	O
of	O
repeaters	O
(	O
10	O
Mbit/s	O
only	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Some	O
manufacturers	O
design	O
adapters	O
transmitting	O
with	O
a	O
smaller	O
interpacket	B-Protocol
gap	I-Protocol
for	O
slightly	O
higher	O
data	O
transfer	O
rates	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
For	O
Fibre	B-Architecture
Channel	I-Architecture
,	O
there	O
is	O
a	O
sequence	O
of	O
primitives	O
between	O
successive	O
frames	B-Architecture
,	O
sometimes	O
called	O
interframe	B-Protocol
gap	I-Protocol
as	O
well	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Each	O
primitive	O
consists	O
of	O
four	O
channel	O
words	O
of	O
10	O
bits	O
each	O
for	O
8b/10b	B-Protocol
encoded	I-Protocol
variants	O
(	O
1	O
–	O
8	O
Gbit/s	O
)	O
,	O
equivalent	O
to	O
four	O
data	O
bytes	O
.	O
</s>
