<s>
In	O
a	O
network	B-Architecture
based	O
on	O
packet	B-Protocol
switching	I-Protocol
,	O
processing	B-Protocol
delay	I-Protocol
is	O
the	O
time	O
it	O
takes	O
routers	B-Protocol
to	O
process	O
the	O
packet	B-General_Concept
header	I-General_Concept
.	O
</s>
<s>
Processing	B-Protocol
delay	I-Protocol
is	O
a	O
key	O
component	O
in	O
network	B-Protocol
delay	I-Protocol
.	O
</s>
<s>
During	O
processing	O
of	O
a	O
packet	O
,	O
routers	B-Protocol
may	O
check	O
for	O
bit-level	O
errors	O
in	O
the	O
packet	O
that	O
occurred	O
during	O
transmission	O
as	O
well	O
as	O
determining	O
where	O
the	O
packet	O
's	O
next	O
destination	O
is	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Processing	B-Protocol
delays	I-Protocol
in	O
high-speed	O
routers	B-Protocol
are	O
typically	O
on	O
the	O
order	O
of	O
microseconds	O
or	O
less	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
After	O
this	O
nodal	O
processing	O
,	O
the	O
router	B-Protocol
directs	O
the	O
packet	O
to	O
the	O
queue	O
where	O
further	O
delay	O
can	O
happen	O
(	O
queuing	B-Protocol
delay	I-Protocol
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
the	O
past	O
,	O
the	O
processing	B-Protocol
delay	I-Protocol
has	O
been	O
ignored	O
as	O
insignificant	O
compared	O
to	O
the	O
other	O
forms	O
of	O
network	B-Protocol
delay	I-Protocol
.	O
</s>
<s>
However	O
,	O
in	O
some	O
systems	O
,	O
the	O
processing	B-Protocol
delay	I-Protocol
can	O
be	O
quite	O
large	O
especially	O
where	O
routers	B-Protocol
are	O
performing	O
complex	O
encryption	O
algorithms	O
and	O
examining	O
or	O
modifying	O
packet	O
content	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Deep	B-Application
packet	I-Application
inspection	I-Application
done	O
by	O
some	O
networks	O
examine	O
packet	O
content	O
for	O
security	O
,	O
legal	O
,	O
or	O
other	O
reasons	O
,	O
which	O
can	O
cause	O
very	O
large	O
delay	O
and	O
thus	O
is	O
only	O
done	O
at	O
selected	O
inspection	O
points	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Routers	B-Protocol
performing	O
network	B-Protocol
address	I-Protocol
translation	I-Protocol
also	O
have	O
higher	O
than	O
normal	O
processing	B-Protocol
delay	I-Protocol
because	O
those	O
routers	B-Protocol
need	O
to	O
examine	O
and	O
modify	O
both	O
incoming	O
and	O
outgoing	O
packets	O
.	O
</s>
