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socket definition - telecom
  1. An operating system (OS) abstraction that permits application programs to access communications protocols automatically. Bolt Beranek and Newman (now BBN Technologies) developed the concept in conjunction with the company's early work on TCP/IP. See also application, OS, program, protocol, and TCP/IP.
  2. Comprising a node address and a port number, a socket is an identifier for a service on a node. In combination a socket on an originating node and a socket on a destination node establish an application session. An Internet Protocol (IP) addressable client and server, for example, might engage in an e-mail transfer using SMTP (Simple Mail Transfer Protocol), which is well-known port 25. See also application, client, IP, node, port, server, session, SMTP, SOCKS, and well-known port.

Webster's New World Telecom Dictionary Copyright © 2008 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Indianapolis, Indiana.
Used by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

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