Jitter
Variation in the timing of a periodic event from its ideal period. In a control loop, jitter is the difference between the actual loop period and the target period. Sources include OS scheduling, cache misses, interrupts, and blocking system calls.
Defined in 2 GAGE programs, which carry 3 distinct definitions of it. The wording above is taught in Foundations of Robotics and Physical AI.
How each discipline defines it
The same term does different work depending on who is using it. These are the definitions as each program teaches them, unedited.
Variation in the timing of a periodic event from its ideal period. In a control loop, jitter is the difference between the actual loop period and the target period. Sources include OS scheduling, cache misses, interrupts, and blocking system calls.
Trial-to-trial variation in latency or loop timing. A controller can often be tuned around constant delay; varying delay is harder and destabilizes faster.
Variation in the time interval between successive deliveries of a signal or message. Jitter is often more harmful than constant latency because it breaks the timing assumptions of controllers and synchronization algorithms.
Terms it appears with
Not an alphabetical neighbourhood: these are the terms taught in the same lessons, ranked by how often they appear together.