Karn's algorithm Algorithm that improves round-trip time estimations by helping transport layer protocols distinguish between good and bad round-trip time samples. kB kilobyte. Kb kilobit. kBps kilobytes per second. kbps kilobits per second. keepalive interval Period of time between each keepalive message sent by a network device. keepalive message Message sent by one network device to inform another network device that the virtual circuit between the two is still active. Kermit Popular file-transfer and terminal-emulation program. KERN kernel trap logging facility. Process that runs on each NP of every LightStream 2020 ATM switch in a network. KERN converts LynxOS kernel messages, sent to the console, into SNMP messages. kilobit Abbreviated Kb. kilobits per second Abbreviated kbps. kilobyte Abbreviated kB. kilobytes per second Abbreviated kBps.