This is the currently computed retransmission timeout specifically for this one destination address within a multihomed association, since SCTP tracks RTO per path rather than a single value for the whole association. Comparing this value across a multihomed association's several destination addresses reveals which specific path is experiencing higher latency or jitter, since a path with consistently higher RTO here is the noisier or longer one. A backup path showing an RTO several times higher than the primary path's RTO for the same association is expected if it routes through a geographically longer or congested route.