A data transmission method and system by which an arrival delay can be controlled are provided. A node (i) calculates a cumulative delay CUM_DLY(i) of a received packet cumulated up to the current hop, by using an arrival delay of the packet and a cumulative delay CUM_DLY(i−1) cumulated up to the previous hop, and compares the cumulative delay CUM_DLY(i) with a target cumulative delay TAR_CUM_DLY(i), thereby controlling a transmission profile for the packet so that an expected cumulative delay at the next node becomes closer to a target value. The node (i) writes the cumulative delay CUM_DLY(i) in a header of the packet and transmits the packet to the next node using the set transmission profile. Similar transmission profile control is carried out at each transit node in a multi-hop system, whereby the cumulative delay in the entire system can be controlled within a desired range.