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G
LOSSARY
112
bits per second (bps)
The bits (
binary digits
) per second rate.
Thousands of bits per second are expressed as
kilobits per second (kbps).
buffer
A temporary memory area used as storage
during input and output operations. An
example is the modem's command buffer.
byte
A group of
binary digits
stored and operated
upon as a unit. Most often the term refers to 8-
bit units or
characters
. One kilobyte (KB) is
equal to 1,024 bytes or characters; 640 KB is
equal to 655,360 bytes or characters.
carrier
The basic signal altered or modulated by the
modem in order to carry information.
character
A representation, coded in
binary digits
, of a
letter, number, or other symbol.
characters per second (CPS)
A data transfer rate generally estimated from
the
bit rate
and the
character
length. For
example, at 2400 bps, 8-bit characters with
start/stop bits
(for a total of ten bits per
character) will be transmitted at a rate of
approximately 240 characters per second
(cps). Some
protocols
, such as error-control
protocols, employ advanced techniques such
as longer transmission
frames
and
data
compression
to increase cps.