Glossary-4
block
The part of an Integration unit's stacking connector that is mounted on the
top side of a module.
bps, bits per second
A standard for measuring the rate of data; the number of bits passing a
specific point each second.
break or <break>
A spacing condition that exists longer than one character time. Break is
often used by a receiving terminal to interrupt the sending device's
transmission, to request a disconnection, or to terminate a computer process.
bridge
Equipment connecting two similar local area networks (LANs). The bridge
filters out packets that stay on the local LAN and forwards packets intended
for the other LANs.
bridge network
Two or more LANs connected together by one or more bridges for other LANs.
bridge/router
A combination of a bridge and a router in a single device.
See also
bridge
and
router.
broadcast
The transmission of a message intended for general reception throughout a
network rather than for a specific station on that network.
buffer
Temporary storage area to absorb the difference in transfer rates, or to collect
data for more efficient block transferral.
burstiness
In the context of a frame relay network, data that uses bandwidth only
sporadically; that is, information that does not use the total bandwidth of a
circuit 100 percent of the time. During pauses, links are idle no traffic flows
across them in either direction. Interactive and LANtoLAN data is bursty
in nature, because it is sent intermittently. In between data transmissions,
the link experiences idle time waiting for the data terminal equipment (DTE)
to respond to the transmitted data (user's input) or waiting for the user to
send more data.
