G
LOSSARY
131
baud rate
A term used to measure the speed of an analog
transmission from one point to another.
Although not technically accurate, baud rate is
commonly used to mean bit rate.
binary digit
A 0 or 1, reflecting the use of the binary
numbering system. Used because the computer
recognizes either of two states, OFF or ON.
Shortened form of binary digit is bit.
bit rate
Also referred to as transmission rate. The
number of binary digits, or bits, transmitted
per second (bps). Communications channels
using analog modems are established at set bit
rates, commonly 2400, 4800, 9600, 14,400,
28,800 and higher.
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.
