Fluke DSP-4100 User Manual page 201

Glossary B
Baud Rate
Baud Rate
A measure of data transmission speed. Baud rate is the number of times per second that a
signal changes states. If only one bit is encoded in each signal change, baud rate is the
same as bits per second. If more than one bit is encoded in each change, the baud rate is
lower than the bits per second rate.
Bit
A binary digit, which can have two values: 0 or 1. The bit is the smallest unit digital data.
The word is a contraction of "binary digit".
BNC connector
A cylindrical push-and-twist connector used on coaxial cable. BNC connectors are used on
thin Ethernet cable (10BASE2).
Broadband Signaling
A method of signal transmission where the bandwidth of the medium is shared by multiple
signals. The signals are separated into channels carried on different frequencies within the
bandwidth. This transmission method is often used to transmit voice, data, and video
signals over a single medium. Also referred to as wideband. Compare with baseband
signaling.
Bus topology
A network in which all nodes are connected to a single cable that carries all the messages
in the network.
Byte
A data unit usually made up of 8 bits. One byte typically represents one character.
Cable Pair
Two wires, usually twisted together, that form a complete circuit for signal transmission.
Capacitance
A measurement of the capacity to store electrical charge across conductive elements that
are separated by an insulating material (dielectric). Undesirable capacitance that occurs
between conducting wires in network cabling results in capacitive coupling, which causes
crosstalk between cable pairs.
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