US Robotics Sportster Operating Instructions Manual page 120

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.
116
G
LOSSARY
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.