US Robotics 005689-03 Manual page 24

Bits Per Second (BPS) Bits Per Second (BPS)
The bits (binary digits) per second rate.
Thousands of bits per second are expressed
as kilobits per second or kbps.
Buffer Buffer
A memory area used as temporary storage
during input and output operations. An
example is the modem's command buffer.
Byte Byte
A group of binary digits stored and
operated upon as a unit. A byte may have a
coded value equal to a character in the
ASCII code (letters, numbers) or have
some other value meaningful to the
computer. In user documentation, the term
usually refers to 8-bit units or characters. 1
kilobyte (KB) is equal to 1,024 bytes or
characters; 640 KB indicates 655,360 bytes
or characters.
Carrier Carrier
A tone signifying a connection the modem
can alter to communicate data across
telephone lines.
Character Character
A representation, coded in binary digits, of
a letter, number, or other symbol.
Characters Per Second (CPS) 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 and 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.
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