backbone. The segment of the network used as the primary path for transporting traffic between network segments.
baud rate. Unit of signaling speed equal to the number of num- ber of times per second a signal in a communications channel varies between states. Baud is synonymous with bits per sec- ond (bps) if each signal represents one bit.
binary. Numbering system that uses only zeros and ones.
bps. Bits per second. A measure of data transmission speed.
BRI. Basic Rate Interface. ISDN standard for provision of low- speed ISDN services (two B channels (64 kbps each) and one D channel (16 kbps)) over a single wire pair.
bridge. Device that passes packets between two network seg- ments according to the packets' destination address.
broadcast. Message sent to all nodes on a network.
broadcast address. Special IP address reserved for simulta- neous broadcast to all network nodes.
buffer. Storage area used to hold data until it can be for- warded.
carrier. Signal suitable for transmission of information.
CCITT. Comité Consultatif International Télégraphique et Télé- phonique or Consultative Committee for International Telegraph
