Auto dial
The ability to make a connection with another modem automatically. (To dial a number automatically. usually using a stored number.)
Auto range
The ability of a modem to range over several modem standards to determine the standard of the calling modem.
B
Bandwidth
The range of signal frequencies that are accepted or passed by a circuit or network. (The normal bandwidth on a telephone line is 3100Hz.)
Baseband
The frequency band occupied by a signal in its original or unmodulated form.
Baud
This term represents the number of signal elements per second. Because a signal element can represent more than one bit, this term is not equivalent to BPS (bits per second), although it is often used in this way. Compare with bit rate.
Baud Rate
Number of discrete signalling events per second; not necessarily the same as bits per second. For example, a V22bis, 2400 bps modem uses a 600 baud by
Baudot Code
Code for transmitting data using five bits to represent a single character.
BBS
An acronym for Bulletin Board System. See Bulletin Board.
Binary
A number system with a base of two, using the digits 0 and 1. Commonly used in computers since the values 0 and 1 can easily be represented as OFF and ON in electrical circuits.
Binary Synchronous Communications (BSC or BiSync)
A communications protocol developed by IBM which has become an industry standard. It uses a defined set of control character sequences for synchronized transmission of data.
Bit
The smallest piece of information in a binary number system. The word stands for Binary digIT.
Page 264
