Glossary

backbone - The part of a communications network that handles the major traffic using the highest-speed, and often longest, paths in the network.

bandwidth - A measure of capacity of communications media. Greater bandwidth allows communication of more information in a given period of time. Bandwidth is generally described either in terms of analog signals in units of Hertz (Hz), which describes the maximum number of cycles per second, or in terms of digital signals in units of bits per second.

basic rate ISDN (BRI-ISDN) - The basic rate ISDN interface provides two 64 Kb/s chan-nels (called B channels) to carry voice or data and one 16 Kb/s signaling channel (the D channel) for call information.

BISDN - See broadband integrated services digital network.

bit - A single unit of data, either a one or a zero, used in digital data communications. When discussing digital data a small "b" refers to bits, and a capital "B" refers to bytes.

byte - A compilation of bits, seven bits in accordance with ASCII standards and eight bits in accordance with EBCDIC standards.

broadband - An adjective used to describe large-capacity networks that are able to carry several services at the same time, such as data, voice, and video.

broadband integrated services digital network (BISDN) - A second-generation ISDN technology that uses fiber optics for a network that can transmit data at speeds of 155 megabits per second and higher.