Re: another one bites the dust.

From: Robert J. Woodhead <trebor_at_animeigo.com>
Date: Mon 03 Sep 2001 16:53:02 -0500

JIM REARDON <jim_at_amusive.com> WROTE:

>Actually, you're wrong. My dictionary says this:

>baud (b=F4d)
>n. Computer Science
>A unit of speed in data transmission equal to one bit
>per second

The dictionary is incorrect. 1 BAUD is a unit of data
transmission equivalent to one "state transition" per
second. However, if there are multiple states available,
each transition can contain multiple bits.

A binary digital signal has only two states, on and off,
so in this case, bits per second = baud.

This was the case in the early days of modems, but
current modems have multiple states per transition, so
their baud rate is lower than their bit rate. IIRC
(and it's early), the current crop are running at 4800
baud. A 28.8 modem thus uses 6 transition states, and a
56k uses 12.

A "56k baud modem" is a corruption, but its one of those
things that happens in the language all the time, and
getting too upset about it is silly. After all, when was
the last time you really "dialed" a phone?

Best,R

--
Robert Woodhead, Webslave & Mad Overlord
  http://selfpromotion.com/
Located in the Hurricane capitol of the US,
  Wilmington NC. Lucky me!



Received on Mon Sep 03 2001 - 16:53:02 CDT