computer vocabulary / bandwidth

computer vocabulary / bandwidth
1 nov. 2009

bandwidth
n. 1. The difference between the highest and lowest frequencies that an analog communications system can pass as measured in Hertz (Hz) or cycles per second. For example, a telephone accommodates a bandwidth of 3,000 Hz: the difference between the lowest (300 Hz) and highest (3,300 Hz) frequencies it can carry. 2. The data transfer capacity, or speed of transmission, of a digital communications system as measured in bits per second (bps).
bps
n. Short for bits per second. The measure of transmission speed used in relations to networks and communication lines. Although bps represents the basic unit of measure, networks and communications devices, such as modems, are so fast that speeds are usually given in multiples of bps-Kbps (kilobits, or thousands of bits, per second), Mbps (megabits, or millions of bits, per second), and Gbps (gigabits, or billions of bits, per second).. Speed in bps is not the same as the baud rate for a modem. See also baud rate.