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babbling tributary

A station that continuously transmits meaningless messages.

back-off

The process of delaying an attempt to transmit. A station customarily backs off when an earlier attempt to transmit met with some difficulty, such as encountering a collision in a CSMA/CD system.

backplane bus

A collection of electrical wiring that interconnects the slots where modules in a computer system are inserted. The backplane bus wiring connects the same signal to identically numbered pins of each module in the computer system. For example, the ?reset? signal might be connected to pin 22 of each module via the backplane bus wiring.

backup server

A program that administers the copying of users? files so that at least two up-to-date copies always exist.

bandwidth

The measure of a transmission facility?s ability to transmit signals that span a range of frequencies without degrading the amount of power in the signal more than some percentage (usually 50 percent). For example, if measurements are performed on a transmission line and it is found that all signals of frequency below 300 Hz and all signals of frequency beyond 3000 Hz lose half their power traversing the line, while signals between 300 and 3000 Hz retain at least 50 percent of their power, the line is said to have a bandwidth of 2700 Hz (2700 = 3000 ? 300).

baseband

A transmission system in which signals are applied to the transmission medium without being translated in frequency. For example, human voice signals in the 300 to 3000 Hz...

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