communications (Or "throughput") The ammount of
data transferred in one direction over a link divided by the time
taken to transfer it, usually expressed in bits or bytes per
second.
Where data transfer is not continuous throughout the given
time interval, the data transfer rate is thus an average rate
that will be lower than the peak rate. The peak or maximum
possible rate may itself be lower than the
capacity of the
communication channel used if the channel is shared, or part
of the signal is not considered as data, e.g.
checksum or
The other important characteristic of a channel is its
[Is this correct?]
(2001-05-22)