The amount of data (in bits) that can be transmitted per second over a particular network connection, or through a system.
The range of frequencies in a signal.
The difference between the limiting frequencies within which performance of a device, in respect to some characteristic, falls within specified limits. The difference between the limiting frequencies of a continuous frequency band.
The lowest modulation frequency at which the RMS peak-to-valley amplitude (optical power) difference of an intensity-modulated monochromatic signal decreases, at the output of the fiber, to a specified fraction (usually one-half) of the RMS peak-to-valley amplitude (optical power) difference of a nearly-zero (arbitrarily low) modulation frequency, both modulation frequencies having the same RMS peak-to-valley amplitude (optical power) difference at the fiber input.
The range of frequencies that an electronic signal occupies on a given transmission medium. Any digital or analog signal has a bandwidth. In digital systems, bandwidth is often expressed as data speed in bits per second. In analog systems, bandwidth is expressed in terms of the difference between the highest-frequency signal component and the lowest-frequency signal component. For example, a typical voice signal on an analog telephone line has a bandwidth of about 3 kHz. An analog television (TV) broadcast video signal has a bandwidth of 6 MHz, some 2,000 times as wide as the telephone signal. As a general rule, systems with more bandwidth can carry more information.
bandwidth distance product - Of an optical fiber, under specified launching and cabling conditions, at a specified wavelength, a figure of merit equal to the product of the fiber's length and the 3 dB bandwidth of the optical signal.
bandwidth balancing mechanism - In a distributed-queue dual-bus network, a procedure in which a node occasionally skips the use of empty queued arbitrated slots, and which procedure effects sharing of the bandwidth mechanisms.
bandwidth compression - The reduction of the bandwidth needed to transmit a given amount of data in a given time. The reduction of the time needed to transmit a given amount of data in a given bandwidth.
bandwidth-limited operation - The condition prevailing when the system bandwidth limits performance.