2-7-94                  Baud vs BPS

     Using  BAUD to refer to Bits Per Second modem speed is  wrong  (though
common  practice).  NEVER  use the word BAUD when talking  to  a  customer.
ALWAYS use BPS or Bits Per Second. Don't unecessarily correct the customer,
but do not make the mistake because 'he' does.

     BAUD  refers to the number of 'wave modulations' per second sent  over
the phone line. 300 Baud and 300 BPS are the same, because each  modulation
carried  1 BIT. There were a few 600 Baud modems with 1 bit per baud  made.
But  about then someone invented  encoding, so each Baud could  carry  more
than  1 Bit. At first it was 2 bits at 600 baud which gave 1200  BPS.  Then
they improved the encoding to give 4 bits per baud to make 2400 BPS modems.
When they increased the Baud to 2400, the encoding stayed the same, 4  bits
per baud, giving us V32 modems at 9600 BPS.

     Now  we have even better encoding for 14,400 (6 bits)  and  completely
different encoding to give the V-fast modems. But remember, that BAUD  does
NOT equal BPS.
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                                         Don Hinds - Zoom Tech
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