Bandwidth
The amount of data a network can transport in a given period of time. Higher bandwidth means more data per second can be transferred.
Baud
Refers to how many times the carrier signal in a modem switches value per second or how many bits a modem can send and receive in a second.
BBS (Bulletin Board System)
A computer-accessible system that enables people to upload and download files, discuss issues and make announcements without actually being connected to other computers at concurrent times. Several million of such systems exist.
Beams
The coverage and geographic service area offered by a satellite transponder. A global beam effectively covers one-third of the earth's surface. A spot beam provides a very specific high-powered downlink pattern that is limited to a particular geographical area to which it may be steered or pointed.
Binhex
This is a means of changing non-ASCII (or non-text) files into text/ASCII files so that they can be used, for example, as e-mail.
Biometrics
A method of identifying a user based on a physical characteristic, such as a fingerprint, iris, face, voice or handwriting.
Bit
This is a single digit number, either a one or a zero, which is the smallest unit of computerized data.
Bluetooth
An industry standard for a technology that will enable wireless, infrared connections between such devices as PCs, Palm Pilot or PDA devices, laptops, cell phones and Internet appliances.
Bookmark
Nearly all browsers support this feature. Users can bookmark a site by saving its URL for future retrieval.
Bottleneck
The place on the network (or in a single computer) where the rate of data movement is most constricted.
BPS (bits per second)
An indicator of the speed of data movement.
Bridge (networking)
A device that links two local area networks together so they can share files and e-mail.
Broadband
The high-speed transmission range for telecommunications and computer data. Broadband refers to any transmission at 2 million bps (bits per second) or higher (higher than analog speed). A broadband network is so sophisticated and so fast that it can carry voice, video and data all at the same time.
Browse
A term referring to the viewing of computerized data. Several Internet browsers support a browse mode that allows users to sort through data quickly. (See "Browser" below.)
Browser
A program that allows a user to read Internet text or graphics and to navigate from one page to another. The most popular browsers are Microsoft Internet Explorer and Netscape Navigator.
Business-to-Business
A rapidly growing category of Internet sites aimed at selling products, services or data to commercial customers rather than individual consumers.
Byte
There are eight bits in a byte. This set stands for a single character.
