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From: conib@gvgpvd.GVG.TEK.COM (Coni Britten)
Newsgroups: news.newusers.questions,comp.dcom.modems
Subject: Re: Modem Speed
Summary: Baud vs. bps
Message-ID: <1664@gvgpvd.GVG.TEK.COM>
Date: 29 Aug 90 20:24:33 GMT
References: <sVRio1w162w@kk4fs.UUCP> <358@saxony.pa.reuter.COM> <2447@polari.UUCP>
Reply-To: conib@gvgpvd.GVG.TEK.COM (Coni Britten)
Organization: Grass Valley Group, Inc.; PVD
Lines: 33

In article <2447@polari.UUCP> tronix@polari.WA.COM (David Daniel) writes:

>[]There are three areas where you might wish to change the bps rate of your
>                                                           ^^^ ^^^^
>   and...
>
>[]     over a telephone line.  At higher baud rates, signals are more likely to
>                                         ^^^^ ^^^^^
>
>are two completely different critters, not interchangeable terms. Baud refers to
>how often the analog signal ocillates during transmission, named after the 
>a French guy - Baudot (or some such french splling). Bps is bits per second.
>If memory serves, and it probably doesn't, 1 baud represents roughly 2.xx bits.


I've found one published definition of "baud"; it's in my Webster's Collegiate:

	a variable unit of data transmission speed usu. equal to one bit per
	second

So ... they are not necessarily two *completely* different critters.  They can
in fact be interchangable.  And in my experience (13 years in engineering), in
common practice this is true!  So true, in fact, that even Webster defines it
as "usually" true, and gives no other alternative ratio.

Of course, Webster is not exactly the last word in scientific definitions, but
it does define "common usage".


Coni Britten
   conib@gvgpvd.GVG.TEK.COM
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