Data communication terminologies
Channel:
Communicating data from one location to another requires some form of pathway or medium. These pathways, called communication channels, use two types of media: cable (twisted-pair wire, cable, and fiber-optic cable) and broadcast (microwave, satellite, radio, and infrared). A channel has a certain capacity for transmitting information, often measured by its bandwidth in Hz or its data rate in bits per second.
Bandwidth:
Bandwidth is measured as the amount of data that can be transferred from one point to another within a network in a specific amount of time. it is used to describe the difference between the upper and lower frequencies in a transmission such as a radio signal and is typically measured in hertz (Hz).
Data Transfer rate:
Data transfer rate is a measurement of the amount of data sent between two points on a network in a given time period. Data transfer rate is commonly measured in bits-per-second (bps), with one “bit” equal to an individual binary number. This is similar to the networking concept of bandwidth, which is also measured in bps. However, transfer rate and bandwidth are two different things. Transfer rate looks at the amount of data that has actually been transferred between two different points, while bandwidth is a measurement of the theoretical maximum transfer capacity of a certain point on the network. It is the amount of data transferred in one direction over a link divided by the time taken to transfer it in bits per sec.
Measurement Units:
bps, Bps(Baud), Kbps, Mbps, Gbps
1 Byte= 8 bits
1 KBPS ( Kilo Byte Per Second)= 1024 Bytes ,
1 Kbps (kilobits Per Second) = 1024 bits,
1 Mbps ( Mega bits Per Second )=1024 Kbps
