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symbol

symbol definition - telecom

A sign that has a specific meaning in a specific context, such as mathematics. For example, the Greek letter (lambda) is used in physics to mean wavelength, which is the inverse of frequency, represented by the Latin letter f.
Something that represents or suggests something else, usually something abstract.
In digital communications, the smallest amount of data transmitted at one time. In a purely digital system, such as a fiber optic transmission system (FOTS), a symbol is an individual bit. In a digital system involving modulation of an analog carrier waveform, a symbol is an individual baud, or signal change, which may represent multiple bits. In Fiber Distributed Data Interface (FDDI), a broadband LAN standard, a five-bit symbol represents a four-bit nibble. See also baud, bit, FDDI, intersymbol interference, LAN, modulation, and nibble.

Webster's New World Telecom Dictionary Copyright © 2008 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Indianapolis, Indiana.
Used by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons, Inc.