symmetric

symmetric definition - telecom
  1. Balanced or proportional.
  2. In telecommunications, a link that supports equal bandwidth in both directions. Symmetric digital subscriber line (SDSL), for example, supports equal bandwidth downstream and upstream. Bluetooth supports an asynchronous data channel that can operate in symmetric mode at speeds of up to 432.6 kbps. Alternatively, the Bluetooth data channel can operate in asymmetric mode at up to 721 kbps in either direction and 57.6 kbps in the reverse direction. See also asymmetric, asynchronous, bandwidth, Bluetooth, channel, downstream, SDSL, and upstream.
  3. In compression, a process that is equally time-consuming and processor-intensive in terms of compression and decompression. See also compression.

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

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