Increasingly, very large amounts of data need to be sent quickly and reliably, whether between equipments over interconnection networks or within equipments/installations of a basically data processing nature, such as computers internally and/or relative to associated units. Massive resources have been devoted to speed and reliability of transmission and reception, including formats of signals and signalling protocols to facilitate such communication using electrical and optical transmission lines, e.g. coaxial and twisted pair copper-based and/or fibre optic cabling. Transmission lines are susceptible to signal reflections unless terminations afford a perfect impedance match, and impedance is affected by lengths as well as types of transmission lines involved. Hitherto, signal reflections have been seen as a profound problem seriously affecting fidelity of signal transmission and reception, and justifying great efforts to control them.
USPTO Backgrounds
USPTO Backgrounds