1. <communications> (SNR, "s/n ratio", "s:n ratio") "Signal"
refers to useful information conveyed by some communications
medium, and "noise" to anything else on that medium. The
ratio of these is usually expressed logarithmically, in
decibels.
2. <networking> The term is often applied to Usenet
newsgroups though figures are never given. Here it is quite
common to have more noise (inappropriate postings which
contribute nothing) than signal (relevant, useful or
interesting postings). The signal gets lost in the noise
when it becomes too much effort to try to find interesting
articles among all the crud. Posting "noise" is probably the
worst breach of netiquette and is a waste of bandwidth.
[Jargon File]
(1996-01-29)
Nearby terms:
signal « signalling rate « Signalling System 7 « signal-to-noise ratio » signature » sig quote » sig virus
