 - Compare asymmetric communications.
In telecommunications, the term symmetric (also symmetrical) refers to any
system in which data speed or quantity is the same in both directions, averaged over time.
Examples include two-way radio, standard twisted-pair telephone Internet
connections, cable modem Internet connections in which the cable is used for transmission
as well as for reception, and full-motion videoconferencing.
Symmetric communications is not necessarily the most efficient mode in a
given application. Consider casual Web browsing, in which most of the bytes come
downstream (from Internet servers to the user) as relatively large graphics, sound,
multimedia, and HTML files, while upstream data (from user to a server) consists
mainly of new link (URL) requests by the user, which, in comparison, contain few
bytes. In this environment, it often makes the best use of available resources to
supply the user with a more broadbanded "pipeline" in the downstream
direction, as compared with the upstream direction.
The ultimate Internet connection is broadband symmetrical, such as is
provided by true cable modem connections and optical fiber systems. At the time of this
writing, symmetric broadband is not generally available outside of metropolitan areas.
| LAST UPDATED: |
14 Sep 2000
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