User`s manual

U.S. Robotics I-modem Command Reference
Glossary • Page G-32
P
parallel transmission
The transfer of data characters using parallel electrical paths for each bit of the character,
for example, 8 paths for 8-bit characters. Data is stored in computers in parallel form, but
may be con-verted to serial form for certain operations. See serial transmission
.
parity
An error-detection method that checks the validity of a transmitted character. Character
checking has been surpassed by more reliable and efÞcient forms of block-checking,
including XMODEM
-type protocols and the ARQ protocol implemented in Courier
modems.
The same type of parity must be used by two communicating computers, or both may omit
parity. When parity is used, a parity bit is added to each transmitted character. The bit's
value is 0 or 1, to make the total number of 1's in the character even or odd, depending on
which type of parity is used.