telecommunication Telecommunication is the transmission of information by various types of technologies over wire, radio, optical, or other electromagnetic systems. It has its origin in the desire of humans for communication over a distance greater than that fe ...

, an ''n''-ary code is a code that has ''n'' significant conditions, where ''n'' is a positive integer greater than 1. The integer substituted for ''n'' indicates the specific number of significant conditions, ''i.e.'', quantization states, in the code. For example, an 8-ary code has eight significant conditions and can convey three bits per code symbol. A prefix that indicates an integer, ''e.g.'', "bin", "tern," or "quatern", may be used in lieu of a numeral, to produce "

binary Binary may refer to: Science and technology Mathematics * Binary number, a representation of numbers using only two digits (0 and 1) * Binary function, a function that takes two arguments * Binary operation, a mathematical operation that ta ...

", "ternary", or "quaternary" (2, 3, and 4 states respectively).

See also