Digital Signal Designation is the classification of digital bit rates in the

digital multiplex hierarchy In telecommunications, a digital multiplex hierarchy is a hierarchy consisting of an ordered repetition of tandem digital multiplexers that produce signals of successively higher data rates at each level of the hierarchy. Digital multiplexing hier ...

used in transport of signals from one location to another in

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 tha ...

s. The DS technically refers to the rate and format of the signal, while the T designation refers to the equipment providing the signals. In practice, "DS" and "T" are used synonymously; for example, DS1 and T1, DS3 and T3.

Digital signal line rates

North America

Europe

Optical carrier

See

SONET Synchronous optical networking (SONET) and synchronous digital hierarchy (SDH) are standardized protocols that transfer multiple digital bit streams synchronously over optical fiber using lasers or highly coherent light from light-emitting dio ...

for more information.

References

Multiplexing {{telecomm-stub