Radio telecommunications; symbol refers to a
transmitted or
received piece of
information representing a fixed number of
bits. Depending on the
radio's constellation, it can represent anything from 1 to an infinite number of bits. The more complicated the
constellation, the more information a symbol can represent. Obviously, more complexity means greater susceptibility to
error.
Bit Error Rate is an exponential relation to number of possible symbols (eg, size of
constellation).
See also:
constellation,
spread spectrum,
frequency-hopping,
direct sequence,
Bit Error Rate.