cient amplitude that it can be used to reliably cause the clock signal transitions to be precisely equal to and repeatable within a small range of time equal to less than 1 degree out of 360 degrees that define the sine wave. Classical television uses sync pulse generators to perform the same function. Pulse trains or digital streams are a series of pulse edge transitions capable of conveying intelligence and information. Pulse trains, bits, or bit streams as they are often called, are organized into units called bytes, each byte consisting of 8 bits. Computers and communications systems deal with bytes as a common unit. Buffering and memory means to use storage as a holding point for a collection of bytes of information and intelligence for any number of reasons, depending on the operation that's being performed. Oper- ations using buffering and memory cause latency or delay in trans- port through a piece of equipment or a network. 1 BASIC FUNDAMENTALS, DEFINITIONS, AND KEY TERMS Parallel to serial conversion means to take the parallel signal from an A/D converter and organize it into a series of bits SO the information and intelligence can be transported on a single conductor sequen- tially, or in serial fashion. The serial bit stream contains clocking information and data, sometimes called Payload. The clocking infor- mation always appears in the same form and place to enable and maintain synchronization of clock and payload bits. Serial to parallel conversion means the reverse of parallel to serial conversion. In other words, a series of bits in sequential fashion containing clock and data signals are separated and stored in memory or buffered for as long as it takes to separate and organize each of the payload bits or signals in the same time frame as the original clock and data bits and then place each of them on the output conductors in the same time frame with its original clock. Bit stuffing and de-stuffing is the act of adding or removing bits in a network transport stream as a temporary measure to prev