<communications> (ADSL, or "Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Loop") A variation of Digital Subscriber Line designed for an upstream data flow (client-to-server) which is a fraction of the downstream data flow (server-to-client). Typically the upstream data flow is measured in kilobits per second while the downstream data flow is measured in megabits per second (e.g. 6 megabits per second over standard phone lines).
ADSL is appropriate for applications such as Video on Demand or World-Wide Web where a request from the user is far less data than the response.
["Data Cooks, But Will Vendors Get Burned?", "Supercomm Spotlight On ADSL" & "Lucent Sells Paradine", Wilson & Carol, Inter@ctive Week Vol. 3 #13, p1 & 6, June 24 1996].
(13 Oct 1996)