A back channel is a link opposite to the main information flow used in communication circuits to ensure successful data collection. It can carry control and supervisory information and is used in satellite return channels, remote control, and data communication links. The return channel reports the status of the transfer in progress and can be considered a return channel in computer-printer links.
A back channel or back link is a link direction opposite to the main information flow. It is used in analog and digital communications to signal the far end of a communications link. The feedback channel is sometimes referred to as the reverse channel, or feedback channel, which provides status and supervisory capabilities to a user terminal.
In a typical broadband transmission link used in communication circuits, it must be ensured that the destination of the main data flow successfully collects the incoming data. It is similar to a storyteller who continues to tell a story as long as there is some sign of affirmation from a listener, such as when someone in the audience occasionally nods or gives a brief affirmative response. The back channel is the direction of communication from the user to the source. For systems with backhaul requirements, active nodes must be asserted in both directions. In the global mobile phone infrastructure, the data exchange between switching nodes corresponds to many types of channels that can carry the main data streams or can carry control and supervisory information.
There is a wide range of uses for satellite return channel, remote control, data communication links and many more. For example, for satellite imagery, the return channel provides the path to send commands to reposition an imaging satellite to optimize visual coverage of a slightly shifted geographic area. In a robotic exploration unit, the forward channel may contain digitized video of a seabed where an oil spill is being monitored. The return channel can carry digital packets that guide the robot to the seabed and can contain commands for panning and focusing the camera.
Data communication links use return channels that can be used automatically by various data communication protocols. If two computers are connected to transfer data, a channel from the data destination computer reports the status of the transfer in progress. In early computer communications, this was the equivalent of the transmit on (XON) and transmit off (XOFF) pacing scheme in which each of these conditions was signaled by a single 7-bit character. For example, in a computer-printer link, a printer may continue to print a stream of data from a computer, even though at some point the printer will be unable to recover. This is typical when the printer runs out of paper or memory for the blank page buffer.
In the above condition, the printer sends an XOFF to the computer which will prevent the computer from sending any more data. When the printer is ready, it sends a XON. At this point, the computer resumes sending data to the printer. The printer-computer channel can be considered a return channel.
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