Channel usage measures the speed and capacity of an information channel, with the primary measurement standard being bits per second. It is best viewed as an average over a longer period to provide a more meaningful measure of how well the pipeline works in real-world applications. Channel utilization is not a reliable measure of the error rate along the pipeline and is only a measure of raw speed.
Channel usage is a measurement standard used in the telecommunications and signal processing fields, measuring the speed and capacity of a specific information channel. Measuring channel usage allows a good approximation of the operating efficiency of a transmission source, as well as providing a reasonable approximation of the time it takes to send information from point A to point B along a particular channel. In general, the higher the channel utilization figure, the faster information travels through the virtual pipeline.
The primary measurement standard for channel use is in bits per second. Indicates the maximum number of bits that can pass through a particular channel in a given second. Note that this is, by necessity, a fluctuating figure, because as with all transmission methods, there are natural fluctuations in signal speed. This principle is evident every time you download something from the Internet. Download speed is never just a static data; it ebbs and flows slightly depending on the circumstances surrounding the connection.
As a result of this variability, channel utilization is best viewed as an average. While channel usage is an immediate statistic, a more useful measure of channel usage is to consider not what the specific data rate was at a given time, but rather what the average data rate was over a much longer sample period . This provides a more meaningful measure of how well the pipeline works in real-world applications.
Taking a snapshot, a single measurement, of channel usage at a given moment could reveal that the pipeline is running at 500 bits per second. However, taking an average of the usage rate over a two week period, it may come to light that the average rate is no more than 250 bits per second, a substantial difference. This is why channel utilization as an average, using the median measure of channel utilization over a relatively long period, gives the best measure of channel speed.
Also note that channel utilization is measured as bits of information enter the data pipeline; not as they go out. This means that channel utilization is not a reliable measure of the error rate along the pipeline. In other words, taken by itself, the channel usage statistic does not offer a way to determine how many of those bits “survived” their journey. For this reason, remember that channel usage is not a measure of trustworthiness; it is a measure of raw speed only.
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