baseband update
Modification of the firmware of a cellular modem.
BIOS (Basic Input/Output System)
Firmware that contains programs and information relating to the basic operation of PC components such as drives, keyboard, video display, and ports. It also contains specific routines to allow set-up configuration to be viewed and edited and it contains the self-diagnostic Power-On Self-Test (POST) program used to detect fundamental faults in PC components.
boot sequence
The order in which the system firmware searches devices for a boot manager.
BRI (Basic Rate Interface)
A class of ISDN (Integrated Services Digital Network) service that provides two 64 Kbps (B channels) for data and one 16 Kbps (D channel) for link management control signals
bridge
A bridge can be used to divide an overloaded network into separate segments. Intrasegment traffic (traffic between devices on the same segment) remains within this segment and cannot affect the other segments. A bridge works most efficiently if the amount of intersegment traffic (traffic between devices on different segments) is kept low. Segments on either side of a bridge are in separate collision domains but the same broadcast domain. The function of bridges is now typically performed by switches.
BSSID (Basic Service Set Identifier)
The MAC address of the access point.
bus
Buses are the connections between components on the motherboard and peripheral devices attached to the computer. Buses are available in industry standard formats, each with its own advantages and disadvantages. The standard functions of a bus are to provide data sharing, memory addressing, power supply, and timing. Common bus types include PCI, PCI Express, and USB.
bus mastering
Feature of a bus allowing devices to communicate with one another without going through the CPU. Bus mastering is supported by most bus types, including PCI, SCSI, and ATA (in "Ultra DMA" modes).