Drop (telecommunication)

Drop, in telecommunication, has several meanings.

• In a communications network, a drop is the portion of a device directly connected to the internal station facilities, such as toward a telephone switchboard, toward a switching center, or toward a telephone exchange. A drop can also be a wire or cable from a pole or cable terminus to a building. It may also be referred to as a downlead. These cables may be reinforced to withstand the tension (due to gravity and weather) of an aerial drop (i.e., hanging in air), as in "messenger" type RG-6 coaxial cable, which is reinforced with a steel messenger wire along its length.

• To drop is to delete, intentionally or unintentionally, or to lose part of a signal, such as dropping bits from a bit stream.

Sources

• Federal Standard 1037C, in support of MIL-STD-188