Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line

/ˌeɪ diː ɛs ɛl/

noun — "high-speed Internet over ordinary phone lines."

ADSL (Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line) is a type of DSL technology that provides broadband Internet access over existing copper telephone lines. The "asymmetric" designation means that download speeds are higher than upload speeds, reflecting typical consumer usage patterns where downloading content dominates uploading. ADSL enables simultaneous voice and data transmission by separating low-frequency voice signals from higher-frequency data signals.

Discrete MultiTone

/diː ɛm ˈtiː/

noun — "splitting a signal into multiple channels for cleaner data."

DMT (Discrete MultiTone) is a modulation technique that divides a communication channel into multiple orthogonal subcarriers, each carrying a separate data stream. It is widely used in digital subscriber line (DSL) technologies, such as ADSL, to maximize bandwidth efficiency and reduce interference. By transmitting data simultaneously across multiple tones, DMT mitigates the effects of channel noise, crosstalk, and frequency-selective fading.