Baud rate refers to the number of distinct events per second in a modulated signal. For a while, the term "baud" was misused to refer to "bits per second"; though it is possible for one event to carry one bit, it has become as of the late 1990s more common to make more efficient use of bandwidth by transferring several bits in one event. Thus, a 2400-bps modem actually transmits at 600 baud, where each quadrature amplitude modulation event carries four bits of information.
The term "baud" is named after Emile Baudot, the inventor of the Baudot code for telegraphy.
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