time-division multiplexing (TDM)

Digital multiplexing in which two or more apparently simultaneous channels are derived from a given frequency spectrum, i.e., bit stream, by interleaving pulses representing bits from different channels. Note: Successive pulses represent bits from successive channels, e.g., voice channels in a T1 system. 2. A multiplexing technique whereby two or more channels are derived from a transmission mediuim by dividing access to the medium into sequential intervals. Each channel has access to the entire bandwidth of the medium during its interval. This implies that one transmitter uses one channel to send several bit streams of information. [47CFR]