In a bus topology, what are the special connectors located at the ends of the…

Concept: A shared electrical transmission line must be terminated at its physical boundaries with an impedance that matches the line. Proper termination absorbs signal energy, preventing reflections from returning along the cable and corrupting later bits.

Application: A bus topology uses one backbone cable shared by all nodes. Because the signal reaches each physical end of this backbone, a matching resistive connector is placed there; this component is called a terminator.

Contrast:

• Routers forward IP packets between separate networks and choose paths using routing information.

• Hubs repeat incoming bit signals to all other ports within one shared Ethernet segment.

• Switches learn MAC addresses and selectively forward Ethernet frames between ports.

Cross-check: If either end lacks proper termination, echoes can interfere with subsequent signals; installing terminators at both ends removes that reflection path. Therefore, the special end connectors are terminators.