A scheme to maximise use of a communications
line by giving a larger share of the
bandwidth to the
modem at the end which is transmitting the most information.
Only one end of the connection has full bandwidth, the other
has only a fraction of the bandwidth. Normally, which end
gets the full bandwidth is chosen dynamically.
Asymmetrical modulation was made famous by the
HST mode of
the early high-speed modems from
US Robotics.