four-wire circuit

A two-way circuit using two paths so arranged that the respective signals are transmitted in one direction only by one path and in the other direction by the other path. Note: The four-wire circuit gets its name from the fact that, historically, two conductors were used in each of two directions for full-duplex operation. The name may still be applied, e.g., to a communications link supported by optical fibers, even though only one fiber is required for transmission in each direction.