In telecommunication, the term stop signal has the following meanings:
1. In asynchronous serial communication, a signal at the end of a character that prepares the receiving device for the reception of a subsequent character. A stop signal is usually limited to one signal element having any duration equal to or greater than a specified minimum value.
2. A signal to a receiving mechanism to wait for the next signal.
This article incorporates public domain material from the General Services Administration document "Federal Standard 1037C" (in support of MIL-STD-188).