nearend

Nearend, or near-end, is a relative term used in telecommunications, signal processing, and related fields to describe the location of a source, listener, or measurement point within a two-ended link. The near end is the end that is physically close to the reference point, while the far end is the opposite end of the link. The term is widely applied in voice communications, network testing, and acoustics to distinguish local versus remote signals.

In voice and echo cancellation, the near-end signal is what originates at the local user and is captured by the local microphone, including the user’s speech plus any local noise. The far-end signal is the remote party’s speech that travels to the near end and may be heard through loudspeakers, creating an echo. Echo cancellation algorithms use a reference of the far-end signal to estimate and subtract the echo from the near-end microphone signal, improving intelligibility.

In testing and measurement, near-end and far-end terminology describes where measurements are made or where signals are looped back. Near-end loopback tests feed a signal back at the near end to assess transmitter/receiver performance without involving the remote party. Near-end crosstalk refers to interference generated within the same end of a cable or system, as opposed to crosstalk from the opposite end.

In networking and communications, near-end can also denote conditions or measurements taken close to the user’s device, with far-end referring to the remote device or server. The term emphasizes spatial relation rather than absolute quality or function.