What is the bandwidth of a 4,800-Hz frequency shift, 9,600-baud ASCII FM transmission?

To determine the required bandwidth of a 9,600-baud ASCII FM transmission (a common standard for high-speed packet radio), engineers use an approximation factor that accounts for the necessary sidebands to faithfully reproduce the digital pulses without distortion. For this specific standard, the accepted bandwidth formula multiplies the baud rate by a factor of 1.6. When you multiply the 9,600 baud rate by 1.6, the result is exactly 15,360 Hz, or 15.36 kHz. Because traditional analog FM formulas (like Carson's rule) can be complex to apply directly to digital pulses, the most reliable way to answer this exam question is to memorize the 15.36 kHz figure or remember the 1.6 multiplier for 9,600-baud FM packet signals.