Working on a thesis, I was wondering how to correctly hyphenate (if at all) the term "high data rate" in the following sentence:
High data rate ECUs are connected directly to the backbone.
The term "data rate" as such is not hyphenated. But compounds with "high" are hyphenated, e.g. as in "high-income", "high-stress". However, writing "high-data rate" doesn't seem right to me. What would be the correct hyphenation in this case?
Contextually relevant sources do not use a hyphen for high data rates.
Small cells have the same characteristics as base stations used by telecom companies for years. However, they can handle high data rates for mobile broadband and consumers, as well as high densities of low-speed, low-power devices for IoT.
Optical fibers allow for high data rates and wide bandwidths, have relatively low attenuation, can cover long distances with a small number of repeaters, and are immune to crosstalk and other forms of electromagnetic interference that disrupt electrical transmission. I do not accept. Real-time routing protocols and redundancy built into the backbone can also reroute traffic in the event of a failure. Data rates on backbone lines have increased over time. In 1998, all US backbone networks used the slowest data rate of 45 Mbit/s. However, advances in technology meant that by the mid-2000s, 41 percent of backbones were delivering data rates of 2,488 Mbit/s and above.
[high data rates][2]
Optical fibers allow for high data rates and wide bandwidths, have relatively low attenuation, can cover long distances with a small number of repeaters, and are immune to crosstalk and other forms of electromagnetic interference that disrupt electrical transmission.
[high date rates][3]
[2]: https://digitalcommons.usu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2737&context=smallsat#:~:text=High%20data%20rates%20(%3E50%20megabits,tape%20recorders%20on%20some%20missions. [3]: https://academic-accelerator.com/encyclopedia/internet-backbone
Speaking merely as a native speaker and techie, I think it is ok either way. That is, either "high data rate" or "high-data-rate". Definitely not "high-data rate". Intuitively, the hyphens help "combine" the words so they serve as a single modifier to the head-noun "ECUs". The ECUs are not "high" and "data" and "rate" -- instead, they have a single property called "high data rate".
Here, 'high' clearly modifies 'data rate' (compare 'small microwave oven'):
[high] [data rate] ↔ ↔ ↔ ↔ [small] [microwave oven].
We are clearly not talking about 'high data' any more than we are about 'small microwave'. As Yosef implies, 'data rate' is at least a strong collocation, arguably a compound noun. It is not usually hyphenated, and there's no need to over-elaborate here.
Contrast
I believe the 'don't over-elaborate when it comes to punctuating' stance nowadays competes with the 'eleven-year-old boy rule' where clarity isn't an issue.
Google shows merely two returns in a search for "high data rate ECUs":
I'd not argue against double hyphenation here, or the use of an en-dash for the less cohesive bond:
but the second example here is non-standard and consequently misleading. What is 'high' modifying? None or two hyphens are best.
Unhyphenated examples on the internet include
The string 'data rate' is not usually hyphenated when not used attributively (prenominally), and the creditable examples of the unhyphenated compound premodifier (eg 'high data rate optical transceivers') on the internet, and their obvious default meaning, argue that the unhyphenated form is most common.
