Continental Wireless Solutions

E
E1	European digital transmissions format; equivalent of North American T1.
E911	Enhanced 9-1-1 service. Provides the identity and the approximate location of the calling phone
EAP	IETF Extensible Authentication Protocol
Eb	Energy of an information bit
EBCDIC	EBCDIC "Extended Binary Coded Decimal Interchange Code is an 8-bit character encoding used on IBM mainframes
EBGP	External BGP. BGP between routers in two different networks.
EC	Exchange Carrier
EDI	Electronic Data Interchange. Used to transfer business-level data between companies (e.g. invoices, purchase orders). Nowadays, more attention is on XML for this purpose
EIA	Electronics Industry Alliance
EMC	Electro-Magnetic Compatibility
EMI	Electro-Magnetic Interference. Disruption of device operation in vicinity of electromagnetic field (EM field) in radio frequency (RF) spectrum; caused by another electronic device.
EoS	Ethernet over SONET. Standards-based approach of data transmission over Bellcore SONET/SDH.
Erlang	Measure of traffic load. Calculated as rate at which calls arrive divided by the rate at which they are completed
Erlang B	A traffic model used to engineer resource groups when blockage is low, and the average holding time is known
Erlang C	A traffic model commonly used for provisioning data circuits
ERP	Effective Radiated Power
ESF	Extended Superframe Format. DS1 format that is used for most T1 links
Ethernet	Ethernet is a frame-based computer networking technology for local area networks (LANs). It defines wiring and signaling for the physical layer, and frame formats and protocols for the media access control (MAC)/data link layer of the OSI model. Ethernet is mostly standardized as IEEE's 802.3.
Ethernet Extender	Device's) that allow Ethernet to work at distances exceeding the specified 100 meter maximum Typically point-to-point device(s), operating at full-duplex to avoid collision issues.
ETSI	European Telecommunications Standards Institute
F
FAQ	Frequently Asked Questions
Fast Fading	Fade duration short relative to channel frame length
FBI	US Federal Bureau of Investigation
FCC	US Federal Communications Commission
FDD	Frequency Division Duplex
FDDI	In computer networking, fiber-distributed data interface (FDDI) is a standard for data transmission in a local area network that can extend in range up to 200 km (124 miles)
FDM	Frequency Division Multiplexing. Means of combining multiple data streams on a single carrier by modulating carriers of differing frequencies with various baseband data streams.
FDMA	Frequency Division Multiple Access.
FDN	Fixed Dialing Number
FEC	Forward Error Correction
FHMA	Frequency Hopping Multiple Access
FHSS	Frequency Hopping Spread Spectrum.
Fiber Optics	Medium and technology associated with transmission of information as light impulses along glass or plastic wire or fiber.
FIFO	First in, first out. A queuing methodology similar to lining up for a bank teller. Compare with LIFO
FIPS	US Federal Information Processing Standards
Firewall	Set of related programs, located at network gateway server, that protects resources of private network from users from other networks.
Fixed wireless	Operation of wireless devices or systems in fixed locations. High speed point-to-point wireless connections. Vs mobile wireless connections. A.k.a. "fiber in the air", a complement to fiber optic cable connections. See Mobile Wireless, IR Wireless, Portable Wireless, and Wireless.
FM	Frequency Modulation
FQDN	Fully Qualified DN. A domain name with enough information (including server name, if necessary, to determine a unique IP address). For example, if 'domain.com' had two servers, 'alpha' and 'beta', 'alpha.domain.com' would be fully-qualified, but 'domain.com' would not.
FRAD	Frame Relay Access Device
Frame Relay	Frame relay is an efficient data transmission technique used to send digital information quickly and cheaply to one or many destinations from one point. It can be used for voice, data, local area network (LAN), and wide area network (WAN) traffic. Each frame relay end user gets a private line to a frame relay node
Frequency	For oscillating or varying current, the number of complete cycles per second in alternating current direction. Standard unit of frequency is hertz, or Hz. See Band.
FRU	Field-Replaceable Units. Part that can be quickly and easily removed and replaced by user or by technician.
FSK	Frequency Shift Keying
FSO	Free-space optics. Unregulated spectrum, Strong data security. Also known as free-space photonics (FSP), referring to transmission of modulated visible or IR beams through atmosphere to obtain broadband communications. Most frequently, laser beams are used, although non-lasing sources such as LEDs or IR-emitting diodes (IREDs) will serve the purpose.
FTAM	File Transfer, Access and Management
FTI	Fractional T1. A customer may lease a portion of a full T1
FTP	File Transfer Protocol. Standard Internet protocol, simplest way to exchange files between computers on Internet.
FTTB	Fiber to the Building. Refers to installing optical fiber from telephone company central office to a specific building, such as a business or apartment house.
FTTC	Fiber to the Curb. Installation and use of optical fiber cable directly to the curbs near homes or any business environment as a replacement for POTS.
FTTH	Fiber to the home
FTTN	Fiber to the Neighborhood. Installation and use of optical fiber cable to all curbs or buildings in a neighborhood.
FTTP	Fiber to the Premises.
Full Duplex	Transceiver mode designed to allow reception of signals during transmission periods. Requires transmitter and receiver to operate on substantially different frequencies to prevent signal interference. Cellular and cordless telephone sets use this mode. See Transceiver.
FWA	Fixed Wireless Access.
G
Gateway	Network point that acts as an entrance to another network.
Gaussian Noise	Noise with constant power spectral density across the radio channel.
GbE	Gigabit Ethernet. Transmission technology based on Ethernet frame format and protocol used in LANs. Provides data rate of 1 Gigabit. Defined in IEEE 802.3 standard, used as backbone in many enterprise networks.
GEO	Geostationary Orbit (for a satellite)
GFSK	Gaussian FSK
GHz	One thousand million Hz. A measure of radio frequency
Giga	Prefix to indicate one billion (e.g. Giga-bit). Abbreviated G
GII	Global Information Infrastructure
GIS	Geographic Information System. A system that combines mapping information with domain-specific information that can be queried by computers.
GMSK	Gaussian MSK
GMT	Greenwich Mean Time. The reference point for time zones around the world.
GPS	Global Positioning System. A system for determining location based on comparing signals from several US military satellites. Compare with AOA, TOA
GRI	GPRS Roaming Exchange. Provides interconnection, routing, DNS, security and QoS functions
GSM	Global System for Mobile Communication. Open, nonproprietary, digital mobile telephone system; used in Europe and other parts of the world; de facto wireless telephone standard in Europe. See Wireless.
GSMA	GSM Association
GUI	Graphical User Interface. Issue commands to a device using mouse or other pointing device to manipulate images (and therefore settings).
H
H.248	ITU-T protocol to control the MGW
H.323	ITU-T recommendation for teleconferencing. See OpenH323
Half Duplex	Transceiver mode wherein signals may not be received while transmitting. Signal transmission and reception usually done on same frequency. See Transceiver.
HDLC	High Level Data Link Control
HDSL	High bit rate DSL. Symmetric DSL used for corporate networking
Headend	Facility at local cable TV office that originates and communicates TV modem services to subscribers. Includes satellite dish antenna for receiving incoming programming, Internet gateway, telephony network, or other source, and converts to laser-modulated optical signals for transmission across network to subscriber. Larger networks feature both primary headend and secondary headends or hubs.
HFC	Hybrid Fiber Coax. Telecommunication technology offered by MSOs in which optical fiber cable and coaxial cable are used in different portions of a network to carry broadband content (such as video, data and voice). Broadband bi-directional shared media transmission system using fiber trunks between headend and fiber nodes, and coaxial distribution from fiber nodes to customer locations.
HINFO	Host Information
HDLC	High-Level Data Link Control (HDLC) is a bit-oriented synchronous data link Layer 2 protocol developed by the International Organization for Standarization (ISO).
HLPI	Higher Layer Protocol Identifier
Hotspot	For users of portable computers equipped for wireless, a WLAN node that provides Internet connection and VPN access from a given public location.
HSSI	High Speed Serial Interface. A serial interface that can be used for very short distances (up to 50 feet), supporting speeds up to 52 Mbps
HTML	Hypertext Markup Language
HTTP	Hypertext Transfer Protocol. For transferring files (text, graphic images, sound, video, and other multimedia files) through Internet.
https	Secure http
Hub	Common connection point for network devices commonly used to connect segments of a LAN. Contains multiple ports. Packet arrives at one port, copied to other ports so that all LAN segments can see all packets. Usually includes switch, may include router.
Hz	Cycles per second. A measure of radio frequency
I
IA5	International Alphabet 5. Basically the ASCII character set
IAD	Internet Access Device. Related to suppliers of VoIP, hardware placed at end-user site.
IANA	Internet Assigned Number Authority. Mostly superseded by ICANN
ICANN	The Internet Corporation for Assignment Names and Numbers. Performs top level resource assignment tasks for the internet, e.g. for domain names and IP addresses.
ICMP	Internet Control Message Protocol. Part of TCP/IP protocol family, allows routers to send error and control messages between other routers and hosts, allowing routing information to be distributed throughout network.
iDEN	Integrated Digital Enhanced Network. Motorola¹s proprietary system for E-SMR, used by Nextel and others. Based on GSM
IDL	Interface Description Language
IDSL	ISDN Digital Subscriber Line. Just a fancy name for ISDN
IEC	International Electrotechnical Commission. Worldwide standards body.
IEEE	Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers
IEEE-ISTO	IEEE Industry Standards and Technology Organization
IESG	Internet Engineering Steering Group. Group that oversees the activities of IETF
IETF	Internet Engineering Task Force. Standards setting body for the Internet
IGP	Interior Gateway Protocol.
IIF	Interworking and Interoperability Function
ILEC	Incumbent LEC. The former monopoly local telephone carrier. cf CLEC
IM	Instant Messaging
IMS	IP Multimedia Subsystem. An All-IP wireless system, where data, voice and signaling are all carried as IP packets.
Interface	A point of connection upon which data can travel. Port.
Interleaving	Mixing of bits upon transmission according to a simple pattern (e.g. organizing bits in a matrix by columns and transmitting by rows) to somewhat randomize the output and protect from burst of noise on the RF channel
Intermodulation Interference	RF interference within a channel generated as one or more intermodulation products within the receiver itself, typically as the result of the presence of very strong signals in adjacent bands. Contrast with Systemic Interference and Non-Systemic Interference
IOTA	IP-based Over-the-Air configuration management
IP	Internet Protocol. Method by which data is sent from one computer to another on the Internet.
IP Address	Internet Protocol Address. 32-bit number that identifies each sender or receiver of information that is sent using IP. When sending data between LAN devices, must convert IP address of destination device to its MAC address. See MAC re: address resolution.
IPCP	PPP IP Control Protocol
IPDR	Internet Protocol Detail Record. An internet oriented record for carrying charging details for services. Compare with CIBER, BAF, TAP, EMI
IPHC	IP Header Compression. Provides compression of TCP, UDP and IP headers.
IP-M	IP Multicast
IPoA	IP over ATM
IPsec	IPsec (an abbreviation of IP security) is a standard for securing Internet Protocol (IP) communications by encrypting and authenticating all IP packets.
ISDN	Integrated Services Digital Network (ISDN) is a type of telephone network system, designed to allow digital (as opposed to analog) transmission of voice and data over ordinary telephone copper wires, resulting in better quality and higher speeds. More specifically, ISDN is a set of protocols for establishing calls and then tearing them down.
IPv4	IP Protocol Version 4. The version currently in use in the internet, using 32 bit addressing. See also IPv6.
IPv6	IP Protocol Version 6. The version that is supposed to provide significantly larger and more powerful addressing, and eventually replace IPv4.
IPV6	Internet Protocol Version 6. a.k.a. IP Next Generation or Ipng. Set of specifications from Internet Engineering Task Force; evolutionary set of improvements to current IP Version 4.
IPv6CP	IPv6 Control Protocol
IPX	Networking protocol from Novell that interconnects networks that use Novell's NetWare clients and servers.
IR Wireless	Infrared Wireless. Use of devices that convey data via infrared radiation; employed in certain limited-range communications and control systems. See Fixed Wireless, Mobile Wireless, Portable Wireless, and Wireless.
IR	Infra-Red
IS-124	Wireless call detail and billing record format for online transfer
IS-136	Second generation TDMA air interface standard
IS-41	Wireless intersystems operation standard. Now called TIA/EIA-41
IS-41-C	IS-41 Revision C (Intersystem Operations Standard)
IS-54	First generation TDMA Radio Interface standard
IS-756	A TIA standard for WNP
IS-801	TIA/EIA interim standard for CDMA MS-assisted position determination
IS-91	Most advanced analog air interface standard (including NAMPS)
IS-93	Wireless-PSTN interface standard
ISI	Inter-Symbol Interference
ISM	Industrial, Scientific, Medical frequency band (2.45-2.5 GHz). Available around the world for unlicensed applications, generally using low power and short distances
ISO	International Organization of Standards. Worldwide federation of national standards bodies, one from each country. Among standards it fosters is OSI. Founded 1947.
ISP	Internet Service Provider
ISUP	ISDN User Part. SS7 signaling between switches. Standardized in ANSI T1.113 and ITU-T Q.760-769
ITAR	US International Traffic in Arms Regulations. These rules used to govern export of encryption technology in the US and, to some extent, in Canada. Replaced by EAR
ITU	International Telecommunications Union
ITU-R	ITU - Radio Communications Division
ITU-T	ITU - Telecommunications Division
ITU-T	International Telecommunications Union. Telecommunications equipment and systems standards body.
IVR	Interactive Voice Response
IXC	Interexchange carrier. Telephone companies providing long distance service between local exchanges, also known as local access and transport areas (LATAs). Include AT&T, MCI, Sprint.
J
JPEG	Joint Photographic Experts Group. Not usually used to refer to the group, but a graphics format created for them that is suitable for digital photographs and similar images. It supports 24 bit color as well as variable levels of compression and quality. It should be referred to as JFIF, but isn't. cf GIF, PNG
K
kbps	kilobits per second
L
L1	Layer 1
L2	Layer 2
L2TP	Layer 2 Tunnel Protocol. Defined in RFC 2661. Successor to PPTP. IP packets are wrapped in a layer containing another set of IP addresses and possibly also control messages. The detailed format varies depending on whether the transport protocol is IP, UDP or another PSN type.
L3	Layer 3
LAC	Link Access Control
LAN	Local Area Network. Group of computers and associated devices that share common communications line or wireless link and typically share the resources of a single processor or server within a small geographic area (for example, within an office building).
LAP	Link Access Protocol
LAPB	Link Access Protocol, Balanced
LAPD	Link Access Protocol for the ISDN D Channel
Last-mile technology	Telecommunications technology at neighborhood level. Any telecommunications technology, such as wireless radio that carries broad telecommunication signals along relatively short distance ("last mile") to and from homes, businesses.
LATA	Local Access and Transport Area. US local telephone service area
Layer 1	Operation mode for access concentrator; physical layer. Conveys bit stream through network at electrical and mechanical level. Provides hardware means of sending and receiving data on a carrier. See OSI.
Layer 2	Operation mode for access concentrator; data-link layer. Provides synchronization for physical level and does bit stuffing for strings of 1's in excess of 5. Furnishes transmission protocol knowledge and management. Frame Relay prioritization layer. See OSI.
Layer 3	Operation mode for access concentrator; network layer. Handles routing of data (sending it in right direction to right destination on outgoing transmissions; receiving incoming transmissions at packet level). Does routing and forwarding. IP ToS prioritization mode. See OSI.
Layer 4	Operation mode for access concentrator; transport layer. Manages end-to-end control (for example, determining whether all packets have arrived) and error checking. Ensures complete data transfer. Allows for policy-based switching (for example, limiting different types of traffic on specific end-user switch ports, or for prioritizing certain packet types, such as database or application server traffic). See OSI.
Layer 5	Operation mode for access concentrator; session layer. Sets up, coordinates, and terminates conversations, exchanges, and dialogs between applications at each end. Deals with session and connection coordination. See OSI.
Layer 6	Operation mode for access concentrator; presentation layer. Usually part of operating system, converts incoming/outgoing data from one presentation format to another. A.k.a. syntax layer. See OSI.
Layer 7	Operation mode for access concentrator; application layer. Layer at which communication partners are identified, quality of service is identified, user authentication and privacy are considered and any constraints on data syntax are identified. See OSI.
LDAP	Lightweight Directory Access Protocol. See IETF RFC 3377. Compare with X.500 DAP
LEC	Local Exchange Carrier (wireline carrier for local calls). Also see ILEC and CLEC
LIFO	Last in, first out. A queuing methodology similar to stacking dishes and using the dish on the top of the stack. Compare with FIFO
LLC Layer	Logical Link Control Layer. One of two sub-layers of Layer 2 Data-Link layer; controls frame synchronization, flow control and error checking.
LMDS	Local Multipoint Distribution Service. Uses the 27.5-31.3 GHz frequency band to serve mulitple points within a radius of 3-5km. Most carriers in this space have abandoned it or gone bankrupt. See MMDS.
Loopback support	Test signal sent to network destination that is returned as received to originator. Returned signal may help diagnose problem.
LOS	Line of Sight. A direct path through the air from transmitter to receiver. Always desirable for wireless communications, although not always necessary (e.g. for cellular/PCS)
LSB	Least Significant Bit or Byte. Compare with MSB
LSMS	Local Service Management System. Telephone carrier interface that downloads information from the NPAC into one or more NPDBs
M
MAC address	Media Access Control address. Computer's unique, 48-bit hardware number. (On Ethernet LAN, same as Ethernet addresses.) Method of forwarding traffic.
MAC Encapsulated Routing	Transfer of data packets encapsulated within frames.
MAN	Metropolitan Area Network. Interconnects users with computer resources in a geographic area larger than that covered by a large LAN but smaller than area covered by WAN. See 802.16.
Mbps	Megabits Per Second. Measure of bandwidth capacity or transmission speed; stands for one million bits per second.
MBS	Maximum Burst Size. ATM parameter describing maximum number of cells that may be sent at the line rate. Used by following classes of service: rt-VBR (real time Variable Bit Rate), nrt-VBR (non-real time Variable Bit Rate), and GFR (Guaranteed Frame Rate).
MDS	Multi-Point Distribution System.
Mega	Prefix to indicate one million (e.g. Mega-bit). Abbreviated M
MHU	Multiple Hospitality Unit. Hotels, motels, resorts. See MTU.
MHz	Million Hz. A measure of radio frequency
MIB	Management Information Base. Database of objects that can be monitored by NMS. Both SNMP and RMON use standardized MIB formats.
MIDI	Musical Instrument Digital Interface, or MIDI, is a system designed to transmit information between electronic musical instruments. The MIDI standard was published in August 1983
MIME	Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions
MIPS	Million Instructions per Second. Measurement of processor speed
MLPP	Multi-Level Precedence and Pre-emption
MLPPP	Multi-Link Point-to-Point Protocol. Groups multiple physical PPP links into single logical pipe.
MMDS	Multi-channel Multi-Point Distribution Service. Uses the 2.1-2.7 GHz frequency band. The success of this technology has been about as poor as its cousin, LMDS.
MN	Mobile Node. An internet term for a mobile device capable of IP communications. See Mobile IP
Mobile Node	An IP network node that has both a static address and a 'care-of' address associated with it. IP packets can be routed to it via a Home Agent (at its static address) and a Foreign Agent (at it's care-of address)
Mobile Wireless	Use of wireless devices or systems aboard motorized, moving vehicles; examples include the automotive cell phone and PCS (personal communications services) Three digital wireless telephone technologies are TDMA, GSM and CDMA. See Fixed Wireless, IR Wireless, Portable Wireless, and Wireless.
MODBUS	SCADA Protocol
MP3	MPEG-1 Audio Layer-3. Standard technology and format for compression of a sound sequence into very small file (about one-twelfth the size of original file) while preserving original level of sound quality when played.
MPEG	The Moving Picture Experts Group (MPEG) is a small group charged with the development of video and audio encoding standards.
MSB	Most Significant Bit or Byte. Compare with LSB
MSO	Multisystem Operator. Cable company.
MTTR	Mean Time To Repair. Average time required to perform corrective maintenance in event of system failure. Measures time between service interruption and service restoration. Includes problem diagnosis and problem repair.
MTU	Message Transfer Unit. Multiple Tenant Unit. Building or group of building that can accommodate more than one tenant. 3 segments are MCU, MDU, MHU.
Multipath	A radio link between the transmitter and receiver comprised of multiple paths which include intermediate reflections from various surfaces, usually due to non-line of sight communication paths
Multiplexing	Sending multiple signals or streams of information on a carrier at the same time in the form of a single, complex signal and then recovering the separate signals at the receiving end. In analog transmission, signals are commonly multiplexed using FDM, in which carrier bandwidth is divided into subchannels of different frequency widths, each carrying a signal at the same time in parallel. In digital transmission, signals are commonly multiplexed using TDM, in which the multiple signals are carried over the same channel in alternating time slots. In some optical fiber networks, multiple signals are carried together as separate wavelengths of light in a multiplexed signal using DWDM.
Mux	Transmission device, see Multiplexing. Combines several signals for transmission over a single medium. A demultiplexer (Demux) completes the process by separating multiplexed signals from a transmission line.
mW	milli-Watt
MX	Mail Exchange (internet mail server)

Continental will engineer, furnish and install your system based on these, or many other fine, products. Call Continental at (800)527-2000 and ask for Dave Heng or email him for a free quotation on equipment, services, or a turnkey installation for your Broadband Wireless or Land Mobile project.

Wireless Networking Glossary

O to 9 - A - B - C - D - E - F - G - H - I - J - K - L - M - N - O - P - Q - R - S -T - U - V - W - X - Y - Z

E

E1

European digital transmissions format; equivalent of North American T1.

E911

Enhanced 9-1-1 service. Provides the identity and the approximate location of the calling phone

EAP

IETF Extensible Authentication Protocol

Eb

Energy of an information bit

EBCDIC

EBCDIC "Extended Binary Coded Decimal Interchange Code is an 8-bit character encoding used on IBM mainframes

EBGP

External BGP. BGP between routers in two different networks.

EC

Exchange Carrier

EDI

Electronic Data Interchange. Used to transfer business-level data between companies (e.g. invoices, purchase orders). Nowadays, more attention is on XML for this purpose

EIA

Electronics Industry Alliance

EMC

Electro-Magnetic Compatibility

EMI

Electro-Magnetic Interference. Disruption of device operation in vicinity of electromagnetic field (EM field) in radio frequency (RF) spectrum; caused by another electronic device.

EoS

Ethernet over SONET. Standards-based approach of data transmission over Bellcore SONET/SDH.

Erlang

Measure of traffic load. Calculated as rate at which calls arrive divided by the rate at which they are completed

Erlang B

A traffic model used to engineer resource groups when blockage is low, and the average holding time is known

Erlang C

A traffic model commonly used for provisioning data circuits

ERP

Effective Radiated Power

ESF

Extended Superframe Format. DS1 format that is used for most T1 links

Ethernet

Ethernet is a frame-based computer networking technology for local area networks (LANs). It defines wiring and signaling for the physical layer, and frame formats and protocols for the media access control (MAC)/data link layer of the OSI model. Ethernet is mostly standardized as IEEE's 802.3.

Ethernet Extender

Device's) that allow Ethernet to work at distances exceeding the specified 100 meter maximum Typically point-to-point device(s), operating at full-duplex to avoid collision issues.

ETSI

European Telecommunications Standards Institute

F

FAQ

Frequently Asked Questions

Fast Fading

Fade duration short relative to channel frame length

FBI

US Federal Bureau of Investigation

FCC

US Federal Communications Commission

FDD

Frequency Division Duplex

FDDI

In computer networking, fiber-distributed data interface (FDDI) is a standard for data transmission in a local area network that can extend in range up to 200 km (124 miles)

FDM

Frequency Division Multiplexing. Means of combining multiple data streams on a single carrier by modulating carriers of differing frequencies with various baseband data streams.

FDMA

Frequency Division Multiple Access.

FDN

Fixed Dialing Number

FEC

Forward Error Correction

FHMA

Frequency Hopping Multiple Access

FHSS

Frequency Hopping Spread Spectrum.

Fiber Optics

Medium and technology associated with transmission of information as light impulses along glass or plastic wire or fiber.

FIFO

First in, first out. A queuing methodology similar to lining up for a bank teller. Compare with LIFO

FIPS

US Federal Information Processing Standards

Firewall

Set of related programs, located at network gateway server, that protects resources of private network from users from other networks.

Fixed wireless

Operation of wireless devices or systems in fixed locations. High speed point-to-point wireless connections. Vs mobile wireless connections. A.k.a. "fiber in the air", a complement to fiber optic cable connections. See Mobile Wireless, IR Wireless, Portable Wireless, and Wireless.

FM