Glossary
Get to know the lingo

Glossary

ANSI (American National Standards Institute):

ANSI creates standards for networking and communications. It is the U.S. representative to the International Standards Organization (ISO)



ARPU:

Average Revenue Per User



ATM (Asynchronous Transfer Mode):

An ITU standard set of communications protocols in which information is transmitted in fixed "cells" of 53 bytes each. Transmission rates supported are typically from 2 Mbit/s to 622 Mbit/s.



Absorption:

In radio wave propagation, attenuation of a radio wave due to dissipation of its energy, i.e., conversion of its energy into another form, such as heat.



Backbone Network:

A network with a central cabling scheme linking it to other networks. Hosts on networks linked to the backbone can communicate with one another.



Backbone Router:

Routers designed to be used to construct backbone networks using leased lines. Typically do not have any built-in digital dial-up WAN interfaces.



Bandwidth:

The information-carrying capacity of a computer or communications channel, such as a telephone line, measured in bits per second.When referring to digital networks, the capacity of a channel in bits/s. When referring to frequencies, the difference between the upper and lower limits of a band. A range of radio, audio, or other frequencies.



Bit:

A Binary digIT. It is a number in base 2 (binary), which means that it can only be a 0 or a 1. It is used in the expres-sion `bits per second'.



CDMA - Code Division Multiple Access:

Code Divison Multiple Access. A digital cellular technique invented by Qualcomm. Strictly, a method of multiplexing using orthogonal codes to share a radio channel between multiple signals. Generally used to refer to a family of mobile cellular systems developed by Qualcomm, including CDMA2000 1x-EvDO, one of the ITU-T's global 3G standards. W-CDMA, as used in UMTS, another of the 3G standards, and TD-CDMA, typically used for data applications, use the same underlying technology. Various other radio access networks use CDMA variants as a multiplexing method.



CEPT - Conference Europeenne des Postes et des Telecommunications:

Association of the 26 European PTTs that recommends communication specifications to the ITU-T.



CLI - Calling Line Identification:

A service available on digital phone networks that tells the person being called which number is calling them. Information about the caller is sent along with the call itself.



CUG - Closed User Group:

A subgroup of network users that is treated as an entity. Member can communicate only with other members of that subgroup.