Infrastructure Definitions

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    10 Gigabit Ethernet (10 GbE)

    10 Gigabit Ethernet (10 GbE) is a telecommunication technology that offers data speeds up to 10 billion bits per second.

  • 100 Gigabit Ethernet (100 GbE)

    100 Gigabit Ethernet (100 GbE) is an Ethernet standard that supports data speeds of up to 100 billion bits (gigabits) per second (Gbps).

  • 1000BASE-T (Gigabit Ethernet)

    1000BASE-T is Gigabit Ethernet -- 1 gigabit is 1,000 megabits per second (Mbps) on copper cables, using four pairs of Category 5 (Cat5) unshielded twisted pair (UTP) to achieve the gigabit data rate.

  • 10BASE-T

    10BASE-T is an Ethernet standard for local area networks and one of several physical media specified in the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.3 standard.

  • 5G

    Fifth-generation wireless (5G) is the latest iteration of cellular technology.

  • 5G standalone (5G SA)

    5G standalone (5G SA) is a cellular infrastructure built specifically for 5G services by implementing 5G standards and protocols in the radio network and controller core.

  • A

    ACK (acknowledgement)

    In some digital communication protocols, ACK -- short for 'acknowledgement' -- refers to a signal that a device sends to indicate that data has been received successfully.

  • Address Resolution Protocol (ARP)

    Address Resolution Protocol (ARP) is a protocol that maps dynamic IP addresses to permanent physical machine addresses in a local area network (LAN).

  • ADSL (Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line)

    ADSL (Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line) is a technology that facilitates fast data transmission at a high bandwidth on existing copper wire telephone lines to homes and businesses.

  • American Wire Gauge (AWG)

    American Wire Gauge (AWG) is the standard way to denote wire size in North America.

  • anti-replay protocol

    The anti-replay protocol provides Internet Protocol (IP) packet-level security by making it impossible for a hacker to intercept message packets and insert changed packets into the data stream between a source computer and a destination computer.

  • application delivery controller (ADC)

    An application delivery controller (ADC) is a network component that manages and optimizes how client machines connect to web and enterprise application servers.

  • application layer

    The application layer sits at Layer 7, the top of the Open Systems Interconnection (OSI) communications model. It ensures an application can effectively communicate with other applications on different computer systems and networks.

  • ARPANET

    The U.S. Advanced Research Projects Agency Network (ARPANET) was the first public packet-switched computer network.

  • asymmetric communications

    Asymmetric communications is a term pertaining to any system in which the data speed or quantity, when averaged over time, is different in one direction from the other.

  • Asynchronous

    In general, asynchronous -- pronounced ay-SIHN-kro-nuhs, from Greek asyn-, meaning "not with," and chronos, meaning "time" -- is an adjective describing objects or events that are not coordinated in time.

  • attenuation

    Attenuation is a general term that refers to any reduction in the strength of a signal.

  • network availability

    Network availability is the amount of uptime in a network system over a specific time interval.

  • B

    baseband

    Baseband in the transmission of communications signals means only one path is available to send and receive digital signals between devices.

  • beamforming

    Beamforming is a type of radio frequency (RF) management in which a wireless signal is directed toward a specific receiving device.

  • BGP (Border Gateway Protocol)

    BGP (Border Gateway Protocol) is the protocol that enables the global routing system of the internet.

  • big-endian and little-endian

    The term endianness describes the order in which computer memory stores a sequence of bytes.

  • bit stuffing

    Bit stuffing refers to the insertion of one or more bits into a data transmission as a way to provide signaling information to a receiver.

  • bits per second (bps or bit/sec)

    In data communications, bits per second (bps or bit/sec) is a common measure of data speed for computer modems and transmission carriers.

  • bogon

    A bogon is an illegitimate Internet Protocol address that falls into a set of IP addresses that have not been officially assigned to an entity by an internet registration institute, such as the IANA.

  • BOOTP (Bootstrap Protocol)

    BOOTP (Bootstrap Protocol) is an internet protocol that lets a network user automatically be configured to receive an IP address and have an operating system booted without user involvement.

  • bottleneck

    A bottleneck, in a communications context, is a point in the enterprise where the flow of data is impaired or stopped entirely.

  • broadband

    Broadband refers to telecommunications in which a wide band of frequencies is available to transmit information.

  • bus network

    A bus network is a local area network (LAN) topology in which each node -- a workstation or other device -- is connected to a main cable or link called a bus.

  • C

    campus network

    A campus network is a proprietary local area network (LAN) or set of interconnected LANs serving a corporation, government agency, university or similar organization.

  • CAPWAP (Control and Provisioning of Wireless Access Points)

    CAPWAP (Control and Provisioning of Wireless Access Points) is a protocol that enables an access controller to manage a collection of wireless termination points.

  • carrier cloud

    A carrier cloud is a cloud computing environment that is owned and operated by a traditional telecommunications service provider.

  • carrier-to-noise ratio

    In communications, the carrier-to-noise ratio, often written as CNR or C/N, is a measure of the received carrier strength relative to the strength of the received noise.

  • CBRS (Citizens Broadband Radio Service)

    Citizens Broadband Radio Service, or CBRS, is the set of operational rules given to a slice of the shared wireless spectrum and the technologies used in that spectrum.

  • CDMA (Code-Division Multiple Access)

    CDMA (Code-Division Multiple Access) refers to any of several protocols used in second-generation (2G) and third-generation (3G) wireless communications.

  • CDN (content delivery network)

    A CDN (content delivery network), also called a content distribution network, is a group of geographically distributed and interconnected servers.

  • CenturyLink

    CenturyLink is an integrated telecommunications company that provides a wide variety of products and services to clients across the globe, including networking, cloud service and security solutions.

  • chatty protocol

    A chatty protocol is an application or routing protocol requiring a client or server to wait for an acknowledgment before transmitting data again.

  • CIDR (Classless Inter-Domain Routing or supernetting)

    CIDR (Classless Inter-Domain Routing or supernetting) is a method of assigning IP addresses that improves the efficiency of address distribution and replaces the previous system based on Class A, Class B and Class C networks.

  • circuit switching

    Circuit switching is a type of network configuration in which a physical path is obtained and dedicated to a single connection between two endpoints in the network for the duration of a dedicated connection.

  • Cisco IOS (Cisco Internetwork Operating System)

    Cisco IOS (Internetwork Operating System) is a collection of proprietary operating systems (OSes) that runs on Cisco hardware devices, including Cisco Systems network devices, routers and network switches.

  • Class of Service (CoS)

    Class of Service (CoS) is a way of managing traffic in a network by grouping similar types of traffic -- such as email, streaming video, voice over IP and large document file transfer -- together and treating each type as a class with its own level of network service priority.

  • client-server

    Client-server is a relationship in which one program, the client, requests a service or resource from another program, the server.

  • Clos network

    A Clos network is a type of nonblocking, multistage switching network used today in large-scale data center switching fabrics.

  • cloud radio access network (C-RAN)

    Cloud radio access network (C-RAN) is a centralized, cloud computing-based architecture for radio access networks.

  • coaxial cable

    Coaxial cable is a type of copper cable specially built with a metal shield and other components engineered to block signal interference.

  • coded orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing (COFDM)

    Coded orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing (COFDM) is a telecommunications modulation scheme that divides a single digital signal across 1,000 or more signal carriers simultaneously.

  • cognitive radio (CR)

    Cognitive radio (CR) is a form of wireless communication in which a transceiver can intelligently detect which communication channels are in use and which ones are not.

  • collision in networking

    In a half-duplex Ethernet network, a collision is the result of two devices on the same Ethernet network attempting to transmit data at the same time.

  • committed information rate (CIR)

    Committed information rate (CIR) is the guaranteed rate at which a Frame Relay network will transfer information under normal line conditions.

  • computer hardware

    Computer hardware is a collective term used to describe any of the physical components of an analog or digital computer.

  • computer network

    A computer network is a group of interconnected nodes or computing devices that exchange data and resources with each other.

  • conductance

    Conductance is an expression of the ease with which electric current flows through materials like metals and nonmetals.

  • connection

    In telecommunication and computing in general, a connection is the successful completion of necessary arrangements so that two or more parties (for example, people or programs) can communicate at a long distance.

  • connectionless

    In telecommunications, connectionless describes communication between two network endpoints in which a message can be sent from one endpoint to another without prior arrangement.

  • control plane (CP)

    The control plane is the part of a network that carries signaling traffic and is responsible for network routing.

  • CPRI (Common Public Radio Interface)

    CPRI (Common Public Radio Interface) is a specification for wireless communication networks that defines the key criteria for interfacing transport, connectivity and control communications between baseband units (BBUs) and remote radio units (RRUs), which are also called remote radio heads (RRHs).

  • CRC-4 (Cyclic Redundancy Check 4)

    CRC-4 (Cyclic Redundancy Check 4) is a form of cyclic redundancy checking -- a method of checking for errors in transmitted data -- that is used on E1 trunk lines.

  • crosstalk

    Crosstalk is a disturbance caused by the electric or magnetic fields of one telecommunication signal affecting a signal in an adjacent circuit.

  • CSMA/CA (Carrier Sense Multiple Access/Collision Avoidance)

    CSMA/CA (Carrier Sense Multiple Access/Collision Avoidance) is a protocol for carrier transmission in 802.11 networks.

  • CSU/DSU (Channel Service Unit/Data Service Unit)

    A CSU/DSU (Channel Service Unit/Data Service Unit) is a hardware device about the size of a modem. It converts a digital data frame from local area network (LAN) communication technology into a frame appropriate for a wide area network (WAN) and vice versa.

  • customer premises equipment (CPE)

    Customer premises equipment (CPE) is telecommunications and information technology equipment kept at the customer's physical location rather than on the service provider's premises.

  • customer proprietary network information (CPNI)

    Customer proprietary network information (CPNI) in the United States is information that telecommunications services -- such as local, long-distance and wireless telephone companies -- acquire about their subscribers.

  • D

    data link layer

    The data link layer is the protocol layer in a program that handles how data moves in and out of a physical link in a network.

  • data plane

    The data plane -- sometimes known as the user plane, forwarding plane, carrier plane or bearer plane -- is the part of a network that carries user traffic.

  • data streaming

    Data streaming is the continuous transfer of data from one or more sources at a steady, high speed for processing into specific outputs.

  • delay-tolerant network (DTN)

    A delay-tolerant network (DTN) is a network that's designed to operate effectively in extreme conditions and over very large distances, such as with space communications.

  • dense wavelength-division multiplexing (DWDM)

    Dense wavelength-division multiplexing (DWDM) is an optical fiber multiplexing technology that is used to increase the bandwidth of existing fiber networks.

  • DHCP (Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol)

    DHCP (Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol) is a network management protocol used to dynamically assign an IP address to any device, or node, on a network so it can communicate using IP.

  • domain name system (DNS)

    The domain name system (DNS) is a naming database in which internet domain names are located and translated into Internet Protocol (IP) addresses.

  • downloading

    Downloading is the transmission of a file or data from one computer to another over a network, usually from a larger server to a user device.

  • DTMF (dual tone multi-frequency)

    Dual tone multi-frequency (DTMF) is the sounds or tones generated by a telephone when the numbers are pressed.

  • dynamic and static

    In general, dynamic means 'energetic, capable of action and/or change, or forceful,' while static means 'stationary or fixed.'

  • dynamic port numbers

    Dynamic port numbers, also known as private port numbers, are the port numbers that are available for use by any application to use in communicating with any other application, using the internet's Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) or User Datagram Protocol (UDP).

  • E

    edge device

    An edge device is any piece of hardware that controls data flow at the boundary between two networks.

  • edge router

    An edge router is a specialized router located at a network boundary that enables an internal network to connect to external networks.

  • encapsulation (object-orientated programming)

    In object-oriented programming (OOP), encapsulation is the practice of bundling related data into a structured unit, along with the methods used to work with that data.

  • encoding and decoding

    Encoding and decoding are used in many forms of communications, including computing, data communications, programming, digital electronics and human communications.

  • Enhanced Interior Gateway Routing Protocol (EIGRP)

    Enhanced Interior Gateway Routing Protocol (EIGRP) is a network protocol that enables routers to exchange information more efficiently than earlier network protocols, such as Interior Gateway Routing Protocol (IGRP) or Border Gateway Protocol (BGP).

  • Ethernet

    Ethernet is the traditional technology for connecting devices in a wired local area network (LAN) or wide area network.

  • Evolved Packet Core (EPC)

    Evolved Packet Core (EPC) is a framework for providing converged voice and data services on a 4G Long-Term Evolution (LTE) network.

  • F

    fax

    A fax -- short for 'facsimile' and sometimes called 'telecopying' -- is the telephonic transmission of scanned-in printed material, including text or images.

  • FDDI (Fiber Distributed Data Interface)

    FDDI (Fiber Distributed Data Interface) is a network standard that uses fiber optic connections in a local area network (LAN) that can extend in range up to 200 kilometers (124 miles).

  • fiber optics (optical fiber)

    Fiber optics, or optical fiber, refers to the technology that transmits information as light pulses along a glass or plastic fiber.

  • fiber to the home (FTTH)

    Fiber to the home (FTTH), also called fiber to the premises (FTTP), is the installation and use of optical fiber from a central point to individual buildings to provide high-speed internet access.

  • fiber to the x (FTTx)

    Fiber to the x (FTTx) is a collective term for various optical fiber delivery topologies that are categorized according to where the fiber terminates

  • File Transfer Access and Management (FTAM)

    File Transfer Access and Management (FTAM) is an OSI application Layer 7 protocol that standardizes how files are accessed and managed in a distributed network file system.

  • fixed-length subnet mask (FLSM)

    A fixed-length subnet mask (FLSM) refers to a type of enterprise or provider networking where a block of IP addresses is divided into multiple subnets of equal length (i.e., an equal number of IP addresses).

  • flooding (network)

    In a computer network, flooding occurs when a router uses a non-adaptive routing algorithm to send an incoming packet to every outgoing link except the node on which the packet arrived.

  • flow routing

    Flow routing is a network routing technology that takes variations in the flow of data into account to increase routing efficiency.

  • frame relay

    Frame relay is a packet-switching telecommunications service designed for cost-efficient data transmission for intermittent traffic between local area networks (LANs) and between endpoints in wide area networks (WANs).

  • frequency band

    In telecommunications, a frequency band -- sometimes called a band -- refers to a specific range of frequencies in the electromagnetic frequency spectrum assigned to certain applications.

  • frequency-division multiplexing (FDM)

    In frequency-division multiplexing (FDM), multiple signals are combined for transmission on a single communications line or channel, with each signal assigned to a different frequency (subchannel) within the main channel.

  • frequency-hopping spread spectrum (FHSS)

    Frequency-hopping spread spectrum (FHSS) transmission is the repeated switching of the carrier frequency during radio transmission to reduce interference and avoid interception.

  • frequency-shift keying (FSK)

    Frequency-shift keying (FSK) is a method of transmitting digital signals using discrete signals.

  • FTP (File Transfer Protocol)

    FTP (File Transfer Protocol) is a network protocol for transmitting files between computers over TCP/IP connections.

  • full-duplex

    Full-duplex data transmission means that data can be transmitted in both directions on a signal carrier at the same time.

  • G

    Generic Routing Encapsulation (GRE)

    Generic Routing Encapsulation (GRE) is a protocol that encapsulates packets in order to route various protocols over Internet Protocol (IP) networks.

  • gigabit (Gb)

    In data communications, a gigabit (Gb) is 1 billion bits, or 1,000,000,000 (that is, 10^9) bits. It's commonly used for measuring the amount of data that is transferred in a second between two telecommunication points.

  • Gigabit Ethernet (GbE)

    Gigabit Ethernet (GbE), a transmission technology based on the Ethernet frame format and protocol used in local area networks (LANs), provides a data rate of 1 billion bits per second, or 1 gigabit (Gb).

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