1G

First-generation wireless; analog cell phones.

2.5G

Second-generation (2G) wireless, plus faster data services.

3G

Third-generation wireless: digital plus high-speed data and global roaming; known as IMT 2000 by the ITU and implemented in Europe as UMTS and in North America as CDMA2000; goals are high-quality multimedia and advanced global roaming (in-house, cellular, satellite).

Access Point

Base station that plugs into Ethernet hub or server; like a cellular phone system cell, users can roam between access points.

ACK

Acknowledge.

ACL Link

Asynchronous Connection-Less link. Provides a packet-switched connection. (Master to any slave)

ACO

Authenticated Ciphering Offset.

AIN

Advanced Intelligent Network. Introduced by AT&T Network Systems in 1991. Enables service providers to define, test and introduce new multimedia messaging, PCS and cell routing.

AM_ADDR

Active Member Address.

AMPS

Advanced Mobile Phone Service; the standard for analog cellular telephones; uses a frequency-modulated transmission and frequency spacing to separate user transmission; operates in the 800MHz band.

AMPS Modem

A wireless modem designed for analog cellular phones.

ANC

All Number Calling. Calling by means of seven digits instead of the previously used two letters plus five digits.

ANI

Automatic Number Identification. A service feature that tells the recipient of a telephone call the telephone number of the person calling them. The number can be passed to computer equipment to automatically retrieve information about the caller's account, such as billing history, account status, etc.

ANSI

American National Standards Institute. U.S. standards group working with the telecommunications industry on the numbering Issue.

AP

Access point; a base station in a wireless LAN. Access points are typically standalone devices that plug into an Ethernet hub or server. Like a cellular phone system, users can roam around with their mobile devices and be handed off from one access point to the other.

API

Application Programming Interface.

AR_ADDR

Access Request Address

ARDIS

Advanced National Radio Data Service; established, nationwide packet data system from American Mobile; provides 19.2kbps.

ARPU

Average Revenue Per Unit. Measures the average monthly revenue generated for each customer unit, such as a cellular phone or pager, that a carrier has in operation. ARPU is an indicator of a wireless business’ operating performance. Severely declining ARPU typically is a negative sign that may indicate a carrier is adding too many low-revenue generating customers to its rolls.

ARQ

Automatic Repeat reQuest

ASCII

American Standard Code for Information Interchange. A standard code used by computer and data communication systems for translating characters, numbers, and punctuation into digital form. ASCII characters can be recognized by computer and communications devices using a variety of applications.

ASIC

Application-Specific Integrated Circuit. An integrated circuit tailored for a particular piece of electronic equipment. It is intended for sale to only one company and typically developed to meet that company's design objectives for a particular application. Not to be confused with an application specific standard processor, which, like an ASIC, is designed for use in a particular piece of equipment but is intended for sale to multiple companies.

ATB

All Trunks Busy. A condition in which all trunks in a given trunk group are busy.

ATM

Asynchronous Transfer Mode. A very high-speed transmission technology. ATM is a high bandwidth, low-delay, connection-oriented switching and multiplexing technique. There are efforts underway to develop wireless ATM networks.

AVL

Automatic Vehicle Location. Combining a location-sensing device (such as a GPS receiver) with a wireless communications link to provide a home office or dispatcher with the location of a vehicle or mobile asset (such as a trailer or heavy machinery).

BB

Baseband

B-Band Carrier

A cellular carrier operating in the 869-894 MHz range. In U.S. markets that have only 2 cellular carriers, one is designated the A carrier and the other the B carrier, which operates in the 869-894 MHz range.

B-Carrier

A cellular carrier operating in the 869-894 MHz range. In U.S. markets that have only 2 cellular carriers, one is designated the A carrier and the other the B carrier, which operates in the 869-894 MHz range.

B-CDMA

Broadband Code Division Multiple Access. Wireless transmission technology developed by InterDigital Communications Corp.

BCH

Bose, Chaudhuri & Hocquenghem. Type of code. The persons who discovered these codes in 1959 (H) and 1960 (B&C)

BD_ADDR

Bluetooth Device Address

BellSouth Intelligent Wireless

Nationwide packet network at 8kbps from BellSouth Wireless Data; formerly RAM Mobile Data.

BER

Bit Error Rate

Bit

A contraction of Binary Digit. It is the smallest unit of information in a binary system.

Bluetooth

Wireless personal area network (PAN) standard geared for home and office; uses 2.4GHz band at 720kbps within 30-foot range.

BOC

Bell Operating Company. One of the 22 Bell telephone companies whose primary business is providing local telephone service to customers. They are allowed to market, but not manufacture, new equipment.

BPS

Bits Per Second. The unit of measurement for the rate at which data is transmitted.

BREW

Binary Runtime Environment for Wireless - used by Qualcomm

Broadband Wireless

Wireless transmission at high speed. Wireless transmission is slower than wireline speeds; thus, whereas land-based broadband generally starts at T1 rates, wireless might be considered broadband starting at 250kbps.

BSS

Base station subsystem.

BTA

Basic Trading Area. A service area adopted by the FCC to promote the rapid deployment and ubiquitous coverage of Personal Communications Services (PCS). Built from county boundaries, BTAs generally cover a city and its surrounding environs. BTAs are component parts of Major Trading Areas (MTAs). There are 493 BTAs in the United States .

Bytecode

Content encoding where the content is typically a set of low-level opcodes and operands for a targeted hardware (or virtual) machine.

CAC

Channel Access Code

CALEA

Communications Assistance to Law Enforcement Act. 1994 legislation that gives law enforcement agencies the right to place wiretaps on new digital wireless networks. CALEA also requires wireless and wireline carriers to make their digital networks able to support law enforcement eavesdropping and wiretapping equipment and activities.

C-Block

Block of PCS spectrum reserved by the U.S. government for women, minorities and other groups, which were expected to be under-represented in FCC spectrum licenses.

CC

Call Control

CCIR #1

Another term for POCSAG, the paging protocol. See entry for POCSAG.

CDMA

Code Division Multiple Access. A spread spectrum air interface technology used in some digital cellular, personal communications services and other wireless networks.

CDMA One

2G CDMA (IS 95).

CDMA2000

3G CDMA evolution from CDMA One supported by CDMA One operators; now known as the 1X Multi-Carrier mode (1X MC) in an overall standard for 3G CDMA.

CDPD

Cellular Digital Packet Data. A digital wireless transmission system that is deployed as an enhancement to the existing analog cellular network. Based on IBM's CelluPlan II, it provides a packet overlay onto the AMPS network and moves data at 19.2kbps over ever changing unused intervals in the voice channels. If all the channels are used, the data is stored and forwarded when a channel becomes available. CDPD was developed as a wireless extension to an IP network and uses the four-octet (0.0.0.0) address for connections. CDPD networks cover most of the major urban areas in the United States and have been deployed by AT&T, Ameritech, GTE, BellAtlantic Mobile, and other carriers. By the late 1990s, incompatibility issues had been worked out, and roaming agreements and interoperability between carriers is generally nationwide. CDPD modems are available on PC Cards for laptop and handheld computers.

CL

Connectionless

CLEC

Competitive Local Exchange Carrier. A new entrant providing local wireline phone service.

CMRS

Commercial Mobile Radio Service. FCC designation for any carrier or licensee whose wireless network is connected to the public switched telephone network and/or is operated for profit.

CO

Central Office. Local telephone company's centralized switching equipment and outside plant where calls are switched over the local network or onto a long-distance network.

CODEC

COder DECoder

COF

Ciphering Offset

COLT

Cell Site on Light Truck. A mobile cell site placed on a vehicle and moved to a location to fill in or increase coverage.

Compact HTML (cHTML)

Subset of HTML 2.0, HTML 3.2, and HTML 4.0 specifications designed for limited hardware information appliances.

COW

Cell Site On Wheels. A mobile base station or site. Usually used to fill in or increase coverage.

CPE

Customer Premise Equipment. Any apparatus -including telephone handsets, PBX switching equipment, key and hybrid telephone systems, and add-on devices - that is physically located on a customer's property, as opposed to being housed in the telephone company's central office.

CPNI

Customer Proprietary Network Information. Carrier data about a specific customer’s service and usage.

CPP

Calling Party Pays. Service that charges the originator of a call to a wireless phone, rather than the receiver. Widely used in Europe, CPP is being adopted as a service option by some U.S. wireless carriers.

CRC

Cyclic Redundancy Check

CTIA

Cellular Telecommunications Industry Association

CVSD

Continuous Variable Slope Delta Modulation

DAC

Device Access Code

dB

Decibel - Unit for measuring relative strength of a signal parameter such as power, voltage, etc.

DCE

Data Communication Equipment or Data Circuit-Terminating Equipment. In serial communications, DCE refers to a device between the communication endpoints whose sole task is to facilitate the communications process; typically a modem.

DCI

Default Check Initialization

DECT

(Digital European Cordless Telephone) – Wireless and cordless office phone system in Europe.

DH

Data-High Rate

DIAC

Dedicated Inquiry Access Code

DID

Direct Inward Dialing. Method of connecting calls originating on the public switched telephone network directly to dial specified stations on a PBX system.

Dispatch Radio

Two-way radio used for taxis, trucks, and fleets; always on.

DM

Data Medium Rate. Data packet type for medium rate data

DOD

Direct Outward Dialing. Method of connecting stations on a PBX system to the public switched telephone network through the use of the station dial equipment only.

DSP

Digital Signal Processor. A specialized microprocessor that performs mathematical operations on a data stream in real-time to produce a second (modified) data stream.

DTE

Data Terminal Equipment. In serial communications, DTE refers to a device at the endpoint of the communications path; typically a computer or terminal.

DTMF

Dual Tone Multi-frequency - Method of signaling (dialing) using a tone pad. Each digit dialed generates a unique frequency which the central office is programmed to recognize as a particular digit.

Dual-Mode Handset

Cell phone that switches from analog to digital or from land-based to satellite or from cordless to cellular.

DV

Data Voice. Data packet type for data and voice

E-911

Enhanced 911. Wireless 911 service that provides the automatic number identification (ANI) and automatic location information of a wireless phone used to contact a 911 call center. This information makes it easier and faster for police and rescue services to locate someone in distress who is calling from a wireless phone.

EA

Economic Area License. Geographically defined licenses based on 176 "economic areas" delineated by the Bureau of Economic Analysis at the U.S. Department of Commerce. EAs can be grouped into 52 larger "major economic areas" or 12 "regional economic area groupings."

EDGE

Enhanced Data rates for Global Evolution; increased data throughput in GSM and TDMA systems to 384kbps.

EMC

Electromagnetic Compatibility. The capability of telecommunications equipment, subsystems, or systems to operate in their intended operational environments without suffering or causing unacceptable degradation because of electromagnetic radiation or response.

EMI

Electromagnetic Interference. Radiation leakage outside a transmission medium that results mainly from the use of high frequency wave energy and signal modulation. Appropriate shielding can reduce EMI.

ERMES

European Radio Messaging System. Paging system used in Europe and other parts of the world.

ESMR

Enhanced Specialized Mobile Radio. Digital version of SMR, which includes many features found on digital cellular and PCS phones, including messaging and data services.

ESN

Electronic Serial Number. The unique identification number embedded in a wireless phone by the manufacturer. Each time a call is placed, the ESN is automatically transmitted to the base station so the wireless carrier's mobile switching office can check the call's validity. The ESN cannot be altered in the field. The ESN differs from the mobile identification number, which is the wireless carrier's identifier for a phone in the network. MINs and ESNs can be electronically checked to help prevent fraud.

ETSI

European Telecommunications Standards Institute. European standards-setting body.

FAC

Frequency Advisory Committee. Committee authorized by the FCC to act as a frequency coordinator.

FCC

Federal Communications Commission. An independent federal agency of the U.S. government, authorized by the Communications Act of 1934, responsible for managing private and commercial communications spectrum and regulating communications services in the United States.

FDMA

Frequency-Division Multiple Access. Technology that divides the broadcast spectrum and dispenses it to multiple users. Users share the same spectrum by being assigned a certain frequency channel for use during a call.

FEC

Forward Error Correction code

FH

Frequency Hopping

FHMA

Frequency Hopping Multiple Access. Digital technology used in Geotek Communications SMR network.

FHS

Frequency Hop Synchronization

FireWire

Originally developed by Apple, this is an increasingly popular and very fast external bus for transferring data between devices; also known as IEEE 1394 for the name of the standard it engendered.

FLEX

A Motorola Inc.-licensed protocol that gives carriers more capacity on their networks and faster transmission times. Also refers to the FLEX family of protocols: FLEX, InFLEXion and ReFLEX.

FM

Frequency Modulation. A method of superimposing a signal on a carrier wave in which the frequency on the carrier wave is continuously varied.

FNPRM

Final Notice of Proposed Rulemaking. An FCC-issued document meant to solicit additional comment on future commission action.

FRS

Family Radio Service. Low power, short-range two-way radio service in the 460 MHz band.

FSK

Frequency Shift Keying. A common form of modulation using two separate frequencies to represent the two binary digits.

FW

Firmware

FWA

Fixed Wireless Access. Also known as Wireless Local Loop (WiLL), FWA is a fixed wireless service meant to compete with or substitute for local wirelines phone service.

GEOP

Generic Object Exchange Profile

GEOS

Geosynchronous Earth-Orbit Satellite system. A satellite communications system with satellites in geosynchronous orbits 22,300 miles above the equator.

GFSK

Gaussian Frequency Shift Keying

GIAC

General Inquiry Access Code

Globalstar

Second major LEO-based global communications system; initially created for voice, it was launched in late 1999.

GLONASS

Global Navigation System. Russian satellite location system, similar to GPS.

GM

Group Management

GMPCS

Global Mobile Personal Communications Services. Refers to future mobile satellite systems that will provide wireless phone service anywhere in the world.

GPRS

General Packet Radio Service allows packet rather than circuit switch connections on cellular networks. This allows high-speed mobile access and the ability to connect only to the mobile network when Internet access is required.

GPS

Global Positioning System. A system of 24 satellites for identifying earth locations, launched by the U.S. Department of Defense. By triangulation of signals from three of the satellites, a receiving unit can pinpoint its current location anywhere on earth to within a few meters.

GSM

Global System for Mobile Communications. Digital cell phone system used throughout Europe based on TDMA; introduced SIM card and short messaging (SMS); GSM has a maximum data transfer rate of 9.6kbps.

GSM-Plus

Enhanced version of GSM technology that will be developed to meet IMT-2000 capabilities.

GSM-R

GSM for railway networks. Uses standard base stations and switches to provide data transmission for railways.

GUI

Graphical User Interface. A computing term referring to an operating system or environment that displays options on the screen as graphical symbols, icons or photographs.

HCI

Host Controller Interface

HDML

Handheld Device Markup Language. A modification of standard HTML, developed by Unwired Planet, for use on small screens of mobile phones, PDAs, and pagers. HDML is a text-based markup language, which uses HyperText Transfer Protocol (HTTP) and is compatible with Web servers.

HDTV

High Definition Television. Digital television signals transmitted in the very high frequency band by national and local TV stations. HDTV promises improved image broadcasts and compact disc-quality sound.

HEC

Header-Error-Check

HID

Human Interface Device

HLR

Home Locator Registry

HomeRF

Wireless personal area network (PAN) from HomeRF Working Group; uses 2.4GHz band at 1mbps or 2mbps within 150-foot range.

HTML

HyperText Markup Language. An authoring software language used on the Web. HTML is used to create Web pages and hyperlinks.

HTML 1.0

i-Mode-compatible HTML that supports all iMode terminals.

HTML 2.0

i-Mode-compatible HTML that supports only the NTTDoCoMo 502i series terminals.

HTTP

HyperText Transfer Protocol. The protocol used by the Web server and the client browser to communicate and move documents around the Internet.

HW

Hardware

IAC

Inquiry Access Code

IDEN

Integrated Digital Enhanced Network. A Motorola Inc. enhanced specialized mobile radio network technology that combines two-way radio, telephone, text messaging and data transmission into one network.

IEEE

Institute of Electronic and Electrical Engineering

IETF

Internet Engineering Task Force

ILEC

Incumbent Local Exchange Carrier. The established or historic local phone service provider in a market. Usually a former Bell company.

i-Mode

Packet-based information service for mobile phones from NTT DoCoMo (Japan); first to provide Web browsing from cell phones.

IMSI

International Mobile Station Identifier. A number assigned to a mobile station by the wireless carrier uniquely identifying the mobile station nationally and internationally. See also MIN, TMSI

IMT 2000

International Mobile Telecommunications 2000; 3G wireless from the ITU; also known as third-generation mobile systems.

Intelsat

International Telecommunications Satellite Consortium. Formed in 1964 with the goal of creating a world wide satellite system.

IP

Internet Protocol; the IP part of the TCP/IP communications protocol. IP implements the network layer (layer 3) of the protocol, which contains a network address and is used to route a message to a different network or subnetwork. IP accepts "packets" from the layer 4 transport protocol (TCP or UDP), adds its own header to it, and delivers a "datagram" to the layer 2 data link protocol. It may also break the packet into fragments to support the maximum transmission unit (MTU) of the network.

IrDA

Infrared Data Association; based in Walnut Creek, California, a membership organization founded in 1993 and dedicated to developing standards for wireless, infrared transmission systems between computers. With IrDA ports, a laptop or PDA can exchange data with a desktop computer or use a printer without a cable connection. Like a TV remote control, IrDA requires line-of-sight transmission. IrDA products began to appear in 1995. The LaserJet 5P was one of the first printers with a built-in IrDA port.

IrDA port

A transmitter/receiver for infrared signals.

Iridium

First LEO-based global communications system backed by Motorola. Built primarily for voice transmissions, it was launched in 1998 and went into Chapter 11 in 1999.

IrMC

Ir Mobile Communications

IS

Interim Standard. American National Standards Institute’s designation, usually followed by a number, that refers to an accepted industry protocol; e.g. IS-95 or IS-136.

IS-136

Latest generation of TDMA technology.

IS-41

Network standard that allows all switches to exchange information about subscribers.

IS-54

First generation of TDMA technology.

IS-661

North American standard for 1.9 GHz wireless spread spectrum radio-frequency access technology developed by Omnipoint Corp. IS-661, for which Omnipoint was awarded a pioneer's preference license for the New York City market, is based on a composite of code division multiple access and time division multiple access technologies. The company says IS-661 reduces infrastructure costs and allows higher data speeds than mainstream GSM or TDMA platforms.

IS-95

CDMA standard.

ISDN

Integrated Services Digital Network. Advanced, high-capacity wireless technology used for high-speed data transfer.

ISM

Industrial, Scientific, Medical

ISO

International Standards Organization

ITU

International Telecommunications Union. Agency of the United Nations created to further the development of telecommunications services worldwide. ITU also oversees the global allocation of spectrum for future uses.

IUT

Implementation Under Test

IVR

Interactive Voice Response.

IXC

Interexchange Carrier. A long-distance phone company.

J2ME

Java 2 Micro Edition

Java

An object-oriented programming language developed by Sun Microsystems that creates applications that work on multiple operating systems.

Java Script

Programming language used to add dynamic behavior to HTML documents.

  JINI

Based on Java, this is a Sun system for easily connecting any type of devices, including a Net device, to a network.

KBPS

Kilobits per second

L_CH

Logical Channel

L2CAP

Logical Link Control and Adaptation Protocol

LAN

Local Area Network. A data communications network, typically within a building or campus, to link computers and peripheral devices under some form of standard control.

LAP

Lower Address Part

LBR

Low bit rate.

LC

Link Controller. Link Controller (or baseband) part of the Bluetooth protocol stack Low level Baseband protocol handler

  LCD

Liquid-crystal display, such as the screen found on an i-Mode cellular phone used for reading e-mails and accessing the Internet.

LCP

Link Control Protocol

LCSS

Link Controller Service Signaling

LEC

Local Exchange Carrier. A wireline phone company serving a local area.

LED

Light Emitting Diode. Light on a handset that alerts the user of various conditions or functions.

LEO

Low-Earth Orbit. Mobile communications satellite between 700 and 2,000 kilometers above Earth.

LFSR

Linear Feedback Shift Register

LM

Link Manager

LMP

Link Manager Protocol; responsible for link setup between Bluetooth devices, including security issues and controlling power modes of the Bluetooth Radio device.

LNP

Local Number Portability. Ability of phone service subscribers to change their local or wireless phone service provider and still retain the same phone number, as they can with long-distance carriers.

LSB

Least Significant Bit

M_ADDR

Medium Access Control Address

MAC

Medium Access Control

MAPI

Messaging Application Procedure Interface

MDS

Multipoint Distribution Service; licensed spectrum in the 2.1GHz band.

MED

Message Entry Device. A device that sends information into a paging network using TDP. This may be any type of device from a hand-held unit to a host computer.

MFJ

Modified Final Judgement. 1982 agreement between the Department of Justice and AT&T, which called for the divestiture of the local Bell telephone operating companies by AT&T.

Microbrowser

A Web browser specialized for a smart phone or a PDA and optimized to run in the low-memory and small-screen environment of a handheld device.

MIME

Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions. The standard format, developed and adopted by the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF), for including non-text information in Internet mail, thus supporting the transmission of mixed-media messages across TCP/IP networks. In addition to covering binary, audio, and video data, MIME is the standard for transmitting foreign language text which cannot be represented in ASCII code.

MIN

Mobile Identification Number. A number assigned by the wireless carrier to a customer's phone. The MIN is meant to be changeable, since the phone could change hands or a customer could move to another city. See also ESN, IMSI, TMSI.

MIPS

Millions of Instructions Per Second. Used to define digital signal processing (DSP) capabilities.

MMDS

Multipoint Multichannel Distribution Service; licensed spectrum in the 2.5GHz to 2.6GHz band; range is 30 miles or more.

MMI

Man Machine Interface

MMM

Mobile Media Mode is an icon that identifies Web content optimized for smart phones and handhelds.

Modem

MOdulator/DEModulator. A hardware device which converts digital data into analog and vice versa to enable digital signals from computers to be transmitted over analog telephone lines.

MOU

Minutes of Use. A measurement of wireless subscriber activity directly affecting revenue.

MS

Mobile Station; Multiplexing sublayer

MSA

Metropolitan Statistical Area. U.S. Census Bureau term referring to the coverage area of a city as in a wireless phone network. MSAs are the largest metro areas in the U.S. There are 306 MSA in the United States.

MSB

Most Significant Bit

MSC

Message Sequence Chart

MSS

Mobile Satellite Service.

MTA

Major Trading Area. Service area comprised of several contiguous BTAs. MTA’s were designed by Rand McNally and adopted by the FCC. There are 51 MTAs in the United States.

MTSO

Mobile Telephone Switching Office. The electronic "middleman" between cell sites and the public switched telephone network, processing traffic back and forth.

MTU

Maximum Transmission Unit

MUX

Multiplexing Sublayer. A sublayer of the L2CAP layer

NAK

Negative Acknowledge

NAM

Number Assignment Module. Component of a wireless phone that contains the telephone number and ESN of the phone.

NAMPS

Narrowband Advanced Mobile Phone System. Combines cellular voice processing with digital signaling to increase the capacity of AMPS systems and add functionality.

NANC

North American Numbering Council. The FCC advisory group formerly responsible for administering the North American Numbering Plan that oversees assignment of area codes, central office codes and other numbering issues in the United States, Canada, Bermuda and part of the Caribbean. NANP administration responsibility was transferred to Lockheed Martin.

NAP

Network Access Point.

Nextel

Nationwide wireless operator that acquired numerous SMR companies.

NIMBY

Not In My Backyard. Public sentiment that opposes local placement of "undesirable" facilities such as antenna towers or toxic waste dumps.

NOI

Notice of Inquiry. Often the predecessor to an FCC rulemaking, the NOI takes public comment on a general topic. For instance, an NOI would ask "Do interconnection rates need regulation?" The subsequent proposed rulemaking, if any, would offer a specific regulatory scheme and again be put to public comment.

NTT DoCoMo

Wireless division of Nippon Telegraph and Telephone; a Japanese cellular provider and chief developer of i-Mode.

NXX

Code that designates a specific central office. "N" is any number from 2 to 9. "X" is any number from 0 to 9.

OBEX

OBject EXchange protocol

OCF

Opcode Command Field

OpenAir

Wireless LAN standard from WLIF; based on Proxim's RangeLAN2 products.

OS

Operating System. A software program, which manages the basic operations of a computer system. These operations include memory apportionment, the order and method of handling tasks, flow of information into and out of the main processor and to peripherals, etc.

OTASP

Over-the-air Service Provisioning. The ability of carriers to add new types of services to a customer's handset by using the wireless network instead of requiring the customer to bring in the phone for reprogramming.

P- Java

Personal Java; Java API and specification for running Java applications on small devices.

PABX

Private Automatic Branch Exchange, now used interchangeably with PBX.

Packet

A piece of data transmitted over a packet-switching network such as the Internet; a packet includes not just data but also its destination.

PACS

Personal Access Communications System. An extended personal cordless technology developed by Hughes Network Systems Inc. and Bellcore, planned for implementation by C-Block licensee 21st Century Telesis.

PAM

Pulse Amplitude Modulation. Technique in which an analog speech signal is sampled at specific short intervals, and a numerical value representing the magnitude of the wave's amplitude at that point is assigned to each sample. The first step in pulse-coded modulation.

PAMR

Public Access Mobile Radio. The European designation for services similar to specialized mobile radio in the United States.

PAN

Personal Area Network.

Part 15 Rules

FCC ruling that permitted low-power, unlicensed wireless devices ranging from cordless phones and baby monitors to wireless LANs.

Part 68 - The FCC rules regulating the direct connection of non-telephone company-provided equipment to the public telephone network.

PBX

Private Branch Exchange. A private telephone switching system located on a customer's premises. Both PBX and hybrid PBX systems provide pooled access to a group of access lines typically by dialing "9" from an internal station set.

PCIA

Personal Communications Industry Association. Leading wireless industry trade association representing companies from all parts of the wireless industry, including PCS, paging, cellular, messaging, LMDS and SMR.

PCM

Pulse-Coded Modulation. The most frequently used method of converting analog signals into digital bits. The process involves transforming an analog wave into quantified steps, assigning the steps a discrete set of values and coding these values into a digital bit-stream. At the receiving end, the digital codes are transformed back into analog values and the original signal is reconstructed.

PCMCIA

Personal Computer Memory Card International Association

PCN

Personal Communications Network.

PCS

Personal Communications Services. Two-way, 1900 MHz digital voice, messaging and data service designed as the second generation of cellular. The FCC allocated the PCS spectrum in 1993 to increase competition in the mobile phone industry. The introduction of PCS added six possible new PCS players in most markets, which had previously been limited to 2 cellular companies.

PDA

Personal Digital Assistant. Portable computing devices capable of transmitting data. These devices make possible services such as paging, data messaging, electronic mail, stock quotations, handwriting recognition, personal computing, facsimile, date book, and other information-handling capabilities.

PDC

Personal Digital Communications; digital cell phone system in Japan.

PDU

Protocol Data Unit

PHS

Personal Handyphone System. The extended cordless system used primarily in Japan.

PIM

Personal Information Manager. Also known as a 'contact manager,' is a form of software that logs personal and business information, such as contacts, appointments, lists, notes, occasions, etc.

PIN

Personal Identification Number - A code used by a mobile telephone number in conjunction with an SIM card to complete a call.

PM_ADDR

Parked Member Address

PN

Pseudo-random Noise

PnP

Plug and Play

Pocket PC

A handheld Windows-based computer that runs the Pocket PC operating system (formerly Windows CE). The Pocket PC operating system (version 3.0 of Windows CE) adds a new interface along with greater stability, Pocket Office applications (Internet Explorer, Word, and Excel), handwriting recognition, an e-book reader, wireless Internet access, and longer battery life. The Pocket PC was designed to compete more directly with the popular Palm devices.

POCSAG

Post Office Code Standardization Advisory Group. Broadcasting standard used by paging carriers. Also known as CCIR #1.

POPS

Persons of Population. Wireless industry term for population or number of potential subscribers in a market.

POS

Point-of-Sale Terminal. A type of computer terminal used to collect and store retail sales data. Wireless POS terminals are often used for remote and temporary locations.

POTS

Plain Old Telephone Service. Refers to standard, wireline, land based telephone service.

PPM

Part Per Million

PPP

Point-to-Point Protocol

PRBS

Pseudo Random Bit Sequence

PRNG

Pseudo Random Noise Generation

PSAP

Public Safety Answering Point. The dispatch office that receives 911 calls from the public. A PSAP may be local fire or police department, an ambulance service or a regional office covering all services.

PSP

Payphone Service Provider.

PSTN

Public Switched Telephone Network. The worldwide voice telephone system, also called the Bell System in the United States.

PSWAC

Public Safety Wireless Advisory Committee. The FCC group that identified the safety community's wireless needs, motivating the commission's decision to reallocate 24 megahertz currently used by broadcasters to public safety agencies.

PTT

Postal, Telegraph and Telephone organization. Usually the governmental office that runs a foreign nation's communication system.

PUC

Public Utilities Commission. State regulatory administrative body that directs intrastate utilities, including telecommunications. Also known as Public Service Commission.

QoS

Quality of Service

RAM network

Earlier name for BellSouth Network.

RBOC

Regional Bell Operating Company. One of seven regional phone companies created from the AT&T divestiture in 1982.

RCC

Radio Common Carrier. Independent radio paging and mobile telecommunications companies that provide FCC-approved communications services through transmission of radio signals.

RF

Radio Frequency. A radio signal.

RFC

Request For Comments

RFCOMM

Serial cable emulation protocol based on ETSI TS 07.10

RHC

Regional Holding Company.- One of seven firms created from the AT&T divestiture, each of which acts as a holding company within a region of the United States for one or more of the twenty-two divested Bell operating companies, as well as for their unregulated subsidiaries.

Ricochet

A wireless Internet service from Metricom Incorporated, based in Los Gatos, California. It uses approximately 100 small "micro-cell" radio transceivers attached to utility poles within a 20-square-mile cell. Each cell has one wired access point, which is a T1, frame-relay connection to the Internet. Each micro-cell bounces digital signals from the mobile devices to other micro-cells and eventually to its wired access point. The transceivers in this MicroCellular Data Network (MCDN) employ 162 frequency-hopping channels in the 902MHz to 928MHz band from user to micro-cell. The 2.4GHz band is used in the rest of the system, and licensed spectrum in the 2.3GHz band is used for its high-speed service. Rocochet modems attach to laptops and other handhelds via the serial port.

RS-232

A technical specification published by the Electronics Institute Association that establishes interface requirements between modems, terminals, or computers, and communications lines.

RSA

Rural Service Area. One of the 428 FCC-designated rural markets across the United States. There are two cellular carriers licensed in each RSA.

RSSI

Received Signal Strength Indication

RX

Receiver

SAP

Service Access Points

SAR

Segmentation and Reassembly

S-Band

The frequency spectrum near 2 GHz used for land based microwave and some mobile satellite communications.

SCO link

Synchronous Connection-Oriented link. Supports time-bounded information like voice. (Master to single slave)

SD

Service Discovery

SDDB

Service Discovery Database

SDP

Service Discovery Protocol

SEQN

Sequential Numbering scheme

Short Messaging

Sending small text messages to cell phones; GSM pioneered Short Message Service (SMS), now used in all digital cell phones.

SIM card

Smart card that gives GSM phone its user identity; lets phones be easily rented or borrowed.

SM

Short Message.

SMR

Specialized Mobile Radio. A dispatch radio and interconnect service for businesses. Covers frequencies in the 220 MHz, 800 MHz and 900 MHz bands. Typical SMR users include police departments, taxi companies, and companies with delivery fleets.

SMS

Short Messaging Service; GSM coined the phrase, but similar text messaging is used in most digital cell phone systems.

SMT

Surface Mount Technology. A surface mount device is a component, either active or passive, having no separate leads but which is part of the component body to permit direct mounting on a printed circuit board.

SMTP

Simple Mail Transfer Protocol.

SRAM

Strategic Random Access Memory. A memory technology used in pagers and handsets. So named because it requires no refresh cycle, as required by dynamic RAM (DRAM) and therefore consumes less power. SRAM maintains data only while power is applied.

SRES

Signed Response

SS

Supplementary Services

SS7

Signaling System 7. An international high speed signaling backbone for the public switched telephone network.

SSI

Signal Strength Indication

SUT

System Under Test

SW

Software

Symphony

Wireless LAN geared for the home from Proxim.

TAE

Terminal Adapter Equipment

TAP

Telocator Alphanumeric Protocol. The precursor to TDP which is a simple protocol dedicated to the forwarding of alphanumeric pages. Although the features and capabilities of TAP are included in TDP, the TAP protocol may coexist with TDP. TAP is used to forward binary data to RF linked computers, if input is formatted and processed as described in the document referred to as the Telocator Format Conversion Process.

TC

Test Control. Test Control layer for the test interface

TCP/IP

Transmission control protocol/Internet protocol. A communications protocol developed under contract from the U.S. Department of Defense to network dissimilar systems. Invented by Vinton Cerf and Bob Kahn, this de facto Unix standard is the protocol of the Internet and has become the global standard for communications. TCP provides transport functions, which ensures that the total amount of bytes sent is received correctly at the other end. UDP is an alternate transport that does not guarantee delivery. It is widely used for real-time voice and video transmissions where erroneous packets are not retransmitted.

TCS

Telephony Control protocol Specification

TDD

Time Division Duplex.

TDMA

Time Division Multiple Access. A digital air interface technology used in cellular, PCS and ESMR networks. TDMA works by dividing the broadcast spectrum by time on one frequency to increase capacity. D-AMPS systems divide a 30 kHz band into enough time slices for three users.

TDP

Telocator Data Protocol. The integration of wireless communications, vehicle monitoring systems and location devices. (TDP) – This is the entire suite of protocols which together define the flow of messages from input devices through several processing steps until the entire message is received by an RF linked computer. The suite is comprised of several protocols: Telocator Message Entry (TME), Telocator Radio Transport Protocol (TRT), and Telocator Mobile Computer Protocol(TMC).

Terminal

Device providing the user with user agent capabilities; also, a mobile terminal or a mobile station.

TETRA

Terrestrial Trunked Radio. An open digital trunked radio standard defined by the European Telecommunications Standardization Institute.

TNPP

Telocator Network Paging Protocol. Signaling protocol developed and supported by Telocator that supports interconnection of terminals from different manufacturers into wide-area paging systems.

Trusted Device

A device that has been authenticated.

TTP

Tiny Transport Protocol between OBEX and UDP [TBD]

Two-Way Paging

The ability to receive and send data to the Internet by way of the paging network; also often called interactive paging.

TX

Transmit

UA

User Asynchronous

UAP

Upper Address Part

UART

Universal Asynchronous receiver Transmitter

UC

User Control

UDP/IP

User Datagram Protocol/Internet Protocol

UHF

Ultra High Frequency. ULS Referring to radio channels in the 300 MHz to 3 GHz band.

UI

User Isochronous

UIAC

Unlimited Inquiry Access Code

ULS

Universal Licensing System. The FCC Wireless Telecommunications Bureau program under which electronic filing of license applications and reports of changes to licenses creates a database that can be accessed remotely for searches. Using ULS, for example, the user can learn all the specialized mobile radio licenses in a given region.

UMTS

Universal Mobile Telecommunications System; a new-generation technology for rapidly moving data and multimedia over wireless devices. The European implementation of the 3G wireless phone system, UMTS provides service in the 2GHz band and offers global roaming and personalized features; designed as an evolutionary system for GSM network operators, multimedia data rates up to 2mbps are expected.

URL

Uniform resource locator; the address that defines the route to a file on the Web or any other Internet facility. URLs are typed into the browser to access Web pages, and URLs are embedded within the pages themselves to provide the hypertext links to other pages.

US

User Synchronous

USAT

Ultra Small Aperture Terminal. Satellite receive dishes for telemetry and other remote monitoring, usually smaller than VSATs.

USB

Universal Serial Bus

User

Person who interacts with the user agent to view, hear, or use a resource.

UT

Upper Tester

UWC-136

A third-generation (3G) wireless standard proposal based on TDMA technology that was developed by the Universal Wireless Communications Consortium and is on the 3G candidates submitted to the International Telecommunication Union by the United States.

UWCC

Universal Wireless Communications Consortium. Wireless industry group that supports IS-136 TDMA and IS-41 wireless intelligent network technology.

VHF

Very High Frequency. Referring to radio channels in the 30 to 300 MHz band.

VLR

Visitor Location Registry. A network database that holds information about roaming customers.

VSAT

Very Small Aperture Terminal - A small satellite dish installed at end-user locations.

W3C

World Wide Web Consortium; an international industry consortium founded in 1994 to develop common standards for the World Wide Web. It is hosted in the United States by the Laboratory for Computer Science at M.I.T.

WAN

Wide Area Network. A network that uses local telephone company lines to connect geographically dispersed sites. See LAN and MAN.

WAP

Wireless Applications Protocol. A proposed protocol for wireless applications. The protocol is designed to simplify how wireless users access electronic and voice mail, send and receive faxes, make stock trades, conduct banking transactions and view miniature Web pages on a small screen.

WAP gateway

Software that takes raw WML data and compiles it for the microbrowser and vice versa.

WBMP

Wireless bitmap; image format used in the Wireless Application Protocol.

WCDMA

Wideband CDMA; a 3G technology that increases data transmission rates in GSM systems by using CDMA instead of TDMA. WCDMA has become the Direct Sequence (DS) mode in the ITU's 3G specification, which includes the 1X Multi-Carrier mode (1X MC) and 3X Multi-Carrier mode (3X MC). 1X MC (formerly known as CDMA2000) and 3X MC comprise the 3G upgrade path for carriers already using CDMA (CDMA One).

WCS

Wireless Communications Services. Frequencies in the 2.3 GHz band designated for general fixed wireless use.

Web clipping

Extracting relevant information from a Web page for display on a smart phone or a PDA.

Web server

Network host that acts as an HTTP server; a computer that provides World Wide Web services on the Internet; it includes the hardware, operating system, Web server software, TCP/IP protocols, and the Web site content (Web pages).

WiLL

Wireless Local Loop (WiLL or WLL) – Also known as Fixed Wireless Access. WiLL is a fixed wireless service meant to compete with or substitute for local wirelines phone service.

WIN

Wireless Intelligent Network - The architecture of the wireless switched network that allows carriers to provide enhanced and customized services for mobile telephones.

Windows CE

A streamlined version of Windows from Microsoft for handheld PCs (HPCs) and consumer electronics devices. It runs Pocket versions of popular applications such as Microsoft Word and Excel as well as many applications that are geared specifically for the smaller platform. As of version 3.0, Windows CE was changed substantially and renamed Pocket PC.

Wireless

1) The latest digital radio communications technology found in cellular phones, pagers, PCS phones and other radio-based communications. 2) Using the radio-frequency spectrum for transmitting and receiving voice, data and video signals for communications.

Wireless Modem

A modem and antenna that transmits and receives over the air. Wireless modems come in several varieties, including units for CDPD, ARDIS, Mobitex, Ricochet, 802.11, OpenAir, BellSouth Intelligent Wireless Networks, and other proprietary products.

Wireless Portal

A Web site that supports a user with a smart phone or an alphanumeric pager. It may offer a variety of features, including providing a springboard to other (WAP-based) wireless sites, the ability to select content to be pushed to the user's device as well as providing a point of entry for anyone to send the user a message.

WLAN

Wireless LAN; a local area network that transmits over the air typically in an unlicensed frequency such as the 2.4GHz band. A wireless LAN does not require lining up devices for line-of-sight transmission like IrDA. Wireless access points (base stations) are connected to an Ethernet hub or server and transmit a radio frequency over an area of several hundred to a thousand feet and can penetrate walls and other nonmetal barriers. Roaming users can be handed off from one access point to another like a cellular phone system. Laptops use wireless modems that plug into an existing Ethernet port or that are self-contained on PC cards, while standalone desktops and servers use plug-in cards (ISA, PCI, and so on).

WLIF

Wireless LAN Interoperability Forum; a membership group that endorses products that are interoperable with major standards; supports OpenAir and 802.11.

WLL

Wireless Local Loop (WiLL or WLL). Also known as Fixed Wireless Access. WiLL is a fixed wireless service meant to compete with or substitute for local wirelines phone service.

WML

Wireless Markup Language; a markup language for devices using WAP. It is based on the Handheld Device Markup Language (HDML); ordinary Web browsers cannot read WML.

WMLS (WMLScript)

Wireless Markup Language Script; a subset of JavaScript, used to program mobile devices.

WPDA

Wireless Partnership for Donor Awareness. PCIA-led initiative to raise organ and tissue donor awareness.

WTO

World Trade Organization. An intergovernmental organization set up in 1995 to oversee the rules of international trade, thus helping smooth the flow of trade, resolve disputes and organize trade negotiations. The Geneva-based group, created as successor to the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade, in 1997 negotiated the agreement to open trade and investment in basic telecommunications and information technology products.

WWW

World Wide Web.

xDSL

Designation for digital subscriber line technology enabling simultaneous two-way transmission of voice and high-speed data over ordinary copper phone lines.

XML

Extensible Markup Language. An open standard for describing data from the W3C. It is used for defining data elements on a Web page and business-to-business documents. It uses a similar tag structure as HTML; however, whereas HTML defines how elements are displayed, XML defines what those elements contain. HTML uses predefined tags, but XML allows tags to be defined by the developer of the page. Thus, virtually any data items, such as product, sales rep, and amount due, can be identified, allowing Web pages to function like database records. By providing a common method for identifying data, XML supports business-to-business transactions and is expected to become the dominant format for electronic data interchange.

Y2K

Often used when describing the upgrade of computer systems that must acknowledge the new millennium for billing customers and for other purposes.

Zulu Time

Synonymous with Greenwich Meridian Time, a time designation used in satellite systems.