Technology Glossary - LevelOne WBR-3601 User Manual

Technology Glossary

10Base-T
An adaptation of the Ethernet standard for Local Area Network (LAN). 10Base-T uses a twisted pair
cable with maximum length of 100 meters.
AAL
ATM Adaptation Layer that defines the rules governing segmentation and reassembly of data into
cells. Different AAL types are suited to different traffic classes.
Address mask
A bit mask used to select bits from an Internet address for subnet addressing. The mask is 32 bits
long and selects the network portion of the Internet address and one or more bits of the local
portion. Sometimes called subnet mask.
ADSL
Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line, as it's name showing, is an asymmetrical data transmission
technology with high traffic rate downstream and low traffic rate upstream. ADSL technology
satisfies the bandwidth requirement of applications, which demand "asymmetric" traffic, such as
web surfing, file download and Video-on-demand (VOD).
ATM
Asynchronous Transfer Mode is a layer 2 protocol supporting high-speed asynchronous data with
advanced traffic management and quality of service features.
bps
Bits per second. A standard measurement of digital transmission speeds.
Bridge
A device that connects two or more physical networks and forwards packets between them. Bridges
can usually be made to filter packets, that is, to forward only certain traffic. Related devices are:
repeaters which simply forward electrical signals from one cable to the other, and full-fledged
routers which make routing decisions based on several criteria.
CPE
Customer Premises Equipment, such as ADSL router, USB modem.
DHCP
Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol. Used for assigning dynamic IP address to devices on a
network. Used by ISPs for dialup users.
DNS
Domain Name Server, translates domain names into IP addresses to help user recognize and
remember. However, the Internet actually runs on numbered IP addresses, DNS servers needs to
translate domain names back to their respective IP addresses.
DSL
Digital Line Subscriber (DSL) technology provides high-speed access over twisted copper pair for
connection to the Internet, LAN interfaces, and to broadband services such as video-on-demand,
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