Appendix C: Glossary - Linksys WAP55AG User Manual

Appendix C: Glossary

802.11a - One of the IEEE standards for wireless networking hardware.
Products that adhere to a specific IEEE standard will work with each other,
even if they are manufactured by different companies. It specifies a maximum
data transfer rate of 54Mbps and an operating frequency of 5GHz. The 802.11a
standard uses the Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM) trans-
mission method. Additionally, the 802.11a standard supports 802.11 features
such as WEP encryption for security.
802.11b - One of the IEEE standards for wireless networking hardware.
Products that adhere to a specific IEEE standard will work with each other,
even if they are manufactured by different companies. The 802.11b standard
specifies a maximum data transfer rate of 11Mbps, an operating frequency of
2.4GHz, and WEP encryption for security. 802.11b networks are also referred
to as Wi-Fi networks.
802.11g - A proposed, but as yet unratified extension of the IEEE 802.11 stan-
dard for wireless networking hardware. The draft 802.11g specifications used
by Linksys specify a maximum data transfer rate of 54Mbps using OFDM
modulation, an operating frequency of 2.4GHz, backward compatibility with
IEEE 802.11b devices, and WEP encryption for security.
Adapter - Printed circuit board that plugs into a PC to add to capabilities or
connectivity to a PC. In a networked environment, a network interface card is
the typical adapter that allows the PC or server to connect to the intranet and/or
Internet.
Ad-hoc Network - An ad-hoc network is a group of computers, each with a
wireless adapter, connected as an independent 802.11 wireless LAN. Ad-hoc
wireless computers operate on a peer-to-peer basis, communicating directly
with each other without the use of an access point. Ad-hoc mode is also
referred to as an Independent Basic Service Set (IBSS) or as peer-to-peer
mode, and is useful at a departmental scale or SOHO operation.
Backbone - The part of a network that connects most of the systems and net-
works together and handles the most data.
Bandwidth - The transmission capacity of a given facility, in terms of how
much data the facility can transmit in a fixed amount of time; expressed in bits
per second (bps).
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Instant Wireless ® Series Dual-Band Wireless A + G Access Point
Beacon Interval - A beacon is a packet broadcast by the Access Point to keep
the network synchronized. A beacon includes the wireless LAN service area,
the AP address, the Broadcast destination addresses, a time stamp, Delivery
Traffic Indicator Maps, and the Traffic Indicator Message (TIM).
Bit - A binary digit. The value - 0 or 1-used in the binary numbering system.
Also, the smallest form of data.
Boot - To cause the computer to start executing instructions. Personal comput-
ers contain built-in instructions in a ROM chip that are automatically executed
on startup. These instructions search for the operating system, load it and pass
control to it.
Bridge - A device that interconnects different networks together.
Browser - A browser is an application program that provides a way to look at
and interact with all the information on the World Wide Web or PC. The word
"browser" seems to have originated prior to the Web as a generic term for user
interfaces that let you browse text files online.
BSS (Basic Service Set) - An infrastructure network connecting wireless
devices to a wired network using a single access point.
Buffer - A buffer is a shared or assigned memory area used by hardware
devices or program processes that operate at different speeds or with different
sets of priorities. The buffer allows each device or process to operate without
being held up by the other. In order for a buffer to be effective, the size of the
buffer and the algorithms for moving data into and out of the buffer need to be
considered by the buffer designer. Like a cache, a buffer is a "midpoint holding
place" but exists not so much to accelerate the speed of an activity as to sup-
port the coordination of separate activities.
CSMA/CA (Carrier Sense Multiple Access/Collision Avoidance) - In local
area networking, this is the CSMA technique that combines slotted time-divi-
sion multiplexing with carrier sense multiple access/collision detection
(CSMA/CD) to avoid having collisions occur a second time. This works best if
the time allocated is short compared to packet length and if the number of sit-
uations is small.
CTS (Clear To Send) - An RS-232 signal sent from the receiving station to the
transmitting station that indicates it is ready to accept data.
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