a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z
16-Point Quadrature Amplitude Modulation
A multi-level carrier modulation scheme with 16 constellation points arranged in a four-by-four square, with consequence that the constellation points are not equal in magnitude
One CDMA2000 Channel, Evolution - Data Optimized
A data-only evolution of the CDMA2000 standard that provides higher (DSL-like) data rates than can be supported by one CDMA2000 channel
Second Generation (Mobile Phone Technologies)
The first all-digital mobile phone technologies (examples of which include GSM, iDEN, IS-136 (DAMPS), IS-95 (cdmaOne) and PDC), which were primarily developed to transmit speech and low bit-rate data
Second and a Half Generation (Mobile Phone Technologies)
Evolutionary standards that added support for higher-rate circuit and packet-switched data services to existing 2G systems (examples of which include HSCSD, GPRS and the subsequent EDGE enhancements that include EGPRS)
Third Generation (Mobile Phone Technologies)
The second all-digital mobile phone technologies, developed within the scope of the ITU’s IMT-2000 project to transmit speech and high-speed data (examples of which include CDMA2000, TD-SCDMA, UTRA FDD and UTRA TDD)
Third and a Half Generation (Mobile Phone Technologies)
Used to describe the high data rate enhancements to 3G systems (an example of which is HSDPA)
Third Generation Partnership Project
A co-operation between ETSI (Europe), ARIB/TTC (Japan), CCSA (China), ATIS (North America) and TTA (South Korea) to define a globally applicable 3G specification within the scope of the ITU’s IMT-2000 project, which produced the system now generally known as UMTS that is based on evolved GSM specifications
3GPP is a registered trademark of European Telecommunications Standards Institute
Third Generation Partnership Project 2
A co-operation between ARIB/TTC (Japan), CCSA (China), TIA (North America) and TTA (South Korea) to define a globally applicable 3G specification within the scope of the ITU’s IMT-2000 project, which produced the system now generally known as CDMA2000 that is based on evolved cdmaOne specifications
Fourth Generation (Mobile Phone Technologies)
Used to describe technologies that provide wireless WAN-type access for nomadic and mobile users with data rates of 20 Mbps or more
IEEE 802.11b Standard
A variant of the IEEE 802.11 wireless LAN standard that operates in the 2.4 GHz band and uses an CDMA modulation scheme to support data rates up to 11 Mbps (see also Wi-Fi)
Asian Cellular Satellite System
Geostationary earth orbit MSS designed for the Asia-Pacific region, with an air interface that is similar to GSM
Acquisition Indicator Channel
UTRA FDD downlink acquisition channel
Access Preamble - Acquisition Indicator Channel
UTRA FDD downlink acquisition channel
Application-Specific Integrated Circuit
A custom silicon device that is faster and more energy efficient than a FPGA because its function is fixed at manufacture, but it is not a programmable device and is therefore not as flexible as a FPGA
Auxiliary Terrestrial Component
A terrestrial mobile phone network that enhances the coverage of an associated MSS
An industry-wide standard (developed by Intel®, Microsoft®, IBM®, Ericsson®, Nokia®, Toshiba® and Puma Technology) for wireless PANs that provides communications between computers, PDAs and mobile phones
Bluetooth is a registered trademark of Bluetooth SIG, Inc
"C Plus Plus" Programming Language
A computer programming language evolved from 'C' with object-oriented enhancements invented by Bjarne Stroustrup and others
Collision Detection/Channel Assignment Indication Channel
UTRA FDD downlink assignment channel
Code Division Multiple Access
A wideband modulation scheme that uses spreading codes to ‘spread’ the bandwidth of each traffic channel across the entire system channel bandwidth (examples include cdmaOne, Globalstar, CDMA2000, UTRA FDD, 802.11b and UTRA FDD)
An open standard 3G mobile phone technology based on CDMA and evolved from cdmaOne; also known as CDMA2000 1xRTT, where 1xRTT denotes one channel Radio Transmission Technology (see 1xEV-DO and CDMA450)
CDMA2000 is a registered trademark of Telecommunications Industry Association
A CDMA system developed for deployment at 450 MHz that is based on CDMA2000
CDMA450 is a registered trademark of Telecommunications Industry Association
An open standard 2G mobile phone technology based on CDMA, originally pioneered by Qualcomm®, Inc
Carrier-to-Interference Ratio
The ratio between the wanted signal power (the carrier) and the total interference power from other transmissions (synonymous with SIR)
Common Packet Channel
UTRA FDD uplink packet channel
Cognitive Radio
‘Intelligent’ radio systems that can select how the spectrum is used by choosing the frequency band, communication technology and/or transmission data rate to maximise spectral efficiency; a fully cognitive radio would be a SDR
CPCH Status Indicator Channel
UTRA FDD downlink CPCH status channel
Comma Separated Value
The format of a computer text file that contains data with adjacent fields separated by commas
Digital Audio Broadcasting
An open standard for terrestrial digital broadcast radio that uses Coded OFDM technology
DAB is a registered trademark of Koninklijke Philips Electronics N.V.
Digital Enhanced Cordless Telecommunications
An ETSI digital wireless communications standard for use over short ranges in homes and offices that is often used to connect a 'cordless' handset to a land line
DECT is a registered trademark of European Telecommunications Standards Institute
Dedicated Physical Control Channel
UTRA FDD physical control channel providing signalling to and from an individual terminal
Dedicated Physical Data Channel
UTRA FDD physical data channel that conveys data to and from an individual terminal
Digital Multimedia Broadcasting
A standard based on DAB for broadcasting digital video data to mobile devices that is available in satellite (S-DMB) and terrestrial (T-DMB) versions (an alternative to DVB-H)
DMB is a registered trademark of Blaupunkt GmbH
Digital Subscriber Line
A variety of systems for transmitting high-speed data across existing telephones lines, with downlink data rates from 0.5 Mbps up to 8 Mbps for Asymmetric DSL (ADSL)
Digital Signal Processor
A computer processor optimised for performing mathematical calculations at high speed, such as those used in signal processing
Dynamic Source Routing
An Internet routing protocol for wireless mesh/ad hoc networks (see IP and TCP/IP)
Digital Video Broadcasting - Handheld
One of the family of DVB standards published by ETSI for broadcasting digital TV channels that is optimised for transmission to mobile (handheld) devices (an alternative to DMB)
DVB is a registered trademark of DVB Project
Enhanced Data Rates for GSM Evolution
2.5G enhancements for the GSM data services that include a packet-data enhancement (called EGPRS) and a circuit-switched enhancement (called ESCD), although only the packet-data version is being developed and deployed
Enhanced General Packet Radio Service
A 2.5G standard for GSM that supports higher packet data rates than GPRS
European Telecommunications Standards Institute
An independent, non-profit organisation responsible for the standardisation of information and communication technologies within Europe
Federal Communications Commission
The US government agency responsible for regulating television, radio, satellite and cable
Frequency Division Duplex
A system configured so that the transmit and receive signals use separate frequency bands enabling simultaneous transmission and reception of signals
Frequency Modulation
Modulation of a carrier frequency by varying only the frequency of the carrier to encode an information signal to produce a constant envelope signal for transmission
Field Programmable Gate Array
A programmable semiconductor device that is often used to perform very fast logic processing, and although generally slower and less energy efficient than an ASIC it is less expensive to design and manufacture
Fast Low-latency Access with Seamless Handoff Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplex
An IP-based wireless access system
FLASH-OFDM is a registered trademark of Flarion Technologies, Inc
A worldwide 40-satellite low earth orbit MSS that uses a secure CDMA technology
Globalstar is a registered trademark of Globalstar, LP
General Packet Radio Service
A 2.5G standard that provides increased data rates for GSM
Global Positioning System
An accurate positioning system designed by the US Department of Defense that uses satellites to provide signals that a GPS receiver can use to calculate its longitude and latitude coordinates
GSM®
Global System for Mobile Communications
An open standard 2G mobile phone technology that is currently being developed by 3GPP
GSM is a registered trademark of the GSM MoU Association
GSM-Railway
A version of the GSM standard enhanced for deployment on trains
GSM is a registered trademark of the GSM MoU Association
High Altitude Platform
An airship or slow moving plane that provides wide-area terrestrial mobile radio service
Hybrid Automatic Request
A UMTS enhancement to provide increased downlink data rates that is defined in Release 5 of the UMTS specifications and is part of HSDPA
High-Speed Dedicated Physical Control Channel
A channel added to UMTS to provide acknowledgements for received downlink packets and also feedback on the quality of the downlink channel. It is defined in Release 5 of the UMTS specifications and is part of HSDPA
High-Speed Downlink Shared Channel
A channel added to UMTS to increase downlink data rates that is defined in Release 5 of the UMTS specifications and is part of HSDPA
High-Speed Physical Downlink Shared Channel
A channel added to UMTS to increase downlink data rates that is defined in Release 5 of the UMTS specifications and is part of HSDPA
High-Speed Shared Control Channel
A channel added to UMTS to increase downlink data rates that is defined in Release 5 of the UMTS specifications and is part of HSDPA
High Speed Downlink Packet Access
A UMTS enhancement to provide increased downlink data rates that is defined in Release 5 of the UMTS specifications
Hypertext Markup Language
A file format that specifies how World Wide Web browsers should display text and graphics
A proprietary TDD system for mobile broadband data transmissions
iBurst is a registered trademark of ArrayComm, Inc
A worldwide 10-satellite medium earth orbit MSS
ICO is a registered trademark of the ICO group of companies
integrated Digital Enhanced Network
A proprietary 2G mobile phone technology developed by Motorola®, Inc
Institution of Electrical Engineers
A UK-based international professional organisation for electronics, electrical, manufacturing and IT professionals
IEE is a registered trademark of Institution of Electrical Engineers
Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers
An international engineering organisation established to promote the advancement of electrical, electronic and computer engineering, as well as computer science, by supporting education and research and managing technical standards
IEEE is a registered trademark of The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc
International Mobile Telecommunications 2000
A family of 3G standards including EDGE, DECT, CDMA2000, UTRA FDD and UTRA TDD
A proprietary worldwide 11-satellite geostationary MSS
Inmarset is a registered trademark of International Mobile Satellite Organization
Internet Protocol
The Internet protocol is the Network Layer (Layer 3) of the TCP/IP protocol suite and is responsible for sending data packets (or datagrams) from their source to their final destination
A proprietary worldwide 66-satellite low earth orbit MSS
Iridium is a registered trademark of Iridium Satellite LLC
Interim Standard 95, also known as TIA-EIA-95
See cdmaOne
International Telecommunication Union
A United Nations organisation established to facilitate the coordination of global telecommunications networks and services
Local Area Network
The localised interconnectivity of computers to allow resources and data to be shared (see Wi-Fi)
Metropolitan Area Network
The district-wide interconnectivity of computers to allow resources and data to be shared (see WiMAX)
Mobile Broadband Wireless Access
A generic name for systems that provide mobile wireless broadband Internet access over a wide area (examples include MobileFi and FLASH-OFDM)
Multiple-Input Multiple-Output
A term recently applied to the use of multiple antennas to transmit and receive signals, increasing diversity by increasing the number of signal paths used from a multi-path environment
Mobile Fidelity
Brand name for the IEEE 802.20 MBWA standard
Mobile Satellite System
A mobile phone network with coverage provided by satellites that may be enhanced by ATCs (examples include ACeS, Globalstar, ICO, Inmarsat and Iridium)
Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplex
A wideband modulation scheme (used in some 3G systems, wireless LANs, and potentially, 4G systems) with a distinguishing characteristic that the channel spectrum is split into a number of discrete tones or sub-carriers that are modulated individually (examples include FLASH-OFDM, DMB, DVB-H and Wi-Fi)
Personal Area Network
A localised network for connecting computers, mobile phones and PDAs (see Bluetooth)
Primary Common Control Physical Channel
UTRA FDD downlink physical control channel
Personal Communications Network
A mobile phone technology deployed at 1800 MHz in Europe and Asia Pacific, also known as GSM1800
Physical Common Packet Channel
UTRA FDD uplink physical packet channel
Primary Common Pilot Channel
UTRA FDD downlink physical pilot channel
Personal Communications Services
Cellular phone technologies deployed at 1900 MHz in the US, which include GSM1900
Personal Digital Assistant
A handheld computer commonly used as a personal organiser, which is often able to communicate with other computers using interface standards like USB, Wi-Fi or Bluetooth
Portable Document Format
A proprietary file format created by Adobe® for storing documents efficiently and ensuring that documents are printed reliably
Physical Downlink Shared Channel
UTRA FDD downlink physical channel
Paging Indicator Channel
UTRA FDD downlink paging channel
Private Mobile Radio
Private and secure digital systems with dispatch and broadcast functions that normally utilise handsets with walkie-talkie capability
Physical Random Access Channel
UTRA FDD uplink physical channel
Quadrature Phase Shift Keying
A carrier modulation scheme with four constellation points of equal magnitude, although the modulated signal does not have a constant envelope
Radio Access Network
The component parts of the mobile radio network infrastructure that manage and facilitate communications between the mobiles and the core network
Radio Frequency
Electromagnetic radiation in the frequency range from 30 kHz to 300 GHz
Radio Frequency Identification
The ability to identify items (eg, stock in a warehouse) using RF tags and detectors
Request for Proposal
A request from an organisation for potential vendors to submit a proposal to undertake work, develop or supply a product
Really Simple Syndication
A technology that allows people to subscribe to receive updates from web sites that provide RSS feeds, which are typically sites that change or add content regularly
Received Signal Strength Indication
A measurement of the signal strength of a certain frequency or bandwidth
Secondary Common Control Physical Channel
UTRA FDD downlink physical control channel
Secondary Common Pilot Channel
UTRA FDD downlink physical pilot channel
Synchronisation Channel
UTRA FDD downlink physical synchronisation channel
Software Defined Radio
Radio receiver and transmitter hardware that can be re-configured in software to demodulate and decode, or encode and modulate different communications technologies (due to extensive use of digital processing techniques)
Signal-to-Interference Ratio
See C/I
Specialised Mobile Radio
Traditionally analogue FM radio systems that provide dispatch capabilities that are now being replaced by digital systems (see PMR)
Signal-to-Noise Ratio
The ratio between the wanted signal power and the background noise
Transmission Control Protocol / Internet Protocol
The set of communication protocols that comprise the protocol stack that is the basis of the Internet
Time Division-Code Division Multiple Access
A commercial implementation of the UTRA TDD radio interface marketed by IPWireless™, Inc
Time Division Duplex
A system configured so that the transmit and receive signals use a common RF carrier but are separated by time
Time Division Multiple Access
A system configured so that different traffic channels are allocated different time slots of the same RF carrier, allowing multiple users to share a single RF carrier
Time Division Synchronous Code Division Multiple Access
An open UTRA LCR TDD standard proposed by the CWTS group, and developed jointly by the Chinese Academy of Telecommunications Technology and Siemens AG that uses chip-level uplink synchronisation to simplify the uplink receivers
Terrestrial Trunked Radio
An open digital PMR standard defined by ETSI for digital trunked radio that is used in the main by public safety organisations and other closed user groups
TETRA is a registered trademark of The Tetra Mou Association Limited
TETRA Release 2.0
An enhanced version of TETRA that provides increased packet data rates, improved speech codecs, improved coverage, decreased handset size and inter-working between TETRA and other mobile phone networks
TETRA is a registered trademark of The Tetra Mou Association Limited
An open digital PMR standard for digital trunked radio that is used in the main by public safety organisations and other closed user groups
TETRAPOL is a registered trademark of Eads Telecom
Universal Mobile Telecommunications System
An open standard 3G mobile phone technology that is currently being developed by 3GPP and includes the UTRA FDD, UTRA TDD and UTRA LCR TDD variants
UMTS is a registered trademark of European Telecommunications Standards Institute
Uniform Resource Locator
A standardised address name layout that is used to identify resources (such as documents or images) on the Internet
Universal Serial Bus
A serial communications port standard for PCs, peripherals and other electronic devices
UMTS Terrestrial Radio Access
The radio access interface of UMTS
FDD variant of UTRA, also known as Wideband CDMA (or W-CDMA)
Low Chip Rate TDD variant of UTRA, which has a chip rate 1.28 Mcps (see TD-SCDMA and UTRA TDD)
TDD variant of UTRA, which has a chip rate 3.84 Mcps, and is therefore also known as High Chip Rate (HCR) TDD (see UTRA LCR TDD and TD-CDMA)
Ultra WideBand
Systems with a fractional bandwidth (a quantity calculated as the bandwidth divided by the operating frequency) greater than 25%, although the FCC's definition of UWB is a system with a fractional bandwidth greater than 20% or a system with a bandwidth greater than 500 MHz
World Wide Web Consortium
An international consortium that works to develop standards for the World Wide Web
W3C is a registered trademark of Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Wide Area Network
The wide area (potentially nationwide) interconnectivity of computers to allow resources and data to be shared (see also MAN and 4G)
Wireless Fidelity
The brand name for the IEEE 802.11 wireless LAN standard
Wi-Fi is a registered trademark of Wi-Fi Alliance
Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access
The brand name for the IEEE 802.16 high speed wireless MAN standard
Extensible Hypertext Markup Language
A markup language that has the same expressive possibilities as HTML, but a stricter syntax
The brand name for the IEEE 802.15.4 wireless network standard for low bit rate/low power communications