ATM Configuration and Management Manual

ATM Configuration and Management Manual—522307-003
Glossary-1
Glossary
3865 Gigabit Ethernet ServerNet adapter (GESA). See Gigabit Ethernet ServerNet
adapter (GESA).
AAL. See ATM Adaptation Layer (AAL).
AAL-5. See ATM Adaptation Layer Type 5 (AAL-5).
adapter. See ServerNet adapter.
Address Resolution Protocol (ARP) . The procedures and messages in a
communications protocol that determine which physical network address corresponds
to the IP address in the packet.
AMP. See ATM Management Process (AMP).
API. See application program interface (API).
application program interface (API). A set of services (such as programming language
functions or procedures) that are called by an application program to communicate with
other software components. For example, an application program in the form of a client
might use an API to communicate with a server program.
ARP. See Address Resolution Protocol (ARP).
ASM. See ATM Subsystem Manager (ASM).
asynchronous. A mode of serial-data transmission in which characters are sent at random;
there is no timing relationship between the end of one character and the start of the
next, that is, the transmission is not synchronized with a separate clock signal. The
data contains extra bits: a start bit to signal the beginning of a byte and one or more
stop bits to signal the end of the byte. These start and stop bits allow the receiver to
determine the correct synchronization.
ATM 3 ServerNet Adapter (ATM3SA). A ServerNet adapter that provides access to ATM
networks from a NonStop S-series server. The 3860 ATM3SA supports the ATM UNI
specification over a 155Mbps OC-3 Sonet connection.
ATM Adaptation Layer (AAL). The standards layer that allows multiple applications to have
data converted to and from the ATM cell. A protocol used that translates higher layer
services into the size and format of an ATM cell.
ATM Adaptation Layer Type 5 (AAL-5). AAL functions in support of variable bit rate, delay-
tolerant data traffic requiring some sequencing and/or error detection support.
Originally two AAL types, i.e. connection oriented and connectionless, which have
been combined.