Specifications

Glossary
Address
A coded representation of the origin or destination of data.
Agent
In SNMP, this refers to the managed system.
Attenuation
Signal power loss through equipment, lines or other transmission
devices. Measured in decibels.
Balanced
A transmission line in which voltages on the two conductors are equal
in magnitude, but opposite in polarity, with respect to ground.
Balanced Line
A circuit in which neither side of the line is grounded. This minimizes
crosstalk or noise pickup between pairs in the same cable.
Baud
Unit of signaling speed equivalent to the number of discrete
conditions or events per second. If each signal event represents only
one bit condition, baud rate equals bps (bits per second).
Bit
The smallest unit of information in a binary system. Represents either
a one or zero (“1” or “0”).
Buffer
A storage device. Commonly used to compensate for differences in
data rates or event timing when transmitting from one device to
another. Also used to remove jitter.
Carrier
A continuous signal at a fixed frequency that is capable of being
modulated with a second (information carrying) signal.
Cell
The 53-byte basic information unit within an ATM network. The user
traffic is segmented into cells at the source and reassembled at the
destination. An ATM cell consists of a 5-byte ATM header and a 48-
byte ATM payload, which contains the user data.
Channel
A path for electrical transmission between two or more points. Also
called a link, line, circuit or facility.
Clock
A term for the source(s) of timing signals used in synchronous
transmission.
Control Signals
Signals passing between one part of a communications system and
another (such as RTS, DTR, or DCD), as part of a mechanism for
controlling the system.
CTS (Clear To Send)
A modem interface control signal from the data communications
equipment (DCE) indicating to the data terminal equipment (DTE) that
it may begin data transmission.
Data
Information represented in digital form, including voice, text, facsimile
and video.
dBm
A measure of power in communications: the decibel in reference to
one milliwatt (0 dBm = 1 milliwatt and -30 dBm = .001 milliwatt).
Diagnostics
The detection and isolation of a malfunction or mistake in a
communications device, network or system.