Installation Manual

Product Glossary - R0.1 glossary-7
CONFIDENTIAL & PROPRIETARY
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backhaul
A transmission path used to move traffic to/from a remote location from/to a
central location. The message can be routed “out of its way” so that it arrives
at its destination more quickly. A network can perform a back haul
transmission if a direct communication link is busy and an indirect link would
be faster. (The verb form is back haul.)
bandwidth
The range of frequencies over which a signal is transmitted.
BER
See Bit Error Rate (BER).
Bit Error Rate (BER)
The number of bit errors detected – displayed as the ratio of the average
number of errored bits in a given number of bits sent. The BER is used to
measure transmission quality. For example, a BER of 10
–12
is equivalent to
one error in a trillion bits, which means that for:
n SONET OC-3, one error bit is detected approximately every 1.8
hours
n Fast Ethernet, one error bit is detected approximately every 2.8 hours.
BNC connector
Bayonet Neil-Concelman connector. A bayonet type of connector for coaxial
cables in an Ethernet network.
C
Central Office (CO)
Location at which one or more switches reside for aggregating voice or data
traffic.
Central Processing Unit (CPU)
Central controller that coordinates functions in the IFU.
channel
Physical medium through which signals are transmitted. In optical fiber
transmissions, a channel is a separate wavelength of light within a combined
multiplexed light stream.
channelization
Logically subdividing a frequency (normally assigned by a regulatory agency
for the delivery of broadband wireless services).