Glossary of Terms and Abbreviations
| 3G; 4G | 3rd Generation; 4th Generation |
| Access network |
Cell sites |
| API | Applications Program Interface |
| ARPU | Average revenue per user |
| ATM | Abbreviation for asynchronous transfer mode |
| Backhaul | 1. The practice of routing telecommunications traffic beyond its intended destination, and then back to the intended destination, usually for the purpose of taking advantage of tariffs or prices that are lower than those afforded by direct routing. 2. In security, to bring a call that has been routed along a particular path (usually via satellite) to some earlier position in the switching sequence (also using satellites). Note: The technique supports CALEA, the Communications Assistance to Law Enforcement Act and LAES, Lawfully Authorized Electronic Surveillance. 3. In commercial telephone networks, referring to a trunk or line between two central offices that may not share the same facilities or geographic location, and which trunk is used to support special services, e.g., order wires, off-premises extensions, common exchange number routing, or least-cost routing of customer centrex services. 4. In mission programs requiring contingency networking, referring to a link that provides feedback to the mission control center to verify that the transmission via a primary communications has been successful. Note: In cases where the primary path fails to deliver the transmission, the communications may occur over the backhaul connection or an alternative network connection. 5. In contingency networking, an alternative connection that is routed via a diversified path, e.g., an alternative frequency, satellite facility, cable, trunk, or time slot. |
| Bandwidth (BW) | 1. The difference between the limiting frequencies within which performance of a device, in respect to some characteristic, falls within specified limits. 2. The difference between the limiting frequencies of a continuous frequency band. 3. A characteristic of a communication channel that is the amount of information that can be passed through it in a given amount of time, usually expressed in bits per second [TCSEC]. |
| BOM | Bill of Materials |
| BSS | Business Support System |
| Build-out delay | The maximum variable transmission and processing delay that is permitted in a wideband network. Each PVP (packetized voice protocol) node records the delay that it adds and updates accordingly the TS (time stamp) value in the packet header. When the terminating endpoint of a PVP node receives a voice packet, the provisioned build-out and the time stamp value are compared. If the TS value is larger than the build-out, the PVP node drops the packet. If the delay is less than the provisioned build-out, the packet is delayed by the difference between the two values. |
| CAD | Abbreviation for computer-aided design |
| CLEC | Competitive Local Exchange Carrier |
| Coaxial Cable (COAX) | A cable consisting of a center conductor surrounded by an insulating material and a concentric outer conductor and optional protective covering, all of circular cross-section. Synonym (when combined with others under a common sheath) coaxial tube. 2. A cable consisting of multiple coaxial tubes under a single protective sheath. Note: Coaxial cables are used primarily for CATV and other wideband, video, or rf applications. |
| CRM | Customer Relationship Management |
| CSP | 1. Content Service Provider, 2. Communication Service Providers |
| CWDM | Coarse Wave Division Multiplexing |
| DPV | Delivery Point Validated |
| DSL | Digital Subscriber Line |
| DWDM | Dense Wavelength Division Multiplexing. Multiplexing using close spectral spacing of individual optical carriers (wavelengths) to take advantage of desirable transmission characteristics (e.g., minimum dispersion or attenuation) within a given fiber, while reducing the total fiber count needed to provide a given amount of information. |
| EDGE | Enhanced Date-Rate for GSM Evolution |
| EMEA | Europe, Middle East and Africa |
| ERP | 1. Effective Radiated Power, 2. Enterprise Resource Planning |
| Ethernet | A standard protocol (IEEE 802.3) for a 10-Mb/s baseband local area network (LAN) bus using carrier-sense multiple access with collision detection (CSMA/CD) as the access method, implemented at the Physical Layer in the ISO Open Systems Interconnection--Reference Model, establishing the physical characteristics of a CSMA/CD network. Note 1: Ethernet is a standard for using various transmission media, such as coaxial cables, unshielded twisted pairs, and optical fibers. Note 2: The IEEE-802.3 standard is based on a proprietary product with a similar name. |
| Fiber (Optical) | A filament of transparent dielectric material, usually glass or plastic, and usually circular in cross section, that guides light. Note 1: An optical fiber usually has a cylindrical core surrounded by, and in intimate contact with, a cladding of similar geometry. Note 2: The refractive index of the core must be slightly higher than that of the cladding for the light to be guided by the fiber. Synonym lightguide |
| FTTH | Fiber-to-the-home |
| FTTx | Fiber-to-the-"x" where "x" equals home, premise, or curb |
| HFC | Hybrid Fiber Coax |
| ILEC | Incumbent Local Exchange Carrier |
| IPTV | Internet Protocol Television |
| ISP | Inside Plant |
| MDU | Multiple Dwelling Unit |
| MTTR | Mean Time To Recovery |
| NBN | National Broadband Network |
| Net | Synonym communications net |
| NOC | Network Operations Center |
| OSP | Outside Plant |
| OS-related | Operating System - related |
| OSS | Operational Support System |
| PON | Passive Optical Network |
| Relational Database | A database that consists of data in simple tables (i.e., rows and columns) and that has no system dependencies (e.g., pointers to other data) |
| RF | Abbreviation for radio frequency. Of, or pertaining to, any frequency within the electromagnetic spectrum normally associated with radio wave propagation. Note: For designation of subdivisions, see electromagnetic spectrum and its associated diagram. |
| Route | 1. In communications systems operations, the geographical path that is followed by a call or message over the circuits that are used in establishing a chain of connections. 2. To determine the path that a message or call is to take in a communications network. Note: In a Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol (TCP/IP) internet, each IP datagram is routed separately. The route a datagram follows may include many gateways and many physical networks. 3. To construct the path that a call or message is to take in a communications network in going from one station to another or from a source user end instrument to a destination user end instrument. |
| SDH | Synchronous Digital Hierarchy |
| SLA | Service Level Agreement |
| SOA | Service Proposed Architecture |
| SONET | Acronym for synchronous optical network. An interface standard for synchronous optical-fiber transmission, applicable to the Physical Layer of the OSI Reference Model |
| VPN | Virtual Private Network |
| WDM | Wave Division Multiplexing |
Reference: ATIS Committee PRQC. (2011). ATIS Telecom Glossary 2011. Retrieved from http://www.atis.org/glossary/annex.aspx
