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1000BaseT
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1000 Mbps, 1 Billion bits per second data transmission over copper cabling. All four pairs of Category 6 cable utilized at 250Mbps per pair. Commonly referred to as Gigabit Ethernet.
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| 1000BaseFX |
Gigabit Ethernet over fiber optic cable.
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| 100BaseTX |
100 Mbps, 100 Million bits per second Ethernet data transmission, full-duplex baseband signalling over twisted pair copper cabling. |
| 100BaseFX |
100 Mbps Ethernet data transmissions over Fiber optic cable. |
| 100BaseLX |
100 Mpbs Ethernet data transmission over Long Wavelength fiber optic transmissions - 1300nm. |
| 100BaseSX |
100 Mbps Ethernet data transmission over Short Wavelength fiber optic transmissions - 850nm. |
| 100BaseT2 |
100 Mbps Ethernet running baseband signalling over two twisted pairs. |
| 100BaseT4 |
Four pairs of Cat3 or better cable. Transmits at 25 Mbps on all four pairs. |
| 100BaseTX |
100 Mbps Ethernet data transmission running full-duplex baseband signalling over twisted pair copper. |
| 10Base2 |
Thin Coax Ethernet, commonly referred to as Thinnet or coax, capable of shared 10 Mbps data transmissions up to 185 meters. |
| 10Base5 |
Thick Coax Ethernet, commonly referred to as Thicknet, capable of shared 10 Mbps data transmissions up to 500 meters. |
| 10BaseT |
10 Mbps Ethernet data transmission running baseband signalling over twisted pair copper cable. |
| ACR |
Attenuation to Crosstalk Ratio. The level of cross talk in relationship to the attenuated signal at the far end of the cable. Critical in Full Duplex mode. |
| ADSL |
Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line. A digital connection with higher bandwidth for downloading than uploading. |
| Alien Crosstalk |
Interference picked up from an adjacent wire pair within the same cable sheath. |
| ANSI |
American National Standards Institute. |
| ASCII |
American Standard Code for Information Interchange. Originally a 7 bit code later 8 bit for communication interfaces. |
| ASIC |
Application Specific Integrated Circuit. An Integrated Circuit built to perform a specific task |
| ATM |
Asyncronous Transfer Mode. A Wide Area Network transport which provides the integration of Voice, Video and Data traffic. |
| Attachment cable |
The cable between the workstation outlet and active equipment |
| Attenuation |
Loss of signal strength and integrity over a given length of cable |
| AUI |
Attachment User Interface. An IEEE 802.3 standards 15 pin 3 row 'D' type connector interface. |
| AWG |
American Wire Guage.The larger the number the smaller the wire diameter. |
| Backbone cabling |
Telecommunications cabling that provides connections between telecommunications closets, equipment rooms and entrance facilities. |
| Balanced cable |
Two identical wires carrying signal of opposite polarity but equal amplitude to eliminate interference. The wires are twisted to maintain balance over a distance |
| Balun |
Balanced - unbalanced impedance matching connector. Connects balanced and un-balanced network cables together. |
| Bandwidth |
The capacity of a medium to carry data bits. Measured in Hz |
| Baseband |
The raw data is transmitted using the full bandwidth of the cable with no modulation. |
| BAUD |
Rate of number of signal or voltage changes per second. |
| BNC |
Bayonet connector used with RG58 coaxial cable networks. (i.e. 10base2 coax) |
| BPS |
Bits per second |
| Broadband |
The bandwidth of the cable is split into multiple modulated channels thus
permitting multiple channels in data systems. |
| Broadcast |
Process of sending data to more than one device at a time |
| Buffer Tube |
Extruded cylindrical tubes covering optical fiber(s) used for protection and isolation. |
| Bus Network |
A network with all devices sharing one common cable. |
| Category 1, Cat1 |
Unshielded Twisted Pair for use as speaker or door bell wire. |
| Category 3, Cat3 |
UTP for frequencies up to 16Mhz. 100 ohm |
| Category 4, Cat4 |
UTP 100 ohm for frequencies up to 20Mbs defined by EIA/TIA 568-A specifications. |
| Category 5, Cat5 |
UTP 100 ohm for frequencies up to 100Mbs defined by EIA/TIA 568-A specifications. |
| Category 5e, Cat5e |
Enhanced Category 5. Similar to Cat 5 with improved specifications including PSELFEXT, ACR and attenuation. Defined by EIA/TIA 568-A-5. |
| Category 6,Cat6 |
Network Cabling standard to support up to 250 Mhz over UTP. |
| Category 7, Cat7 |
Proposed cabling standard to support up to 600 Mhz over UTP. |
| CDDI |
Copper Distributed Data Interface as defined by (ANSI X3T12) for 100Mbs token passing over copper twisted pair. |
| Class 'C' |
ISO/IEC 11801cabling standard corresponding to the EIA/TIA Cat 3 cabling standards |
| Class 'D' |
ISO/IEC 11801cabling standard corresponding to the EIA/TIA Cat 5 100Mhz cabling standards |
| Class 'E' |
ISO/IEC proposed cabling standard corresponding to the EIA/TIA Cat 6 250Mhz cabling standards |
| Cladding |
The material surrounding the core of a fiber optic cable. |
| Coax |
Coaxial cable with a copper screen carrying unbalanced signals |
| Collision domain |
All the nodes on an Ethernet segment that are affected by data collisions. Switches and bridges break up networks into individual collision domains |
| Core |
Center of a fiber optic cable |
| Crosstalk |
Interference picked up from an adjacent wire pair within the same cable sheath (also known as Alien Crosstalk) |
| CSMA/CD |
Carrier Sense Multiple Access with Collision Detect. A NIC transceiver "listens" to the network before transmission and can detect collisions. |
| Drop |
Single cable outlet which contains a varying number of network cables |
| DTE |
Data Terminal Equipment |
| EIA |
Electronics Industry Association in America |
| EIA 568 |
UTP commercial building specifications from the EIA |
| EIA 568B |
Now the most common UTP cable color codes and pin allocation |
| ELFEXT |
Equal Level Far End Cross Talk |
| EMI |
Electro Magnetic Interference. Unwanted noise from a source (i.e.Fluorescent Lighting and Electric Motors) |
| Ethernet |
A LAN protocol in which computers access the network through CSMA/CD protocols defined by the IEEE 802.3 standards. |
| Fast Ethernet |
100 Mbps CSMA/CD Ethernet |
| FDDI |
Fiber Distributed Data Interface as defined by (ANSI X3T12) for 100Mbs token passing over Fiber. |
| Ferrule |
A mechanical fixture, generally a rigid tube, used to protect and align fiber in a connector. |
| Fiber |
A thin filament of glass. An optical waveguide consisting of a core and a cladding that is capable of carrying information in the form of light. |
| Fiber Optics |
Light transmission through optical fibers for communication or signaling. |
| Frame Relay |
Efficient method of packaging data into variable size frames for transmission over Wide Area Networks. |
| Frequency |
The number of pulses or cycles per second; measured in units of Hertz (Hz) where 1 Hertz equals 1 pulse/cycle per second. |
| Full-duplex |
Allows data transmissions in two directions at once. Transmit and receive simultaneously |
| Fusion Splicing |
A permanent joint produced by the application of localized heat sufficient to fuse or melt the ends of the optical fiber, forming a continuous single fiber. |
| Gbps |
Giga bits per second. 1 billion or 1,000,000,000 bits per second |
| Gigabit Ethernet |
Giga bits per second. 1 billion or 1,000,000,000 bits per second |
| Half-Duplex |
Single way transmission. Capable of either Transmitting or Receiving, but not simultaneously |
| Horizontal Cabling |
The portion of structured cabling that provides connectivity between the horizontal cross-connect and the work area telecommunications outlet. |
| Hub |
The center of a star wired network. May be passive or active in re-transmissions of network traffic. |
| Hybrid Cable |
A fiber optic cable containing two or more different types of fiber, such as multimode and singlemode |
| Hz |
Frequency per second. |
| IDC |
Insulation Displacement Connection. The connection is made by forcing the wire between two sharp blades which cut through the plastic insulation to contact with the copper conductor. |
| IEEE |
Institute of Electrical & Electronic Engineers |
| IEEE 802 |
The IEEE project number dealing with LAN technologies. |
| IEEE 802.3 |
Physical cabling layer standards for Ethernet. |
| IEEE 802.5 |
Physical cabling layer standards for Token Ring |
| Impedance |
Measurement of the opposition to the flow of electrons in a cable. The combination of Resistance, Capacitance and Inductance. |
| Infrastructure |
The collection of communication components (excluding active equipment) that together provide support for the distribution of information within a building or campus. |
| Insertion Loss |
The attenuation of a signal as it passes through a connector. |
| Intranet |
A private company network used to propogate internal company information to employees. |
| IP |
Internet Protocol. Along with TCP is used to track and deliver data packets over a network. |
| IPX |
Internet Packet Exchange. A Novell networking protocol. |
| ISDN |
Integrated Digital Network Services. High speed data transfer over the PSTN. |
| ISO |
International Standards Organization. |
| ISP |
Internet Service Provider. The company who provides a connection to the internet. |
| Jabber |
A transceiver on an Ethernet network that has failed and is transmitting continuously and has "flooded" the network with it's incessant jabbering. |
| LAN |
Local Area Network |
| LED |
Light Emitting Diode. A semiconductor device used to transmit light into a fiber in response to an electrical signal. |
| Link |
A circuit between two telecommunications devices. |
| Loose Tube Cable |
A cable design where coated fibers are encased in buffer tubes offering fiber protection and segregation. |
| MAC |
Media Access Control. |
| MAN |
Metropolitan Area Networks, Spanning a Town or City. |
| MAU |
Multiple Access Unit. IBM terminology for a token ring hub. |
| Mechanical Splice |
Process where two fibers are joined together by permanent or temporary mechanical means to enable a continuous signal. |
| Media |
The physical copper or fiber optic cable used in the transmission of signals. |
| Mode |
A term used to describe an independent light travelling in an optical fiber cable. |
| Modem |
A device which modulates and demodulates signals between digital to analog circuits. |
| Multi-mode |
Fiber optic cable which supports multiple wavelengths. Diameter of 50 to 100 microns (um) with a stepped refractive index. Uses LED (Light Emitting Diode) sources. |
| N Connector |
Connectors used for Thicknet Ethernet 10Base-5 coax cable. |
| NEXT |
Near End Cross Talk. The effect of one cable pair's signal on the adjacent pairs. |
| NIC |
Network Interface Card |
| Numerical Aperture |
The angle at which a fiber optic cable will gather light and propagate it down the core. |
| NVP |
Nominal Velocity of Propagation. The speed a signal will travel down an electrical cable measured as a percentage of the speed of light in a vacuum. Normally 70% - 75% |
| OSI |
Open Systems Interconnection. The worldwide reference for the networking protocol stack. |
| OTDR |
Optical Time Domain Reflectometer. A device for measuring the length or finding breaks in fiber optic cables. |
| PBX |
Private Branch Exchange, A switchboard. |
| Packet |
A string of bits containing command information, destination and source addresses and data |
| Patch Cable |
The cable connecting the network patch panel or workstation outlet and the active switch or workstation. |
| Patch panel |
An array of connectors in the telecommunication room or wiring closet to allow circuit rearrangements by plugging in patch cords. |
| Physical layer |
Layer One of the seven OSI layers. This layer is responsible for the transmission of signals between devices on a network. |
| Plenum |
An air handling space found above drop ceilings or beneath raised floors. Also, a fire rating for indoor cable. |
| POP |
Point of Presence. The connection point to the ISP or Telecommunications Carrier. |
| POTS |
Acronym for Plain Old Telephone System, or PSTN. |
| Premises cabling |
The complete structured cabling infrastructure for the transmission of voice, data and video throught a given building. |
| Propagation delay |
The time for a signal to travel from the input to the output of a device. |
| Protocol |
A data transfer mode using Bit codes, Start Stop bits, Parity. Both transmitter and receiver must use the same protocols. |
| PSELFEXT |
Power Sum Equal Level Far End Cross Talk. Measures the summed cross talk from 3 pairs on the remaining pair having compensated for the known attenuation of the cable. |
| PSNEXT |
Power Sum Near End Cross Talk. The effect on one pair of the summed crosstalk of the three other pairs. |
| Pulling tension |
The maximum pulling force which can be applied to a data cable without affecting its electrical characteristics and its network performance. |
| PVC |
An abbreviation used to denote Polyvinyl-Cloride. A type of plastic material used for cable jacketing. Typically used in flame-retardant cables. |
| Reflection |
The return of electromagnetic energy that occurs when components are mismatched in network cabling. These reflections can cause data errors resulting in poor network performance. |
| Repeater |
A device, usually a network hub or switch that receives, amplifies and resends data. The signal is boosted and the wave reshaped allowing extended transmission distances. |
| Reversed Pairs |
An issue where single wires in a pair have been reversed resulting in inoperation of the connection. |
| RG 58 |
The specification of the coaxial cable used for Thinnet (10base2) Ethernet networks. |
| Riser |
Pathways for indoor cables that pass between floors such as a vertical shaft. Also, a fire code rating for indoor cable. |
| RJ11 |
Registered Jack number 11. Small 4-pin line plug and socket used on telephone handsets and modem connections. |
| RJ45 |
Registered Jack number 45. Larger 8-pin plug and socket used primarily for data transmission applications and equipment. |
| RS-232 |
Serial communication signalling protocol using 2 pairs. |
| RX |
Transmission Receive |
| SC connector |
A Small Connecter for terminating fiber optic cables. |
| SCSI |
Small Computer Systems Interface. Connects peripherals to the computer mother board. |
| Segment |
The area of a network that all nodes can see each other. Often referred to as a collision domain. |
| Shielded |
Cable with a braided or foil shield to keep out RFI and EMI. |
| Singlemode Fiber |
An optical waveguide (or fiber) which the signal travels in one mode. The fiber has a small core diameter, typicall 8.3um. Uses LASER (Light Amplified by Stimulated Emmission of Radiation) sources. |
| Skew |
The differential delay between two adjacent cables carrying data transmitted simultaneously. |
| SNMP |
Simple Network Management Protocol. A protocol governing network management and device handling. |
| SOHO |
Small Office Home Office network system often mixing voice, data and video on the same cables. |
| Splicing |
The permanent joining of bare fiber ends to another fiber |
| Split Pairs |
Where the single wires from two different pairs have been swapped. If the same at both ends will not affect short cable transmissions, but will fail over longer distance. |
| ST connector |
Straight Tip. A connector used for fiber optic terminations . |
| Star network |
All devices are attached to a central hub in a star configuration. |
| STP |
Shielded Twisted Pair copper cable. |
| Structured cabling |
The complete structured cabling infrastructure for the transmission of voice, data and video throught a given building. |
| Switch |
An active equipment Ethernet device which reads MAC addresses and routes data to an individual node or network hub. Switches split up networks into smaller individual collision domains. A switch can route data at wire speed through all its ports simultaniously. |
| TCP |
Transmission Control Protocol. Used with IP to track and deliver packets of data over a network. |
| TDR |
Time Domain Reflectometer. A device for measuring the length of cables by "bouncing" a signal off the far end. The NVP must be known and programmed into the machine. |
| Terminator |
An electrical connector attached to the end of a cable to reduce signal reflections and unwanted noise. |
| TIA |
Telecommunication Industry Association |
| Token Ring |
A network where a single token is passed around a network between computers. A computer must grab and hold onto the token before it can transmit. After transmission it releases the token back onto the network. |
| Topology |
Network architecture, circuit design and transmission protocols. |
| Transceiver |
An electronic circuit designed to transmit and receive data over a network. A NIC contains a transceiver as does a hub and a switch. |
| Twisted Pair |
Copper wires twisted together the reduce RFI and Crosstalk. |
| TX |
Transmission Transmit |
| USB |
Universal Serial Bus. A 12 Mbs connection port for games, printers, scanners and other PC peripherals |
| USOC |
Universal Service Ordering Codes Cabling system original used in the telephone systems. |
| UTP |
Unshielded Twisted Pair. 4 twisted pairs in one sheath. |
| WAN |
Wide Area Network |
