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Spread Spectrum - Spread Spectrum technology is a wideband radio frequency
technique developed by the military for use in reliable, secure, mission-critical
communications systems. It is designed to trade off bandwidth efficiency for
reliability, integrity, and security. In other words, more bandwidth is consumed
than in the case of narrowband transmission, but the trade off produces a signal
that is, in effect, louder and thus easier to detect, provided that the receiver knows
the parameters of the spread-spectrum signal being broadcast. If a receiver is not
tuned to the right frequency, a spread-spectrum signal looks like background
noise. There are two main alternatives, Direct Sequence Spread Spectrum
(DSSS) and Frequency Hopping Spread Spectrum (FHSS).
Static IP Address - A permanent IP address that is assigned to a node in an IP
or a TCP/IP network.
TCP (Transmission Control Protocol) - A method (protocol) used along with the
Internet Protocol (IP) to send data in the form of message units between com-
puters over the Internet. While IP takes care of handling the actual delivery of the
data, TCP takes care of keeping track of the individual units of data (called pack-
et) that a message is divided into for efficient routing through the Internet.
TCP/IP (Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol) - The basic commu-
nication language or protocol of the Internet. It can also be used as a communi-
cations protocol in a private network (either an intranet or an extranet). When you
are set up with direct access to the Internet, your computer is provided with a
copy of the TCP/IP program just as every other computer that you may send mes-
sages to or get information from also has a copy of TCP/IP.
Throughput - The amount of data moved successfully from one place to anoth-
er in a given time period.
Topology - A network's topology is a logical characterization of how the devices
on the network are connected and the distances between them. The most common
network devices include hubs, switches, routers, and gateways. Most large net-
works contain several levels of interconnection, the most important of which
include edge connections, backbone connections, and wide-area connections.
TX Rate - Transmission Rate.
WEP (Wired Equivalent Privacy) - A data privacy mechanism based on a 64-bit
or 128-bit shared key algorithm, as described in the IEEE 802.11 standard.
Workgroup - Two or more individuals that share files and databases.
OFDM - OFDM (Orthogonal Frequency Division Muliplexing) works by break-
ing one high-speed data stream into a number of lower-speed data streams, which
are then transmitted in parallel. Each lower speed stream is used to modulate a
subcarrier. Essentially, this creates a multi-carrier transmission by dividing a
wide frequency band or channel into a number of narrower frequency bands or
sub-channels.
Packet - A unit of data routed between an origin and a destination in a network.
Passphrase - Used much like a password, a passphrase simplifies the WEP
encryption process by automatically generating the WEP encryption keys for
Linksys products.
PC Card - A credit-card sized removable module that contains memory, I/O, or
a hard disk.
PCMCIA - The PCMCIA (Personal Computer Memory Card International
Association) is an industry group organized in 1989 to promote standards for a
credit card-size memory or I/O device that would fit into a personal computer,
usually a notebook or laptop computer.
Plug-and-Play - The ability of a computer system to configure expansion boards
and other devices automatically without requiring the user to turn off the system
during installation.
Roaming - The ability to use a wireless device and be able to move from one
access point's range to another without losing the connection.
RTS (Request To Send) - An RS-232 signal sent from the transmitting station to
the receiving station requesting permission to transmit.
Server - Any computer whose function in a network is to provide user access to
files, printing, communications, and other services.
Software - Instructions for the computer. A series of instructions that performs a
particular task is called a "program." The two major categories of software are
"system software" and "application software." System software is made up of
control programs such as the operating system and database management system
(DBMS). Application software is any program that processes data for the user.
A common misconception is that software is data. It is not. Software tells the
hardware how to process the data.