Glossary

 

5th Utility
Philosophy that the internet and/or broadband data connection, currently supplied by either the telephone utility or the cable television utility, should (or will) become a separate utility all its own.
ATM
Asynchronous Transfer Module, a module for communicating with dsl modems on a local telephone exchange.
backbone
Part of the network that joins several local-area networks, either inside a building or across a city or country. This is achieved through a cable connection between telecommunication or wiring closets, floor distribution terminals or entrance facilities. In star networks, the backbone cable interconnects hubs and similar devices, as opposed to cables running between hub and station. The backbone is the part of the communications network that carries the heaviest traffic.
bandwidth
The range of frequencies required for proper transmission of a signal. Bandwidth represents the amount of data that can be transmitted through a communications channel in a fixed amount of time. For digital devices, it is usually expressed in bits (or bytes) per second, whereas for analog devices, it is expressed in cycles per second, or in hertz (Hz). The greater the bandwidth, the greater the information-carrying capacity and the faster the speed. A continuous frequency range starting from zero is said to be baseband, while a range starting substantially above zero is considered broadband.
baseband
A transmission method in which one single digital signal uses an entire bandwidth. The unmodulated signal is sent directly over the transmission medium. Baseband is simpler, cheaper and less sophisticated than broadband. All Ethernet media types are baseband except for 10Broad36, which is broadband.
broadband
A transmission medium whose bandwidth capacity is sufficient to carry multiple voice, video or data channels simultaneously. Each channel is modulated to a different frequency bandwidth and occupies a different place on the transmission medium; the signals are then demodulated to their original frequency at the receiving end.
CAPEX
Capital expenditures are those expenditures that are incurred in order to design, permit, construct, test and turn-up an FTTx network.
central office
The physical building used to house inside plant equipment including the telephone switches and the system of electronic components that connects telephone calls.
CLEC
Competitive Local Exchange Carrier – in the United States, is a telecommunications provider company (sometimes called a "carrier") that competes with other, already established carriers (generally the incumbent local exchange carrier (ILEC)).
CO
See central office
customer premise
The location of any terminal and all associated equipment and inside wiring located at a subscriber's premises.
CWDM
Coarse wavelength-division multiplexing is a method of combining multiple signals on laser beams at various wavelengths for transmission along fiber-optic cables. The wavelength spacing is set between 100 GHz and 50nm. It is also characterized by non-thermally cooled laser transmitters.
dark fiber
Unused fiber or unlit fiber that is available for use.
DSLAM
A digital subscriber line access multiplexer (often pronounced dee-slam) allows telephone lines to make faster connections to the Internet. It is a network device, located in the telephony exchanges of the service providers, that connects multiple customer Digital Subscriber Lines (DSLs) to a high-speed Internet backbone line using multiplexing techniques. By locating DSLAMs at locations remote to the telephone company central office (CO), telephone companies provide DSL service to locations previously beyond effective range.
DWDM
Dense wavelength-division multiplexing is a method of combining multiple signals on laser beams at various wavelengths for transmission along fiber-optic cables. The wavelength spacing is set at = 1000 GHz.
facilities
See OSP (outside plant)
Fast Ethernet
A collective term for a number of Ethernet standards that carry traffic at the nominal rate of 100 Mbit/s, as opposed to the original Ethernet speed of 10 Mbit/s.
FTTx
Fiber-to-the x – a generic term for any network architecture that uses optical fiber to replace all or part of the usual copper local loop used for telecommunications. The four technologies, in order of an increasingly longer fiber loop are:
  • (a) Fiber-to-the-Node (FTTN) or Fiber-to-the-Cabinet (FTTCab),
  • (b) Fiber-to-the-Curb (FTTC),
  • (c) Fiber-to-the-Building (FTTB),
  • (d) Fiber-to-the-Home (FTTH) or Fiber-to-the-Premise (FTTP); both are often used interchangeably.
Gb/s
Gigabit per second, also Gbps or Gbit/s. One Gb/s equals one billion bits per second. (Not to be confused with gigabyte per second.)
GigE
Gigabit Ethernet (also 1 GigE) is a term describing various technologies for transmitting Ethernet frames at a rate of a gigabit per second, as defined by the IEEE 802.3-2005 standard. Half-duplex gigabit links connected through hubs are allowed by the specification but in the marketplace full-duplex with switches is the norm.
headend
A master facility for receiving video (and voice or data) signals for processing and distribution over a cable television system. The headend facility is normally unstaffed and surrounded by some type of security fencing and is typically a building or large shed housing electronic equipment used to receive and re-transmit signals over the local loop infrastructure.
head-end
A master facility for receiving television signals for processing and distribution over a cable television system.
HFC
Hybrid fibre-coaxial (HFC) is a term for a broadband network which combines optical fiber and coaxial cable. It has been commonly employed globally by cable TV operators since the early 1990s.
ILEC
Incumbent Local Exchange Carrier – a local telephone company that was in existence at the time of the break up of AT&T into the Regional Bell Operating Companies (RBOCs) also known as the "Baby Bells". GTE was the second largest ILEC after the Bells, but it has since been absorbed into Verizon, an RBOC. ILECs compete with upstart Competitive Local Exchange Carriers (CLEC).
Kb/s
Kilobit per second, also Kbps or Kbit/s. One Kb/s equals one thousand bits per second. (Not to be confused with kilobyte per second.)
killer application
Refers to any application that is so necessary or desirable that it provides the core value of some larger technology. Simply put, a killer app is an application so compelling that consumers will buy the required bandwidth, hardware and/or software necessary to run it.
local-access network
That part of a communications network which connects subscribers to their immediate service provider. Also referred to as an access network.
long-haul network
Circuits that span large distances, connecting local access networks. Also referred to as InterExchange (IX).
Mb/s
Megabit per second, also Mbps or Mbit/s. One Mb/s equals one million bits per second. (Not to be confused with megabyte per second.)
MDU
Multiple dwelling unit refers to a structure or building that houses multiple customers, and therefore multiple customer premises.
node
Refers to an active electronic device that is capable of sending, receiving, or forwarding information over a communications channel. It may either be a data circuit-terminating equipment (DCE) such as a modem, hub, bridge or switch; or a data terminal equipment (DTE) such as a digital telephone handset, a printer or a host computer, for example a router, a workstation or a server.
OPEX
Operating expenditures are those expenditures that are incurred in order to maintain and operate an FTTx network. This includes the cost to: license and distribute services and content; move, add or drop customers; perform maintenance and inspections on equipment, provide customer service.
OSP
outside plant – all cables, conduits, ducts, poles and other equipment located between a demarcation point in a switching facility and a demarcation point in another switching facility or customer premises.
P2MP
A Point-to-multipoint FTTx network is one with a communication link from one upstream terminal to one or more downstream terminals. The signal leaves the upstream terminal on a single fiber and is split out (via a splitter) onto multiple links in order to reach multiple downstream terminals. Signals leave the downstream terminals and are combined (at the splitter through a reverse process) onto a single fiber which terminates at a single upstream terminal.
P2P
A Point-to-point FTTx network is one with a dedicated communication link operating over a fiber pair; one for downstream transmission and the other for upstream transmission. (Not to be confused with “peer-to-peer” file sharing networks, also abbreviated P2P.)
plant
See OSP (outside plant)
PON
Passive optical network – a point-to-multipoint, fiber-to-the-premises network architecture in which unpowered optical splitters are used to enable a single optical fiber to serve multiple premises, typically 32-128. A PON consists of an Optical Line Termination (OLT) at the service provider's central office and a number of Optical Network Units (ONUs) near end users. A PON configuration reduces the amount of fiber and central office equipment required compared with point to point architectures.
RBOC
Regional Bell Operating Companies – are the result of the U.S. Department of Justice antitrust suit against the former American Telephone & Telegraph Company (later known as AT&T Corp).
RFI
Request for Information – a standard business process whose purpose is to collect written information about the capabilities of various suppliers. Normally it follows a format that can be used for comparative purposes.
RFP
Request for Proposal – an invitation for suppliers, often through a bidding process, to submit a proposal on a specific commodity or service.
RFQ
Request for Quotation – a standard business process whose purpose is to invite suppliers into a bidding process to bid on specific products and/or services.
SDU
Single dwelling unit refers to a structure or building that houses a single customer, and therefore a single customer premise.
VoIP
Voice-over-Internet Protocol is a protocol optimized for the transmission of voice through the Internet or other packet-switched networks. VoIP is often used abstractly to refer to the actual transmission of voice (rather than the protocol implementing it). This latter concept is also referred to as IP telephony, Internet telephony, voice over broadband, broadband telephony, and broadband phone.
WDM
Wavelength-division multiplexing is a technology which multiplexes multiple optical carrier signals on a single optical fiber by using different wavelengths (colours) of laser light to carry different signals. This allows for a multiplication in capacity, in addition to enabling bidirectional communications over one strand of fiber. This is a form of frequency division multiplexing (FDM) but is commonly called wavelength division multiplexing.
WWDM
Wide wavelength-division multiplexing is a form of WDM in which a huge number of separate wavelengths are packed onto a single fiber optic strand.