Conrad L. Young’s Wired Broadband and Related Industry Glossary of Terms with Acronyms As of 15 February 2012 Open Access This document is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Noncommercial License which permits any noncommercial
Bell Operating Company (one of the 7 Bell Systems). . Related to “RBOC” (Regional Bell Operating Company), also
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Bell Operating Company (one of the 7 Bell Systems). Bonded Tape An aluminum based metallic tape which is bonded to the dielectric of a coaxial drop cable to give a shielding effect. (Arris Glossary of Terms) Bonding Telecommunications shorthand for Bandwidth on Demand Interoperability Group. A method for combining two ISDN B Channels into a single logical 128Kbps connections. Used most often for video conferencing and emulating a standard analog modem connection. Bookmarks A specific marked point in a Web document that allows quick access for returning to that point. When you want to easily return to a Web page, create a bookmark for it. This term is usually used by Netscape; Microsoft Internet Explorer calls these favorites. Boom The main portion of an off-air antenna that supports the antenna elements. (Arris Glossary of Terms) Boot Loader The boot loader is a software component, provided with the host device, which is responsible for loading the entire software stack from the cable operator. Boresight The centermost area or peak signal strength of a satellite transmit pattern. (Arris Glossary of Terms) Bound application Bound applications are those applications which are bound to, or associated with, a particular service made available by the cable operator. BPDU Bridge Protocol Data Unit BPI Baseline Privacy Interface BPI+ Baseline Privacy Interface Plus Conditional Access (CA) BPON Broadband Passive Optical Network BPSK Binary Phase Shift Keying; A digital modulation technique in which the carrier phase can have one of two possible values, namely 0 degrees or 180 degrees. (Satnews) Bragg Grating A technique for building optical filtering functions directly into a piece of optical fiber based on interferometric techniques. Usually this is accomplished by making the fiber photosensitive and exposing the fiber to deep UV light through a grating. This forms regions of higher and lower refractive indices in the fiber core. (FiberOpticsInfo) 
Bragg Grating Illustration courtesy of Sakurambo, Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Fiber_Bragg_Grating-en.svg, Braid A group of textile or metallic filaments interwoven to form a tubular structure which may be applied over one or more wires, or flattened to form a strap. (Arris Glossary of Terms) BRI Basic Rate Interface Bridge Protocol Data Unit (BPDU) Spanning tree protocol “hello packet” sent out at intervals to exchange information among bridges in the network. Bridged Tap Wires that are connected to a network, in which one end of the wire is unconnected to proper termination equipment. (ex: A consumer or technician removes devices without completely disconnecting the old device.) Bridger Amplifier Trunk amplifiers serve not only to boost the signal and pass it along, but also to provide branching lines, called feeders, for distribution of the signals to subscribers. The bridger amplifier is housed in the same case as the trunk amplifier. It taps the trunk at about +20 dBmV and splits the signal into 2 to 4 feeder lines. 
Excerpt from ANSI/SCTE 87-1 2008, “Graphic Symbols For Cable Systems Part 1: HFC Symbols”
Broadband A transmission medium that allows transmission of voice, data, and video simultaneously at rates of 1.544Mbps or higher. Broadband transmission media generally can carry multiple channels—each at a different frequency or specific time slot. Broadband Antenna An off-air antenna that receives an entire band or bands of television broadcast signals. (Arris Glossary of Terms) Broadband Communications System Frequently used as a synonym for cable television. It can describe any system capable of delivering wide-band channels and services. Broadband Modulation The transfer of information by a radio signal requires a certain minimum amount of spectrum space. This minimum depends on the rate at which this information is conveyed. Sometimes called wideband modulation. Broadband Network Bridge More commonly known as a Cable Modem, a broadband network bridge is a device that “bridges” radio-wave-like signals sent over cable TV wiring to standard Ethernet LAN connections, which you can plug into a computer's Ethernet network card. Broad beam A single large circular beam that covers a large geographic area. (Satnews) Broadcast A broadcast is a service that is delivered to all customers. Each customer may select a particular broadcast channel out of many. Broadcast Addresses A predefined destination address that denotes the set of all service access points. Broadcast Application A broadcast application is an application running on a set-top converter that is loaded through in-band information, inserted either at the headend or by a content provider further upstream. Broadcast Control Channel The channel, broadcast continually from the base station that contains telemetry, identification and configuration data. Broadcast File System (BFS) A broadcast file system is a data carousel system by which application data can be stored on an application server and transmitted frequently to the set-top converters for application use. Broadcaster's Service Area Geographical area encompassed by a station's signal. Broadcasting The dissemination of any form of radio electric communications by means of Hertzian waves intended to be received by the public. Transmission of over-the-air signals for public use. Also, the transmission of electromagnetic TV and radio signals in a multidirectional pattern. Usually applied only to commercial signals. (Arris Glossary of Terms) Brouter A device that routes specific protocols, such as TCP/IP and IPX, and bridges other protocols, thereby combining the functions of both routers and bridges. Browser A program used to graphically display HTML documents from the World Wide Web or other sources. BSS Broadcast Satellite Service; an ITU designation; however, DBS, or Direct Broadcast Service is more commonly used term in the satellite industry. (Satnews) BST Barium Strontium Tantalum BT British Telecom BTI British Telecom International BTL Bell Telephone Laboratories. BTRL British Telecom Research Laboratories Buffer A coating material used to cover and protect the fiber. It can be constructed using either a tight jacket or loose tube techniques. The buffer must be removed for connectorization and splicing. May consist of more than one layer, increases apparent fiber size and is stated in microns. (Arris Glossary of Terms) 
Fiber Draw Diagram courtesy of Fiber Optics Info, http://www.fiber-optics.info/fiber_optic_glossary/b Buried Cable A cable installed directly in the earth without the use of underground conduits. (Arris Glossary of Terms) Burst Error Second Any errored second containing at least 100 errors. Bus A local area network (LAN) topology in which all the nodes are connected to a single cable. All nodes are considered equal and receive all transmissions on the medium. Bus Network A network topology in which all terminals are attached to a transmission medium serving as a bus. Also called a daisy-chain configuration. (FiberOpticsInfo) 
Bus Network Diagram courtesy of Fiber Optics Info, http://www.fiber-optics.info/fiber_optic_glossary/b Business-to-Business (B-to-B) Used to describe an e-commerce site used to facilitate business between two separate businesses. Business-to-Consumer (B-to-C) Used to describe an e-commerce site used to facilitate business between a business and a consumer. Business Television Corporate communications tool involving video transmission of information via satellite. Common uses of business television are for meetings, product introductions and training. (Satnews) Buttonhook Feed A shaped piece of waveguide directing signal from the feed to the low noise amplifier (LNA) behind the antenna. (Satnews) Butt Splice A joining of two fibers without optical connectors arranged end-to-end by means of a coupling. Fusion splicing is an example. (FiberOpticsInfo) Bypass Use of satellite, local area network, wide area network or metropolitan area network as an alternative transmission facility. (Satnews) Also, the ability of a station to isolate itself optically from a network while maintaining the continuity of the cable plant. (FiberOpticsInfo) 
Bypass Diagram courtesy of Fiber Optics Info, http://www.fiber-optics.info/fiber_optic_glossary/b Byte A unit of data measurement made up of eight bits, short for binary term. One byte can represent a character such as a letter, number, or punctuation mark. Large groups of bytes (megabytes and gigabytes) are typical units of measurement for things such as RAM and hard drive size. 
Bits to Byte Diagram courtesy of Fiber Optics Info, http://www.fiber-optics.info/fiber_optic_glossary/b
Equipment located at the center of a satellite antenna used to collect C and Ku band signals and direct them into either a low noise amplifier (LNA) or low noise block converter (LNB). (Arris Glossary of Terms) C/T Carrier-to-noise-Temperature ratio. (Satnews) CA Certification Authority CA Conditional Access Cable An assembly of one or more conductors insulated from each other and from the outside by a protective sheath. (Arris Glossary of Terms) Cable Back-Feed Signals from an inserted modulated channel that travel back into the cable source. Using a modulator on a cable service provider's system (CATV or MATV) requires a mixing amplifier or filter (NF-469) to prevent the signal from back-feeding in the cable or antenna system. (Linear LLC) Cable Loss The amount of RF signal attenuation by a given coaxial cable. Cable attenuation is mainly a function of signal frequency and cable length. Defines the amount of cable loss that an amplifier is aligned (pre-equalized) to compensate for during factory alignment with the aim of producing flat frequency response in a fielded condition. Aligning an amplifier through cable creates a tilted gain response. Cables attenuate higher frequency signals more than lower frequency signals, according to a logarithmic function. Cable losses are usually calculated and specified for the highest frequency carried (greatest loss) on the cable. (Arris Glossary of Terms) Cable Modem (CM) A modulator-demodulator at subscriber locations intended for use in conveying data communications on a cable television system. Cable Modems offer a very high speed connection to the Internet, up to 30Megabits per second (several hundred times the speed of a 56Kbps modem). Technically speaking, though, a cable modem is not a modem at all, but a broadband network bridge. Cable Modem Termination System (CMTS) Located at the cable television system headend or distribution hub, a CMTS provides complementary functionality to the cable modems to enable data connectivity to a wide-area network. Link to CMTS tutorial: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0qmaXdudMxg&NR=1 Cable Modem Termination System-Network Side Interface (CMTS-NSI) The interface between a CMTS and the equipment on its network side. Cable Modem to CPE Interface (CMCI) The part of the DOCSIS specification defining the communication between the cable modem and consumer premise equipment (CPE) devices. Cable Network Refers to the cable television plant that would typically be used for data over cable services. Such plants generally employ a downstream path in the range of 54 MHz on the low end to a high end in the 550 to 1006 MHz range and an upstream path in the range of 5 to 42 MHz. Customers share a common communication path for upstream and a separate common path for downstream (i.e., effectively a pair of unidirectional buses). Cable Powered Devices obtaining a/c. power simultaneously with RF on the coaxial cable. Cable Powering A method of supplying power to solid-state cable television equipment by using the coaxial cable to carry both signal and power simultaneously. Cable-Ready Television A television receiver that can receive unscrambled cable television channels without the use of a converter. (Channel Vision) Cable System Facility that provides cable service in a given geographic area comprised of one or more headends. Cable Television Relay Services (CARS) Terrestrial microwave frequency band used to relay television, FM radio, cablecasting and other signals from the original reception site to the headend terminal for distribution over cable. Cable Termination RF frequency signals traveling in coaxial cable will reflect off any impedance that does not match the 75-ohm impedance of the cable. This will cause serious signal distortion. For this reason, the ends of all the trunk and distribution cables are terminated with a 75-ohm load to ground. Cable Terminator Used in a cable system where it becomes necessary to terminate both RF signal and 60 Hz AC power. (Arris Glossary of Terms) Cable Tilt The increase in cable attenuation as the frequency increases. (Arris Glossary of Terms) Cable TV A communications system which distributes broadcast programs and original programs and services by means of coaxial cable. CableCARD™ A removable security module (in a PCMCIA or PC card form factor) which, when inserted in an OpenCable certified set-top-box (STB), television or other device, enables delivery of digital video programming and other services. The OpenCable specification is designed in part to support the retail sale of advanced digital set- top boxes and other devices. CableCARDs will be provided directly by the cable operator to customers who request them. Or a CableCARD is a detachable device, distributed by cable providers, that connects to the home receiver. The interface between the CableCARD unit and the receiver is specified by the OpenCable platform. CableCARD functionality includes copy protection and signal demodulation. Cablecasting To originate programming over a cable system. Includes public access programming. CableLabs Cable industry sponsored organization for the development, creation, and maintenance of standards, specifications, best practices, and test methodology. CableLabs also provides cable industry equipment interoperability and certification test. CableLabs is headquarted in Colorado USA. Link to CableLabs web site: www.cablelabs.com. CableSCAN A software product developed by TapSCAN which tabulated Nielsen household and demographic data for cable. CAD Computer-Aided Design CALEA Communications Assistance for Law Enforcement Act Calibration The process of adjusting a device to meet manufacturer’s specifications. Calibration is sometimes also defined as the issuing of data, including a report or certificate of calibration, that assures an end user of a product’s conformance with specifications, and perhaps also with external guidelines, such as those of the International Organization for Standardization, whose ISO 9001 standards, for example, set worldwide specifications for business sectors. A company follows these standards to ensure that its products and/or services gain acceptance among suppliers and customers. This second definition of calibration is more properly referred to as certification. (Omega) Call Agent In a PacketCable™ 1.0-based network, Call Agent is a synonym for Call Management Server (CMS). The term originates from the Simple Gateway Control Protocol (SGCP) specification. The Call Agent or CMS maintains network intelligence and call state, and controls the media gateway. “Server” is sometimes also used as a synonym for Call Agent or Call Management Server. Call Appearance A Call Appearance is an iteration of a telephone Directory Number (DN) that allows multiple concurrent calls to the same phone number. An ISDN line with three call appearances for a single DN, for example, can have three people on the line or on hold to the same number at the same time. Call Detail Record (CDR) A data record typically used in a telephony system to record usage information on a per-call basis. Typical fields in the record include originating number, terminating number, start-time, duration, etc. Call Management Server (CMS) In a PacketCable™ 1.0-based system, this is the entity that maintains call state and implements features, such as Custom Local Area Signaling Service (CLASS) features. The CMS controls both the in-home media gateways and the media gateways connecting to the Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN). The CMS also performs admission control and routing functions. Caller ID Caller ID is a telephone company feature that notifies a telephone being called of who is (or at least what phone number is) originating the call. On analog POTS phone systems, Caller ID information is transmitted to the telephone set between the first and second ring of the phone. On ISDN sets, Caller ID data is sent as part of the Q9.31 “call setup” information sent of the ISDN D channel. Some states, like California, regulate the implementation of Caller ID very strictly, requiring that phone companies offer their customers the option of keeping their numbers private when placing a call. CAM Computer-Aided Manufacturing Cantilever Mount A type of mounting bracket, located at the end of an off-air antenna, designed to fasten the antenna to a structure. (Arris Glossary of Terms) CAP CableHome Address Portal Capability Package ISDN Capability Packages, like Capability Package U, are standardized ISDN feature sets defined by ISDN Order Codes. Capacitance The ability of a dielectric material between conductors to store electricity, when a difference of potential exists between the conductors. The unit of measurement is the farad, which is the capacitance value which will store a charge of one coulomb when a one-volt potential difference exists between the conductors. In AC, one farad is the capacitance value which will permit one ampere of current, when the voltage across the capacitor changes at the rate of one volt per second. (Arris Glossary of Terms) Capacitor Two conducting surfaces separated by a dielectric material. The capacitance is determined by the area of the surfaces, type of dielectric, and spacing between the conducting surfaces. (Arris Glossary of Terms) Carriage A cable system's procedure of carrying the signals of television stations on its various channels. FCC rules determine which signals cable systems must or may carry. Carrier An alternating-current wave of constant frequency, phase and amplitude. By varying (modulating) the frequency, phase or amplitude of a carrier wave, information is transmitted. Download 2.22 Mb. Share with your friends:
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