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
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P.O. Box 602, Colfax, NC 27235-0602 USA 02-15-2012 Wired Broadband and Related Industry Glossary of Terms with Acronyms Conrad Young 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 use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author(s) and source are credited. 0 through 9: 1000Base-T One of the more common types of Ethernet Local Area Networking (LAN) cabling. Specifies 1000 Mbps (baseband) carried over twisted pair. Also known as Gigabit Ethernet or GigE. 100Base-T One of the more common types of Ethernet Local Area Networking (LAN) cabling. Specifies 100 Mbps (baseband) carried over twisted pair. Also known as Fast Ethernet. 10Base-T One of the more common types of Ethernet Local Area Networking (LAN) cabling. Specifies 10 Mbps (baseband) carried over twisted pair. 1024-QAM A rectangular or “square” quadrature amplitude modulation (QAM) constellation with 256 symbols per quadrant. Refer to the Glossary subject “M-ary QAM” for more details. 1-1 One-One; a short-hand description for DOCSIS® 1.1. 1394 IEEE 1394, also called Firewire. 16-QAM 16-Quadrature Amplitude Modulation (QAM) is a modulation technique employing both phase modulation (PM) and amplitude modulation (AM). Widely used to transmit digital signals such as digital cable TV and cable Internet service, QAM is also used as the modulation technique in orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (see OFDM). The "quadrature" comes from the fact that the phase modulation states are 90 degrees apart from each other. 16-QAM is a rectangular, or “square”, QAM constellation. Rectangular QAM constellations are, in general, sub-optimal in the sense that they do not maximally space the constellation points for a given energy. However, they have the considerable advantage that they may be easily transmitted as two pulse amplitude modulation (PAM) signals on quadrature carriers, and can be easily demodulated. The non-square constellations achieve marginally better bit-error rate (BER) but are harder to modulate and demodulate. The first rectangular QAM constellation usually encountered is 16-QAM, the constellation diagram for which is shown here: 
Constellation diagram for rectangular 16-QAM. A Gray coded bit-assignment is also given. The reason that 16-QAM is usually the first is that a brief consideration reveals that 2-QAM and 4-QAM are in fact binary phase-shift keying (BPSK) and quadrature phase-shift keying (QPSK), respectively. Also, the error-rate performance of 8-QAM is close to that of 16-QAM (only about 0.5 dB better), but its data rate is only three-quarters that of 16-QAM. Analog QAM Analog QAM uses two carriers 90 degrees out of phase with each other. Each carrier is modulated by an analog signal, and the resulting modulated waves are combined. Digital QAM In digital QAM, the input stream is divided into groups of bits based on the number of modulation states used. For example, in 8QAM, each three bits of input, which provides eight values (0-7) alters the phase and amplitude of the carrier to derive eight unique modulation states (see example below). In 64QAM, each six bits generates 64 modulation states; in 128QAM, each seven bits generates 128 states, and so on. See modulation. 2B1Q Short for 2 Binary, 1 Quaternary. 2B1Q is a full-duplex digital signaling technique used by many digital communications technologies (like ISDN) to send data over a single pair of wires. It uses a system of three different voltages: one for each of the two binary states (the 2B part of “2B1Q”) and a third, quaternary voltage that indicates both ends of the data connection are sending the same binary value. 2D MEMS Two-dimensional axes Micro-Electrical Mechanical Systems (MEMS) (IEC) 2D MEMS Optical Switch Micro-Electrical Mechanical Systems (MEMS) switch cores come in two designs: 2D MEMS, where the mirrors are arrayed on a single level (and therefore can be adjusted only in two dimensions), and 3D MEMS, where the mirrors are on multiple planes. Photonic switches use MEMS-based core materials to provide all-optical light switching. Tiny reflective components, resembling mirrors, are adjusted to steer an optical signal. (IEC) 
2D MEMS Optical Switch Diagram courtesy of International Engineering Consortium, http://www.iec.org/newsletter/jan06_2/broadband_1.html 2N3866 The RCA 2N3866; a silicon bipolar junction transistor (BJT) introduced in the 1960s by Radio Corporation of America (RCA) for high gain (10 to 20 dB) VHF and UHF communications power amplifier and driver applications. The RCA 2N3866 was the first widely employed solid state (not vacuum or electron tube based) amplifier device within the emerging US based cable television (CATV) industry for coaxial cable plant signal distribution and delivery over long distances. The RCA 2N3866 is a one (1) Watt RF power output capable amplifier with 10-dB rated gain at 400 MHz and 20-dB rated gain at 100 MHz. The following is an excerpt from the RCA 2N3866 datasheet listed in the RCA Solid State Division RF Power Devices Data Book 1974 (Datasheet Archive): The 2N3866 is an epitaxial silicon n-p-n planar transistor employing an advanced version of the RCA-developed "overlay" emitter-electrode design. This electrode consists of many isolated emitter sites connected together through the use of a diffused-grid structure and a metal overlay which is deposited on a silicon oxide insulating layer by means of a photo-etching technique. This overlay design provides a very high emitter periphery-to-emitter area ratio resulting in low output capacitance, high RF current handling capability, and substantially higher power gain. The 2N3866 is intended for class-A, -B, or -C amplifier, frequency-multiplier, or oscillator circuits: it may be used in output, driver, or pre-driver stages in vhf and uhf Equipment. 
Photograph of RCA 2N3866 Transistor in TO-39 Package courtesy of GALCO Industrial Electronics, https://www.galco.com/scripts/cgiip.exe/wa/wcat/itemdtl.r?listtype=&pnum=2N3866-RCA 3D MEMS Three-dimensional axes Micro-Electrical Mechanical Systems (MEMS) (IEC) 3D MEMS Optical Switch Three-dimensional -Electrical Mechanical Systems (MEMS) optical switch; more flexible and scalable than the 2D systems, 3D MEMS allow for more light paths through the switch. However, 3D MEMS are more complex and costly than the generally smaller and easier-to-manufacture 2D design [1]. These devices are usually referred to as A x A in size, where A is the number of input and output ports. Thus, a 32 x 32 switch can direct any of 32 input signals to any of 32 output signals. Due to their complexity, 3D MEMS devices typically support much larger switch core sizes. (IEC) 1 T. Freeman, "MEMS Devices Put Their Stamp on Optical Networking," Fibre Systems Europe, September 2004. 
3D MEMS Optical Switch Diagram courtesy of International Engineering Consortium, http://www.iec.org/newsletter/jan06_2/broadband_1.html 3DTV Three-dimensional television, also referred to as “3D Standard Definition TV”; the next step in the evolution of television receivers and associated content creation beyond two-dimensional HDTV and two-dimensional “Super TV”. The following lists the evolution of the TV in terms of display capabilities and connected network bandwidth requirements per viewed screen: Television (TV) evolution: 2D Standard Definition In general use today worldwide Requires approximately 2Mbps bandwidth (BW) per TV 2D HDTV In general use today worldwide Requires approximately 10Mbps BW per TV using MPEG4 -- today’s most advanced commercially available compression standard 2D Super Defined by ITU J.601, published 01 July 2007* Requires 50 Mbps BW per TV 3D Standard Definition Not defined by ITU J.601 Demonstrated by several TV OEMs Requires 126 Mbps BW per TV 2D Ultra Defined by ITU J.601, published 01 July 2007* Requires 200 Mbps BW per TV 3D HDTV Not defined by ITU J.601 On display at 2008 CES Requires 280 Mbps BW per TV 3D Super Not defined by ITU J.601 Requires 796 Mbps BW per TV 3D Ultra Not defined by ITU J.601 Requires 2.571 Gbps BW per TV *ITU-T J.601 AMD 1 Document Information: Title Transport of Large Screen Digital Imagery (LSDI) applications for its expanded hierarchy Amendment 1: Modification of required picture and scanning characteristics International Telecommunication Union/ITU Telecommunication Sector Publication Date: Jul 1, 2007 Source: “Advantages of Optical Access, Fiber to the Home”, 3rd edition, Spring 2009, published by the FTTH Council, http://www.FTTHCouncil.org. Source: “Fiber-Based Telecommunications Infrastructure for Residential Multi-Dwelling Units”, by Guy Swindell, Applications Engineering Manager, OFS Optics, gswindell@ofsoptics.com, Spring 2009. 3D HDTV Three-dimensional high definition television; Not defined by ITU J.601; On display at 2008 Consumer Electronics Show (CES); Requires 280 Mbps BW per TV. 4096-QAM A form of modulation with 1024 symbols per quadrant, each symbol representing a pair of encoded bits, one for in-phase (I) and one for quadrature (Q) encoded information. Sometimes referred to as “4k-QAM”. The DVB-C2 standard includes 4096-QAM as an optional telecommunications network modulation format. Preliminary European network experimental results show that 4096 QAM can be deployed in the networks studied. Refer to the Glossary subject “M-ary QAM” for more details. 
Excerpt from “Network Capacity Estimates - Sneek Preview”, presentation made during 8th Broadband Technology Conference, 02 Sep 09
4-Port Optical Node A device employed within hybrid fiber coaxial (HFC) networks that converts downstream optical wavelength signals from a cable operator headend (HE) or hub to low noise RF, amplifies and splits these downstream RF signals into four (4) distinct RF outputs with a combination of high RF power output and low distortion. The device RF ports are diplex filtered to permit simultaneous transmission of downstream RF signals and reception of upstream RF signals. Upstream RF signals are combined within the device, converted from RF to optical wavelength by a laser and transmitted via optical fiber from the device to a cable operator HE or hub. 
Excerpt from ANSI/SCTE 87-1 2008, “Graphic Symbols For Cable Systems Part 1: HFC Symbols”
5C 5 Companies that license Digital Transmission Content Protection (DTCP); Sony, Matsushita (Panasonic), Intel, Toshiba, Hitachi. Refers to the five founding companies of the Digital Transmission Content Protection (DTCP) technology. Sony, Matsushita, Intel, Toshiba and Hitachi. Also used to refer to 5C digital certificates. 5ESS A telephone company central office switch manufactured by Lucent Technology (an AT&T spin-off company) which has ISDN and other digital telephony capabilities. Frequently abbreviated to 5E. See also DMS-100. 60 Cycle Hum These hum bars at 60 cycles are normally a result of dc power on the line. See DC Blocker. (Channel Vision) 64k-QAM A rectangular or “square” quadrature amplitude modulation (QAM) constellation with 16384 symbols per quadrant. This form of QAM is more accurately referred to as 65536-QAM. Refer to the Glossary subject “M-ary QAM” for more details. 8-QAM 8-Quadrature Amplitude Modulation (QAM) is a modulation technique employing both phase modulation (PM) and amplitude modulation (AM). 802.1 IEEE Working Group for High Level Interfaces, Network Management, Inter-networking, and other issues common across LAN technologies. (Timbercon) 802.3 IEEE Working Group for Carrier Sense Multiple Access/Carrier Detect Local Area Networks. (Timbercon) 802.3ah An IEEE standard in development for Ethernet in the First Mile (EFM). It is designed to extend Ethernet from the carrier to the customer over copper or fiber lines. EFMC (EFM over Copper) is expected to be based on SHDSL, and EFMF (EFM over Fiber) is expected to be based on EPON (Ethernet PON). The EFM group decided to call the "last mile" the "first mile." Of course! (Encyclopedia, Your Dictionary) 8VSB 8-level Vestigial Sideband; also written as “8-VSB”; a standard radio frequency (RF) modulation format chosen by the Advanced Television Systems Committee (ATSC) for the transmission of digital television (DTV) to consumers in the United States and other adopting countries. In the US, the standard is specified by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) for all digital television broadcasting. Countries in Europe and elsewhere have adopted an alternative format called Coded Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (COFDM). The main ATSC standards for DTV are 8-VSB, which is used in the transmission of video data, MPEG-2 for video signal compression, and Dolby Digital for audio coding. The 8-VSB mode includes eight amplitude levels (23) that support up to 19.28 Mbps of data in a single 6 MHz channel. There is also a 16-VSB mode that has 16 amplitude levels and supports up to 38.57 Mbps of data on a 6 MHz channel. 8-VSB is considered effective for the simultaneous transmission of more than one DTV program (multicasting) and the transmission of data along with a television program (datacasting) because it supports large data payloads. The ATSC adopted the VSB transmission system because of its large bandwidth, which is needed to transmit HDTV (high definition television) programming. Detractors claim that this larger bandwidth is irrelevant if customers cannot view the transmitted program because of multipath effects. When a signal is transmitted, it is met with obstructions such as canyons, buildings, and even people, which scatter the signal, causing it to take two or more paths to reach its final destination, the television set. The late arrival of the scattered portions of the signal causes ghost images. For this reason, some consumers in metropolitan areas or areas with rugged terrain opt for cable television instead of fighting their antennas for better reception. Because a VSB signal is transmitted on one carrier, it scatters like water blasted on a wall when met with obstacles, which is not a problem with COFDM, the European standard modulation technique, because it transmits a signal on multiple carriers. VSB advocates state that simply buying an outdoor antenna that rotates solves the multipath interference problem, but critics worry that customers do not want to buy an expensive rotating outdoor antenna to view free television programs. They also worry that the poor reception and the added expense of an outdoor antenna are slowing the transition to DTV in ATSC-compliant countries. The VSB scheme also does not support mobile television viewing. VSB equipment manufacturers are working on solutions to these two problems. (What is ) 16VSB 16-level vestigial sideband modulation, capable of transmitting four bits (24=16) at a time. Other slower but more rugged forms of VSB include 2VSB, 4VSB, and 8VSB. 16VSB is capable of twice the data capacity of 8VSB; while 8VSB delivers 19.34 Mbit/s (Megabits per second) in a 6 MHz TV Channel, 16VSB could deliver 38.68 Mbit/s, while making the sacrifice of being more prone to transmission error. While 8VSB is the FCC ATSC (USA/Canada) digital broadcast modulation format, 16VSB was planned for cable distribution. 16VSB is about twice as susceptible to noise as 8VSB, therefore less suitable for over-the-air (OTA) broadcast, but well suited to the SNR of fiber/cable distribution, allowing twice as much programming in a 6MHz band channel. The US cable industry opted not to carry any form of VSB modulation, but instead carries OTA broadcast television DTV programming via 256QAM, the standard downstream (DS) modulation method for digital cable in the US. (Word IQ) A: A-Link A-Links are SS7 links that interconnect STPs and either SSPs or SCPs. “A” stands for “Access.” A-VSB Advanced VSB is a proposed initiative to provide a modification of the ATSC standard 8VSB modulation system used for transmission of digital signals, including television. One of the constraints of conventional ATSC transmission is that reliable reception is difficult or impossible when the receiver is moving at speeds associated with normal vehicular traffic. The technology was jointly developed by Samsung and Rohde & Schwarz. A-VSB builds on the existing ATSC transmission standard to enhance DTV receivers’ ability to receive the main MPEG transport stream in dynamic environments. The system enables broadcasters to include multiple streams with additional error correction and time diversity encoding for enhanced reception. In addition, A-VSB facilitates synchronization of multiple transmission towers, which should improve coverage with higher uniform signal strength throughout a service area, even in locations that normally would be shielded by obstacles such as hills or buildings. A-VSB incorporates three new elements: a Supplementary Reference Signal (SRS), a Scalable Turbo Stream (STS), and support for Single Frequency Networks (SFN). A-VSB was proposed by Samsung to ATSC as an open standard in 2005. (Jaemoon Jo) AAA Authentication, Authorization, and Accounting. AAA is a suite of network security services that provide the primary framework through which access control can be set up on your Cisco router or access server. (Glossary) A-B Switch A high isolation switch used to select between two input signal sources. (Arris Glossary of Terms) ABR Available Bit Rate; an ATM layer service where the limiting ATM-layer transfer characteristics provided by the network may change subsequent to the connection established. Absorption The process by which electromagnetic radiation (EMR) is assimilated and converted into other forms of energy, primarily heat. Absorption takes place only on the EMR that enters a medium, and not on EMR incident on the medium but reflected at its surface. A substance that absorbs EMR may also be a medium of refraction, diffraction, or scattering; however, these processes involve no energy retention or transformation and are distinct from absorption. (Timbercon) Absorption Band A range of wavelengths (or frequencies) of electromagnetic radiation that is assimilated by a substance. (Timbercon) Absorption Coefficient A measure of the attenuation caused by absorption of energy that results from its passage through a medium. Note 1: Absorption coefficients are usually expressed in units of reciprocal distance. Note 2: The sum of the absorption coefficient and the scattering coefficient is the attenuation coefficient. (ATIS) Abstract Service A mechanism to group a set of related unbound applications where some aggregator has taken the responsibility to ensure that the set of related applications work together. This is a generalization of a broadcast service to support applications not related to any broadcast TV service. A set of resident applications which an MSO has packaged together (e.g., chat, e-mail, WWW browser) could comprise one abstract service. Abstract Windowing Toolkit (AWT) A Java package that supports Graphical User Interface (GUI) programming. AC Alternating current. AC-3 Audio Coding Standard developed by Dolby Labs. AC Hum Modulation See hum modulation. Acceptance Test Plan (ATP) A compendium of test procedures that may be used to demonstrate compliance with certain specifications. Access Channels Channels set aside by the cable operator for use by the public, educational institutions, municipal government, or for lease on a non-discriminatory basis. Access Control Limiting the flow of information from the resources of a system only to authorized persons, programs, processes, or other system resources on a network. Access Network The part of the carrier network that touches the customer's premises. The Access Network is also referred to as the local drop, local loop, or last mile. Access Node (AN) Part of the Access Network which performs some or all of the following: modulating forward data onto the Access Network; demodulating return-path data; enforcing the Media Access Control (MAC) protocol for access onto the Access Network; separating or classifying traffic prior to multiplexing onto the Transport Network— such as differentiating traffic that is subject to Quos guarantees from traffic that receives best-effort support; enforcing signaling; handling passive operations such as splitting and filtering. ACO Additional Call Offering Acousto-Optic Modulator (AOM) A device which can be used for controlling the power, frequency or spatial direction of a laser beam with an electrical drive signal. It is based on the acousto-optic effect, i.e. the modification of the refractive index by the oscillating mechanical pressure of a sound wave. The key element of an AOM is a transparent crystal (or piece of glass) through which the light propagates. A piezoelectric transducer attached to the crystal is used to excite a sound wave with a frequency of the order of 100 MHz. Light can then experience Bragg diffraction at the traveling periodic refractive index grating generated by the sound wave; therefore, AOMs are sometimes called Bragg cells. The scattered beam has a slightly modified optical frequency (increased or decreased by the frequency of the sound wave) and a slightly different direction. (The change in direction is smaller than shown in Figure below, because the wavenumber of the sound wave is very small compared with that of the light beam.) The frequency and direction of the scattered beam can be controlled via the frequency of the sound wave, whereas the acoustic power is the control for the optical powers. For sufficiently high acoustic power, more than 50% of the optical power can be diffracted – in extreme cases, even more than 95%. 
Schematic setup of a non-resonant acousto-optic modulator A transducer generates a sound wave, at which a light beam is partially diffracted. The diffraction angle is exaggerated. The acoustic wave may be absorbed at the other end of the crystal. Such a traveling-wave geometry makes it possible to achieve a broad modulation bandwidth of many megahertz. Other devices are resonant for the sound wave, exploiting the strong reflection of the acoustic wave at the other end of the crystal. The resonant enhancement can greatly increase the modulation strength (or decrease the required acoustic power), but reduces the modulation bandwidth. Common materials for acousto-optic devices are tellurium dioxide (TeO2), crystalline quartz, and fused silica. There are manifold criteria for the choice of the material, including the elasto-optic coefficients, the transparency range, the optical damage threshold, and required size. One may also use different kinds of acoustic waves. Most common is the use of longitudinal (compression) waves. These lead to the highest diffraction efficiencies, which however depend on the polarization of the optical beam. Polarization-independent operation is obtained when using acoustic shear waves (with the acoustic movement in the direction of the laser beam), which however make the diffraction less efficient. There are also integrated-optical devices containing one or more acousto-optic modulators on a chip. This is possible, e.g., with integrated optics on lithium niobate (LiNbO3), as this material is piezoelectric, so that a surface-acoustic wave can be generated via metallic electrodes on the chip surface. Such devices can be used in many ways, e.g. as tunable optical filters or optical switches. Download 2.22 Mb. Share with your friends:
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