Cisco Wireless Terms and Acronyms

Cisco wireless has recently put out an official dictionary that attempts to give define Cisco wireless terms and acronyms, and numbers that are essential to understanding the Internet official definitions. This Cisco wireless terms and acronyms guide is the first dictionary of its kind that is specifically targeted as being a comprehensive Internet and wireless resource of terminology.

These definitions are long, precise, and complicated, but they are aimed at being the industry standard. Read below to see some of the definitions of Cisco wireless terms and acronyms.

Samples of Cisco Wireless Terms and Acronyms

Below are some of the definitions that were created by Cisco to explain wireless terms and acronyms.

• AAA - Authentication, Authorization and Accounting; authentication confirms a user who is requesting services is a valid user of the network services requested. Authorization is the process of denying or permitting a client permission to do something on the network, such as accessing a file. Accounting is the process of tracking a user's time, possibly for internal billing purposes.
• Antenna - the element used in a wireless device or system to transmit and receive radio signals. Antennas come in many forms and sizes and can be omnidirectional, sector/semidirectional, or highly directional. See also Antenna types.
• Authentication Server (AS) - an entity that provides an authentication service to an Authenticator. This service determines, from the credentials provided by the Supplicant, whether the Supplicant is authorized to access the services provided by the Authenticator.  (IEEE 802.1X- 2004)
• CAPWAP - Control and Provisioning of Wireless Access Points; an IETF draft expected to be ratified in 2008. Addresses standardization of lightweight access point control and defines how WLAN data traffic is managed over the backend network.
• Cell surfing - the “long ride” effect a Wi-Fi client incurs when it remains associated to a distant AP and does not roam after moving into a cell on the same channel, even after traversing a cell on a different channel.
• Domain name - the text name that refers to a grouping of networks or network resources based on organization-type or geography; for example: name.com—commercial; name.edu— educational; name.gov— government; ISPname.net—network provider (such as an ISP); name.ar—Argentina; name.au—Australia; and so on.
• EAP (WF) - Extensible Authentication Protocol; an optional IEEE 802.1x security feature ideal for organizations with a large user base and access to an EAP-enabled Remote Authentication Dial-In User Service (RADIUS) server. A general authentication protocol used to control network access without relying on the network OS. Many specific authentication methods work within this framework, such as certificates, passwords, and tokens. (IETF RFC 3748-2004)
• FHSS - Frequency Hopping Spread Spectrum; a type of spread spectrum radio transmission in which the transmitter and receiver hop in synchronization from one frequency to another according to a prearranged pattern. One of the three Physical layer technologies specified in the original IEEE 802.11-1997 standard that allowed for 1 and 2 Mbps data rates in the 2.4 GHz spectrum; now obsolete.
• LAN - Local Area Network; a high-speed, data network covering a relatively small geographic area (up to a few thousand meters). LANs connect workstations, peripherals, terminals, and other devices in a single building or other geographically limited area that make up your local network. LAN standards specify cabling and signaling at the physical and data link layers of the OSI model. Ethernet, FDDI, and Token Ring are widely used LAN technologies.
• Packet - a basic message unit for communication across a network. A packet usually includes routing information, data, and sometimes error detection information.
• Roaming (WF) - the ability to take a wireless device from one access point's range to another, usually without losing the WLAN connection (system dependent).
• Unicast - when applied to a medium access control (MAC) service data unit (MSDU), it is an MSDU with a single recipient address as the destination address (DA). When applied to a MAC protocol data unit (MPDU) or control frame, it is an MPDU or control frame with a single recipient address as the receiver address (RA).