Glossary

 

802.11

A family of specifications developed by the IEEE for wireless LAN connections using unlicensed (public or ISM) frequency bands.

Includes the 802.11b standard (also known as WiFi) using the 2.4GHz and 5.8GHz bands.

AC / DC Power Systems

Electrical supply systems using alternating current (AC) or direct current (DC) or a combination of the two.

AC is generally supplied by the national mains system or diesel generators. DC is generally supplied by banks of batteries (charged by mains-powered rectifiers) able to operate for several hours if there is a mains failure.

Analogue

The representation of information (such as audio or visual information) using values that are continuously variable rather than discrete (cf. digital).

Antenna Support Structures

Towers or poles use to support antenna systems.

As-Built Drawings

Post construction drawings.

Backbone

A high-capacity series of connections that forms a major pathway within a network. In Kordia™’s case this refers to the digital microwave radio and fibre linking networks extending from Northland to Southland.

Backhaul

The transport of signals from a customer access point to a point of interconnect with a service provider, often over a backbone network.

Bandwidth

The amount of radio frequency spectrum required to transmit a signal. Often used in data communications contexts to mean capacity.

Base Station

The radio transmission device that provides the links to several subscriber terminals in a wireless access network such as Kordia™’s Extend network.

Bit

Binary digit – the smallest unit of information (either a one or a zero).

Bit Rate

The transmission speed expressed as the number of bits transmitted per second.

Bps

Bits per second - the standard measure of data transmission rates.

Broadband

A high-capacity system (i.e. able to support high bit rates). This is a relative term but is often used to refer to bit rates greater than those supported by conventional voice-frequency modems (e.g. 128 kbps or greater).

Broadcast

Transmission from one source to multiple destinations. Examples are radio and television broadcasting.

Broadband Wireless Access (BWA)

Generic term used to describe the provision of last mile services to the home or business using wireless technology rather than cable based technology or satellite.

Cable Systems

Communication systems employing cable (generally copper wire).

Capacity

The maximum bit rate a particular channel (radio, cable etc.) is able to support expressed in bits per second.

Carrier Class Services

A relative term used to distinguish services with high performance and reliability (suitable for service providers with large numbers of customers or businesses with critical traffic) from services with a lower guaranteed performance.

Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA)

A method for sharing radio spectrum between several users.

Co-location

Commercial storage/provision of space with access to essential services for the co-located hardware and equipment, such as telecommunications bandwidth, power, cooling etc (also see co-siting and telehousing).

Compression

Reducing the data rate of a signal to enable either:

• Transmission of information over a lowercapacity channel (for real-time streaming)
• Faster transmission of information over a particular channel (for file transfers)
• Storage of more information on a given storage device (such as a CD)
• Often used for video and audio signals

Contribution (Television)

The process of transferring television programmes and other types of content to a studio location - can be either moving a programme between studio locations, or a programme feed from an outside location to a studio.

Co-siting

Similar to co-location but may include access to antenna systems (also see co-location and telehousing).

Coverage

The geographical area over which a radio transmission can be satisfactorily received.

Central Terminal (CT)

See Base Station.

Digital Audio Broadcasting (DAB)

Refers to the method of broadcasting Digital Radio services. The most common standard of DAB internationally is Eureka 147.

DAB allows multiple audio streams in a single frequency channel. It also allows broadcast of higher quality sound and images. Note: the government has adopted the Eureka 147 standard for New Zealand in its plan.

Data rate

Speed of data transmission (same as bit rate).

Demand Aggregators

Any organisation that has a number of customers or users connecting through their systems to access services or content (e.g. community of interest).

Digital

The representation of a signal using a limited number of discrete values, ultimately converted into a string of ones and zeros (cf. analogue).

Distribution (Television)

The process of distributing a broadcast television programme signal from the Broadcaster’s studio output to the Broadcaster’s television broadcast transmitter inputs at transmission sites.

DMR

Digital Microwave Radio.

Downstream

Transmission from a server to an end user.

Digital Subscriber Line (DSL)

A method for transmitting high-speed data over standard telephone lines.

Asymmetric DSL (ADSL)

ADSL is commonly used for high-speed Internet access where the downstream data rate is higher than the upstream rate (hence asymmetric).

Digital Terrestrial Television (DTT)

The transmission of digital television via land-based transmitters (as opposed to via satellite). The DVB-T standard defines one possible system for digital terrestrial television.

Digital Video Broadcasting (DVB)

A family of standards for transmission of digital television including cable (DVB-C), Satellite (DVB-S) and terrestrial (DVB-T).

EMR

Electromagnetic Radiation.

Encryption TV

Digitally coded television transmission to prevent unauthorised decoding or reception.

Ethernet

A type of local area network (LAN) architecture using cables (twisted pair, coax or fibre).

Fibre-Optic

Transmission of data using light waves confined in very thin fibres of glass or plastic. Often several fibres will be contained within a fibre-optic cable.

G1-5

Kordia™’s classification system for high sites / towers.

High Sites

Kordia™’s term for transmission towers located on hills and mountains throughout New Zealand.

IM2

Kordia™’s methodology of Intelligent Managed Maintenance.

Infrastructure

Buildings, towers and other physical assets that make up the foundations of communications networks.

Interference

Disruption to communication signals (particularly wireless signals) from unwanted signals.

Internet Service Provider (ISP)

A company that provides access to Internet services for end users.

Internet

The vast worldwide network of computers which forms (among other things) the world wide web.

Internet Protocol (IP)

A globally unique address protocol. Used with other protocols to create Local Area Networks, the Internet and many other forms of computer networks.

IP Network Services

Any services that take advantage of the Internet protocol, such as access to the Internet, Private IP VPN services, Telehousing etc.

IP Wireless Access

Wireless access to an IP-enabled network.

ISP

See Internet Service Provider.

kbps

Kilo (1000 or 103) bits per second – measure of data rate.

Layer 2

In networking, the communications protocol that contains the physical address of a network device and provides reliable transit of data across a physical link. Information is transported in the form of frames. Ethernet works at this layer.

Layer 3

In networking, the communications protocol that contains the logical address of a network device and where routing occurs. Information is transported in the form of packets. IP works at this layer.

Line of Sight

An unobstructed path between sending and receiving antennas.

Linking Systems

A combination of links that transport communication information such as voice, data and video.

Mbps

Mega (1,000,000 or 106) bits per second – measure of data rate.

Multiplexer

A communications device that combines several data streams for transmission over a single link.

Near Line of Sight

Almost optical line of sight (refer line of sight).

Network Integrity

The ability of a network to maintain or restore an acceptable level of performance during network failures by applying various restoration techniques.

Network

A group of two or more devices (such as computers) connected together.

PDH

Plesiochronous Digital Hierarchy – an international standard for data transmission enabling the carriage of signals with the same nominal data rate but with different clock sources (hence plesiochronous or nearly synchronous).

Pipeline

A direct channel by which information is privately transmitted.

Point-to-multipoint

A communication from a single location to many other locations.

Point-to-point

Communication from a single location to another single location.

Quality of Service

A collective measure of the level of service delivered to the customer. QoS can be characterised by several basic performance criteria, including:

• Availability (low downtime)
• Error performance
• Response time and throughput
• Lost calls or transmissions due to network congestion
• Connection set-up time
• Speed of fault detection and correction

Network Redundancy

Back-up systems to increase reliability by minimising single points of failure.

Retail Service Provider (RSP)

A company who buys network capacity from a wholesaler (such as Kordia) to on-sell to end users.

RF

Radio Frequency.

Rigging

Technical labouring on towers.

RSP

See Retail Service Provider.

Satellite

An object launched to orbit Earth, generally for the purpose of communications.

SDH

Synchronous Digital Hierarchy - an international standard for synchronous data transmission based on multiples of approximately 155 Mbps (known as STM-1).

SOE

State Owned Enterprise.

Spectrum

A range of frequencies (or wavelengths) of electromagnetic radiation. The full spectrum is split up into various frequency bands which in turn are split up into channels.

ST/STU

See Subscriber Terminal/Subscriber Terminal Unit.

Subscriber Terminal

The radio transmission device located at the customer’s premise used to connect to a wireless access network such as Kordia™’s Extend network.

Systems

A group of interacting, interrelated, or interdependent elements forming a complex whole.

TCP / IP

Abbreviation for Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol. This combination of protocols is the most important in computer networking and is the basis for the operation of the Internet.

Telecommunications

Communication over a distance by wire, radio, optical or other electromagnetic signals.

Telehousing

Similar to co-location but designed to meet the specific needs of sensitive computing/IT equipment.

Terrestrial

Referring to transmission over the Earth’s surface from transmitters located on land (rather than by satellite).

Transmission

The transfer of information (e.g. voice, video or data) from one point to one or more other points by means of electrical signals.

Turnkey Solutions

The provision by one company of all the services required from planning to ongoing maintenance of a communications solution.

UHF

Ultra-High Frequency (generally in the range 300 to 3,000 MHz).

UPS

Abbreviation of Uninterruptible Power Supply - a power supply that includes a battery to maintain power in the event of a power outage.

Upstream

A transmission from an end user to a server.

VHF

Very High Frequency (generally in the range 30 to 300 MHz).

VoIP

Voice over IP (Internet Protocol).

VPN

Virtual Private Network. This provides a secure private network over a shared or public network.

WiFi

Industry name for Wireless LAN technology related to the IEEE 802.11 family of wireless networking standards using the unlicensed 2.4 GHZ and 5GHz bands.

Sometimes used to refer specifically to the 2.4GHz 802.11b standard. Short for Wireless Fidelity.

WIMAX

Industry name for Wireless WAN technology based on the IEEE 802.16x family of wireless networking standards operating in a number of licensed and unlicensed bands between 2GHz and 11 GHz.

Wind Loading

The amount of resistance to wind caused by a structure or fitting.

Wireless

Communications using radio wave transmission (i.e. without wires or cables).

Zero Fault Tolerance

Kordia™’s guiding maintenance philosophy.