Table of contents

The Telecom Dictionary and Acronym Guide, brought

to you by Ciena, is a compilation of the terms and
acronym guides our experts have developed to
help you understand the industry’s alphabet soup.
We have also updated our Telecom Acronyms Guide,
where you will find over 2,000 entries.

5G Glossary of Terms....................................................................................... 3

Fiber Deep Glossary of Terms..................................................................... 7

Optical Glossary of Terms.............................................................................. 12

SDN/NFV Glossary of Terms........................................................................ 15

4th Edition of the Telecom Acronyms Guide....................................... 19

2
5G
Glossary of Terms

1G: First generation of mobile network technology, offering AF (Application Function): An element offering applications
analog-based voice services. that require dynamic policy and/or charging control over the IP-
CAN user-plane behavior. The AF communicates with the PCRF
2G: Second generation of mobile network technology, offering to transfer dynamic session information, required for PCRF
digital voice and low-speed data services. decisions, as well as receive IP-CAN specific information and
notifications about IP-CAN bearer-level events. One example of
3G: Third generation of cellular network technology, offering
an AF is the P-CSCF of the IMS core network subsystem.
broadband data services.
AMF (Access and Mobility Function): Provides UE-based
4G: Fourth generation of cellular network technology, offering
authentication, authorization, registration, reachability, mobility
high-definition digital voice and better data performance
management, and connection management functions. UE using
speed than 3G.
multiple access technologies could be connected to a single AMF
because the AMF is independent of the access technologies.
5G: Fifth generation of cellular network technology, expected
to surpass 4G access speeds, latency, number of connected
AN (Access Network): One of three major components of a
devices, coverage, availability, and energy consumption.
5G system, defining all equipment within the access part of
the 5G network infrastructure.
5G NR (New Radio): The 3GPP’s fifth-generation radio
standard that leverages millimeter waves, enhanced small
AUSF (Authentication Server Function): Stores data
cells, Massive-Input Massive-Output (MIMO), beamforming,
for authentication of UE; used during the UE attachment
licensed/unlicensed spectrum, and full-duplex wireless
sequence. For 5G, basic security mechanisms for 4G could
technologies.
be reused. However, as 5G enables new service and business
models that will require many different security applications,
3GPP (3rd Generation Partnership Project): A group of [seven]
AUSF will allow UE authentication using these different security
telecommunications standard development organizations (ARIB,
application(s) in this new framework.
ATIS, CCSA, ETSI, TSDSI, TTA, TTC), known as “Organizational
Partners;” provides its members with a stable environment to
BBU (Base Band Unit): A unit of the telecom systems that
produce the Reports and Specifications that define cellular
processes baseband signals. It connects the core or backhaul
telecommunications network technologies, including radio
network to one or more 4G RRHs. BBUs can be distributed
access, the core transport network, and service capabilities.
(D-RAN) or centrally (C-RAN) deployed.

AAS (Active Antenna System): A 3GPP specified system that

Beamforming: Uses multiple antennas to control the direction
combines an Antenna Array with an Active Transceiver Unit
of a wavefront by appropriately weighting the magnitude and
Array and a Radio Distribution Network Unit.
phase of individual antenna signals such that it become

3
possible to provide better coverage to specific areas along the
edges of cells. Beamforming algorithms can be used to reduce
transmission interference from massive MIMO antennas by
providing the precisely coordinated pattern through the air
to each user, allowing the exchange of more data for multiple
5G
users at once.
CORD (Central Office Rearchitected as a Data Center):
Glossary of Terms
Transforms traditional central offices using data center
technology for the purpose of virtualizing traditional telecoms
network elements into a software construct.
CN (Core Network): One of three major components of
the 3GPP 5G system defining all equipment within the core
segment of the network.
Control Plane: The signaling function of a 3GPP system; largely
deals with non-packet forwarding functions including mobility
management, connection establishment, QoS control, etc.
With Rel-14 and Rel-15, 3GPP aims to separate the user plane
and control plane functions respectively for the EPC (Evolved
Packet Core) in LTE and the NGC (Next Generation Core) in 5G.
CPRI (Common Public Radio Interface): Is a digitized and
serial internal radio base station interface that establishes
a connection between Radio Equipment Controller (REC),
commonly known as Baseband Units (BBU), to the Radio
Equipment (RE), commonly known as Remote Radio Heads
(RRH), via single-hop and multi-hop topologies.
CU (Centralized Unit): A logical node hosting RRC, SDAP
and PDCP sublayers of the gNB or ng-eNB; or RRC and PDCP
sublayers of the en-gNB. It centralizes and controls the
operation of one or more gNB-DUs, ng-eNB-DUs or en-gNB-
DUs. The CU terminates the Fronthaul High Layer Split (HLS)
interface connected with the DUs.
CUPS (Control and User Plane Split): Refers to the separation
of the Control and User Plane functions of a LTE EPC (Evolved
Packet Core) packet-forwarding elements. These elements are
the Serving Gateway (S-GW), the Packet Data Network (PDN),
Packet Gateway (P-GW), and the Traffic Detection Function
(TDF). With CUPS, a new control signal is also being defined
between the control plane part and the user plane part of the
split elements; this control signal is primarily used for session
management purposes.
4
C-RAN (Centralized/Cloud-Radio Access Network): The
centralization of Baseband Unit (BBU) or Distributed Unit (DU)
processing, which improves cell coordination, scheduling,
resource pooling, and load balancing.
DN (Data Network): The network hosting operator data-centric
services, Internet, or third-party data-centric services.
D-RAN (Distributed Radio Access Network): A traditional
RAN architecture where a standalone base station has both
the Baseband Unit (BBU) and the Radio Unit (RU) installed
at a cell site. Also, base stations with a D-RAN architecture
are generally installed inside of a medium or large building
for stable power supply and air conditioning needs. The
D-RAN base station will have a backhaul interface into the
core switching center, terminating to circuit-switching and/or
packet-switching core network systems accordingly.
DU (Distributed Unit): A logical node hosting RLC, MAC, and
PHY sublayers of the gNB, en-gNB, or ng-eNB. Its operation is
partly controlled by the CU. One DU supports one or multiple
cells. One cell is supported by only one DU. The DU terminates
the Fronthaul High Layer Split (HLS) interface connected with
the CU.
eCPRI (enhanced Common Public Radio Interface): The
specification of an internal radio base station interface
establishing a connection between eCPRI Radio Equipment
Controller (eREC) and eCPRI Radio Equipment (eRE) via a
packet-based transport network. Three different information
flows are being defined in this specification including eCPRI
User Plane Data, Control and Management Plane data, and
Synchronization.
en-gNB: A node providing NR user plane and control plane
protocol terminations towards the UE, acting as Secondary
Node in EN-DC.
EN-DC: E-UTRA (LTE) to NR Dual Connectivity. An architecture
where both LTE eNodeB and NR gNB will be co-deployed,
allowing the UE to simultaneously establish two radio bearers,
each to the respective NodeBs.
Fronthaul: Defines the network segment connecting
3GPP Distributed Units (DUs) to Centralized Units (CUs) in
a Centralized Radio Access Network (C-RAN) architecture.
Fronthaul is further sub-categorized as Fronthaul HLS and
Fronthaul LLS.
Fronthaul HLS (Higher Layer Split): Defines the open
interconnection of a gNB-CU or ng-eNB-CU to a gNB-DU
or ng-eNB-DU respectively, allowing the CUs or DUs to be
supplied by different manufacturers. A Fronthaul HLS interface
will have both the control plane part and the user plane part.
5G
3GPP F1 interface is an example of a Fronthaul HLS interface.
Fronthaul LLS (Lower Layer Split): Defines the
Glossary of Terms
interconnection of a DU with that of a RU (Radio Unit). CPRI
and eCPRI are both examples of a Fronthaul Low Layer Split
interface. Specific to the eCPRI specification, the DU is being
referred to as eREC, while the RU is being referred to as eRE.
gNB: A node providing NR user plane and control plane
protocol terminations towards the UE, connected via the NG
interface to the 5GC
IMT-Advanced (International Mobile Telecommunications-
Advanced): Represents a secure all-IP mobile broadband
system for wireless devices, going beyond mobile phones
systems marketed as 3G; referenced as 4G or 4.5G.
IMT-2020 (International Mobile Telecommunications-2020):
A program led by Working Party 5D of ITU’s Radio
Communication Sector (ITU-R) to develop ‘IMT for 2020 and
beyond;’ sets the stage for 5G research activities around the
world. The detailed investigation of the key elements of 5G
are being realized through successful partnerships between
ITU-R and the mobile broadband industry, as well as with key
stakeholders in the 5G community.
IP (Internet Protocol): Internet communications protocol
suite for relaying data across network boundaries to enable
internetworking; essentially establishes the Internet.
LTE (Long-Term Evolution): A 4G mobile communications
standard whereby users of the LTE network should see data
speeds up to 10 times faster than 3G networks.
LTE-A (Long-Term Evolution-Advanced): A mobile
communication standard that brings major enhancements
to the LTE standard; formally submitted to ITU-T in late 2009
as a candidate 4G system meeting the requirements of
IMT-Advanced standard. LTE-A was standardized by the 3rd
Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) in March 2011 as 3GPP
Release 10.
M2M (Machine-to-Machine): Communications between
machines, without human intervention.
5
MBH (Mobile Back Haul): The process of connecting cell
sites (base stations) to network controller sites over wireline
networks. Traffic engineering on such wireline networks is
typically required to enforce the necessary quality of service.
Massive MIMO (Multiple-Input Multiple-Output): Refers to
the large number of antennas in the base-station antenna array
that enables multiple spatially separated users to be catered
for by the antenna array in the same time and frequency
resource.
MEC (Multi-Access Edge Computing): Cloud computing at
the edge of the network, performing necessary tasks closer to
the end-users. This environment is characterized by ultra-low
latency and high bandwidth, as well as real-time access to radio
network information that can be leveraged by applications to
improve the overall end-user experience, man or machine.
MIMO (Multiple-Input Multiple-Output): Allows sending and
receiving of more than one data signal on the same channel at
the same time by using more than one antenna, thus improving
the data rates between the transmitter and the receiver.
mmWave (millimeter wave): A high-frequency wave wedged
between microwaves and infrared waves, in the millimeter
band; considered to deliver faster, higher-capacity 5G services.
MNO (Mobile Network Operator): Provides wireless service(s)
to wireless users by owning or leasing all components to sell
and deliver wireless services over licensed wireless spectrum;
MNOs include wireless service providers, wireless carriers,
cellular companies, or mobile network carriers.
MTC (Machine Type Communications): Communications
between machines (things).
mMTC (Massive Machine-Type Communications): Large number
of machines (things) within a specific area and communicating
with application servers residing in a core network.
M-CORD (Mobile-CORD): Focuses on a fully disaggregated and
virtualized RAN and mobile core using open source collaboration,
bringing the value of data center economics and cloud agility.
NEF (Network Exposure Function): A network entity that
exposes 3GPP core network capabilities to third parties, non-
3GPP environments. NEF also provides security when services
or Application Functions (AFs) access 5G Core nodes. It can
be thought of as a proxy, or API aggregation point, or translator
into the Core Network.
NG (Next Generation): Typically referring to the new 5G
systems or specifications.
NGC (Next Generation Core): Defines the mobile core
elements of a 5G system.
S-GW (Serving Gateway): The gateway that terminates the
interface toward E-UTRAN. S-GW is responsible for handovers
with neighboring eNodeBs, as well as for data transfer of all
packets across the user plane from the eNodeB to the P-GW.
It is also the mobility anchor point for Inter-RAT handover

5G
ng-eNB: A node providing E-UTRA (LTE) user plane and control
plane protocol terminations toward the UE, connected via the
between different generations of mobile networks such as
2G/3G. This critical function will be replaced with User Plane
Function (UPF) in 5G.
Glossary of Terms
NG interface to the 5GC.
SMF (Session Management Function): 5G NCG network
Network Slicing: Virtual slices of a physical network
entity handling the session establishment, modification, and
supporting specific performance guarantees.
release of the tunnel between UPF and AN node. It is also
responsible for UE (User Equipment) IP address allocation and
NR (New Radio): Commonly used term to reference 3GPP 5G
management; required to configure traffic steering capabilities
radio system.
at UPF to route traffic to their proper destination.
PCF (Policy Control Function): A control plane function
TSN (Time Sensitive Networking): IEEE 802.1 TSN is a
responsible for policy control; more specifically, managing the
collection of specifications that enhance the functionalities of
Quality of Service (QoS) of individual service data flows in a
IEEE 802.1Q, IEEE 802.1 and IEEE 802.3. These enhancements
3GPP 5G NGC. PCF enforces policies, usually based on usage
collectively enable the creation of a Deterministic Ethernet
volume reporting from the UPF (User Plane Function).
switched network where fixed latency, low packet error loss
PDN-GW or P-GW (Packet Data Network Gateway): Provides rate, zero congestion, and high availability network could be
access to Packet Data Networks; responsible for dictating QoS achieved.
and BW parameters in LTE, acts as IP router to mobile-specific
UDM (Unified Data Management): Where all subscriber data,
tunneling and signaling protocols. This critical function will be
network service profiles, and network access policies are
replaced with UPF in 5G.
stored. The data in the UDM for specific subscribers could be
RAN (Radio Access Network): A combination of wireless accessed for verification of the subscriber during the initial
network elements and wireline network elements connecting network attachment sequence of the subscriber.
end-users, man and machine, to the network core delivering
UE (User Equipment): One of three major components of a
specific services. The network elements present in this
mobile network, defining all user devices connected to the
segment of the network include the base stations, base station
network, man and machine.
controllers, mobile backhaul transmission equipment, etc.

UPF (User Plane Function): A core network function, where

Small Cell: Low-powered cellular radio access nodes that
service functions like packet routing, and forwarding can be
operate in licensed and unlicensed spectrum, serving fewer
deployed in various locations or configurations. The UPF is the
users at high access speeds over a small geographic area.
anchor point for any Intra-/Inter-RAT mobility. It also provides
RRH (Remote Radio Head): A remote radio transceiver that the Roaming Interface to a Visited Network UPF.
connects to radio base station unit via electrical or wireless
interface. The RRH is usually installed on a mast-top or tower-
top location and is physically some distance away from the
base station hardware, which is often mounted in an indoor
rack-mounted location.

6
Fiber Deep
Glossary of Terms
Active Devices: Any electrically powered device that boosts
signals via amplification or filtering.
Analog Return: The upstream return path to the headend or
hub using analog optical fiber nodes.
AR (Augmented Reality): Computer-generated composite
view of the physical environment with virtual enhancements.
AVOD (Advertising VOD): Free-to-all ad-based VOD, meaning
users pay with their eyes and not a credit or debit card.
Bonded Channels: Logical channel arranging multiple physical
communications links arranged into a single logical channel for
use by cable modems in the upstream and downstream path.
Broadband Digital Return (BDR): Also referred to as DR, the
upstream (or return path) to the headend or hub facility from
digital optical fiber nodes.
Broadcast Digital Service: Use of digital signals versus analog
to broadcast services over RF bands.
CAA (Centralized Access Architecture): Centralizes
equipment in the headend or primary hub and supports both
legacy analog and digital fiber nodes. RF is supported for
CMTS, broadband digital return, and all CCAP equipment
(CCAP Gen1, CCAP Gen 2).
CableLabs: Non-profit organization founded by cable
operators to provide innovation and research and development
for the cable MSO industry.
Cable Modem: A data modem used in a cable MSO network,
currently using DOCSIS technology.
7
Cable Operator: Provider of cable services, including voice,
video, and data, and sometimes mobile as an MVNO.
Cable System: A system for delivering video and data, using
RF technology transmitted through coaxial cable.
Community Antenna TV (CATV): The original name for cable
TV, where an antenna at the highest community location
transmits broadcast TV by connecting cables to homes.
CCAP (Converged Cable Access Platform): CableLabs
effort combining QAM and CMTS functions, as well as
enabling IP video.
CCAP Core: In an R-PHY system, CCAP Core provides the CMTS
Core for DOCSIS and EQAM Core for video, using MHAv2.
CDN (Content Delivery Network): Network of distributed
servers for IP-based video and cached Web content.
CESAR (Converged Edge Services Access Router):
Developed by Time Warner Cable (TWC) to merge RF and
IP services; was then merged with Comcast’s CMAP by
CableLabs to become CCAP.
CIN (Converged Interconnect Network): Packet-based
network used to connect an RPD.
CM (Cable Modem): Allows a computing device to
communicate to the Internet over an HFC cable connection.
CMAP (Converged Multiservice Access Platform):
Comcast-led effort to combine functions for CMTS and EQAM
for all Narrowcast and broadcast digital services; eventually
merged with CESAR by CableLabs to become CCAP.
CMC (Coaxial Media Converter): Extents the life of CCAP by
converting data between the coaxial cable network and PON
or metro ethernet network; system control, classification, and
MAC remain in the CMTS core.
Fiber Deep
CMTS (Cable Modem Termination System): System that
delivers data service from a customer DOCSIS modem to the
headend via upstream and downstream channels, converting
Glossary of Terms
the signals to IP for routing to the Internet.
CNR (Carrier-to-Noise-Ratio): Used to characterize network
impairments by measuring the raw power in the RF transport
path only—coaxial cable network.
Coaxial Amplifier: Amplifies downstream and upstream RF
signals in a coaxial cable network.
Coaxial Amplifier Cascade: When four nodes or fewer are
cascaded together on any single access or distribution cable,
with a maximum distribution limit of fifty-three amplifiers for the
entire distribution system.
Coaxial Cable: A single copper-based center conductor
insulated with a foam dielectric and then a shield bonded to
ground transmission medium used between the HFC node
and customer.
Coaxial Connector: Connects coaxial cable to cable devices,
or other cables
Coherent Optical Technology: Optical modem technology
invented by Ciena, enabling high-speed connections with the
use of Digital Signal Processors (DSPs) over fiber optical cable.
CPE (Customer Premises Equipment): Equipment at the
customer location, typically provided by the network provider,
but in some cases owned by the customer.
CWDM (Coarse Wave Division Multiplexing): Low-cost WDM
optics typically limited to sixteen channels under 40km.
C-DOCSIS: DOCSIS 3.0 Asia-specific DAA specification to
enable only high-speed data, not DVB.
DAA (Distributed Access Architecture): Distributes MAC
and PHY layer functions of CMTS, EQAM, or CCAP to a node,
cabinet or MDU location; the two popular DAA approaches are
R-PHY and R-MAC/PHY.
8
dB (Decibel): A mathematical expression for the ratio of
two power levels to measure intensity by comparing to a
logarithmic scale.
dBmV (Decibel-Millivolt): RF power measurement relative to
1 millivolt over an impedance of seventy-five ohms measured
at RF frequencies.
Densification: Pushing fiber closer to the customer with more
digital fiber nodes, reducing number of homes per node, to
allow more capacity for each customer by packing as much
capacity as possible over limited fiber resources.
DEPI (DOCSIS External Downstream Interface) Introduced
with UEPI in 2007 by cable modems ASIC developers for CMTS
MAC-PHY, commonly referred to as DOCSIS Remote PHY when
used in combination with UEPI as MHAv2.
Digital Fiber Node: 10GbE digital optical fiber to coax device,
used as a RPD.
Digital Return (DR): Also referred to as BDR, the upstream or
the return path to the headend or hub facility from digital optic
fiber nodes.
Directional Coupler: Passive RF device used to direct or
couple RF signals on coaxial distribution cable.
DOCSIS (Data Over Cable Service Interface Specification):
CableLabs specification used to provide Internet service using
a cable modem.
DS (Downstream): The path for all services from the
equipment in the headend or hub toward the customer
equipment, including CMTS to CM, CCAP Core to RPD,
RF from RPD to CM, and RF spectrum from the headend.
DTI (DOCSIS Timing Interface): DTI protocol that reduces
complexity and cost of DTI client clocks and per-port shared
server costs while supporting S-CMDA and TDMA requirements;
as part of MHA, DTI enables IP communication between the root
and slave, and includes timestamp and time of day.
DVB (Digital Video Broadcast): Set of digital video standards
used by satellite, cable, and terrestrial infrastructure to deliver
video for digital television.
DWDM (Dense Wavelength Division Multiplexing): Ciena
introduced DWDM in 1996, combining different wavelengths
of light into a single fiber, multiplying the capacity of a fiber by
the number of channels carried
Headend: Cable facility where communication signals and
equipment provide broadcast, narrowcast, and Internet
connectivity.
HERD (Headends Re-architected as Data Center):

Fiber Deep
EPON (Ethernet Passive Optical Network): Version of PON, Data center architecture that uses technologies like
fully compatible with Ethernet, supporting 1GbE and 10GbE virtualization, caching, and Software Defined Networking (SDN)
signals up to 20km. for streaming services.

Glossary of Terms
EQAM (Edge Quadrature Amplitude Modulation): Upgraded
version of QAM, converting IP-based services to digital QAM
signaling, enabling both VOD and SDV where only one carrier is
used, not two like QAM, saving bandwidth, equipment, and space.
ERMI (Edge Resource Management Interface): Enables
EQAM device configuration and control for sharing resources
with VOD.
HFC (Hybrid Fiber Coax): Combines fiber and coax as a
broadband network to deliver cable operator services.
Hub: Cable facility used to distribute communication signals
from the headend, to either a secondary Hub or HFC network.
IPTV (Internet Protocol TV): Also known as Internet television,
delivers video content using IP protocols.

Fiber deep: Referred to as node + 0, or no active devices Integrated-CCAP: CAA headend or primary hub solution that
except the Digital Fiber Node, fiber deep pushes fiber closer to has its PHYs internal to CMTS.
the customer, increasing the number of nodes while reducing
I-CMTS (Integrated-CMTS): All-in-one solution combing RF
the number of homes per node.
and IP components in a single device in the headend.
FTTB (Fiber-To-The-Building): Used to deliver fiber access to
Linear Broadcast: Rigid delivery of content where viewers
a building, and from there to the coaxial cable or some medium
cannot fast forward or watch at a later time.
other than fiber.

L2TPv3 (Layer 2 Tunneling Protocol version 3): Tunneling

FTTH (Fiber-To-The-Home): Also called FTTP, connects fiber
protocol that encapsulates multiprotocol Layer 2 traffic over
directly to individual residences, apartments, or MDUs.
IP networks.
FTTP (Fiber To The Premises): Also called FTTH, connects
Master Headend: The master facility for receiving
fiber directly to individual residences, apartments, or MDUs.
communication signals for processing and distribution.
F-Connector: An inexpensive connector used to connect
MDU (Multi Dwelling Unit): Refers to apartments or
75-ohm cable from the drop to the home and inside the home
condominiums, typically served with one or more HFC nodes
for termination of cable modems.
depending on the size.
GCP (General Control Plane): Is used to start, run, and
MHA (Modular Headend Architecture): CableLabs MHA
configure CMC.
differs from I-CMTS by having PHYs external to CMTS; includes
GPON (Gigabit Passive Network): Supports Ethernet, TDM, DEPI, DTI, OSSI, MHAv2, L2TPv3, video, and GCP.
and ATM traffic using OLT, ONU, and a splitter to divide the
MHAv2 (Modular Headend Architecture version 2):
signal where needed, reaching up to 20km, and supporting up
The second version of MHA, or evolution to remote PHY
to 1.2G upstream and 2.4G downstream using WDM and user
technology from I-CCAP
allocated time slots.

MPEG (Moving Picture Experts Group): Working group

gRPC (gRPC Remote Procedure Call): An open source remote
in charge of international compression, decompression,
procedure call framework, enabling client and server apps to
processing, and coding standards for moving pictures and audio.
communicate transparently.

9
MSO (Multiple System Operator): MSOs operate numerous
cable companies or cable franchises.
MVNO (Mobile Virtual Network Operator): A wireless carrier
provider that does not own the wireless network over which it
Fiber Deep
provides the service.
MVPD (Multichannel Video Programming Distributor):
Glossary of Terms
Operators that deliver and distribute multiple channels,
sometimes called premium, or linear video programming;
MVPDs can be cable, satellite, or wireline operators.
M-CMTS (Modular-CMTS): Modular architecture, where the
CMTS is separated into two parts—first, downstream PHY and
second, IP networking and DOCSIS MAC functions (M-CMTS
Core); used to connect cable modems to the core using an
EQAM interface.
Narrowcast Digital Service: Target marketed services to a
narrow audience using digital signals versus analog to narrow
services, like SDV, over RF bands.
NG-PON2 (Next Gen PON2): Provides higher bandwidth than
GPON, supporting 10G down/10G up, and 10G down/2.5G up;
also, wavelength migration and channel bonding to increase
capacity within the same PON.
Node Split: commonly used to increase services by reducing
the number of homes passed, enabling higher bandwidth
possibilities.
Optical Cable: Transmission medium used between the
headend to the fiber node or customer.
ODN (Optical Distribution Network): As part of a PON system,
ODN contains OLT, ONU, optical fiber, and passive optical
splitters or couplers.
OFDM (Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing): New
PHY layer for DOCSIS 3.1 used to reduce signal crosstalk by
using FDM modulation to transmit digital data over RF and
greatly improve bandwidth by channel bonding.
OLT (Optical Line Terminal): Provides optical cable
terminations in a PON system, gateway routing for data traffic.
ONT (Optical Network Terminal): Sometimes referred as ONU,
the optical modem at the customer site in a PON system; ONT
is a term used by IEEE.
10
ONU (Optical Network Unit): Sometimes referred as ONT, the
optical modem at the customer site in a PON system; ONU is a
term used by ITU-T.
OSI (Open Systems Interconnection): A seven-layer
computing model used for telecommunications and computing
systems, for data protocols.
OSSI (Operational Support System Interface): Defines the
configuration, monitoring, and performance interface requirements
for M-CMTS, DOCSIS EQAMs, and DTI M-CMTS servers.
OTT (Over-The-Top): An IP-streamed service for audio, video, and
other media content over the Internet, without having to subscribe
to a traditional cable, satellite, and wireline pay-TV service.
Passive Devices: Taps, power inserters, splitters, directional
couplers used in the coaxial or fiber network.
Pay-TV (Pay-Television): Subscription-based service, where
customers pay for a channel or bundle of channels.
PHY (Physical): As part of the OSI, physical layer PHY provides
media, signal, and binary transmission from the medium to the
Data Link layer.
PON (Passive Optical Network): Fiber optic point-to-multipoint
broadband network using only passive optical devices.
Power Inserter: Used to provide power for the active coaxial
cable equipment.
QAM (Quadrature Amplitude Modulation): Method of
transmission using two out-of-phase carriers (called
quadrature components) used by all digital cable services use
QAM modulation for video, data, and voice from headends to
homes; when supporting VOD, multiple channels are used, one
for Web channel navigation and the second one for video.
RF (Radio Frequency): Used in analog-based cable networks
to distribute video and broadband channels.
RFI (Radio Frequency Interface): Downstream and upstream
radio frequency interfaces.
RFoG (Radio Frequency over Glass) Replaces the HFC coax
portion with a single-fiber PON network.
RPD (Remote PHY Device): Remote device providing the
DOCSIS R-PHY function.
R-MAC/PHY (Remote-MAC/PHY): Remote device providing
both MAC and PHY functions.
R-PHY (Remote-PHY): Also referred to as MHAv2, R-PHY
enables I-CCAP to be separated into two components, the
Fiber Deep
CCAP Core and RPD; pseudo wires are used between the two.
SCTE (Society of Cable Telecommunications Engineers):
Glossary of Terms
CableLabs owned and operated society enabling members
access to technical solutions, certifications, and training.
SDV (Switched Digital Video): Consumes less bandwidth then
VOD, provides multiple formats, and uses less headend space
with EQAMs used in digital video applications DOCSIS/M-
CMTS; EQAMs used in M-CMTS and DOCSIS applications,
including video over DOCSIS.
Service Group Size: Number of customers passed or served
on an HFC node.
Splitters: Splits or couples signal power.
SVOD (Subscription Video On Demand): ‘All-you-can-eat’
video subscription model, based on a monthly charge, for
example: Netflix, Hulu, and others.
S-CDMA (Synchronous-Code Division Multiple Access):
A digital technique known as spread spectrum; DOCSIS 3.1
OFDMA channels can span more spectrum than S-CDMA.
Taps: Passive coaxial device used to tap or provide
downstream and upstream signals to the customer drop
cable for the coaxial access cable.
TDMA (Time Division Multiple Access): Enables many
sequential users to share a single RF channel by allocating
time slots to each user; DOCSIS 3.1 OFDMA channels can span
more spectrum then TDMA.
TVOD (Transactional VOD): Users only pay for content they
watch, like movies, top TV series, and sporting events by a sell
through or download to rent model.
11
UEPI (Upstream External PHY Interface): Introduced with
DEPI in 2007 by cable modems ASIC developers for CMTS
MAC-PHY; commonly referred to as DOCSIS Remote PHY when
used in combination with DEPI as MHAv2.
UHD (Ultra-High-Definition): Also known as 4K, the latest
resolution offered for consumer content, over twenty-three
times the resolution of standard definition display or TV.
UPS (Uninterruptable Power Supply): Can be used, like
generators, to limit service outage, typically up to two hours.
Upstream: The path for all services from the customer to the
headend or hub.
vCCAP (virtualized CCAP): Centralizes control for virtual
access by separating the control plane and forwarding plane
for remote nodes; once abstracted, CCAP functions can be
virtualized using data center technology in the headend or hub.
v-MVPD (virtual-MVPD): Virtual MVPDs do not own any
network infrastructure but offer premium video content like any
MSO or video service provider over the Internet.
VOD (Video On Demand): Allows users to select content like
movies, concerts, and sporting events on demand with OTT
players; VOD has evolved to include SVOD, TVOD, and AVOD.
VR (Virtual Reality): Computer-generated world that
substitutes the physical world around us.
WDM (Wave Division Multiplexing): Technology using
different wavelengths (colors) of light to allow for the co-
propagation of different channels within an optical fiber for
greatly increased spectral efficiency.
Optical
Glossary of Terms
ACO means Analog Coherent Optics. ACO refers to a pluggable
optical module that includes a laser, modulator, and receiver, and
that gets paired with a DSP ASIC that sits outside it (on the host
circuit pack). The term ACO is preceded with the form factor
descriptor, for example CFP or CFP2. That is, a CFP2-ACO is a
41.5mm-wide pluggable optical module with a laser, modulator,
receiver, but no DSP inside. ACO is similar to Digital Coherent
Optics (DCO), where DCO includes the DSP inside. 100G/200G
CFP2-ACOs are currently shipping and being deployed in
volume in the industry. The industry is moving towards the
use of DCO modules for 400G and higher rates.
ASIC refers to Application-Specific Integrated Circuit. While
many electronic systems can be built using common off-
the-shelf components (such as microprocessors), high-
performance systems that need to do complex tasks often
take advantage of customized chips built for a special purpose.
Such chips are called ASICs. These can contain over 100
million transistor logical gates and perform mighty tasks at
speeds greater than 12 trillion operations per second, yielding
super-fast analog-to-digital signal conversions (see DCO and
DSP below), which are essential in sending information down
long optical fibers. ASIC design is not for the faint of heart.
Designing such complex devices can take years and cost
millions of dollars. When developers are fully confident that
their ASIC design is right, the design is laid out and burned into
the device. If they get it wrong, it can be back to the drawing
board for months of de-bugging and rework, retesting, and
millions more dollars, not to mention the loss of market for new
products built with customized ASICs. The risk-return can be
well worth it, as ASICs can perform a specific function faster,
cheaper, and with lower latency and power than a non-ASIC
implementation.
12
CFP (plus variants like CFP2 and CFP4) refers to small optical
modules that can be plugged into communications systems or
computers. CFP, CFP2, and CFP4 indicate modules of different,
standardized sizes. You can decode the size from the letters,
kind of like you can decode the size of your car’s tires by
reading the letters and numbers printed on the sidewalls.
With the CFP family, it works like this:
• C is the Roman numeral for 100, because the original
application was 100 Gigabit per second (Gb/s) transmission.
• FP stands for ‘form-factor pluggable,’ indicating these can be
plugged in and removed in the field (rather than bolted in at
the factory).
• 2 means half the size of a CFP. 4 means one fourth the size
of a CFP. So, a CFP is 82mm wide, CFP2 is 41.5mm wide, and
CFP4 is 21.5mm wide (we realize that 21.5 is not exactly 82/4,
but just go with it).
Note that the 10 Gb/s XFP could be decoded in a similar way,
with X being the Roman numeral for 10. Unfortunately, the
scheme breaks down with SFP, in which S stands for ‘small.’
And for QSFP, Q stands for ‘quad,’ because a QSFP supports
four optical channels in one module.
Coherent: In physics class, two waves are ‘coherent’ if they
have the same frequency and their peaks are always the
same distance apart (that is, if they have a constant phase
difference, for those of you who did the advanced class.) In
optical communications, the word ‘coherent’ refers to an
approach to encoding and decoding digital information on a
wave of light by using a second wave of light as a reference. By
comparing the two waves—which are at the same frequency—
and figuring out how the peaks and valleys of the two waves
change over time, we can figure out what information was
encoded. Coherent optics is a big deal in our industry because
it made it economical to send 100, 200, 400, and more Gb/s on
a wavelength of light. It just wasn’t practical before coherent
came along.
Optical
DCI stands for Data Center Interconnect. DCI is a very simple—
but often very high-bandwidth—application. It does exactly
Glossary of Terms
what the acronym says: connects data centers that could be
separated by a few meters across a street, by several dozen
kilometers across a neighborhood or city, or by thousands
of kilometers across a continent or ocean. Organizations
that build DCI networks can be (especially in North America
and China) the global cloud and content players that own
numerous data centers, lease fiber, and buy equipment, as
well as telecom carriers that offer DCI services to data center
owners. Governments, enterprises, and research and education
organizations may also deploy DCI networks.
DCO stands for Digital Coherent Optics. DCO refers to a little
box that houses the various optical components needed to
generate light, encode hundreds of billions of ones and zeros
of data on it every second, and also decode a stream
of received information using a so-called ‘coherent’ approach.
To be explicit, a DCO has inside it a laser, a modulator, a
coherent receiver, and a Digital Signal Processor (DSP).
DCOs could come in different form factors, the term DCO is
usually preceded with the form factor descriptor (ex. CFP or
CFP2). So, a CFP2-DCO would be a 41.5mm-wide pluggable
optical module with a laser, modulator, receiver, and DSP inside.
100G DCOs are widely deployed in the industry today.
Discrete: Discrete typically means ‘non-integrated.’ So a laser
packaged by itself—not as part of a PIC—would be called a
‘discrete laser.’ Sometimes people use ‘discrete’ as a noun
meaning ‘discrete component,’ as in, “Our PIC will replace five
discretes.” Grammarians, look away.
DSP is a Digital Signal Processor. This is a chip that runs fancy
math to do useful things to analog signals, such as remove
linear and nonlinear impairments and correct errors. You
probably own DSPs yourself, maybe in your phone, where
they do language processing and deal with touch signals.
But DSPs in optical communications are significantly more
powerful because they’re dealing with signals that change so
fast. (Ciena plug: we have key intellectual property in our own
DSP technology branded as the WaveLogic family of coherent
optical processors.)
13
FEC is Forward Error Correction, which refers to a method
of fixing errors that occur as a digital signal travels between
source and destination. In fiber optics, wavelengths are
exposed to noise and other impairments as they move
through fiber. The noise can at times make a ‘1’ look like a
‘0,’ or vice versa. Too much noise makes the original signal
indistinguishable from garbage data. FEC uses sophisticated
algorithms to help evaluate the intended signal and make
corrections based on a continuously running analysis.
You may hear the term Soft-FEC (or Soft Decision-FEC). This
term appeared as a way to differentiate a newer generation of
algorithms from the previous Hard-FEC or Hard Decision-FEC.
The difference is that, during part of the decoding process,
the algorithm not only keeps track of 1s and 0s, but also the
likelihood of each option. By not making a hard decision
(get it?), the algorithm keeps its options open and can
make a better decision in the end.
By the way, different vendors have different implementations of
FEC—this can be a key source of performance differentiation.
FlexE (FlexEthernet) is a flexible Ethernet client interface
standard defined by the OIF (Optical Interworking Forum).
FlexE provides a generic mechanism for supporting a variety of
Ethernet MAC rates (10G, 40G, nx25G) independent of existing
Ethernet PHY (physical layer) rates. This means that FlexE
enables flexible Ethernet connectivity between routers and
optical transport equipment leveraging existing technology
and physical interfaces to transport higher rate Ethernet
clients. The standard also defines a means of exchanging
information between the router and transport network. The net
benefits are the ability to: remotely adjust service bandwidth
as needed without manual intervention, more efficiently utilize
each networking layer, and improve end-to-end manageability
of the network.
FlexO is the marriage of two other terms, flexible and OTN, and
is an ITU-T recommendation analogous to FlexE, that bonds
nx100G/200G/400G interfaces to carry beyond 100G OTUCn
signals, where C is the Roman numeral for 100 and n ≥ 1. Like
OTN, FlexO decouples client bandwidth from wavelength
capacity, allowing wavelengths to operate at optimal rates
based on reach. FlexO also acts as an inter-domain interface
standard, where it is used as a hand-off between two OTN
transport administrative domains. The key benefit of FlexO
is the ability to transport larger and larger client bandwidths
reusing existing equipment, across any distance.
InP or Indium Phosphide is a material with the fortunate
property of generating light when electrically charged.
As such, InP is often used to create lasers with the level of
performance needed by optical communications applications.
Optical functions other than lasers can also be built in InP,
Optical
so the material is also used for PICs.
Modem: In our world, a modem is a piece of hardware that
Glossary of Terms
includes the coherent transmitter and receiver and all the
surrounding electronics and software needed to generate and
receive an optical signal. So, if you had a 96-channel DWDM
system between Seattle and Portland, each channel carrying
200 Gb/s, you would need 96 modems in Seattle and 96 in
Portland. (You’d also need other parts of an optical system
besides the modems, most notably a multiplexing function to
combine those 96 different colors of light onto the fiber, and
some amplifiers to keep the light bright enough to recover at
the other end of the fiber.)
MSA stands for Multi Source Agreement. Think of an MSA as
a specification that multiple parties agree to build to or build
around. Note that when someone says ‘MSA’, they’re typically
referring to a module that conforms to the agreement, not to
the agreement itself. In the optical space, a ‘5x7 MSA’ refers to
an optical module—not pluggable, but rather bolted in at the
factory—that is 5 inches by 7 inches in footprint. A 4x5 MSA
is—you guessed it—4 inches by 5 inches.
14
OTN stands for Optical Transport Network which is comprised
of a set of optical network elements—Wavelength Division
Multiplexers (WDM), Optical Amplifiers (OA), Optical Add-Drop
Multiplexers (OADM), Optical Cross-Connects (OXC), etc.—
connected by optical fiber links, that provide the functionality
of transport, multiplexing, switching, management, supervision,
and survivability of optical channels carrying client signals.
Typically, OTN refers to ITU recommendation G.709 which is
often referred to as the ‘digital wrapper’ due to its ability to
adapt any client signal to a standard transport format across
optical networks.
PIC stands for Photonic Integrated Circuit, a type of device
used in optical transmission products where multiple optical
functions are integrated onto a single chip of material. It’s
conceptually like an electronic integrated circuit, but a PIC
device has optical as well as electronic functionality, and
may use materials other than silicon. A wide variety of optical
transmission capabilities are incorporated in PICs, including
signal amplification, signal modulation, lasers, and detectors.
Silicon Photonics refers to the use of the same silicon
processes used in high-volume electronics, but for carrying
light in addition to electrons. A variety of optical devices can be
built from silicon, and many companies are using this approach
to make optical devices smaller and cheaper, taking advantage
of the massive volumes and resultant cost curves of electronic
integrated circuits.
SDN/NFV
Glossary of Terms

Big Data: Big data refers to large data sets (think petabytes) and
can include performance data, end-user data, trouble ticketing
information. This can include anything from the network or even
external sources. It encompasses both the tools to process, store
and retrieve data as well as the physical repository for the data.
OpenFlow: A communications protocol for programmatically
controlling the forwarding plane of a network switch or router.
OpenFlow assumes a separation of the control plane from
the data plane and directs packet flow through
pattern-match/action commands.

Controller: A logically centralized component of software

Orchestrator: A software component used to provide
providing network management (and network control)
end-to-end control across a network. An orchestrator is
functionality. For example, a controller establishes the policies
generally considered to provide higher-level perspective
and rules regarding packet forwarding and configures the
than a controller.For example, it may provide end-to-end
network infrastructure to perform the forwarding.
service abstraction, where a controller might focus on packet

Domain: A networking component with centralized forwarding and control.

management. A domain can be as small as a single network

Pod: A self-contained unit that includes compute and storage.
function or device or as broad as an entire network.
NFV pod refers to an independent x86-based component

Network analytics: Network analytics involves the analysis of dedicated to running VNFs.

network data and statistics to identify trends and patterns for

Python: A widely used, high-level, general-purpose,
deriving insight to drive intelligent operations.
interpreted, dynamic programming language that provides
• Descriptive analytics - This interprets historical data to constructs intended to facilitate readability and enable clear
uncover what has happened in the past. programs on both small and large scales.
• Diagnostic analytics - This involves root-cause analysis
Resource: Any entity that provides a well-defined set of
to determine why something has happened.
network functionalities that can be modeled and controlled
• Predictive analytics - Uses historical patterns and other through an API. A resource may be an individual device or
data sources to predict what might happen in the future. network function, or an entire network or network domain.
• Prescriptive analytics - This type of analytics shows how
different actions will affect the situation and recommends
an action that will produce the best possible outcome.

• Adaptive analytics - Adaptive analytics leverages prescriptive

analytics to determine what is the best course of action to take
and then uses an actionable system to execute on it.

15
AI Artificial intelligence
AI is the ability for computer/networking systems to perform
tasks that normally require human intelligence that involve
perception, understanding and decision-making.
Optical
API Application Programming Interface
An API expresses a software component in terms of its inputs,
outputs, and operations for programmatically manipulating and
Glossary of Terms
controlling a software component.
BP Blue Planet
Blue Planet is a Ciena software platform purpose-built for
network virtualization, orchestration, and management.
BPM Business Process Modeling
BPM is a way of expressing a business process or workflow
in a human-readable graphical form.
BPMN Business Process Modeling Notation
BPMN is a graphical notation, similar to a flow chart, for
business process modeling.
BSS Business Support System
BSS is a set of software used by a telecommunications service
provider to run its business operations. Typically, BSS deals
with the taking of orders, payment issues, and revenues,
and supports the management of products, orders, revenue,
and customers.
CE Carrier Ethernet
CE represents a standard set of Ethernet services that have
come into being overthe past 10+ years. The standard covers
point-to-point and multipoint Ethernet connectivity services.
Today, the global CE market exceeds $50 billion.
CE 3.0 Carrier Ethernet 3.0
CE 2.0 represents the latest CE certification standard.
Ciena packet products are CE 3.0 certified.
CECP Carrier Ethernet Certified Professional
CECP is a certification demonstrating expertise, skills, and
knowledge of Carrier Ethernet technologies, standards,
services, and applications.
CLI Command Line Interface
CLI is a means of interacting with a computer program or
networking device whereby the user issues commands in
the form of successive lines of text.
16
CORD Central Office Re-architected as a Data Center
CORD represents a different way of building central offices
that leverages open source and white box technologies in favor
of specialized and vendor proprietary devices. CORD combines
these open building blocks with SDN and NFV to bring
economies with the scale and agility of the cloud to service
providers. CORD began as a proof of concept sponsored by
ON.Lab and AT&T. Now, companies like Ciena are helping to
bring CORD into production.
COTS Commercial Off-The-Shelf
COTS describes products and/or components that are
standard manufactured products and can be purchased readily.
DC Data Center
A DC is a facility used to house computer systems and
associated components. It includes servers, storage,
networking, power, air conditioning, and security.
DCI Data Center Interconnect
DCI refers to the networking—either packet or optical—that
connects data centers.
EMS Element Management System
An EMS is an application for managing network elements.
An EMS typically manages a single vendor’s equipment or
technology.
ETSI European Telecommunications Standards Institute
ETSI is an independent, not-for-profit standardization
organization in the telecommunications industry (equipment
makers and network operators), based in Europe. The ETSI NFV
ISG produced the original white paper defining NFV and defined
the architecture for deploying NFV.
FCAPS F
 ault, Configuration, Accounting, Performance,
and Security
FCAPS is a framework describing the major elements of
network management—fault, configuration, accounting,
performance, and security.
GUI Graphical User Interface
A GUI is a graphical way of interacting with a computer program
or networking device. Visualization is graphical, and commands
are typically controlled with a mouse.
IaaS Infrastructure as a Service
IaaS is a form of cloud computing where compute
infrastructure—that is, compute and/or storage—is provided
to an end-user as a cloud-based service.
IP Internet Protocol
IP is the principal communications protocol in the Internet
protocol suite for carrying datagrams across a network.
MANO Management and Orchestration
Optical
MANO is the component in the NFV architecture controlling
how one or more VNFs are chained together and
interconnected into an end-to-end service.
Glossary of Terms
MDSO Multi-Domain Service Orchestration
MDSO is the end-to-end management and control of services
over physical and virtual networking functionality and across
one or more management domains.
ML Machine learning
ML is a branch of AI that uses statistical techniques to enable
systems to “self-learn” and progressively improve performance
on a specific task.
MPLS Multi-Protocol Label Switching
MPLS is a data encapsulation methodology used for carrying
different types of telecommunications data across a packet
network. MPLS uses labels to steer traffic from one network
node to the next rather than long network addresses (which
makes MPLS more efficient than routing).
NaaS Network as a Service
NaaS is a form of cloud computing where networking and
connectivity are provided to an end-user as a service.
NE Network Element
NEs are individual networking devices being managed.
NETCONF Network Configuration Protocol
NETCONF is a network management protocol used for
the configuration of network devices.
NFV Network Functions Virtualization
NFV is a network architecture concept that uses the
commercial off-the-shelf technologies, including storage and
compute, to virtualize entire classes of network node functions
used to create communication services.
NFVO Network Functions Virtualization (NFV) Orchestration
NFVO is a software component that can orchestrate the
lifecycle of virtualized network functions. This includes the
creation and chaining of virtualized network functions.
17
ONAP Open Networking Automation Platform
The Linux Foundation’s ONAP project is a fusion of two
open source projects: AT&T’s ECOMP (Enhanced Control,
Orchestration, Management and Policy), and Open-O. ONAP
takes advantage of the best of both projects to build a
critical mass of contributors and market momentum toward
enhancing open, software-led network transformation and
virtualization efforts.
ONF Open Networking Foundation
ONF is an organization aimed at improving networking through
SDN, the OpenFlow protocol, and related technologies.
ON.Lab Open Networking Lab
ON.Lab is an organization dedicated to developing tools and
platforms and building open source communities to realize the
full potential of SDN.
ONOS Open Network Operating System
ONOS is the SDN OS for service providers. ONOS has
scalability, high availability, high performance, and abstractions
that make it easy to create apps and services.
OPEN-O Open Orchestrator Project
OPEN-O is a collaborative effort to bring the industry
together to develop an open source software framework and
orchestrator to enable agile SDN and NFV operations. OPEN-O
was announced in February 2016.
OPNFV Open Platform for Network Functions Virtualization
OPNFV is a collaborative open platform intended to accelerate
the deployment of NFV. OPNFV is mainly focused on building
NFVI and VIM.
OSM Open Source MANO
OSM is an ETSI-hosted project to develop an open source
NFV MANO software stack aligned with ETSI NFV.
OSS Operation Support System
OSS is a set of software systems used by telecommunications
service providers to manage their networks (for example,
telephone networks). They support management functions
such as network inventory, service provisioning, network
configuration, and fault management.
PaaS Platform as a Service
PaaS is a category of cloud computing services that provides
a platform allowing customers to develop, run, and manage
applications without the complexity of building and maintaining
the infrastructure typically associated with developing and
SNMP Simple Network Management Protocol
SNMP is a protocol for collecting and organizing information
about managed devices on IP networks and modifying that
information to change device behavior. Devices that typically
support SNMP include routers, switches, servers, workstations,

Optical
launching an app.

PCE Path Computation Element

printers, and modem racks.

SOAP Simple Object Access Protocol

Glossary of Terms
PCE is a system component, application, or network node used SOAP is a protocol specification for exchanging structured
to determine and find a suitable route for connecting between information in the implementation of web services in computer
a source and destination end-points. networks. It uses XML Information Set for its message format
and relies on application layer protocols, most notably
PNF Physical Network Function
Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) or Simple Mail Transfer
A PNF is a physical appliance or hardware device that provides
Protocol (SMTP) for message negotiation and transmission.
network functions.
VIM Virtual Infrastructure Manager
PS Professional Services
VIM is management software that provides centralized
PS are consulting services provided by a vendor to customize
administration of physical and virtual compute resources. For
or fine-tune an application or installation to suit a particular
NFV, VIM administers the cloud resources used to run VNFs.
customer’s needs.
VNF Virtual Network Function
RA Resource Adapter
A VNF is a network function that has been virtualized. A VNF is
An RA adapts between the internal data model and an external
different from NFV. VNF refers to an instance or implementation
system or resource.
of a network function in software that is decoupled from the
REST Representational State Transfer (usage: RESTful API) underlying hardware.
REST is an architectural style and an approach to
VNFI VNF Infrastructure
communications often used in the development of web services.
VNFI is the compute infrastructure on which a VNF is run.
REST is a stateless, client-server, cacheable communications
vRouter Virtual Router vRouter is a virtualized version of
protocol that, in virtually all cases, uses the HTTP protocol.
router functionality.
SaaS Software as a Service
WAN Wide Area Network
SaaS is a software licensing and on-demand delivery model
A WAN is a telecommunications network or computer network
in which software is licensed on a subscription basis and is
extending over a large geographical distance—global, regional,
centrally hosted.
national, or metro.
SDN Software-Defined Networking
x86 Intel x86 processor architecture
SDN is an approach to computer networking that allows network
x86 is a family of backward-compatible instruction-set
administrators to manage network services’ higher-layer
architectures based on the Intel 8086 CPU. x86 is commonly
abstracted functionality. This is done by decoupling the control
used to refer to commodity, commercial off-the-shelf servers
plane and data plane. The control plane is logically centralized,
used for NFV.
and the data plane remains with forwarding devices.
XML Extensible Markup Language
SMB Small and Medium-sized Business
XML is a human-readable markup language. XML is intended
SMBs are businesses whose personnel numbers fall below
to be simple and generally useable to describe documents and
certain limits.
arbitrary data structures. Some network management products
SME Small and Medium-sized Enterprise use XML as the protocol on the management interface.
SMEs are enterprises whose personnel numbers fall below
YANG Yet Another Next Generation
certain limits.
YANG is a data modeling language originally created to support
the NETCONF network configuration protocol. More recently,
YANG is also used for data modeling language for a few other
protocols. YANG is also sometimes used to model services.

18
Telecom
Acronyms Guide

Numerics ACAC Actual Call Admission Control

2F Two-Fiber ACEG Alternating Current Equipment Ground

10 GbE 10 Gigabit Ethernet ACK Acknowledge

10 GFC 10 Gigabit Fibre Channel (Same as FC1200) ACL Active Control List; Access Control List

100G 100 Gigabits ACO Alarm Cutoff

16-QAM 16 (points) Quadrature Amplitude Modulation ACQ Acquire

3D Three Dimensional ACR Allowed Cell Rate

3G 3rd Generation ACS  utomatic Channel Shutdown; Alarm Correlation

A
and Suppression
3GPP 3rd Generation Partnership Project
ACSE Association Control Service Element
40G 40 Gigabits
ACSS  utomatic Channel Shutdown Suppression;
A
4C 
Consortium of Intel, IBM, Matsushita, and Toshiba
Automatic Channel Shutdown State
4F Four-Fiber
ACT Active
4G Fourth generation
ADC Analog-to-Digital Converter; Add/Drop Coupler
5C 
Consortium of Intel, Sony, Matsushita, Toshiba,
ADI Asset Distribution Interface
and Hitachi
ADM Add/Drop Multiplexer
5G Fifth generation
ADP  ctual Departure Potential; Automatic
A
A Data Processing
ADSL Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line
A/D Analog-to-Digital
ADT 
Actual Departure Time; Automatic
AAL ATM Adaptation Layer
Data Transmission
AAL0 ATM Adaptation Layer Type 0
AE Automation Engine; Automation Environment
AAL1 ATM Adaptation Layer Type 1
AES Advanced Encryption Standard;
AAL2 ATM Adaptation Layer 2 Transport
Application Environment Specific
AAL3/4 ATM Adaptation Layer Type 3 and 4
AESA  TM End System Address; ATM End Station
A
AAL5 ATM Adaptation Layer 5 Address
ABR Available Bit Rate AF Application Function
ABT Advanced BiCMOS Technology AFI Authority and Format Identifier
AC  lternating Current; Administrative Complex;
A AFM APS Mode Mismatch Failure
Atomic Clock
AGC Automatic Gain Control; Access Group Controller
AC-3 Audio Coding Revision 3

19
AGGR Aggregate ASE  mplified Spontaneous Emission;
A
AID Access Identifier; Application Identifier Application Service Element

AIM Auto Image Management; Active Inventory Map
AIN Advanced Intelligent Network
ASI  synchronous Serial Interface;
A
Asynchronous SCSI Interface
ASIC Application-Specific Integrated Circuit

Optical
AINI ATM Inter-Network Interface
ASN.1 Abstract Syntax Notation One
AINS Automatic in Service State
ASP  pplications Service Provider;
A
AIR Additive Increase Rate

Glossary of Terms
Average Selling Price
AIS Alarm Indication Signal
ASYNC Asynchronous
AISDP Alarm Indication Signal Decay Period
AT Advanced Technology
AISIP Alarm Indication Signal Integration Period
AT&T American Telephone and Telegraph Company
AIS-L Alarm Indication Signal - Line
ATA Advanced Technology Attachment
AIS-P Alarm Indication Signal - Path
AIS-S Alarm Indication Signal - Section ATAF ATM Test Access Function

AIS-V VT Alarm Indication Signal ATAG Autonomous Tag

ALS  utomatic Laser Shutdown; Application

A ATAGSEQ Autonomous Tag Sequence
Layer Service ATC Alarm Traffic Controller
AM Amplitude Modulation; Application Manager ATDMA Asynchronous Time Division Multiple Access
AMF APS Mode Mismatch Failure A-TDMA Advanced Time Division Multiple Access
AMI  ccess Method Interface; Alternate Mark
A ATM Asynchronous Transfer Mode
Inversion ATM SAM ATM Service Access Multiplexer
AMP Amplifier; Amperes ATMVCL ATM Virtual Channel Link
AMS 
Asset Management System; Agent Management ATMVPL ATM Virtual Path Link
System
ATTN Attenuator
AN Access Network
AU/AU-x Administrative Unit
ANSI American National Standards Institute
AUG Administrative Unit Group
AO Autonomous Output
AUI Autonomous Unit Interface
AOD Advertising on Demand
AU-n Administrative Unit n
APC Angled Physical Contact
AUSF Authentication Server Function
APD Avalanche PhotoDiode
AUX Auxiliary
API Application Program Interface
AVC Attribute Value Change
APS Automatic Protection Switching
AVOD Advertising VOD
APSBF Automatic Protection Switching Byte Failure
AWG American Wire Gauge
APSCM  utomatic Protection Switching
A
AWGN Additive White Gaussian Noise
Channel Mismatch
APSMM Automatic Protection Switching Mode Mismatch B
AR Augmented Reality B/P Backplane
ARC Alarm Reporting Control B3ZS Bipolar With 3-Zero Substitution
ARP Address Resolution Protocol B6ZS Bipolar With 6-Zero Substitution
ARPU Average Revenue per Unit (or User) B8ZS Bipolar With 8-Zero Substitution
AS Autonomous System BA Booster Amplifier
ASAP Alarm Severity Assignment Profile BB Broadband
ASCII  merican Standard Code for
A BBE Background Block Error
Information Interchange
BBER Background Block Error Ratio
ASD Access Security Device

20
BBE-RS Background Block Error Regenerator Section
(an SDH regenerator section error)
BBU Base Band Unit
BC Business Continuity; Broadcast
BCD Binary-Coded Decimal
BPMN Business Process Modeling Notation
B-PON Broadband Passive Optical Network
BPP Backplane Protocol
bps bits per second

Optical
BPSR Bidirectional Path Switched Ring
BCST Broadcast BPT Band Pass-Through
B-DCS Broadband Digital Cross-connect System BPV BiPolar Violations

Glossary of Terms
BDFB Battery Distribution Fuse Bay; Battery Distribution
Fuse Board
B-RAS
BRI
Broadband Remote Access Server
Basic Rate Interface
BDR Broadband Digital Return
BRM Backward RM
BE Block Error; Best Effort
BSC Board SC Connector
BECN Backward Explicit Congestion Notification
BSP Board Support Package
BELLCORE BELL Communications Research, Inc.
BSS Business Support System
BER Bit Error Rate
BT British Telecom; Burst Tolerance
BE-RS Block Errors-Regenerative Section
Btag Beginning Tag
BER-SD-P Path Signal Degrade BER
BTM Bits Termination Circuit Pack
BER-SF-P Path Signal Failure BER
BTO Build Transfer Operate
BERT Bit Error Rate Test
BTS Business Telecom Services
BFP Back Facet Power; Basic Format Packet
BTU/hr British Thermal Unit per hour
BGP Border Gateway Protocol
BW Bandwidth
BGP4 Border Gateway Protocol, version 4
BWDM Band Wavelength Division Multiplexer
BICI Broadband Inter-Carrier Interfaces;
BYT Total Byte Count
B-ISDN Inter-carrier Interface
BICSI Building Industry Consulting Services International C
BIOS Basic Input/Output System C Celsius; Critical
BIP Bit Interleaved Parity; Breaker Interface Panel C/I Carrier-to-Interface Ratio
B-ISDN Broadband ISDN C/N Carrier-to-Noise Ratio
BIT Built-In Test; Binary Digit C2O Cable to Optic
BITS Building Integrated Timing System CA Content Archived; Carrier Access
bits/sym Bits per Symbol CAA Centralized Access Architecture
BLSR Bidirectional Line Switched Ring CAB Conformity Assessment Body
BML Business Management Layer CAC Connection Admission Control;
BNC  ayonet Neill-Concelman British National
B Call Admission Control
Connector CAD Computer Aided Design
BOC Bell Operating Company CALA Central America and Latin America
BOD Bandwidth on Demand CAM Content Addressable Memory
BOL Beginning of Life CANARIE Canadian Network for Advancement of Research
BOM Bill of Materials CAP Competitive Access Provider
BONDING Bandwidth ON Demand Interoperability Group CAPEX Capital Expenditure
BOOTP Bootstrap Protocol CAS Channel Associated Signaling
BP Backplane CATV Community Antenna Television; Cable Television
BPI Baseline Privacy Interface CB, C/B Circuit Breaker
BPI+ Baseline Privacy Interface Plus C-Band Conventional Band
BPM Business Process Modeling

21
CBDS Connectionless Broadband Data Service
CBN Common Bonding Network
CBR Constant Bit Rate
CC Cross Connection; Clear Channel; Calling Centers
CCAF Call Control Agent Function, IN block
Optical
CCAP Converged Cable Access Platform
CCB Configuration Control Board
Glossary of Terms
CCC Cross Connect Controller
CCC768 Cross Connect Fabric with 768x768 STS-1 capacity
CCCG Cross Connection and Control Group
CCC-PC CCC Processor Card
CCDF Complementary Cumulative Distribution Function
CCI Content Control Information
CCITT Consultative Committee on International
Telegraphy and Telephony
CCK Complimentary Code Keying
CCW Counterclockwise
CDE Common Desktop Environment (UNIX)
CDMA Code Division Multiple Access
CDN Content Delivery Network
CDP Contracted Deadline Potential
CDR Call Detail Recording; Clock and Data Recovery
CD-ROM Compact Disc Read Only Memory
CDT Connection Dropping Threshold
CDTS Chromatic Dispersion Test Set
CDV Cell Delay Variation
CDVT Cell Delay Variation Tolerance
CD-WO Compact Disc - Write One
CE Consumer Electronics
CEA Consumer Electronics Association
CELP Code Excited Linear Predictive
CER Cell Error Ratio; Codeword Error Ration
CES Circuit Emulation Service
CESAR Converged Edge Services Access Router
CEV Controlled Environmental Vault
CFDM Command Frequency Division Multiplexer
CFG Configuration
CFM Cubic Feet per Minute
CFU Cooling Fan Unit
CH Channel
CHASEH Environmentally Hardened Chassis
CHASYNC Chassis with Sync
CI Compact Intelligence; Craft Interface;
Customer Interface; Certified Integrator
22
CID Circuit Identification; Craft Interface Device
CIF Client Interface
CIFS Common Internet File System
CIM Client Interface Module
CIN Converged Interconnect Network
CINOT Ciena Optical Transport System
CIT Craft Interface Terminal; Craft Interface Tool
CL
CLASS
Coupling Loss; Cleared
Custom Local Area Signalling Services
CLEC Competitive Local Exchange Carrier
CLEI Common Language Equipment Identifier
CLEITM Common Language Equipment Identifier
CLFI Common Language Facility Identifier
CLI Command Line Interface
CLIP Calling Line Identification Presentation
CLIR Calling Line Identification Restriction
CLLI Common Language Location Identifier
CLNP Connectionless Network Layer Protocol
CLNS Connectionless Network Service
CLP Cell Loss Priority
CLR Cell Loss Ratio
CLTP Connectionless Transport Protocol
cm centimeter
CM Control Module; Cable Modem
CMAP Converged Multiservice Access Platform
CMC Coaxial Media Converter
CM-CLI Control Module Command Line Interface
CME Compressed Multiplication Equipment
CMF Channel Mismatch Failure;
Client Management Frame
CMIP Common Management Information Protocol
CMIS Common Management Information Services
CMISE Common Management Information
Service Element
CMR Cell Misinsertion Rate
CMS Call Management Server
CMTS Cable Modem Termination System
CMU Clock Multiplier Unit
C-n Container C-11=1,544 Mb/s; C-12=2,048 Mb/s;
C-2=6,312 Mb/s; C-3=34,368 Mb/s and 44,736
Mb/s; C-4=139,264 Mb/s
CN Core Network
CNIPS Core Network Integrated Planning System
CNIR Carrier-to-Noise/Ingress Ratio
CNMP Customer Network Management Portal CRT Cathode Ray Tube
CNR Carrier-to-Noise Ratio CRx Line Client Receive Line
CO Central Office CS Control Sub-span; Convergence Sublayer;
CoreStream
COAX Coaxial Cable
CSA Canadian Standards Association

Optical
COBRA Copper and Optical Broadband Remote Access
CSC Command Signal and Control
CODEC Coder/Decoder
CSD Core Switching Division
COE Central Office Equipment

Glossary of Terms
COFA
COLD
Change of Frame Alignment
Central Office Layout Design
CSES
Csh
Consecutive Severely Errored Seconds
C Shell
CSH Common Signal Header
COLL Collision Count
CSI Convergence Sublayer Indicator
CONDTYPE Condition Type
CSM Core Switching Manager
CONS Connection Oriented Network Service
C-SMF Conventional Single Mode Fiber
COO Chief Operating Officer
CSO Composite Second Order
COPS Common Open Policy Services
CSP Customer Service Profile
CORBA Common Object Request Broker Architecture
CSR Customer Service Representative
CORD Central Office Rearchitected as a Data Center
CS-RZ Carrier-Suppressed Return-to-Zero
COS Class of Service; Common Object Services;
CORBA Object Services CST Central Standard Time

CoS Class of Service CSU Channel Service Unit; Customer Service Unit

COT Central Office Terminal CSV Comma-Separated Value

COTS Commercial off the Shelf CT Critical

CP Circuit Pack; Control Processor; Connection CTAM Cable & Telecommunications Association
Provisioner; Call Processing; Customer Premise for Marketing

CPCI Compact Peripheral Component Interconnect CTB Composite Triple Beat

CPD Common Path Distortion CTC Common Transmit Clock

CPE Customer Premises Equipment; CTD Cell Transfer Delay

Customer Provided Equipment CTG Cradle-To-Grave
C-Plane Control Plane CTN Core Transmission Network
CPLD Complex Programmable Logic Device CTP Connection Termination Point
CPM Cross-Phase Modulation CTS Clear To Send
CPRI Common Public Radio Interface CTx Line Client Transmit Line
CPRM Content Protection for Recordable Media CU Centralized Unit
CPT Channel Pass-Through CUG Closed User Group
CPTTAG Connection Termination Point Tag CUPS Control and User Plane Split
CPU Central Processing Unit CV Code Violation
CR Circuit Reliability; Carriage Return; Critical Alarm CV-FE Code violation - Far End
C-RAN Centralized/Cloud-Radio Access Network CV-L Code Violation - Line
CRC Cyclic Redundancy Check CV-P Code Violation - Path
CRG Circuit Restoration Group CV-PFE Code Violation - Path Far End
CR-LDP Constraint-based Routing Label Distribution CV-S, CVS Code Violation - Section;
Protocol Code Violation - Seconds
CRS Cross Connect CW Clockwise; Continuous Wave
CWDM Coarse Wave Division Multiplexing

23
 D DDS Digital Data Storage; Digital Data Service;
Digital Data System; Digital Data Stream
D&C Drop and Continue
D/A Digital-to-Analog DE Discard Eligible
DEC Digital Electrical Carrier
DAA Distributed Access Architecture
DECT Digital European Cordless Telephone/

Optical
DAC Digital to Analog Converter; Digital
Telecommunication
Addressable Controller
DEG Degraded Signal
DACS Digital Access and Cross-Connect System

Glossary of Terms
DEMUX Demultiplexer
DAD Direct Access Device
DENI Digital Entertainment Networking Initiative
DADM Data Add/Drop Multiplexer
DENY Transaction Denier
DARPA Defense Advanced Research Projects
Agency (US) DEPI DOCSIS External Downstream Interface

DAS Direct Attached Storage DFB Distributed Feedback

DATE Duly Authorised Telecommunications Entity DG Disc Group

dB decibel DGD Differential Group Delay

DB Database DHCP Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol

DB-9 Data Bus 9 Pin Connector DHWG Digital Home Working Group

DBA Database Administrator D/I Drop and Insert

dBc Decibel referenced to the carrier DID Direct Inward Dialer

dBm Decibel reference to milliwatts DiffServ Differentiated Services

DBMS Database Management System DIO Digital Input/Output

DBPSK Differential Binary Phase Shift Keying DIP Dual In-line Package (switch)

DBS Direct Broadcast Satellite DIR Direction

dBW Decibels referenced to Watts Div Division

DC Direct Current; Data Connection DLC Digital Loop Carrier

DCC Data Communications Channel DLCI Data Link Connection Identifier

DCE Data Communications Equipment; DLL Dynamic Link Library; Data Lind Layer (driver);
Data Circuit Terminating Equipment Downline Load

DCF Dispersion-Compensating Fiber DLT Digital Linear Tape Drives

DCG Dispersion Compensation Grating DM Degraded Minute; Dispersion Mitigation

DCI Data Center Interconnect DMA Direct Memory Access

DCM Dispersion Compensation Module DMACS Distributed Monitoring and Control System

DCME Digital Compressed Multiplication Equipment DMB Digital Multipoint Bridge;

Document Maintenance Bulletin
DCMS Digital Circuit Multiplication System
DMC Dual Modem Cards
DCN Data Communication Network
DMH Degraded Modem Hours
DCOM Distributed Component Object Model
DMM Digital Multi-Meter
DCP Digital Communications Protocol;
Device Control Protocol DMOP Detailed Method of Procedure

DCS Digital Cross-connect System; DMS Dispersion-managed Solution

Digital Connection System DMUX [Optical] Demultiplexer
DCS 1800 Digital Cellular System, GSM variant at 1800 MHz DN Data Network
DCU Dial up Data Channel Unit DNCS Digital Network Control System
DDI Direct Dialing Inward DNR Do Not Revert
DDI DNS, DHCP and IPAM DNS Domain Name Server; Domain Name System
DOCSIS Data-Over-Cable Service Interface Specifications

24
DOD Department of Defense DTL Designated Transit List
DOS Disk Operating System DTMF Dual Tone Multiple Frequency
DoS Denial of Service DTS Dynamic Transport System
DP Distribution Point; Data Processing DTV Digital Television
DPDT Double-Pole, Double-Throw DU Distributed Unit

Optical
DPFI
DPI
Data Plane Fault Isolation
Digital Program Insertion; Dots Per Inch
DUART Dual Universal Asynchronous Receiver
Transmitter

Glossary of Terms
DPR
DPRAM
Dedicated Protection Ring
Dual Port Random Access Memory
DUP
DUS
Data User Part
Don’t Use Synchronization

DPT Dynamic Packet Transport DV Digital Video

D-RAN Distributed Radio Access Network DVB-ASI Digital Video Broadcast Asynchronous
Serial Interface
DQ Degraded Quality Level
DVC Dynamic Virtual Concatenation
DQDB Distributed Queue Dual Bus
DVD Digital Versatile Disc
DQoS Direct Memory Access
DVD+R Recordable Digital Versatile Disc
DQPSK Differential Quadrature Phase Shift Keying
DVD+RW Rewritable Digital Versatile Disc
DR Disaster Recovery
DVI Display Visual Interface
DRAM Dynamic Random Access Memory
DVM Digital Voltmeter
DRM Digital Rights Management
DVOW Digital Voice Orderwire
DS Digital Signal; Downstream
DVR Digital Video Recorder
DS0 Digital Service, Level 0, 64kbps
DW Datawire
DS1 Digital Service, Level 1, 1.544 Mb/s;
Digital Signal Level DWDM Dense Wavelength Division Multiplexing

DS3 Digital Signal Level 3 (T3 equivalent) DXC Digital Cross-Connect

DSCP Differentiated Service Code Point DXI Data Exchange Interface

DSCRDS Discard Count

E
DSF Dispersion Shifted Fiber
E&M Ear & Mouth
DSI Digital Speech Interpolation
E1 European Equivalent of T1 (2.048 Mb/s signal speed)
DSL Digital Subscriber Line; Digital Subscriber Loop
E2E End To End
DSLAM Digital Subscriber Line Access Multiplexer
E2PROM Electrically Erasable Programmable Read
DS-n Digital Signal, level n
Only Memory
DSP Digital Signal Processor
E3 European data signal at a rate of 34.368 Mb/s
DSS Direct Satellite Services
EAI Enterprise Application Integration
DSS2 Digital Subscriber Signaling 2
EAL Events, Alarms, and Logging
DSTB Digital Set-top Box
EAP Extensible Authentication Protocol
DSX Digital Side Interface
EAS Emergency Alert System
DS-x Digital Signal where N denotes multiple
EB Error Block; Eastbound
of 51.84 Mb/s
e-Band Extended Band
DSX-1 Digital Signal Level 1 Cross Connect
Eb/No Energy per Bit to Noise ratio
DSX-3 Digital Signal Level 3 Cross Connect
eBGP External BGP
DT Decision Technology; Direct Termination
EC Enhanced Capacity ; European Commission
DTCP Digital Transmission Content Protection
EC-1 Electrical Carrier Level 1 (STS1 Equivalent)
DTE Data Terminal Equipment
ECC Edge Card Control;
DTH Direct-to-Home, usually satellite television
Embedded Communications Channel
broadcasting

25
ECI Equipment Catalog Item
ECLR Egress Cell Loss Ratio
ECn Electrical Carrier, level n; 0=64 kb/s, 2=6,312 Mb/s,
3=44,736 Mb/s
ECN Engineering Change Notice
Optical
ECO
eCPRI
Engineering Change Order
enhanced Common Public Radio Interface
Glossary of Terms
ECTRA European Committee for Telecommunications
Regulatory Affairs
ED Equipment Degrade
EDF Erbium-Doped Fiber
EDFA Erbium-Doped Fiber Amplifier
EDI Electronic Data Interchange
eDOCSIS Embedded Data-Over-Cable Service Interface
Specifications
EEE Electronic Equipment Enclosure
EEPROM Electrically Erasable Programmable Read
Only Memory
EF Equipment Failure
EF&I Engineer, Furnish and Install
EFCI Explicit Forward Congestion Indication
EFD Event Forwarding Discriminator
EFP Equipment Fault Protection
EH Environmentally Hardened
EIA Electronic Industries Alliance;
Electronic Industries Association
EID Equipment Identifier
EIDE Enhanced Integrated Drive Electronics
EII European Information Infrastructure
EIR Excess Information Rate
EIRP Effective Isotropic Radiated Power;
Equivalent Isotropic Radiated Power
EJB Enterprise Java Beans
ELAN Emulated Local Area Network
ELR Extra Long Reach
EM Element Manager
EMBS Egress Maximum Burst Size
EMC ElectroMagnetic Compatibility
EMD Extended Management Domain
EMEA Europe, Middle East and Africa
EMG Extended Management Gateway
EMI Electromagnetic Interference
EML Element Management Layer;
Electro-Absorptive Modulated Laser
26
EMP Expiring Maintenance Process
EMS Element Management System
EMT Expiring Maintenance Tool
eMTA Embedded Multimedia Terminal Adapter
EMX ESCON MUX
END
ENE
Extended Management Domain
End Network Element
ENUT Enhanced Non-preemptable Unprotected Traffic
EO Equipment Order
EOC Embedded Operations Channel
EoD Everything on Demand
EOF End of Frame
EOL End of Life
EOM End of Message
EoS Ethernet over SONET/SDH
EOW Engineered Orderwire; Express Orderwire
EPA Environmental Protection Agency
EPCR Egress Peak Cell Rate
EPD Early Packet Discard
EPG Equipment Protection Group
EPL Ethernet Private Line
EPLD Erasable Programmable Logic Device
E-PON Ethernet Passive Optical Network
EPR Engineering Progress Report
EPROM Erasable Programmable Read Only Memory
EQPT Equipment
EQAM Edge Quadrature Amplitude Modulation
ER Extended Reach
ERDI Enhanced Remote Defect Indicator
EREI-P Enhanced Path Remote Error Indication
ERMI Edge Resource Management Interface
Errcde Error Code
ES Errored Second
ESA EDFA Saturation Algorithm; End System Address
ESCBND ESCON Bundle
ESCON Enterprise Systems Connection
ESCR Egress Sustainable Cell Rate
ESD Electrostatic Discharge
ESDS Electrostatic Discharge Sensitive
ESF Extended Super Frame; Extended
Superframe Format
ES-FE Errored Seconds - Far End
ESI End System Identifier
ES-IS End System to Intermediate System
ES-L Errored Seconds - Line
ES-LFE Errored Second-Line Far End
ESMOP Electronic Service Method of Procedure
ES-MS Errored Seconds at the Mulitplexor Section
FC Switch Fibre Channel Switch
FC100 Fibre Channel 1 Gb/s
FC10000 Fibre Channel 10 Gb/s (same as 10GFC)
FC200 Fibre Channel 2 Gb/s
FC400 Fibre Channel 4 Gb/s

Optical
ESN
ES-P
Extended Subnetwork
Errored Seconds - Path
FCAPS Fault, Configuration, Accounting, Performance
(or Provisioning), Security management

Glossary of Terms
ES-PFE
ESR
Errored Seconds - Path Far End
Errored Second Ratio
FCC
FC-FE
Federal Communications Commission
Failure Count - Far End

ES-RS Errored Second Regenerator Section FCIP Fibre Channel over Internet Protocol

ES-S Errored Seconds - Section FC-L Failure Count - Line

EST Eastern Standard Time FC-LFE Failure Count - Line Far End

ES-V Errored Second-Virtual Tributary (VT) Path;
Errored Second-VT Path Far End
ESx Errored Second Count
ET End Terminal
Etag Ending Tag
ETH 10/100 Ethernet
ETHBND Ethernet Bundle
ETLMI ESCON Trib Laser Manager Interface
ETR External Timing Reference
ETSI European Telecommunications Standards
Institute
EU European Union
EVC Ethernet Virtual Circuit
EVM Error Vector Magnitude
EVPL Ethernet Virtual Private Line
EVPLAN Ethernet Virtual Private Local Area Network
EWO Engineering Work Order
EXER-R Exercise - Ring
EXER-S Exercise - Span (SONET)
EXP Experimental
EXZ Excessive Zone
F FEBE Far End Block Error
F Fahrenheit
F&I Furnish and Install
FA, F/A Fuse Alarm; Fault Alarm
FAB Field Alert Bulletin
FAD Functional Access Domain
FAF Facility Failure
FAT Factory Acceptance Test
FC Failure Code; Failure Count; Fiber Channel;
Fibre Channel
FCM Fan Control Module
FCP Fibre Channel Protocol
FC-P Failure Count - Path
FC-PFE Failure Count - Path Far End
FCS Frame Check Sequence; Fibre Channel Standard
FCS32 Count of FCS-32 Error
FC-V Failure Count - VT
FC-VFE Failure Count - VT Far End
FDD Frequency Division Duplexed
FDDI Fiber Distributed Data Interface
FDF Fiber Distributing Frame
FDL Facilities Data Link
FDM Frequency Division Multiplexing; Fast Ethernet;
Frequency Division Modulation
FDMA Frequency Division Multiple Access
FDP Fiber Distribution Panel
FDRP Frame Drop
FE Far End; Fast Ethernet; Forward Error Correction
FEAC Far End Alarm Channel
FEACT Far-End Terminal Alarm Condition
FEALM Far-End Alarm
FEB Fast Ethernet Bridging
FEC Forward Error Correction;
Forwarding Equivalence Class
FECN Forward Explicit Congestion Notification
FECS Forward Error Correction Seconds
FEDS FICON Extended Storage over Distance
FEP Front End Processor; Far End Protection
FEPLF Far End Protection Line Failure
FEPM Far End Performance Monitor
FERF Far End Receive Failure

27
FET Field-Effect Transistor FRD Functional Requirements Document;
FF Fast Forward Feature Requirements Definition

FFA First Field Application FREQ Frequency

FFP Facility Fault Protection FRF Frame Relay Forum

FFT Fast Fourier Transform FRF.12 Frame Relay Forum Implementation Agreement 12

Optical
FIB
FIC
Forwarding Information Base
Frame Identification Code
FRF.13 Frame Relay Forum Implementation Agreement 13
FRF.5 Frame Relay Forum Implementation Agreement 5

Glossary of Terms
FICON
FIL
Fiber Connection
Fiber in the Loop
FRF.8.1 Frame Relay Forum Implementation Agreement 8.1
FRG Fragment Count

FIT Failure in Time FRM Forward Resource Management; Frame Count

FITB Fiber in the Building FRMS Dropped Frames

FITL Fiber in the Loop FRS Frame Relay Service

FITR Fiber in the Riser FRU Field Replacement Unit

FLAG Fiber Link Around the Globe FS File System

FlexE Flexible Ethernet FSA Field Service Application

FlexO Flexible OTN FSAN Full Services Access Network (consortium)

FM Fan Module; Fault Management; Forwarding FSB Field Service Bulletin

Module; Frequency Modulation FSO Free Space Optical
FMA Failure Modes Analysis FS-P Forced Switch - Protection
FMECA Failure Mode and Effects and Criticality Analyses FS-R Forced Switch - Ring
FMS Fault Management System FSS Fixed Satellite Service
FNCS Foreign National Control System FS-S Forced Switch - Span
FO Fiber Optics FS-W Forced Switch - Working
FOADM Fixed Optical Add/Drop Multiplexer; FT France Telecom
Flexible Optical Add/Drop Multiplexer FT1 Fractional T1
FOB Free On Board FTA Fault Tree Analysis
FOC Final Operating Configuration FTAM File Transfer and Access Management
FOD Free on Demand FTC Fabric and Timing Card
FOS Follow on Satellite, Intelsat designation FTM Fabric Timing Module
FOSC Fiber Optic Splice Course FTP File Transfer Protocol
FOTS Fiber Optic Transmission System FTTB Fiber to the Building; Fiber to the Business
FOW Forward OrderWire FTTC Fibre to the Curb (Kerb), linked to VDSL in
FP Fabry-Perot (type of laser); Frame deployment
Pulse (NEC) FTTD Fiber to the Desk
FPG Facility Protection Group FTTH Fiber to the Home
FPGA Field Programmable Gate Array FTTP Fiber to the Premise; Maintenance Channel
FPLMTS Future Public Land Mobile Transparent Termination Point
Telecommunications Systems FTTx Fiber to the [endpoint]
FPM Fan Power Module FUNI Frame-based User-Network Interface
FPP Fast Pattern Processor FW Firmware; Firewall
FPS Frames per Second FWHM Full Width at Half Maximum
FR Frame Relay FWM Four-Wave Mixing
FRAD Frame Relay Access Device FXO Foreign Exchange Office
FRC Force FXS Foreign Exchange Service

28
 G GPI General Purpose Input

G/T Gain to System Noise Temperature Ratio GPIN General Purpose Input

GA General Availability GPO General Purpose Output

Gb Gigabit G-PON Gigabit Passive Optical Network
GPS Global Positioning System;

Optical
GB Gigabyte
Global Positioning Satellite
GbE Gigabit Ethernet
GR Generic Requirement; Geographic Redundancy
GbE VFTP Gigabit Ethernet Virtual Facility Termination Point

Glossary of Terms
GbE WAN
GbE WIF
Gigabit Ethernet Wide Area Network
Gigabit Ethernet Wide Area Network Interface
GRDM
gRPC
Gigabit Rate Data Multiplexer
gRPC Remote Procedure Call
GRTES General Requirements for Transmission
GBIC Gigabit Interface Converter
Equipment Specification
Gbit Gigabit
GSM Global System for Mobile communications,
Gbps, Gbits Gigabits per second originally: Groupe Spéciale Mobile
Gbytes/s Gigabytes per second GSO Geostationary Earth Orbit
GC Gateway Controller GT Gain Transfer; Grating Temperature
GCAC Generic Connection Admission Control GTF Global Traffic Forecast (Intelsat)
GCC0 General Communications Channel 0 (similar to GTM Global Traffic Meeting (Intelsat)
SDH/SONET DCC)
GTP Group Termination Point
GCIT Graphical Craft Interface Terminal
GTS General TeleSystems Group
GCM General Control Module
GUI Graphical User Interface
GCRA Generic Cell Rate Algorithm
GW Gateway
GDMO Guidelines for the Definition of Managed Objects
GWC Gateway Controller
GE Gigabit Ethernet; Greater than or equal to;
General Electric Corporation H
GEB Gigabit Ethernet Bridge
HA High Availability
GEO Geostationary Earth Orbit
HCSFI High-speed Central Switch Fabric Interface
GESS General Electric Satellite Services
HD High Definition
GET Gigabit Ethernet Tunneling
HDB3 High Density Bipolar 3
GFA Gain Flattened Amplifier
HDCP High-bandwidth Digital Content Protection
GFC Generic Flow Control
HDLC High-speed/level Data Link Control
GFF Gain Flattening Filter (used in EDFA)
HDMI High Definition Multimedia Interface
GFP Generic Framing Procedure
HD-SDI High Definition Serial Digital Interface
GFR Guaranteed Frame Rate
HDSF High-speed Distributed Switch Fabric
GHz Gigahertz (Billion hertz)
HDSL High-speed Digital Subscriber Line
GigE Gigabit Ethernet
HDT Host Digital Terminal
GII Global Information Infrastructure
HDTV High Definition Television
GMDSS Global Maritime Distress and Safety System
HE Headend
GMPLS Generalized Multi-Protocol Label Switching
HEC Header Error Control; Headend Controller
GMT Greenwich Mean Time; Grasshoppers Made for
HEM Headend Modem
Telecommunications (GMT fuses)
HEPA High Efficiency Particulate Arrester
GN Gateway Network Element
HERD Headends Re-architected as Data Center
GND Ground
HFC Hybrid Fiber Coax
GNE Gateway Network Element
HFM High-speed Forwarding Module
GOS Grade of Service
HGW Home Gateway
GP Gateway Platform

29
HHP Households Passed IAD Integrated Access Device; Interface Access
HI Hardware/Software Interface; Hardware-Software Device
Integration; High Speed Internet IAS Internet Access Service;
HISSA High Speed Serial Application Specific Integrated Internet Authentication Service
Circuit (ASIC) IBCC In-Band Communication Channel

Optical
HMS
HNv1
Hybrid Management Sub-layer
Home Networking Version 1
iBGP
IBS
Internal BGP
Intelsat Business Service

Glossary of Terms
HO Higher Order IBT International Business Traveller

HOD HBO on Demand IC Integrated Circuit

HO-DSP High Order-Domain Specific Part ICB Independent Customer Builds

HO-DXC Higher Order Digital Cross Connect ICD International Code Designator

HOM High-Order Modulation ICLR Ingress Cell Loss Ratio

HomePNA Home Phoneline Networking Alliance ICMP Internet Control Message Protocol

HOP High Order Path ICNV Input- Command Not Valid

HO-POH Higher Order - Path Overhead ICP IMA Control Protocol

HOVC Higher Order Virtual Concatenation ICP Internet Content Provider

HP Hairpin; Higher Order Path; Homes Passed ICPT Installed Circuit Pack Type

HPA High Power Amplifier ICR Initial Cell Rate

HPF High Pass Filter ID Identifier; Identification

HPNA Home Phoneline Networking Alliance IDB International Development Bank

HPOV Hewlett Packard Open View IDE Integrated Device Electronics

HPPI High Performance Parallel Interface IDF Intermediate Distribution Frame; Invalid Data Flag

HP-UX Hewlett Packard’s UNIX-based OS that runs on IDH Identification High byte
HP’s enterprise servers IDI Initial Domain Identifier
HRD Hardware Release Document; IDL Interactive Distance Learning;
Hardware Requirements Document Interface Definition Language
HS High Speed IDNV Input, Data Not Valid
HSB High Speed Bus IDP Initial Domain Part
HSD High Speed Data IDR Intermediate Data Rate
HSSI High Speed Serial Interface IDS Intrusion Detection System
HT High Threshold IDT Inter-DXC Trunk
HTML Hyper Text Markup Language IDU Indoor Unit
HTTP Hypertext Transfer Protocol IE Information Element
HVAC Heating, Ventilation, and Air-Conditioning IEC Incoming Error Count; InterExchange Carrier
HVS Hospitality Voice Services IEEE Institute for Electrical and Electronics Engineers
HW Hardware IETF Internet Engineering Task Force
Hz Hertz IF Intermediate Frequency
IFC Initial First Cost
I IG Information Group
I/B Inbound/Outroute (also known as the return link), IGMP Internet Group Multicast Protocol
from remote terminal to hub
IGP Interior Gateway Protocol
I/O Input/Output
IIAC Input - Invalid Access Identifier
IaaS Infrastructure as a Service
IIOP CORBA Internet Inter-ORB Protocol
IISP Interim Interface Signaling Protocol

30
ILA Intermediate Light Amplification; Integrated Line
Amplifier; In-Line Amplifier
ILEC Incumbent Local Exchange Carrier
ILM Integrated Laser Module; Integrated Laser Modulator
ILMI Interim Link Management Interface; Interim Local
IPOA Internet Protocol over ATM
IPPV Impulse Pay per View
IPR Intellectual Property Rights
IPsec Internet Protocol Security
IPSL Integrated IP Software License

Optical
ILOG
Management Interface
Information Log; Incoming Log
IPTA
IPTV
Internet Protocol Transport Agreement
IP Television

Glossary of Terms
ILR
IM
Issues List Report
Instant Messaging
IPX
IR
Internet Package Exchange
Intermediate Reach
IMA Inverse Multiplexing over ATM IRD Integrated Receiver/Decoder
IMBS Ingress Maximum Burst Size IRT Integrated Receiver/Transcoder
IMD Intermodulation Distortion IS In Service; Intermediate System
IME Interface Management Entity ISA Industry Standard Architecture
IMT Inter Machine Trunk IS-ANR In Service - Abnormal
IMT-
IS-ANRST In Service - Abnormal and Restricted
Advanced International Mobile Telecommunications-
Advanced ISCC InterSwitch Communications Channel

IN Intelligent Network ISCR Ingress Sustainable Cell Rate

INAP Intelligent Network Application Part Protocol iSCSI Internet Small Computer System Interface;
SCSI Protocol over TCP/IP
I-NET Institutional Network
ISD Idle Signal Detection
INM Integrated Network Manager
ISDN Integrated Services Digital Network
Inroute see I/B
IS-IS Intermediate System to Intermediate System
INT Internal; Internal Clock
ISM Industrial Scientific Medical
INTAP Interoperability Technology Association for
information Processing IS-NR In Service - Normal

INTP Internodal Tunneling Protocol ISO International Standards Organization

IntServ Integrated Services ISOC the Internet Society

INVW Invalid Word Count ISP Internet Service Provider; Inside Plant

IOA Input/Output Adapter IS-RST In Service - Restricted

IOC Initial Operating Configuration ISTP Internet Signaling Transport Protocol

IOF Inter-office Fiber ISV Independent Software Vendor

IOR Interoperable Object Reference; IT Information Technology

Indian Ocean Region ITA Installation, Test, and Acceptance
IoT Internet of Things ITC Independent Transmit Clock
IP Intelligent Peripheral, IN block; Internet Protocol ITE Information Technology Equipment
IPAM IP Address Management ITL International Telecommunications Union
IPC Inter-process Communications; ITS Intelligent Transportation System; Institute for
InterProcess or InterProcesser Control Telecommunications Sciences
IPCR Ingress Peak Cell Rate ITT International Telephone and Telegraph
IPCU DAMA IP Channel Unit ITU International Telecommunication Union
IPG Inter-Packet Gap ITU-T ITU Telecommunications standards body
IPM Interested Party Multicast IUC Interval Usage Code
IPMI Internet Protocol Multicasting Initiative IVPN International VPN
IPMS Interested Party Multicast Service IWF Interworking Function
IXC Inter-exchange Carrier

31
 J LADM Linear Add/Drop Multiplexer

J0 J Zero LAN Local Area Network

J2EE Java 2 Enterprise Edition LANE Local Area Network Emulation

JBR Jabber Count LAP Link Access Procedure; Link Access Protocol
LAPB Link Access Procedure Balanced

Optical
JDBC Java Database Connectivity
JDK Java Development Kit LAPD Link Access Procedure-D Channel (X 25)

JDMK Java Dynamic Management Kit LAPF Link Access Procedure for Frame-Mode Bearer

Glossary of Terms
JDS-HR
JEM
Japan Digital Services - Half Rate
JAVA™ Element Manager
LAPS
Services
Link Access Procedure
LASER Light Amplification by Stimulated Emission
JMS JAVA™ Messaging System
of Radiation
JNDI Java Naming and Directory Interface
LATA Local Access and Transport Area
JPEG Joint Photographic Experts Group
LATM Local ATM
JRE Java Runtime Environment
L-Band Long Band
JTAG Joint Test Action Group
LBC Laser Bias Current
JVM Java Virtual Machine
LBCL Laser Bias Current Level

K LBCN Normalized Laser Bias Current

LBO Line Build Out
k kilo (thousand)
LC Lucent Connector; Line Card
K1 SONET or SDH overhead byte of MSP/MS-SPRing
(see K2) LCAP Local Craft Access Panel

K2 Used with K1-SONET or SDH overhead byte for LCAS Link Capacity Adjustment Scheme
MSP/MS-SPRing LCC Life-Cycle cost; Link Control Channel
Kb Kilobit LCD Liquid Crystal Display
KB Kilobyte LCL Lower Confidence Limit
Kb/s Kilobits per second LCN Local Computer Network; Logical Channel
KB/s Kilobytes per second Number; Local Communications Network

Kbit/s Kilobits per second LCR Least Cost Routing

Kbps Kilobits per second LCT Large Capacity Terminal

KBps Kilobytes per second LD Laser Diode

kBPS kilo Bits Per Second LDAP Lightweight Directory Access Protocol

kft Kilofeet (USA cable length measurement) LDCC Line Data Communications Channel

kHz kilohertz (thousand hertz) LDCELP Low Delay CELP

Km Kilometer LDP Label Distribution Protocol

Ksh Korn Shell LDS Local Digital Switch

ksym/s Kilosymbols per Second LEAF Large Effective Area Fiber

ksym/sec Kilosymbols per Second LEC Local Exchange Carrier

kVA 1000 Volt Amperes LECS LAN Emulation Configuration Server

kW Kilowatt LED Light Emitting Diode

LEO Low Earth Orbit
L LER Label Edge Router
L2TP Layer 2 Tunneling Protocol LES LAN Emulation Server
L3 Layer 3 LF Line Fail
LA Line Adapter; Latin America LFE Line Far End
LAC Local Access Concentrator LGN Logical Group Node

32
LGX Light-Guide Crossconnects LSB Least Significant Bit
LH Logical Host LSF Loss of Signal or Frame indication signal
LIC Line Interface Card LSL Lower Specification Limit
LIF Line Interface LSM Loss of Sync Message
LIM Line Interface Module

Optical
LSN Logical Subnetwork
LIP Local Information Packet LSP Label Switched Path; Local Service Provider
LIU Line Interface Unit LSR Label Switch Router

Glossary of Terms
LLC
LLSDCC
Logical Link Control
Lower-Layer Section DCC
LSSGR LATA Switching System Generic Requirements
LT Low Threshold; Laser Temperature
LM Line Module LTE Line Terminating Equipment;
LMDS Local Multipoint Distribution Service Long Terminal Evolution
LMI Local Management Interface LTN Local Transport Network (fiber ring)
LMP Link Management Protocol LTP Link Termination Point; Logical Termination Point
LNA Low Noise Amplifier LTS Loop Testing System; Long Term Storage
LNB Low Noise Block LU Line Unit
LO Low Order LVD Low-Voltage Distribution
LOADM Lightweight Optical Add/Drop Multiplexer LWP Low Water Peak
LOC Loss of Clock LZS Lempel Ziv Stac
Locn Location
LO-DXC Low Order Digital Cross Connect
M
LOF Loss of Frame M&C Monitor and Control

LOF-P Path Loss of Frame M12 MUX DS-1 into DS2

LOH Line Overhead M13 MUX DS-1 into DS3

LOM Loss of Multiframe; List of Materials M23 MUX DS-2 into DS3

LOP Loss of Pointer M2M Machine-to-Machine

LOPDP Loss of Pointer Decay Period MAC Media Access Control; Medium Access Control

LOPI Loss of Pointer Inhibit MAN Metropolitan Area Network

LOPIP Loss of Pointer Integration Period MANO Management and Orchestration

LOP-P Loss of Pointer - Path MAP Main Audio Program; Mobile Application
Part Protocol
LOP-V VT Loss of Pointer
Massive
LOS Loss of Signal MIMO Multiple-Input Multiple-Output
LOSS Loss of Signal Seconds MAU Media Access Unit
LOVC Low-Order VC Mb Megabit
LOW Local Orderwire MB Megabyte
LP Line Processor; Lockout of Protection; Low Order Mbaud Megabaud
Path
MBH Mobile Back Haul
Lport Logical port
Mbits/s Megabits per second
LP-S Lockout of Protection - Span
Mb/s Megabits per second
LP-S/SF-P Lockout of Protection - Span/Signal Fail -
MB/s Megabytes per second
Protection
Mb/s Million Bits Per Second
LPWAN Low Power Wide Area Network
MBS Maximum Burst Size
LR Long Reach (fiber); Line Regeneration Equipment
MCC Master Control Center / Computer
LRDC Long Reach Daughter Card
M-CORD Mobile-CORD
LSA Low Speed ADM

33
MCP Management Control Processor
MCPC Multiple Channels Per Carrier
MCR Minimum Cell Rate; Minimum Cost Routing
MCS Master Control Station
MCT Maintenance Channel Transparency
Optical
MCTF
MDF
Motion Compensated Temporal Filtering
Main Distribution Frame
Glossary of Terms
MDSO
MDU
Multi-Domain Service Orchestration
Multiple Dwelling Unit
mDVR Multi-TV Digital Video Recorder
ME Middle East
MEA Mismatch of Equipment and Attributes
MEC Multi-Access Edge Computing
MEGACO Media Gateway Control Protocol
MEO Medium Earth Orbit
MER Modulation Error Ratio
MFR Multilink Frame Relay
MG Media Gateway
MGC Media Gateway Controller
MGCP Media Gateway Control Protocol
MGN Management Gateway Node
MHA Modular Headend Architecture
MHz Megahertz (million hertz)
MIB Management Information Base
MID Message Identifier
MIMO Multiple-Input Multiple-Output
MIPS Millions of Instructions per Second
MIT Management Information Tree
MiTTs Minutes of Telecommunications Traffic
MJ Major
ML Mediation Layer
MLMD Multiplexer/Demultiplexer
MLPPP Multi-Link Point-to-Point Protocol
mm millimeter
MM Multimode; Multimedia
MMCS Meridian Multi Media Center Switch
MME Multiwave Management Element
MMF Multi-Mode Fiber
MML Man Machine Language
MMO Main Material Order
MMP Multiwave Management Element
MN Minor
MNO Mobile Network Operator
34
MNC Multi-National Company
MO Managed Object
MOD Module; Movies on Demand
MODEM Modulator-Demodulator
Modem Modulator/Demodulator
MOF
MOP
Managed Object Framework
Method of Procedure
MOR
MOS
Multi-wavelength Optical Repeater
Mean Opinion Score
MP Management Portal
MP3 MPEG-2 Layer 3
MPCKTS Multicast Packet Count
MPEG Moving Pictures Expert Group
MPI Multi-Path Interface; Multi-Path Interference
M-Plane Management Plane
MPLmS Multi-Protocol Lambda Switching
MPLS Multi Protocol Label Switching
MPLS-CP MPLS Control Plane
MPN Mode Partition Noise
MPOA Multi Protocol over Asynchronous Transfer Mode
MPS Multiple Priority System
MPT Multiplex Pass-Through
MPT Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications
MPTS Multiple Program Transport Stream
MR Modification Request; Material Request;
Medium Reach
MRRB Maintenance Requirements Review Board;
Material Release Review Board
ms Milliseconds
MS Multiplex Section
MSA Mediation Services Administrator
MS-AIS Multiplex Section - Alarm Indication Signal
MSB Most Significant Bit
MSC Metro Shelf Controller; Microsoft Cluster Server
MSF Multiservice Switching Forum
MSN Multi-Subnetwork
MSNM Metro Switching Network Manager
MSNM ML Metro Switching Network Manager
Mediation Layer
MSO Multiple System Operator
MSOH Multiplexer Section Overhead
MSP Multiplex Section Protection;
Multiservice Switching Path
MS-P Manual Switch-Protection
MSPP Multiservice Provisioning Platform
MSPVC Management Soft Permanent Virtual Circuit
MS-R Manual Switch - Ring
MS-RDI Multiplex Section - Remote Defect Indication
MS-REI Multiplex Section Remote Error Indication
NCC Network Control Center/Computer
NCCC Network Control Coordination Channel
NCCI Network Call Correlation Identification
NCP Nodal Control Point; Nodal Control Processor

Optical
NCP&D Network Capacity Planning and Delivery
MSS Mobile Satellite Service NCR Non-Conformance Report
MS-S Manual Switch - Span NCS Network Computing System; Network Control

Glossary of Terms
MS-Spring/
MSPR Multiplex Section Shared Protection Ring
NCT
System; Network Call Signaling
Network Control Terminal
MST Mountain Standard Time;
NCTA National Cable & Telecommunications Association
Multiplex Section Termination
NDC National Destination Code
MSTE Multiplex Section Terminating Equipment
NDF New Data Flag
MS-W Manual Switch - Working
NDIS Network Design and Inventory System
MTA Multimedia Terminal Adapter
NDMH Non-Degraded Modem Hours
MTBF Mean Time between Failure
NDP Network Discovery Protocol;
MTC Machine Type Communications
Neighbor Discovery Protocol
MTIE Maximum Time Interval Error
NDSF Non-Dispersion Shifted Fiber
MTP Message Transfer Part
NDVR Network Digital Video Recording
MTTP Transparent Connection Termination Point
NE Network Element
MTTR Mean Time to Repair
NE/FE Near End/Far End
MTTU Mean Time to Understand
NEBS Network Equipment Building Standards;
MTU Maximum Transmission Unit Network Equipment Building Systems
MUX Multiplexer NEC National Electric Code
MUXCVR Muxceiver NEF Network Element Function
mV Millivolt NEG Negative Terminal
MVNO Mobile Virtual Network Operator NEID Network Element Identification
MVOA Miniature Variable Optical Attenuator NEIR Network Element Information Request
MZ Mach-Zehnder NEMA National Electrical Manufacturers Association
NETCONF Network Configuration
N
NFS Networked File System
NA No Alarm; Not Alarmed; Not Applicable;
NFV Network Functions Virtualization
Not Available; Numerical Aperture
NFVO Network Functions Virtualization (NFV)
NaaS Network as a Service
Orchestration
NAD Network Access Domain
NGDLC Next Generation Digital Loop Carrier
NAP Network Access Point
NGFW Next Generation Firewall
NAPT Network Address and Protocol |Translation
NG-L1 Next Generation Layer 1
NAS Network Access Server;
NGNA Next Generation Network Architecture
Network Attached Storage
NG-PON2 Next Gen PON2
NASA National Aeronautical and Space Agency (US)
NGSO Non-Geostationary Earth Orbit, used as a general
NAT Network Address Translation
descriptive for LEO and MEO systems.
NBI Northbound Interface
NGW National Gateway
NBK No Backup
NI Network Interface
NC Nodal Controller; Normally Closed (contacts)
NIC Network Interface Card
NCB National Computer Board
NID Network Interface Device

35
NIDU Network Interface Data Unit NTFCNCDE Notification Codes (TL1)
NII National Information Infrastructure (for the USA, NTFS New Technology File System
see also GII and EII)
NTP Network Time Protocol
NIS Network Infrastructure Solutions
NTS Near Term Storage; Network Time Synchronization
NISC National Information Services Council

Optical
NTSC National Television Standards Committee
NIU Network Interface Unit
NUT Non-preemptive Unprotected Traffic
NLA Network Layer Address; Network Layer Agent
NVM Non-Volatile Memory

Glossary of Terms
NLC Node Line Card
NVRAM Nonvolatile Random Access Memory
NLD Neighbor Link Discovery
NZDSF Non-Zero Dispersion Shifted Fiber
NLPI Network Layer Protocol Identifier
nm nanometer O
NM Network Management; Network Manager;
O&M Operations and Management
Network Management; Node Manager
OA Optical Amplifier
NMA Network Monitoring and Analysis
OA&M Operations Administration and Management
NME Network Management Ethernet
OADM Optical Add/Drop Multiplexer
NMF Node-level Management Function
OAM Operations, Administration and Maintenance
NML Network Management Layer
OAMCell Operations, Administration and Maintenance Cell
NMS Network Management System
OAMP Operation, Administration, Maintenance
NN N key on keyboard for a no response
and Provisioning
NNI Network to Network Interface;
O-Band Original Band
Network Node Interface
O-BLSR Optical-Bidirectional Line Switched Ring
NNIF Network to Network Interface
OC Optical Carrier
NNM Network Node Manager
OC-1 Optical Carrier level 1, SONET bit rate = 51.84 Mb/s
NNTP Network News Transfer Protocol
OC1 Optical Carrier level 1 (51.84 Mb/s)
NO Network Object; Normally Open (contacts)
OC-12 Optical Carrier level 12, SONET bit rate = 622.08 Mb/s
NOC Network Operations Center
OC-192 Optical Carrier level 192, SONET bit rate = 9.953 Gb/s
NOCC Network Operations Control Center
OC-3 Optical Carrier level 3, SONET bit rate = 155.52 Mb/s
NPC Network Parameter Control
OC-48 Optical Carrier level 48, SONET bit rate = 2.488 Gb/s
NPR Noise Power Ratio
OCAP OpenCable Application Platform
NR No Reply
OCH Optical Channel
NRT Non-Real Time
OCI Open Connection Indication
NRTL Nationally Recognized Test Laboratory
OC-n Optical Carrier-number; Optical Carrier where N
NRTVBR Non Real-Time Variable Bit Rate
denotes a multiple of 51.84 Mb/s
NRZ Non-Return to Zero
OCT Octet Count
ns Nanosecond
OCTU Optical Channel Transport Unit
NSA Non Service Affecting
OCXO Oven-Controlled Crystal Oscillator
NSAP Network Service Access Point
ODA Outlet Digital Adapter
NSF National Science Foundation (US)
ODBMS Object Database Management System
NSI Network Side Interface
ODF Optical Distribution Frame
NSN Nationally Significant Number
ODN Optical Distribution Network
NSP Node Switch Provider; Node Switch Processor
ODPR Optically Dedicated Protection Ring
NT Window New Technology
ODU Outdoor Unit
NTE Network Terminating Equipment
ODUk Optical channel Data Unit where k is 1 or 2
NTF No Trouble Found
OEM Original Equipment Manufacturer

36
OEO Optical-to-Electronic-to-Optical
OEPL Optical Ethernet Private Line
OEPLAN Optical Ethernet Private Local Area Network
OEVPL Optical Ethernet Virtual Private Line
OEVPLAN Optical Ethernet Virtual Private Local Area Network
Optical
OFC
OFDM
Open Fiber Control; Optical Fiber Communication
Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing
Glossary of Terms
OFS
OFTEL
Out of Frame Second
Office of Telecommunications (UK Regulator)
OID Object Identifier
OIU Operator Interface Unit; Optical Interface Unit;
Office Interface Unit
OLA Optical Line Amplifier; Optical Link Analysis
OLB Optical Link Budget
OLM Optical Link Module
OLMP Optical Link Management Protocol
OLS Optical Line System
OLT Optical Line Termination; Optical Line Terminal
OLTP OSRP Link Termination Point
OM Optical Module
OMC Operation and Maintenance Center
OMG Object Management Group
OMT Orthogonal Mode Transducer
ON Optical Network
ONE Optical Network Element
ONP Open Network Provision
ONT Optical Network Terminal
ONU Optical Network Unit
OO Optical-to-Optical
OOB Out of Band
OOF Out of Frame
OOK On-Off Keying
OOM1 Out of Multi Frame Stage 1
OOM2 Out of Multi Frame Stage 2
OOO Optical - Optical - Optical
OOR Out of Range
OOS Out of Service
OOS-MA Out of Service-Management
OOS-
MAANR Out of Service-Management and Abnormal
OpEx Operations Expenditure
OPM Optical Performance Monitoring;
Optical Power Meter
OPR Optical Power Received
37
OPS/INE Operations Provisioning System/Intelligent
Network Element
OPT Optical Power Transmit
OPTORL Optical Return Loss
OpUk Optical channel payload Unit where k is 1 or 2
OQPSK
ORB
Offset Quaternary Phase-shift Keying
Object Request Broker
Orbital Slot Longitude position above the equator at which a
satellite is located
ORIG Original; Originating
ORL Optical Return Loss
ORP Optical Routing Protocol
OS Operating System
OSA Optical Spectrum Analyzer
OSC Optical Supervisory Channel;
Optical Service Channel
OSDS Operations Systems Data Server
OSGI Open Services Gateway Initiative
OSHA Occupational Safety and Health Act
OSI Open Systems Interconnection
OSM OSC Splitter Module
OSMINE Operations Systems Modifications for the
Integration of Network Elements
OSNR Optical Signal-to-Noise Ratio;
Open Signal-to-Noise Ratio
OSP Optical Signaling Protocol; Outside Plant
OSPF Open Shortest Path First
OSPR Optically Shared Protection Ring
OSRP Optical Signaling and Routing Protocols
OSS Operations Support System
OSSAN Operations Support System Access Nodes
OSS-AU Out of Service-Autonomous
OSS-AUMA Out of Service-Autonomous and Management
OSS-AURST Out of Service-Autonomous and Restricted
OSSI Operational Support System Interface
OSWF On-site Work Force
OTC Operations Technical Center;
Optical Transport Card
OTDR Optical Time Domain Reflectometer
OTGR Operations Technology Generic Requirements
OTN Optical Transport Network
OTS Optical Transport System
OTS RPTR OTS Repeater
OTT Over-The-Top
OTU Optical Transport Unit PCMM PacketCable Multimedia
OUI Organizationally Unique Identifier PCN Program Change Notice; Product Change Notice;
OUNI Optical User Network Interface Personal Communications Network

O-UPSR Optical-Unidirectional Path Switched Ring PCO Pre-Conditioned Order

P-Code Product Code

Optical
OUSM Optical Utility Services Manager
OUSP Optical Utility Services Platform PCP Primary Cross-connection Point, street
cabinet/flexibility point
Outbound see O/B

Glossary of Terms
Outroute
OW
see O/B
Order Wire
PCR
PCS
Peak Cell Rate
Personal Communication System
PCS Probabilistic Constellation Shaping
OXC Optical Cross Connect
PDA Personal Digital Assistant
P PDAP Power Distribution and Alarm Panel
P2P Peer to Peer PDC Passive Dispersion Compensator
P6 Pentium 6 PDF Portable Document Format
PA Port Adapter; Pre-Amplifier PDH Plesiochronous Digital Hierarchy
PA Power Amplifier PDI Payload Defect Indication
PaaS Platform as a Service PDL Polarization Dependent Loss
PABX Private Automatic Branch Exchange PDP Policy Decision Point
PAD Power Attenuation Device PDU Power Distribution Unit; Protocol Data Unit
PAMA Permanent Assignment Multiple Access PEG Public, Education, Government
PAN Personal Area Networking PEM Processor Enhancement Module;
PARP Proxy ARP Processor Element Module

PAS PanAmSat PEP Policy Enforcement Point

PAT Program Association Table PESQ Perceptual Evaluation of Speech Quality

PAX Path Adaptation and X-Connect PFE Path Far End

PB Petabyte PFM Packet Forwarding Module

PBOR Primary-Backup Object Replication PFO Premium Feature Open

PPB-TE Provider Backbone Bridging - Traffic Engineering PG Peer Group; Protection Group

PBT Provider Backbone Transport PGID Peer Group Identifier

PBX Private Branch Exchange PGL Peer Group Leader

PC Personal Computer; Physical Contact; PHY Physical Layer Device; Physical

Processor Card PIC Programmable Interrupt Controller
PC Personal Computer PID Personally Identifiable Data; Protocol Identifier;
PCA Protection Channel Access Packet Identifier; Personal Identification

PCB Printed Circuit Board PIF Packet Interface FPGA

PCC Processor Communication Channel PIN Photo Intrinsic; Positive-Intrinsic Negative;

Personal Identification Number
PCCA Pacific Century Corporate Access
PING Packet Internet Groper
PCE Path Computation Element
PIP Plug-In Provisioning
PCF Policy Control Function
PJ Pointer Justification
PCG Pacific Century Group
PL Packet Loss
PCI Peripheral Component Interconnect
PLC Packet Loss Concealment
PCM Pulse Code Modulation
PLCN Pilot Line Change Notification
PCMCIA Personal Computer Memory Card
Interface Adaptor PLCP Physical Layer Convergence Protocol

38
PLD Programmable Logic Device
PLDT Philippines Long Distance Telephone Company
PLL Phase Locked Loop
PLM Payload Label Mismatch
Optical
PLM-P Payload Label Mismatch - Path
PLM-V Payload Label Mismatch - VT
PLN PNNI Logical Node
Glossary of Terms
PLO Path Layer Overhead
PM Performance Management; Performance
Monitoring; Program Manager; Project Manager
PMA Power Management Algorithm
PMBB Performance Monitoring Building Block
PMD Polarization Mode Dispersion
PMDC PMD Compensator
PMM Power Management Module
PMO Program Management Office
PN Pseudo Noise; physical node
PNC Physical Node Controller
PNF Physical Network Function
PNNI Private Network-to-Network Interface;
Private Network Node Interface
PO Purchase Order
POC Point Of Contact
POH Path Overhead
POM Project Office Manager
PON Passive Optical Network
POP/PoP Point of Presence, usually referring to an Internet
service provider/access point
POR Power on Reset
POS Packet over SONET; Positive Terminal
POST Power on Self Test
POTS Plain Old Telephone Service
PPC Power PC
PPD Partial Packet Discard
PPJC Positive Pointer Justification Count
PPL Point-to-Point Link
PPM Parts per Minute; Parts per Million; Pulses per Million
Pport Physical port
PPP Point-to-Point Protocol
PPS Path Protection Switched; Pulses per Second
PPT Power Passing Tap
PRB Project Review Board
39
PRBS Pseudo Random Bit Sequence
PRC Primary Reference Clock
PRI Primary Rate Interface
PRNG Pseudo Random Number Generators
PROM Programmable Read Only Memory
PROT Protocol; Protection
PRS Primary Reference Source
PS Power Supply; Policy Server
ps/nm-km Pico-second
PSA PacketCable Service Agreement
PSBF Protection Switching Byte Failure
PSC Protection Switching Count;
Project Steering Committee
PSD Protection Switching Duration
PSEL Presentation Suite
PSI Program Specific Information
PSL Path Signal Label
PSM Persistent Stored Module
PSN Packet Switch Node; Packet Switched Network
P-SNC Permanent SNC
PSQM Perceptual Speech Quality Measurement
PSR Protection Side Regeneration; Path Switched Ring
PST Primary State; Pacific Standard Time
PSTN Public Switched Telephone Network
PSU Power Supply Unit; Packet Switch Unit
PT Pass-Through; Payload Type
PTE Path Terminating Equipment
PTI Payload Type Indicator
PTO Private Telecommunications Operator
PTP Physical Termination Point; Point-To-Point;
Path Termination Point
PTS Per Trunk Signaling
PTSE PNNI Topology State Element
PTSP PNNI Topology State Packet
PTT Posts, Telegraph and Telephone company (usually
a government monopoly operator)
PV Protocol Violation
PVC Permanent Virtual Circuit; Poly Vinyl Chloride;
Private Virtual Circuit
PVR Personal Video Recorder
PWB Printed Wire Board
PWM Pulse Width Modulation
PWR Power
 Q RF Radio Frequency
Q3 Telecommunications Management Network (TMN) RFC Request for Comment
Interface RFFP Request For Final Proposals
QAM Quadrature Amplitude Modulation RFI Radio Frequency Interference; Remote Failure
QL Quality Level Indication; Request for Information

Optical
QMC
QoS
QUICC Multichannel Controller
Quality of Service
RFI-L Remote Failure Indication (detected at
the line-layer)

Glossary of Terms
QPM Quarterly Progress Meeting RFI-P Remote Failure Indication (detected at
the path-layer)
QPR Quarterly Progress Report
RFP Request for Proposal
QPSK Quadrature Phase Shift Keying
RFT Radio Frequency Transmitter used to
QUICC Quad Integrated Communications Controller
describe large antennas with associated
receive/transmit equipment
R
RG Residential Gateway
R&D Research and Development; Research and Design
RHC Regional Holding Company
R.H. Relative Humidity
RIB Routing Information Base
R/W Read/Write
RIN Relative Intensity Noise
RA Resource Adapter
RIP Routing Information Protocol
RADIUS Remote Authentication Dial-In User Service
RJ Registered Jack
RAI Remote Alarm Indication
RJ-11 Registered Jack –11
RAID Redundant Array of Inexpensive Disk; Redundant
RKS Record Keeping Server
Array of Independent Disk
RMA Return Material Authorization;
RAIG Resource Availability Information Group
Replace Material Authorization
RAITN Regional Arab Information Technology Network
RMAN Recovery Manager
RAM Random Access Memory
RMI Remote Method Invocation
RAN Regional Area Network; Radio Access Network
RMS Root Mean Square
RASCOM Regional African Satellite Communications
RNR Not Ready to Receive; Remote Failure Indication
Organisation
ROADM Re-configurable Optical Add/Drop Multiplexer
RBF Reconfigurable Blocking Filter
ROC Regional Operations Center
RBM Regional Business Manager
ROI Return on Investment
RBOC Regional Bell Operating Company
ROM Read Only Memory
RBW Resolution Bandwidth
ROW Return OrderWire
RCC Routing Control Channel
RPM Revolutions per Minute
RCV Receiver
RPR Resilient Packet Ring
RCVR Receiver
RR Ready to Receive; Reverse Request
RDF Rate Decrease Factor
RRB Reliability Review Board
RDI Remote Defect Indication
RRH Remote Radio Head
RDI-L Remote Defect Indication - Line
RRO Record Route Object
RDI-P Remote Defect Indication - Path
RR-R Reverse Request - Ring
RED Random Early Detection; Random Early Discard
RR-S Reverse Request - Span
REF Reference
RS Regenerator Section; Reed-Solomon
REI Remote Error Indication
RS232 Recommended Standard –232
REI-L Remote Error Indication - Line
RS-E Ring Switch - East
REI-P Remote Error Indication - Path
RSOH Regenerator Section Overhead
Rev. Revision

40
RSP Route Switch Processor
RSTP Resilient Spanning Tree Protocol
RST Regenerator Section Terminating
RSVP Resource Reservation Protocol
RSVP-TE Resource Reservation Protocol with Traffic
SARP Switching Address Resolution Protocol
SAS Severely Errored Frame and AIS Seconds
SAAS Software As A Service
SASE Standalone Synchronization
SATA Serial AT Attachment

Optical Engineering
R/W Read/Write
SATCOM Satellite Communications Satellite Capacity
SATT Synchronization, Alarms, and Telemetry

Glossary of Terms
RS-W
RT
Ring Switch - West
Remote Terminal; Real Time SAW
Termination
Surface Acoustic Wave
RTC Real-Time Clock S-band frequency band
RTI Real-Time Ingest SBG Session Boarder Controller
RTN Return (voltage return) SBLK Errored Superblocks
RTO Recovery Time Objective SBS Stimulated Brillouin Scattering
RTOS Real-Time Operating System SBV Switched Broadcast Video
RTP Routing Table Protocol; Real-Time Transport SBW Signal Bandwidth
Protocol; Routine Task Procedure SC Service Channel; Square Connector;
RTPS Real Time Streaming Protocol Shelf Controller
RTRV Retrieve SCADA Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition
RTS Ready to Send; Request to Send; SCC Serial Communications Controller;
Real Time Operation System Serial Communications Channels
RTSP Real Time Streaming Protocol SCCI Small Computer System Interface
RTT Round-trip Time SCCP Signalling Connection Control Part, part of SS7
RTU Right to Use S-CDMA Synchronous Code Division Multiple Access
RTVBR Real-Time Variable Bit Rate Traffic SCE Service Creation Environment, IN block
RU Rack Unit SCEP Service Creation Environment Point, IN block
RW Rewind SCF Service Control Function, IN block
RWA Routing and Wavelength Assignment SCM Service Channel Modem; Sub-carrier Multiplexing
RX Receive SCN Service Channel Network; Shared Content Network
Rx Line Receive Line SCP Service Control Point, IN block
RZ Return to Zero SCPC Single Channel per Carrier
RZ-DPSK Return to Zero Differential Phase Shift Keying SCR Sustainable Cell Rate; Silicon Controlled Rectifier
SCSI Small Computer System Interface
S SCTE Society of Cable Telecommunications Engineers
s Second SD Signal Degrade; Signal Detect; Standard Definition
s.f. Square Foot SDA System Design Authority
S/IMP Signal to Impulse Ratio SDCC Section Data Communications Channel
S/N Signal to Noise Ratio SDF Service Data Function, IN block
SA Service-Affecting SDH Synchronous Digital Hierarchy
SAAL Signaling ATM Adaptation Layer SDI Secure Digital Interface; Serial Digital Interface
SaaS Software as a Service SDL Synchronous Data Link; Synchronous Delay Line
SABLIME Product Administration System (AT&T) SDLC Synchronous Data Link Control
SAN Storage Area Network SDMA Space Domain Multiple Access
SAP Secondary Audio Program SDMH Severely Degraded Modem Hours
SAR Segmentation and Reassembly SDN Software-Defined Networking

41
SDP Service Data Point, IN block
SD-P Signal Degrade - Path
SD-R Signal Degrade - Ring
SDRAM Synchronized Dynamic Random Access Memory
SD-S Signal Degrade-Span
Optical
SDTV
SDU
Standard Definition Television
Service Data Unit
Glossary of Terms
SDV Switched Digital Video
SE Systems Engineer
SEAL Simple and Efficient Adaptation Layer
SEC Secondary
SEF Severely Errored Framing
SEFS Severely Errored Frame Seconds
SEFS-S Severely Errored Framing Seconds - Section
SEM Service Entitlement Manager
SEMS Severely Errored Multi-frame Seconds
SerDes Serializer/DeSerializer
SES Severely Errored Seconds
SES-L Severely Errored Seconds - Line
SES-LFE Severely Errored Seconds - Line Far End
SES-P Severely Errored Seconds - Path
SES-PFE Severely Errored Seconds - Path Far End
SESR Severely Errored Second Ratio
SES-RS Severely Errored Seconds - Regenerator Section
SES-S Severely Errored Seconds - Section
SES-V Severely Errored Seconds - VT
SES-VFE Severely Errored Seconds - VT Far End
SETS Synchronous Equipment Timing Source
SF Signal Failure; Super Frame
SFD Start of Frame Delimiter
SFF Small Form Factor (connector)
SFO Sync Frequency Offset
SFP Small Form-factor Pluggable
SF-R Signal Failure - Ring
SF-S Signal Failure - Span
SG Signaling Gateway
SGC Signaling Gateway Controller
S-GW Serving Gateway
sh Bourne Shell
SHx Shelf Number
SI Serial Interface; Service Independent ;
System Integrator
SIB Service Independent Building Block, IN block
42
SIC System Integrity Control; Standard Industrial
Classification
SID System Identification number; Source Identifier
SIF SONET Interoperability Forum;
Switch Interface FPGA
SIM
SIP
Service Interface Module
Session Initiation Protocol
SITA Société Internationale de Télécommunications
Aéronautique
SLA Service Level Agreement
SLIP Serial Line Internet Protocol
SLM Service Layer Manager
SLOSS Synchronization Loss
SLR Service Level Report
SLTE Submarine Line Terminating Equipment
SM Single Mode; Switching Module; Shelf Manager
SMAP Service Management Access Point, IN block
SMB Small and Medium Business
SMC Serial Management Controllers; Standard
Management Committee
SMCS Short Message Service Center
SMDS Switched Multimegabit Data Service
SME Small and Medium Enterprise;
Short Message Entity
SMF Session Management Function
SMF Single Mode Fiber
SMIR Single Mode Intermediate Reach
SML Service Management Layer
SMLR Single Mode Long Reach
SMM Service Mediation Module
SMON Switch Monitor
SMOP Service Method of Procedure
SMP Service Management Point, IN block
SMS Service Management System, IN block; Service
Management Suite; Short Message Service
SMSC Short Message Service Centre, part of GSM
messaging system
SMT Surface Mount Technology; Self-Monitoring Task
S-MTA Standalone Multimedia Terminal Adaptor
SN Service Node, IN block
SNA Systems Network Architecture
SNC Subnetwork Connection; Subnetwork Controller
SNCP Subnetwork Connection Protection
SNCP/I Subnetwork Connection Protection/Inherent
monitoring
SNCP/N Subnetwork Connection Protection/Non-intrusive
monitoring
SNG Satellite News Gathering
SNM Switching Network Manager
SNMP Simple Network Management Protocol
Optical
SNP Sequence Number Protection
SNR Signal-to-Noise Ratio
Glossary of Terms
SNTP
SOA
Simple Network Time Protocol
Semiconductor Optical Amplifier
SOAP Simple Object Access Protocol
SOF Start of Frame
SOH Section Overhead; State of Health
SOHO Small Office/Home Office
SONET Synchronous Optical Network, US equivalent to SDH
SOP Standard Operating Procedure; Service Provider
SP Shelf Processor; Shelf Pump; Service Provider
SPC SONET Permanent Circuit
SPCN Satellite Personal Communications Network
SPE Synchronous Payload Envelope
SPF Shortest Path First
SPI Serial Peripheral Interface; Service Provider Interface
SPM Self-Phase Modulation
SPR/SPRing Shared Protection Ring
SPTP Service Path Termination Point
SPVC Soft Permanent Virtual Connection;
Soft Permanent Virtual Circuit
SQL Structured Query Language
SR Short Reach (fiber)
SRAM Static Random Access Memory
SRC/DST Source/Destination
SRD Software Release Document
SRF Specialised Resource Function, IN block
SRN Software Release Notice
SRS Stimulated Raman Scattering
SRTS Synchronous Residual Time Stamp
SRVEFF Service Affecting (TL1)
SS/TDMA Satellite Switched Time Division Multiple Access,
Intelsat service
SS5 Signaling System 5
SS7 Signalling System 7, supported by the ITU-T,
also known as CCITT 7
SSB Single Sideband
SSCOP Service Specific Connection Oriented Protocol
SSCS Service-Specific Convergence Sublayer
43
SSEL Session Selector
SSF Server Signal Failure; Service Switching Function
SSH Security Shell
SSL Secure Sockets Layer
SSM Synchronization-Status Messages
SSMF Standard Single Mode Fiber
SSP Service Switching Point, IN block
SSPA
SST
Solid State Power Amplifier
Secondary Service State
SSTUR Site-Specific Turn-Up Report
SSU Synchronization Supply Unit; Subscriber Terminals
ST Straight Terminus; Straight Tip
ST1 Stratum 1; Switched T1
ST2 Stratum 2
ST3 Stratum 3
ST3E Stratum 3 Enhanced
ST4 Stratum 4 (Asynchronous)
STB Set-Top Box
STC Stacking and Timing Card
STE Section Terminating Equipment; Section
Terminating Element
STII (2) Type of optical connector
STM Synchronous Transfer Mode, or Module
STM-0 Synchronous Transfer Mode level 0, SDH bit rate =
51.84 Mb/s
STM-1 Synchronous Transfer Mode level 1, SDH bit rate =
155.52 Mb/s
STM-16 Synchronous Transfer Mode level 16, SDH bit rate =
2488.32 Mb/s
STM-4 Synchronous Transfer Mode level 4, SDH bit rate =
622.08 Mb/s
STM-64 Synchronous Transfer Mode level 64, SDH bit rate =
9953.28 Mb/s
STM-n Synchronous Transport Module n
STM-nC Synchronous Transport Module of level n
concatenated
STMX SONET/SDH Thin Multiplexer
STP Spanning Tree Protocol; Shielded Twisted Pair
STS Synchronous Transport Signal
STS-1 Synchronous Transport Signal Level 1
STS-3 Synchronous Transport Signal Level 3
STS-3c Synchronous Transport Signal Level 3, concatenated
STS-n Synchronous Transport Signal n
STS-Nc Contiguous Concatenation of N STS-1 SPEs
STS-N-Xv Virtual Concatenation of X STS-N SPEs
STU Secure Telephone Unit; Synchronized, Traceability
Unknown; Stratum Traceability Unknown
STU-P Stratum Traceability Unknown-Provisioned
SVC Switched Virtual Circuit
TCMO Transport Complex Managed Object
TCP Transmission Control Protocol; Trouble Cleaning
Procedure
TCP/IP Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol
TCTP Transparent Connection Termination Point

Optical
SVCC
SVOD
Switched Virtual Channel Connection
Subscription Video on Demand
TD
TDEV
Traffic Director
Time Deviation

Glossary of Terms
SVP
SVPC
Secure Video Processor
Switched Virtual Path Connection
TDM
TDMA
Time Division Multiplexing
Time Division Multiple Access
SW Software TE Terminal Equipment
SWCA Split Working Channel Access TEC Thermo-Electric Cooler
SWID Software Identifier TED Traffic Engineering Database
SWOD Software ODACS TEI Terminal Endpoint Identifier;
SX Short Reach as in 1000Base-SX Terminal Equipment Identifier

SYNC Synchronization Telco Telephone Company

SYNCIO Synchronized Input/Output TELR Talker Echo Loudness Rating

SYSLOG System Log TEO Telephone Equipment Order

T TFT Thin Film Transistor
T1 Service or line operation at the DS-1 rate
T1 1.544 Mb/s (US orientated)
T3 Digital Carrier System for DS3 Signals
TAC Transport Aggregated Circuit;
Technical Assistance Center
TACACS Terminal Access Controller Access
Control Systems
TACS Total Access Communications Systems
(Analogue)
TADR Target Address
TADRMAP Target Address Map
TAM Total Available Market
TAP Test Access Port; Technician Access Port
TARP Target Identifier Address Resolution Protocol
TAS Telecommunications Authority of Singapore
TB Terabyte
TBD To Be Determined
TBOS Telemetry Byte Oriented Serial Protocol
TBUS Timing Bus
TC Transmission Convergence; Transport Complex;
Transport Channel
TCA Threshold Crossing Alert;
Timing Control and Access
TCBE Total Corrected Bit Error
TCM Trellis Coded Modulation; Transport Channel
Members
TERM Termination
TFTP Trivial File Transfer Protocol
TG Timing Generator
TGCP Trunking Gateway Control Protocol
TGS Time Generation System
THEC Corrected Type Header Error Correction Code
THz TeraHertz (1012 hertz)
TI Terrestrial Interference
TIA Telecommunications Industry Association
TID Target Identification; Terminal Identification
TIE Time Interval Error
TIM Trace Identifier Mismatch;
Transmit Intermediate Multiplexer
TIM-S Trace Identifier Mismatch - Section
TIRKS Trunk Integrated Record Keeping System
TISSA Time Space Switch Application-Specific
Integrated Circuit
TKIP Temporal Key Integrity Protocol
TL-1 Transaction Language 1
TL-1 CLI Transaction Language One, Command Line
Interface
TLC Transport Logical Connection
TLI Transaction Language Command Line Interface
TLS Transparent LAN Services
TLS Transport Layer Security
TLSR Transoceanic Line Switched Ring

44
TLV Type-Length-Value TV Television
TM Timing Module; Transaction Manager TVRO Television Receive Only earth station
TMC Terminal Monitor and Control TW TrueWave – fiber brand
TML Telephony Markup Language TWC TrueWave Classic – fiber brand

Optical
TMN Telecommunications Management Network TX Transmit
TMO Trans Metro Optical (platform) Tx Line Transmit Line
tmout Time Out

Glossary of Terms
tmper
TMUX
Time Period
Terminal Multiplexer
U
UAE United Arab Emirates

TNL Ethernet Tunneling UART Universal Asynchronous Receiver/Transmitter

TNM Transport Network Management UAS Unavailable Seconds

TOD Television on Demand UASL Unavailable Second Count-Line

ToD Time of Day UAS-L Unavailable Seconds - Line

TOH Transport Overhead UAS-LFE Unavailable Seconds - Line Far End

TOP Task Oriented Practice; Task Oriented Procedure UASP Unavailable Second Count-Path

TOS Type of Service UAS-P Unavailable Seconds - Path

TP Termination Point UAS-PFE Unavailable Seconds - Path Far End

TPFI Timing Plane Fault Isolation UAS-RS Unavailable Seconds - Regenerator Section

TQM Total Quality Management UAS-S Unavailable Seconds - Section

TR Technical Reference UAS-V Unavailable Seconds - VT

TRIB Tributary UAS-VFE Unavailable Seconds - VT Far End

TRM Technical Review Meeting UAT Unavailable Time

tRTO TCP Retransmit Timeout UB Uncorrected Block

TrTOH Transparent Transport Overhead U-Band Ultra-Long Band

TS Time Slot; Time Stamp; Time Synchronization UBR Undefined Bit Rate; Unspecified Bit Rate

TSA Time Slot Assignment UBRVBR Unspecified Bit Rate Variable Bit Rate

TSD Transport System Division UC User Channel

TSE Topology State Element UCBE Uncorrectable Block Error

TSEL Transport Selector UCD Upstream Channel Descriptor

TSF Transport Signal Failure UD Unconditional Disconnect

TSG Timing Signal Generator UDLR Unidirectional Link Routing

TSI Time Slot Interchange; Time Switch Interchange UDP User Datagram Protocol

TSN Time Sensitive Networking UDR Unconditional Disconnect Response

TSR Technical Service Representative UDM Unified Data Management

TSX Time-Space Switch ASIC UE User Equipment

TTE Transparent Terminal Equipment UEM Universal Equipment Modules

TTL Transistor Transistor Logic; Time to Live UEQ Unequipped

TTP Trail Termination Point UGC Universal Gateway Carrier

TTTP Transparent Trail Termination Point UGS Unsolicited Grant Service

TU Tributary Unit; Transmission Unit UHD Ultra High Density

TUG Tributary Unit Group UHF Ultra High Frequency

TUG-n Tributary Unit Group, level n UI User Interface
TU-n Tributary Unit, level n UIC User Interface Client

45
UID User Identifier V-band 50/40 GHz
UITS Unacknowledged Information Transfer Service VBI Vertical Blanking Interval
UL Underwriters Laboratories VBR Variable Bit Rate
ULH Ultra Long Haul VC Virtual Circuit; Virtual Channel; Virtual Container;
Virtual Concatenation

Optical
ULSDCC  pper Layer Section Data Communications
U
Channel VCAT Virtual Concatenation
UMTS Universal Mobile Telecommunications System VCC Virtual Channel Connection

Glossary of Terms
UNEQ
UNEQ-P
Unequipped Path; Unequipped
Unequipped Path
VCG
VCI
Virtual Concatenation Group
Virtual Channel Identifier
UNEQ-V Unequipped VT VCL Virtual Channel Link
UNEs Unbundled Network Elements VCM Virtual Concatenation-group Member
UNI User Network Interface VC-N Virtual Container Level N (N=11, 12, 2, 3, 4)
UNI/UNIF User Network Interface VC-N-Xc Contiguous Concatenation of X Virtual Containers
UNII Unlicensed National Information Infrastructure at Level N

UOG Universal OSS Gateway VC-N-Xv Virtual Concatenation of X Virtual containers at

Level N
UPC Ultra Physical Contact; Universal Packet Carrier;
Usage Parameter Control VCO Voltage Controlled Oscillator

UPF User Plane Function VCR Video Cassette Recorder

UPN Universal Personal Number VCSEL Vertical Cavity Surface-Emitting Laser

UPnP Universal Plug and Play VCXO Voltage Controlled Crystal Oscillator

UPS Uninterrupted Power Supply VDC Volts Direct Current

UPSR Unidirectional Path Switched Ring VDSL Very-high-bit-rate Digital Subscriber Line

UPT Universal Personal Telecommunications VEC Voice Equivalent Circuit

URI Universal Resource Identifier VF Virtual Fiber; Virtual Facility

URL Universal Resource Locator VFCU Voice/FAX Channel Unit

US Upstream VFTP Virtual Facility Termination Point

USB Universal Serial Bus VG Virtual Group

USEPA United States Environmental Protection Agency VGA Variable Gain Amplifier

UTC Universal Time Coordinated; Universal Transport VHF Very High Frequency
Carrier VIM Virtual Infrastructure Manager
UTOPIA Universal Test and Operations Physical Interface VLAN Virtual Local Area Network
for ATM VLR Very Long Reach
UTP Unprotected Termination Point; VM Voice Mail; Virtual Memory; Virtual Machine
Unshielded Twisted Pair
VME Versa Module Eurocard
UV Ultraviolet
VMM Voice/Modem Module
UVC Universal Voice Carrier; Universal Video Carrier
VNF Virtual Network Function

V VNFI Virtual Network Function Infrastructure

VOA Variable Optical Attenuator
V Voltage
VOD Video on Demand
V/A Video/Audio
VoIP Voice over Internet Protocol
VAC Voltage Alternating Current
VOM Volt-Ohm Meter
VAD Voice Activity Detection
VOQ Virtual Output Queuing
VADSL  ery high speed (Asymmetric) Digital
V
Subscriber Line VOW Voice Order Wire
VAP Virtual Access Partitioning VP Virtual Path

46
VPC Virtual Path Connection WE Western Europe
VPCI Virtual Path Connection Identifier WECA Wireless Ethernet Compatibility Alliance
VPG Virtual Path Group WEP Wired Equivalency Privacy
VPI Virtual Path Identifier WFA Workforce Automation

Optical
VPI/VCI Combined, VPI and VCI identify a connection WFM Workforce Management
on an ATM Network WFQ Weighted Fair Queuing
VPL Virtual Path Link WIF Wide Area Network Interface

Glossary of Terms
VPLS
VPN
Virtual Private LAN Service
Virtual Private Network
WiFi
WiMedia
Wireless Fidelity
An alliance for Wireless Multimedia
V-pole Vertical-pole WLAN Wireless Local Area Network
VPS Voice Processing System WLL/WiLL Wireless Local Loop, WiLL is also Motorola’s
VPSP Virtual Path Switch Protection WLL product line name

VR Virtual Reality WM9 Windows Media Player Version 9

vRouter Virtual Router WPA Wireless (WiFi) Protected Access

VRRP Virtual Router Redundancy Protocol WPS Working/Protect Splitter

VSA Virtual-Scheduling Algorithm; Vector WRED Weighted Random Early Discard; Weighted
Signal Analyzer Random Early Detection

VSAT Very Small Aperture Terminal WSS Wavelength Selective Switch

VSI Vendor-Specific Information WTO World Trade Organisation

VSR Very Short Reach WTR Wait to Restore

VSSP Virtual Service Switching Point WWN World Wide Name

VT Virtual Tributary WWW World Wide Web

VT-100 Terminal Emulation System

X
VTG Virtual Tributary Group
X.25 Packet Switched Communications Interface
V-UNI Virtual User Network Interface
XC Cross Connect
W XCVR Transceiver

W Watt; Working XDSL See DSL (Digital Subscriber Line)

WAD Wavelength Add and Drop XFP 10 Gb/s small form-factor pluggable transceiver

WAN Wide Area Network XML Extensible Markup Language

WB Working Band; Westbound XMTR Transmitter

WBS Work Breakdown Structure XPM Cross-Phase Modulation

WC Watts per channel

Y
WCA Working Channel Access
YANG Yet Another Next Generation
WCSS WDM Capable Switching System
W-DCS Wideband Digital Cross-Connect System Z
WDM Wavelength Division Multiplexing ZAC Zero Administration Client
WDT Watchdog timer ZWP Zero Water Peak

47