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The world of radio and its related technology is rich with terminology and acronyms. Whether you’re a hobbyist, a professional in the field, or someone who enjoys learning about technology, understanding these terms can deepen your understanding and appreciation of radio. This article will outline the top 100 most commonly used terms and acronyms, their definitions, and a brief description of each.

  1. AM – Amplitude Modulation: A technique used in electronic communication, most commonly for transmitting information via a radio carrier wave. AM works by varying the strength of the transmitted signal in relation to the information being sent.
  2. FM – Frequency Modulation: This is similar to AM but the frequency of the carrier wave is varied instead of the amplitude. FM is commonly used for broadcasting music and speech, cellular systems, and satellite communication.
  3. RF – Radio Frequency: This term refers to the rate of oscillation of electromagnetic radio waves in the range of 3 kHz to 300 GHz, as well as the alternating currents carrying the radio signals.
  4. VHF – Very High Frequency: A range of radio frequency from 30 to 300 MHz. Applications include television broadcasts, FM radio broadcasts, and two-way land mobile radio systems.
  5. UHF – Ultra High Frequency: This is the frequency Range from 300 MHz to 3 GHz. Applications include television broadcasting, cellular phones, satellite communication, and microwave links.
  6. HF – High Frequency: A frequency range from 3 to 30 MHz, often used for international shortwave broadcasts and aviation communication.
  7. DAB – Digital Audio Broadcasting: A digital radio standard for broadcasting digital audio radio services.
  8. DVB – Digital Video Broadcasting: A suite of internationally accepted open standards for digital television maintained by the DVB Project.
  9. DAB+ – Digital Audio Broadcasting Plus: An enhanced version of the DAB standard, offering more stations and improved sound quality.
  10. MHz – Megahertz: A unit of frequency, equal to one million cycles per second.
  11. GHz – Gigahertz: A unit of frequency equal to one billion cycles per second. It’s often used to express microprocessor clock speed.
  12. SSB – Single Side Band: A type of modulation, used to reduce the bandwidth and to eliminate one of the sidebands from an amplitude modulated signal.
  13. SWR – Standing Wave Ratio: A measure of impedance matching of loads to the characteristic impedance of a transmission line or waveguide.
  14. QAM – Quadrature Amplitude Modulation: A method of combining two amplitude-modulated (AM) signals into a single channel, increasing the effective bandwidth.
  15. QPSK – Quadrature Phase Shift Keying: A form of phase modulation which is used for data modulated digital signals.
  16. GPS – Global Positioning System: A satellite-based navigation system providing time information and location anywhere where there is an unobstructed line of sight to four or more GPS satellites.
  17. MIMO – Multiple-Input Multiple-Output: A method for the coordinated use of multiple radio antennas in wireless communications systems.
  18. RDS – Radio Data System: A protocol standard for embedding small amounts of digital information in conventional FM radio broadcasts.
  19. DTMF – Dual-Tone Multi-Frequency: A method used for telecommunication signaling over analog telephone lines in the voice-frequency band.
  20. PSTN – Public Switched Telephone Network: The aggregate of the world’s circuit-switched telephone networks.
  1. CDMA – Code Division Multiple Access: A channel access method used by various radio communication technologies allowing several transmitters to send information simultaneously over a single communication channel.
  2. GSM – Global System for Mobile Communications: A standard set developed by the European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI) to describe the protocols for second-generation (2G) digital cellular networks used by mobile devices.
  3. LTE – Long-Term Evolution: A standard for wireless broadband communication for mobile devices and data terminals, based on the GSM/EDGE and UMTS/HSPA technologies.
  4. 5G – Fifth Generation: The latest generation of cellular mobile communications, succeeding 4G, offering high speed, reduced latency, energy saving, cost reduction, higher system capacity, and massive device connectivity.
  5. SDR – Software Defined Radio: A radio communication system where components that have been traditionally implemented in hardware are instead implemented by means of software on a personal computer or embedded system.
  6. P2P – Peer to Peer: A decentralized communications model in which each party has the same capabilities and either party can initiate a communication session.
  7. RFID – Radio-Frequency Identification: A technology that uses electromagnetic fields to automatically identify and track tags attached to objects.
  8. VoIP – Voice over Internet Protocol: A technology that allows you to make voice calls using a broadband Internet connection instead of a regular (or analog) phone line.
  9. IOT – Internet of Things: A system of interrelated computing devices, mechanical and digital machines, objects, animals or people that are provided with unique identifiers (UIDs) and the ability to transfer data over a network without requiring human-to-human or human-to-computer interaction.
  10. WAN – Wide Area Network: A telecommunications network that extends over a large geographical area for the purpose of computer networking.
  11. LAN – Local Area Network: A computer network that interconnects computers within a limited area such as a residence, school, laboratory, university campus or office building.
  12. PAN – Personal Area Network: A type of network for data transmission amongst devices such as computers, telephones, tablets and personal digital assistants.
  13. NFC – Near Field Communication: A set of communication protocols that enable two electronic devices, one of which is usually a portable device such as a smartphone, to establish communication by bringing them within 4 cm (1.6 in) of each other.
  14. BLE – Bluetooth Low Energy: A power-efficient variant of the classic Bluetooth technology, which is designed for short-range communication between devices.
  15. RSSI – Received Signal Strength Indicator: A measure of the power level that a RF client device is receiving from an access point, for example.
  16. SNR – Signal-to-Noise Ratio: A measure used in science and engineering that compares the level of a desired signal to the level of background noise.
  17. EMI – Electromagnetic Interference: Disturbance generated by an external source that affects an electrical circuit by electromagnetic induction, electrostatic coupling, or conduction.
  18. DAR – Digital Audio Radio: A type of audio broadcasting that uses digital signals for transmission.
  19. EIRP – Effective Isotropic Radiated Power: A measure of the maximum power that a theoretical isotropic antenna (which distributes power equally in all directions) would emit in its strongest direction.
  20. ERP – Effective Radiated Power: A standard for calculating the power output of a transmitter, particularly in reference to FM and TV broadcast stations.
  21. FCC – Federal Communications Commission: An independent agency of the United States government that regulates communications by radio, television, wire, satellite, and cable across the United States.
  22. ITU – International Telecommunication Union: A specialized agency of the United Nations that is responsible for issues related to information and communication technologies.
  23. IC – Integrated Circuit: A set of electronic circuits on one small flat piece (or “chip”) of semiconductor material that is normally silicon.
  24. VCO – Voltage Controlled Oscillator: An oscillator with an output signal whose output can be varied over a range, controlled by the DC voltage level.
  25. LO – Local Oscillator: An electronic oscillator used with a mixer to change the frequency of a signal. This frequency conversion process, also called heterodyning, produces the sum and difference frequencies from the frequency of the local oscillator and frequency of the input signal.
  26. IF – Intermediate Frequency: A transitional radio frequency situated between the incoming signal and the output signal, used in superheterodyne radio receivers.
  27. PLL – Phase-Locked Loop: A control system that generates an output signal whose phase is related to the phase of an input signal, used for a wide range of applications including frequency synthesis and modulation.
  28. RSS – Received Signal Strength: The total power observed in a received radio signal, often used as a basic parameter in measuring Wi-Fi, mobile telephony, and radio broadcasting in general.
  29. SIM – Subscriber Identity Module: An integrated circuit that securely stores the international mobile subscriber identity (IMSI) and the related key used to identify and authenticate subscribers on mobile telephony devices.
  30. ROIP – Radio over Internet Protocol: A methodology of transmitting and receiving radio communications via Internet Protocol (IP), creating digital VoIP networks.
  31. HAM – Ham Radio: A popular term for amateur radio, derived from the term “ham” as an informal name for an amateur radio operator. The use of the word “HAM” is often associated with amateur radio operators.
  32. DTX – Discontinuous Transmission: A means of improving the utilization of the radio link and capacity of a network by switching off the transmitter and/or receiver when not in use.
  33. ETSI – European Telecommunications Standards Institute: An independent, non-profit organization, that standardizes global telecommunications.
  34. OTA – Over-The-Air: Refers to various methods of distributing new software, configuration settings, and even updating encryption keys to devices like cellphones, set-top boxes or secure voice communication equipment.
  35. SATCOM – Satellite Communication: The mode of communication which uses artificial satellites as transponders to receive signals from one point of the earth and retransmit the same to another point.
  36. WCDMA – Wideband Code Division Multiple Access: An air interface standard found in 3G mobile telecommunications networks.
  37. TDMA – Time Division Multiple Access: A channel access method for shared-medium networks. It allows several users to share the same frequency channel by dividing the signal into different time slots.
  38. FDMA – Frequency Division Multiple Access: A channel access method used in multiple-access protocols as a channelization protocol. FDMA gives users an individual allocation of one or several frequency bands.
  39. MESH – Mesh Network: A network topology in which each node relays data for the network. All mesh nodes cooperate in the distribution of data in the network.
  40. LOS – Line of Sight: A type of propagation that can transmit and receive data only where transmit and receive stations are in view of each other without obstructions.
  41. NLOS – Non-Line of Sight: Wireless transmission where the transmission path between the sender and receiver is partially or completely blocked, typically by a physical object such as a hill or a building.
  42. OMNI – Omnidirectional Antenna: An antenna that radiates radio wave power uniformly in all directions in one plane, with the radiated power decreasing with elevation angle above or below the plane, dropping to zero on the antenna’s axis.
  43. QoS – Quality of Service: The description or measurement of the overall performance of a service, such as a telephony or computer network, particularly the performance seen by the users of the network.
  44. BER – Bit Error Rate: The number of bit errors per unit time. The bit error ratio (also BER) is the number of bit errors divided by the total number of transferred bits during a studied time interval.
  45. RX – Receiver: An electronic device that receives and decodes digital signals for display, playback, or forward transmission.
  46. TX – Transmitter: An electronic device that produces radio waves with an antenna. The transmitter itself generates a radio frequency alternating current, which is applied to the antenna.
  47. ARQ – Automatic Repeat Request: A protocol used in telecommunications to request the retransmission of packets which have been detected as being either corrupted or lost.
  48. DSSS – Direct Sequence Spread Spectrum: A modulation technique used in telecommunications to spread a signal over a wide band of frequencies for transmission.
  49. OFDM – Orthogonal Frequency-Division Multiplexing: A method of digital modulation in which a signal is split into several narrowband channels at different frequencies.
  50. PSK – Phase Shift Keying: A digital modulation process which conveys data by changing, or modulating, the phase of a reference signal (the carrier wave).
  51. BPSK – Binary Phase Shift Keying: A type of phase shift keying which uses two phases. This makes it a simpler but less efficient method of phase shift keying.
  52. QAM – Quadrature Amplitude Modulation: A modulation method used in electronic communication to convey digital signal by changing the amplitude of two carrier waves.
  53. ASK – Amplitude Shift Keying: A modulation process which represents digital data as variations in the amplitude of a carrier wave.
  54. FSK – Frequency Shift Keying: A frequency modulation scheme in which digital information is transmitted through discrete frequency changes of a carrier wave.
  55. WAP – Wireless Access Point: A networking hardware device that allows other Wi-Fi devices to connect to a wired network.
  56. BTS – Base Transceiver Station: A piece of equipment that facilitates wireless communication between user equipment (UE) and a network. UEs are devices like mobile phones (handsets), WLL phones, computers with wireless internet connectivity.
  57. BS – Base Station: A fixed point of communication for customer cellular phones on a carrier network. The base station is connected to an antenna (or multiple antennas) that receives and transmits the signals in the cellular network to and from a user’s phone.
  58. ATU – Antenna Tuning Unit: A network of inductors and capacitors that function as a filter between the radio frequency (RF) generator and the antenna.
  59. VOX – Voice Operated Exchange: A switch that operates when sound over a certain threshold is detected. It is usually used to turn on a transmitter or recorder when someone speaks and turn it off when they stop speaking.
  60. ITU – International Telecommunication Union: The United Nations specialized agency for information and communication technologies. ITU coordinates the shared global use of the radio spectrum, promotes international cooperation in assigning satellite orbits, works to improve telecommunication infrastructure in the developing world and assists in the development and coordination of worldwide technical standards.
  61. RFID – Radio-Frequency Identification: The use of radio waves to read and capture information stored on a tag attached to an object.
  62. XMTR – Transmitter: An electronic device that produces radio waves with an antenna. The transmitter itself generates a radio frequency alternating current, which is applied to the antenna.
  63. XTAL – Crystal Oscillator: An electronic oscillator circuit that uses the mechanical resonance of a vibrating crystal of piezoelectric material to create an electrical signal with a very precise frequency.
  64. DSP – Digital Signal Processing: A technique of modifying or analyzing a signal in its digital form. A signal may be processed in analog form as well, but in most cases, DSP is more advantageous due to its higher levels of control and precision.
  65. XLR – XLR Connector: A style of electrical connector, primarily found on professional audio, video, and stage lighting equipment. XLR connectors are renowned for their robustness and ease of use.
  66. EMC – Electromagnetic Compatibility: The ability of electrical equipment and systems to function acceptably in their electromagnetic environment, by limiting the unintentional generation, propagation and reception of electromagnetic energy which may cause unwanted effects.
  67. LC – Inductor-Capacitor circuit (LC circuit): An electronic circuit consisting of an inductor, represented by the letter L, and a capacitor, represented by the letter C, connected together.
  68. RC – Resistor-Capacitor circuit (RC circuit): A circuit composed of resistors and capacitors driven by a voltage or current source.
  69. AC – Alternating Current: An electric current which periodically reverses direction, in contrast to direct current (DC) which flows only in one direction.
  70. DC – Direct Current: An electric current flowing in one direction only.
  71. FET – Field-Effect Transistor: A type of transistor which uses an electric field to control the electrical behaviour of the device.
  72. BJT – Bipolar Junction Transistor: A type of transistor that uses both electrons and holes as charge carriers.
  73. PA – Power Amplifier: An electronic device that increases the power of a signal. It does this by taking energy from a power supply and controlling the output to match the input signal shape but with a larger amplitude.
  74. RFI – Radio Frequency Interference: A subtype of electromagnetic interference (EMI) that involves problematic radio frequency signals.
  75. MDS – Minimum Discernible Signal: The smallest signal in amplitude which can be detected or seen by a receiving system.
  76. THD – Total Harmonic Distortion: A measurement of the harmonic distortion present in a signal and is defined as the ratio of the sum of the powers of all harmonic components to the power of the fundamental frequency. Lesser THD allows the components in a loudspeaker, amplifier or microphone or other equipment to produce a more accurate reproduction by reducing harmonics added by electronics and audio media.
  77. RF Gain – Radio Frequency Gain: The amplification factor by which an amplifier boosts the strength of an input signal.
  78. AGC – Automatic Gain Control: A system in which the overall gain of a system is automatically adjusted as a function of its input or other specified parameter.
  79. SWL – Shortwave Listening: The hobby of listening to shortwave radio broadcasts located on frequencies between 1700 kHz and 30 MHz.
  80. QRP – Low Power Operating: In amateur radio, QRP operation refers to transmitting at reduced power while attempting to maximize one’s effective range. The term QRP derives from the standard Q code used in radio communications, where “QRP” and “QRP?” are used to request, “Reduce power”, and ask “Should I reduce power?”

Radio technology and related terminologies are vast and ever-evolving. Understanding these common acronyms and terms can provide a solid foundation to explore more advanced concepts and technologies in the field. This glossary is intended to be a useful resource in learning and understanding the technical language used in radio communication and related technology.