The world of broadband and its related technology is teeming with abbreviations and acronyms, many of which are vital for professionals and consumers alike to understand. This whitepaper will discuss the top 100 most commonly used acronyms and their respective terminologies, definitions, and descriptions. This guide will equip readers with the foundational knowledge necessary to navigate this complex and rapidly evolving field.
1. ADSL – Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line
ADSL is a type of broadband connection that uses telephone lines to deliver high-speed internet services. The ‘Asymmetric’ refers to the differing download and upload speeds.
2. BPL – Broadband over Power Lines
BPL delivers broadband internet over existing low and medium voltage electric power distribution networks. It’s a viable option for remote or rural areas where conventional internet service might be unavailable.
3. CPE – Customer Premises Equipment
CPE refers to equipment such as modems, routers, or set-top boxes installed at the customer’s premises, necessary for accessing broadband services.
4. DOCSIS – Data Over Cable Service Interface Specification
DOCSIS is an international telecommunications standard that permits the addition of high-speed data transfer to an existing cable TV system.
5. DSL – Digital Subscriber Line
DSL is a family of technologies that provide internet access by transmitting digital data over telephone lines. DSL connections are typically asymmetrical, with download speed much faster than upload speed.
6. FTTB – Fiber to the Building/Business
FTTB is a type of high-speed internet connection where a fiber-optic connection is installed directly to a building or business.
7. FTTH – Fiber to the Home
FTTH means bringing high-speed fiber-optic broadband connection directly to the customer’s home.
8. FTTC – Fiber to the Curb/Cabinet
FTTC involves running fiber-optic cabling to a street cabinet near the customer’s location, with the final leg of the journey (from the cabinet to the customer’s premises) completed over copper.
9. FTTP – Fiber to the Premises
FTTP can refer to either FTTH or FTTB. It involves installing fiber-optic connections directly to a building or a home.
10. Gbps – Gigabits per Second
Gbps is a data transfer speed measurement. 1 Gbps equals 1 billion bits per second, a commonly used metric to measure high-speed internet connections.
11. ILEC – Incumbent Local Exchange Carrier
ILEC refers to the original, legacy telephone company within a given geographic area.
12. IP – Internet Protocol
IP is a set of rules governing the format of data sent over the internet or other networks.
13. ISP – Internet Service Provider
An ISP is a company that provides internet access to customers.
14. LAN – Local Area Network
LAN is a computer network that interconnects computers within a limited area, such as a residence, school, laboratory, university campus, or office building.
15. Mbps – Megabits per Second
Mbps is a data transfer speed measurement. 1 Mbps equals 1 million bits per second, commonly used to measure internet connection speeds.
16. NAT – Network Address Translation
NAT is a method of mapping one IP address space into another by modifying network address information in the IP header of packets while they are in transit across a traffic routing device.
17. PPPoE – Point-to-Point Protocol over Ethernet
PPPoE is a network protocol for encapsulating PPP frames inside Ethernet frames. It’s used mainly with ADSL services.
18. QoS – Quality of Service
QoS is the description or measurement of the overall performance of a service, such as telephony or computer network or a cloud computing service, particularly the performance seen by the users of the network.
19. RF – Radio Frequency
RF 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.
20. TCP – Transmission Control Protocol
TCP is one of the main protocols in the IP network. It enables two hosts to establish a connection and exchange streams of data, ensuring that packets are delivered in order from sender to receiver.
21. VLAN – Virtual Local Area Network
VLAN is a network of computers that behave as if they are connected to the same wire even though they may actually be physically located on different segments of a LAN.
22. VPN – Virtual Private Network
A VPN is a private network across a public network, enabling users to send and receive data across shared or public networks as if their computing devices were directly connected to the private network.
23. WAN – Wide Area Network
WAN is a network that extends over a large geographical area for the primary purpose of computer networking or telecommunications.
24. Wi-Fi – Wireless Fidelity
Wi-Fi is a technology that uses radio waves to provide wireless high-speed internet and network connections.
25. WISP – Wireless Internet Service Provider
A WISP is an internet service provider with a network based on wireless networking technology.
26. xDSL – x Digital Subscriber Line
xDSL is a catch-all term for various types of digital subscriber line technology, such as ADSL, SDSL (Symmetric Digital Subscriber Line), and VDSL (Very high-speed Digital Subscriber Line).
27. 3G – 3rd Generation
3G refers to the third generation of wireless mobile telecommunications technology.
28. 4G – 4th Generation
4G is the fourth generation of broadband cellular network technology, succeeding 3G.
29. 5G – 5th Generation
5G is the fifth-generation technology standard for broadband cellular networks and the successor to 4G. It provides faster speeds and more reliable connections on smartphones and other devices.
30. LTE – Long Term Evolution
LTE is a standard for wireless broadband communication for mobile devices and data terminals. It’s based on the GSM/EDGE and UMTS/HSPA technologies.
31. VoIP – Voice over Internet Protocol
VoIP is a technology that allows telephone calls to be made over computer networks like the internet.
32. DDoS – Distributed Denial of Service
A DDoS attack is an attempt to make an online service unavailable by overwhelming it with traffic from multiple sources.
33. IPv6 – Internet Protocol version 6
IPv6 is the most recent version of the Internet Protocol, the communications protocol that provides an identification and location system for computers on networks and routes traffic across the Internet.
34. NGN – Next-Generation Network
NGN is a broad term used to describe key architectural evolutions in telecommunication and access networking.
35. CDN – Content Delivery Network
A CDN is a system of distributed servers that deliver pages and other web content to a user, based on the geographic locations of the user, the origin of the webpage and the content delivery server.
36. IPTV – Internet Protocol Television
IPTV is a system through which television services are delivered using the internet protocol suite over a packet-switched network such as a LAN or the internet, instead of being delivered through traditional terrestrial, satellite signal, and cable television formats.
37. ARPU – Average Revenue Per User
ARPU is a measure used primarily by consumer communications, digital media, and networking companies, defined as the total revenue divided by the number of subscribers.
38. BGP – Border Gateway Protocol
BGP is a standardized exterior gateway protocol designed to exchange routing and reachability information among autonomous systems (AS) on the internet.
39. COAX – Coaxial Cable
COAX is a type of cable that has an inner conductor surrounded by a tubular insulating layer, surrounded by a tubular conducting shield.
40. DOA – Dead On Arrival
DOA in broadband technology refers to a device or equipment that is found to be nonfunctional from the very beginning or its arrival.
41. FCC – Federal Communications Commission
The FCC is an independent agency of the U.S. government that regulates communications by radio, television, wire, satellite, and cable across the United States.
42. HDTV – High-Definition Television
HDTV is a television system providing an image resolution that is of substantially higher resolution than that of standard-definition television.
43. HTML – HyperText Markup Language
HTML is the standard markup language for documents designed to be displayed in a web browser.
44. ICMP – Internet Control Message Protocol
ICMP is a supporting protocol in the Internet protocol suite. It is used by network devices, including routers, to send error messages and operational information indicating success or failure when communicating with another IP address.
45. Kbps – Kilobits Per Second
Kbps is a data transfer speed measurement, typically used for measuring less-than-broadband speeds. 1 Kbps equals 1,000 bits per second.
46. MAC – Media Access Control
In the context of networking, a MAC address is a unique identifier assigned to a network interface controller for use as a network address in communications within a network segment.
47. NOC – Network Operations Center
A NOC is one or more locations from which network monitoring and control is exercised over a computer, telecommunication, or satellite network.
48. P2P – Peer-to-Peer
P2P refers to a distributed application architecture that partitions tasks or workloads between peers. This is opposed to the traditional client-server model in networking.
49. RTT – Round-Trip Time
In telecommunications, the RTT is the length of time it takes for a signal to be sent plus the length of time it takes for an acknowledgment of that signal to be received. This time delay includes the propagation times for the paths between the two communication endpoints.
50. SSH – Secure Shell
SSH is a cryptographic network protocol for operating network services securely over an unsecured network.
51. UDP – User Datagram Protocol
UDP is one of the main members of the Internet protocol suite. With UDP, computer applications can send messages, in this case referred to as datagrams, to other hosts on an Internet Protocol (IP) network without requiring prior communications to set up special transmission channels or data paths.
52. URI – Uniform Resource Identifier
A URI is a string of characters that unambiguously identifies a particular resource. URIs are used in HTML to identify the links to other pages and resources.
53. XML – eXtensible Markup Language
XML is a markup language that defines a set of rules for encoding documents in a format that is both human-readable and machine-readable.
54. SaaS – Software as a Service
SaaS is a software licensing and delivery model in which software is licensed on a subscription basis and is centrally hosted. It is sometimes referred to as “on-demand software”.
55. IaaS – Infrastructure as a Service
IaaS is a form of cloud computing that provides virtualized computing resources over the internet.
56. 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 deploying an app.
57. SNMP – Simple Network Management Protocol
SNMP is an Internet Standard protocol for collecting and organizing information about managed devices on IP networks and for modifying that information to change device behavior.
58. POP – Point of Presence
A PoP is an artificial demarcation point or interface point between communicating entities.
59. IX – Internet Exchange Point
An IX is a physical infrastructure through which Internet service providers (ISPs) and Content Delivery Networks (CDNs) exchange Internet traffic between their networks.
60. NAP – Network Access Point
A NAP is a public network exchange facility where Internet service providers (ISPs) can connect with one another in peering arrangements.
61. MAN – Metropolitan Area Network
A MAN is a network that interconnects users with computer resources in a geographic area or region larger than that covered by even a large local area network (LAN) but smaller than the area covered by a wide area network (WAN).
62. SAN – Storage Area Network
A SAN is a network which provides access to consolidated, block-level data storage.
63. NAS – Network-attached Storage
NAS is a file-level data storage server connected to a computer network providing data access to a heterogeneous group of clients.
64. ITU – International Telecommunication Union
The ITU is a specialized agency of the United Nations that is responsible for issues that concern information and communication technologies.
65. VoLTE – Voice over Long-Term Evolution
VoLTE is a standard for high-speed wireless communication for mobile phones and data terminals, including IoT devices and wearables.
66. RAN – Radio Access Network
A RAN is part of a mobile telecommunication system. It implements a radio access technology, essentially providing a connection with its core network (CN).
67. EPC – Evolved Packet Core
The EPC is the main component of the System Architecture Evolution (SAE) LTE wireless communication standard.
68. RADIUS – Remote Authentication Dial-In User Service
RADIUS is a networking protocol, operating on port 1812, that provides centralized Authentication, Authorization, and Accounting (AAA) management for users who connect and use a network service.
69. SLA – Service Level Agreement
A SLA is a commitment between a service provider and a client. Specific aspects of the service – quality, availability, responsibilities – are agreed between the service provider and the service user.
70. DHCP – Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol
DHCP is a network management protocol used on Internet Protocol (IP) networks, whereby a DHCP server dynamically assigns an IP address and other network configuration parameters to each device on the network, so they can communicate with other IP networks.
71. DNS – Domain Name System
The DNS is the phonebook of the Internet. Humans access information online through domain names, like nytimes.com or espn.com. Web browsers interact through Internet Protocol (IP) addresses. DNS translates domain names to IP addresses so browsers can load Internet resources.
72. HTTP – Hypertext Transfer Protocol
HTTP is an application protocol for distributed, collaborative, hypermedia information systems. HTTP is the foundation of data communication for the World Wide Web.
73. HTTPS – Hypertext Transfer Protocol Secure
HTTPS is an extension of the Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP). It is used for secure communication over a computer network, and is widely used on the Internet.
74. SSL – Secure Sockets Layer
SSL is a standard security technology for establishing an encrypted link between a server and a client—typically a web server (website) and a browser,
or a mail server and a mail client.
75. TLS – Transport Layer Security
TLS is a cryptographic protocol designed to provide communications security over a computer network. Websites can use TLS to secure all communications between their servers and web browsers.
76. API – Application Programming Interface
An API is a set of subroutine definitions, communication protocols, and tools for building software. In general terms, it is a set of clearly defined methods of communication among various components.
77. IoT – Internet of Things
The Internet of Things refers to the network of physical objects—“things”—that are embedded with sensors, software, and other technologies for the purpose of connecting and exchanging data with other devices and systems over the internet.
78. OTT – Over The Top
In the context of broadcasting, over-the-top media services are streaming media services offered directly to viewers over the Internet, bypassing cable, broadcast, and satellite television platforms.
79. PoE – Power over Ethernet
PoE is a system that allows power and data to be carried over a single Ethernet cable, thus reducing the number of wires needed to install a network device.
80. QAM – Quadrature Amplitude Modulation
QAM is both an analog and a digital modulation scheme. It conveys two analog message signals, or two digital bit streams, by changing (modulating) the amplitudes of two carrier waves.
81. QPSK – Quadrature Phase Shift Keying
QPSK is a digital modulation scheme that conveys data by changing, or modulating, the phase of a reference signal (the carrier wave).
82. RCS – Rich Communication Services
RCS is a communication protocol between mobile-telephone carriers and between phone and carrier, aiming at replacing SMS messages with a text-message system that is more rich, provides phonebook polling, and can transmit in-call multimedia.
83. SIP – Session Initiation Protocol
SIP is a signaling protocol used for initiating, maintaining, modifying and terminating real-time sessions that involve video, voice, messaging and other communications applications and services between two or more endpoints on IP networks.
84. SMTP – Simple Mail Transfer Protocol
SMTP is an Internet standard for electronic mail (email) transmission across Internet Protocol (IP) networks.
85. SNMP – Simple Network Management Protocol
SNMP is an Internet Standard protocol for collecting and organizing information about managed devices on IP networks and for modifying that information to change device behavior.
86. STP – Spanning Tree Protocol
The STP is a network protocol that builds a loop-free logical topology for Ethernet networks.
87. TDM – Time Division Multiplexing
TDM is a method of transmitting and receiving independent signals over a common signal path by means of synchronized switches at each end of the transmission line so that each signal appears on the line only a fraction of time in an alternating pattern.
88. TFTP – Trivial File Transfer Protocol
TFTP is a simple lockstep File Transfer Protocol which allows a client to get a file from or put a file onto a remote host.
89. UMTS – Universal Mobile Telecommunications System
UMTS is a third-generation mobile cellular system for networks based on the GSM standard.
90. VoD – Video on Demand
VoD systems allow users to select and watch/listen to video or audio content such as movies and TV shows whenever they choose, rather than at a scheduled broadcast time.
91. WEP – Wired Equivalent Privacy
WEP is a security algorithm for IEEE 802.11 wireless networks. It was superseded by Wi-Fi Protected Access (WPA).
92. WPA – Wi-Fi Protected Access
WPA is a security protocol designed to create secure wireless (Wi-Fi) networks. It is similar to the WEP protocol but offers improvements in the way it handles security keys and the way users are authorized.
93. WPA2 – Wi-Fi Protected Access II
WPA2 is a security protocol framework that secures wireless networks. It is the upgrade from WPA and provides stronger data protection and network access control.
94. WPA3 – Wi-Fi Protected Access III
WPA3 is the latest version of Wi-Fi Protected Access, a suite of protocols and technologies that provide authentication and encryption for Wi-Fi networks.
95. WWW – World Wide Web
The WWW is an information system where documents and other web resources are identified by Uniform Resource Locators (URLs), interlinked by hypertext links, and can be accessed via the Internet.
96. XML – eXtensible Markup Language
XML is a markup language that defines a set of rules for encoding documents in a format that is both human-readable and machine-readable.
97. XOR – Exclusive OR
XOR is a digital logic gate that outputs true or “1” only when the number of true inputs is odd. In networking, it’s often used in parity calculations.
98. Z-Wave
Z-Wave is a wireless communications protocol used primarily for home automation. It is a mesh network using low-energy radio waves for communication from appliance to appliance.
99. Zigbee
Zigbee is an IEEE 802.15.4-based specification for a suite of high-level communication protocols used to create personal area networks with small, low-power digital radios.
100. GPON – Gigabit Passive Optical Network
GPON is a point-to-multipoint access mechanism providing end users with the ability to consolidate multiple services onto a single fiber transport network.
This whitepaper has provided brief explanations for the top 100 most commonly used acronyms in broadband and related technology. In this rapidly evolving industry, understanding these terms is vital for staying current with existing technologies and the development of new technologies.