| A |
| A
Carrier |
Most areas of the US have two cellular
carriers, each of which operates on a different
frequency band. One is designated the "A"
carrier and the other is designated the "B"
carrier. In some markets there may be only one carrier which may be
"A" or "B". |
| A/B
Switching |
Most cellular
phones have the ability to switch to the "A" or the
"B" frequency bands. This feature is useful when roaming
outside your home coverage area. |
|
A-GPS |
(Assisted GPS)
A type of handset-based position location technology. To determine
location, the phone takes readings from both GPS satellites and nearby
cellular base stations (towers), with the help
of a location server on the network.
The location server on the network is required to tell the phone which
satellites to look for, and also to perform the complex calculations
that provide precise location information.
This technology generally provides better accuracy than GPS-only and
network-based technologies. A-GPS also works in places where GPS-only
technologies do not work well, such as dense urban areas, inside
buildings, and in moving cars.
|
|
A2DP |
Advanced Audio
Distribution Profile
A Bluetooth profile (mode) for streaming audio, such as from a music
phone to headphones.
Compared to profiles such as Headset and Hands free, A2DP supports
stereo audio, and is one-way instead of two-way.
|
|
AAC |
Short for Advanced
Audio Coding.
AAC is a file format for music and other audio content. It is commonly
used on the Internet, on PCs, and on portable devices, including
dedicated music players and phones with music player functionality.
AAC is a newer alternative to MP3. Compared to MP3, AAC is designed to
have better sound quality with smaller file sizes (requiring less
memory).
AAC is also designed to work with DRM technologies that control how the
music files can be played and/or shared to enforce copyrights.
Newer and better versions include AAC+ and AAC++. |
| Access
Fee |
A monthly charge for the ability
to connect to a wireless network. This fee is assessed monthly whether
the phone is actually used or not. |
| Activation |
Configuration of a wireless phone
so that it is ready to be used to transmit and receive calls on the
wireless network. |
| Activation
Fee |
A one-time up-front charge for activation
of a wireless phone. |
|
AFLT |
Advanced Forward Link Trilateration.
A type of handset-based position location technology. Unlike A-GPS, AFLT
does not use GPS satellites to determine location. To determine
location, the phone takes measurements of signals from nearby cellular
base stations (towers) and reports the time/distance readings back to
the network, which are then used to triangulate an approximate location
of the handset. In general, at least three surrounding base stations are
required to get an optimal position fix. |
|
Airplane Mode |
AKA flight mode,
offline mode, or standalone mode
Some phones and other wireless devices have a special "flight" or
"airplane" mode that turns off just the wireless radio parts of the
device, for safe use on an airplane where radio transmitters are not
allowed.
Most airlines and many governments ban the use of wireless radio devices
during flight. Although preventing interference with the plane's onboard
systems is the most well-known reason for such bans, the more important
concern with cell phones is interference with cell phone networks on the
ground, which cannot handle phones at high relative altitudes and moving
at airplane speeds.
Airplane mode therefore allows the user to safely use the non-wireless
functions of a phone (such as music, games or organizer functions) on an
airplane during flight.
However, not all airlines have policies that accommodate devices with
airplane mode; some airlines still ban the use of all phones during
flight regardless.
There is a special industry-standard flight mode icon, although many
phones use a non-standard icon. |
| Airtime |
Total time that a wireless phone
is in connected and in use for talking. This includes use for calls both
received and placed. |
| Alphanumeric
Display |
A display, usually LCD, that has
the ability to display both text and numbers. Most often found on the
front of a wireless handset or pager. |
| AMPS
(Advanced Mobile Phone Service) |
An analog cellular
phone service standard used in the US and other countries. |
| Analog |
A method of modulating radio
signals so that they can carry information such as voice or data. |
| Antenna |
A device that facilitates the
transmission and reception of radio signals. |
| APC
(Adaptive Power Control) |
A feature of some wireless
handsets that helps reduce power consumption to increase battery charge
life. |
| Area
Code |
A three digit telephone number
prefix assigned to a calling area. |
| Authentication |
A feature used to reduce fraud by
confirming the identity of a phone to the wireless network. |
| Automatic
Call Delivery |
A service feature that allows a
user to receive calls when roaming outside of the
phone's home coverage area. |
| B |
| B
Carrier |
Most areas of the US have two cellular
carriers, each of which operates on a different frequency band. One is
designated the "A" carrier and the
other is designated the "B" carrier.
In some markets there may be only one carrier which may be "A"
or "B". |
| Bandwidth |
Describes the transmission
capacity of a medium in terms of a range of frequencies. A greater
bandwidth indicates the ability to transmit a greater amount of data
over a given period of time. |
| Broadband |
Describes a communications medium
capable of transmitting a relatively large amount of data over a given
period of time. A communications channel of high bandwidth. |
| BTA
(Basic Trading Area) |
A geographic region
defined by a group of counties that surround a city, which is the area's
basic trading center. The boundaries of each BTA were formulated by Rand
McNally & Co. and are used by the FCC determine
service areas for PCS wireless licenses. The entire
US and some of its territories is divided into 493 non-overlapping BTAs. |
| C |
| Call
Forwarding |
A feature that allows the
transfer of incoming calls to another number of the users choice. |
| Call
Setup |
Activity that occurs in order to
establish a call connection between a wireless handset and the wireless
system. |
| Call
Waiting |
A feature that allows a user to
be notified of another incoming call while a call is already in
progress, and gives the user the ability to answer the second call while
the first call remains on hold. |
| Caller
ID |
A feature that displays a
caller's telephone number and/or name before the call is answered. |
| Carrier |
A company that provides
telecommunications services. |
| CDMA
(Code Division Multiple Access) |
A digital
communication technology used by some carriers to provide PCS
service. Other technologies used are TDMA and GSM. |
| Cell |
The area surrounding a cell
site. The area in which calls are handled by a particular cell site. |
| Cell
Site |
The transmission and reception
equipment, including the base station antenna, that connects a cellular
phone to the network. |
| Cellular |
The type of wireless
communication that is most familiar to mobile phones users. Called
'cellular' because the system uses many base stations to divide a
service area into multiple 'cells'. Cellular calls
are transferred from base station to base station as a user travels from
cell to cell. |
| CO
(Central Office) |
A connection point
between the wireless phone system at the MTSO and
the landline
phone system at the PSTN. |
| Clone
(Cloning) |
A wireless phone that has been
programmed to mimic another wireless phone. Often used to defraud a
wireless carrier by placing illegal calls without any intention of
payment. |
| Coverage
Area |
The geographic area served by a
wireless system. Same as Service Area. |
| Cross-talk |
A signal leak from one channel to
another - often the cause of noise and distortion. |
| D |
| Decibel
(dB) |
A unit of measure used to express
relative difference in power or intensity of sound. |
| Digital |
A method of encoding information
using a binary code of 0s and 1s. Most newer wireless phones and
networks use digital technology. |
| Dual
band |
A feature on some wireless phones
that allows the handset to operate using either the 800 MHz cellular
or the 1900 MHz PCS frequencies. |
| Dual
mode |
A feature on some wireless phones
that allows the handset to operate on both analog
and digital networks. |
| Duplex |
As in ordinary telephone service,
a characteristic of a communications system where simultaneous
transmission and reception is possible. |
| E |
| email |
The ability to send and receive
text messages through a wireless handset. |
| ESN
(Electronic Serial Number) |
The unique serial number of a cellular
phone that identifies it to the cellular system
for the purpose and placing and receiving calls. |
| F |
| FCC
(Federal Communications Commission) |
A US government agency
responsible for regulating communications industries. |
| Fingerprinting |
See Radio-frequency
fingerprinting. |
| Follow-Me
Roaming |
The ability of a wireless system
to forward incoming calls to a handset that is roaming
outside its home service area without
any pre-notification to the wireless carrier. |
| G |
| GSM
(Global Standard for Mobile) |
A digital
communication technology used by some carriers to provide PCS
service. Other technologies used are CDMA and TDMA. |
| H |
| Handoff |
The transfer of a wireless call
in progress from one transmission site to another site without
disconnection. |
| Hands-Free
Speakerphone |
A feature of some wireless phones
that allows the users to talk and listen to calls without holding the
phone against their head. |
| Handset |
Any hand held device used to
transmit and receive calls from a wireless system. Also known as a
wireless phone, a cellular phone, a mobile phone, a PCS phone and many
other terms. |
| Handshake(ing) |
Signals between a wireless phone
and a wireless system to accomplish call setup. |
| Home
Coverage Area |
A designated area within which cellular
calls are local and do not incur roaming or long
distance charges. |
| I |
| Interconnection
Fee |
A fee charged for calls from
wireless phones that must be routed to landline phones. |
| L |
| Landline |
Traditional wired telephone
service. |
| LCD
(Liquid Crystal Display) |
A flat panel screen used to
display numbers and/or characters. Often found on a wireless handset. |
| LED
(Light Emitting Diode) |
A light on a handset to alert the
user of various conditions. |
| M |
| Memory
Dialing |
A feature of a wireless phone
that allows multiple numbers to be stored in the phone itself for quick
dialing by pressing one or two buttons. |
| MSA
(Metropolitan Service Area) |
An area defined by
the US government for use in grouping census data and other statistics.
MSAs include a city of at least 50,000 people or an urbanized area of at
least 100,000 people and the counties that include these areas. Not all
areas of the US are in an MSA. The FCC used these
area definitions to license cellular telephone
service carriers. There are 306 regions of the US designated as MSAs. |
| MTA
(Major Trading Area) |
An area consisting
of two or more
Basic Trading Areas as defined by Rand McNally &
Co. These large areas are used by the FCC determine
service areas for some PCS wireless licenses. The US
is divided into 51 MTAs. |
| MTSO
(Mobile Telephone Switching Office) |
An office housing
switches and computers to which all cell sites
in an area are connected for the purpose of eventual connection to the PSTN.
The MTSO handles the connection, tracking, status and billing of all
wireless call activity in an assigned area. |
| N |
| NAM
(Number Assignment Module) |
A component of a
wireless phone that holds in electronic memory the telephone number and ESN
of the phone. |
| No
Answer Transfer |
A feature of a wireless service
that if a call is not answered in a specified number of rings, it will
be transferred to another phone number of the users choice. |
| No
Service Indicator |
A feature of wireless phones that
tells the user that wireless service is unavailable in a particular
location. Usually an LED on the handset. |
| O |
| Off
Peak |
Any time of day, as determined by
a wireless carrier, when there is lower communications traffic on the
system. Carriers make this distinction to offer lower rates during these
periods when demand is low. |
| P |
| Paging |
A feature of a wireless device
that allows reception of a signal or alphanumeric message. |
| PCS
(Personal Communication Services) |
Used to describe a
newer class of wireless communications services recently authorized by
the FCC. PCS systems use a different radio
frequency(the 1.9 GHz band) than cellular
phones and generally use all digital technology for transmission and
reception. |
| Peak
Period(s) |
Any time of day, as determined by
a wireless carrier, when there is high levels of communications traffic
on the system. |
| POTS
(Plain-Old-Telephone-Service) |
Another name for traditional
wired, land based telephone service. |
| Prepaid
Cellular/Wireless |
A service plan offered by some
wireless carriers that allows subscribers to pay in advance for wireless
service. |
| PSTN
(Public Switched Telephone Network) |
A formal name for the world-wide
telephone network. |
| R |
| Radio-frequency
fingerprinting |
An electronic process that
identifies each individual wireless handset by examining its unique
radio transmission characteristics. Fingerprinting is used to reduce
fraud since the illegal phone can not duplicate the legal phone's
radio-frequency fingerprint. |
| RF
(Radio Frequency) |
A radio signal. |
| RFI
(Radio Frequency Interference) |
An undesired radio signal that
interferes with a radio communications signal causing extraneous noise
and/or signal dropouts. |
| RF
Noise |
Undesired radio signals that
alters a radio communications signal causing extraneous sounds during
transmission and/or reception. |
| Roaming |
Using your wireless phone in an
area outside its home coverage area. There
is usually an additional charge for roaming. |
| Roaming
Agreement |
A agreement among wireless
carriers allowing users to use their phone on systems other their own
home systems. Roaming Fee charged for roaming. |
| RSA
(Rural Service Area) |
Areas not included
in MSAs are divided into RSAs. Generally these are
the rural areas of the US. The FCC used RSAs to license cellular
carriers in areas not included in MSAs. There are 428 RSAs in the US. |
| S |
| Service
Area |
The geographic area served by a
wireless system. Same as Coverage Area. |
| Service
plan |
A contract between a wireless
carrier and a wireless subscriber that details the terms of the wireless
service including rates for activation, access and per minute usage. |
| Sensitivity |
A measure of a receiver's ability
to viably receive weak radio signals. |
| Signal-to-noise
ratio |
A measure of the power of a
signal versus noise. A lower ratio means there is more noise relative to
signal. |
| SMS
(Short Messaging System) |
A feature of PCS
phones(primarily GSM) that allows users to receive
and sometimes transmit short text messages using their wireless phone. |
| Spectrum |
The the entire range
electromagnetic frequencies. |
| Spread
Spectrum |
A communications technology where
a signal is transmitted over a broad range of frequencies and then
re-assembled when received. |
| Standby
Time |
The time a phone is on but not
actively transmitting or receiving a call. |
| Subscriber |
A cellular
phone user. |
| System
Selection Switch |
A feature of some cellular
phones that allows switching between 'A' and 'B' cellular carriers. This
feature is often used when roaming. |
| T |
| Talk
Time |
The time a phone is on and
actively transmitting or receiving a call. |
| TDMA
(Time Division Multiple Access) |
A digital
communication technology used by some carriers to provide PCS
service. Other technologies used are CDMA and GSM. |
| Telecommunications
Act of 1996 |
Federal legislation
passed in 1996 intended to increase competition among wireless and
wireline carriers for the benefit of consumers. |
| Toll
Charges |
Charges for placing long distance
calls. |
| Toll-Free
Calling Area |
An area in which calls can be
placed without incurring long distance charges. |
| V |
| Voice-activated
Dialing |
A feature that allows users to
speak words into a wireless phone to cause it to dial pre-programmed
telephone numbers without using the buttons. |
| Voice
Mail |
A system that answers calls and
allows users to reply to, save, delete or forward messages. |
| W |
| Wireless
Carrier |
A company that provides wireless
telecommunications services. |
| |
