User's Manual

Company Confidential Quatech, Inc.
36 100-8026-100G Airborne 802.11b/g Value Radio Databook Revision 1.0
Term Description
Independent Basic Service Set
Network (IBSS Network)
An IEEE 802.11-based wireless network that has no backbone infrastructure and consists of at least two
wireless stations. This type of network is often referred to as an Ad-Hoc network because it can be
constructed quickly without too much planning.
Infrastructure mode A client setting providing connectivity to an Access Point. As compared to Ad-Hoc mode, whereby PCs
communicate directly with each other, clients set in Infrastructure mode all pass data through a central
Access Point. The Access Point not only mediates wireless network traffic in the immediate
neighborhood, but also provides communication with the wired network. See Ad-Hoc and AP.
LAN application A software application that runs on a computer, which is attached to a LAN, Intranet or the Internet, and
using various protocols can communicate with the Module.
Local Area Network A system of connecting PCs and other devices within the same physical proximity for sharing resources
such as Internet connections, printers, files and drives. When Wi-Fi is used to connect the devices, the
system is known as a wireless LAN or WLAN.
Medium Access Control Layer One of two sub-layers that make up the Data Link Layer of the OSI reference model. The MAC layer is
responsible for moving data packets to and from one network node to another across a shared channel.
MPDU MAC Protocol Data Unit, the unit of data exchanged between two peer MAC entities using the services
of the physical layer (PHY).
MSDU MAC Service Data Unit, information that is delivered as a unit between MAC service Access Points
(SAPs).
Peer-to-peer network A wireless or wired computer network that has no server or central hub or router. All the networked PCs
are equally able to act as a network server or client, and each client computer can talk to all the other
wireless computers without having to go through an Access Point or hub. However, since there is no
central base station to monitor traffic or provide Internet access, the various signals can collide with each
other, reducing overall performance. Also referred to as “ad-hoc” networks
RS-232 An EIA standard that specifies up to 20 Kbps, 50 foot, serial transmission between computers and
peripheral devices.
RSSI Relative Signal Strength Indicator or Receive Signal Strength Indicator, is a measure of the received
signal strength against the maximum internal receive signal strength (determined during the radios test
and calibration). Usually displayed as a percentage.
RTOS An operating system implementing components and services that explicitly offer deterministic responses,
and therefore allow the creation of real-time systems. An RTOS is characterized by the richness of the
services it provides, the performance characteristics of those services, and the degree that those
performance characteristics can be controlled by the application engineer ( to satisfy the requirements of
the application).
Service Set Identifier (SSID) An identifier attached to packets sent over the wireless LAN that functions as a "name" for joining a
particular radio network (BSS). All radios and Access Points within the same BSS must use the same
SSID, or their packets will be ignored.
Secure Digital Input Output (SDIO) Standards based high speed serial interface, maintained by the SD Card Association (www.sdcard.org).
Telnet A virtual terminal protocol used in the Internet, enabling users to log into a remote host.
Transceiver A device for transmitting and receiving packets between the computer and the medium.
Transmission Control Protocol
(TCP)
A commonly used protocol for establishing and maintaining communications between applications on
different computers. TCP provides full-duplex, acknowledged, and flow-controlled service to upper-layer
protocols and applications.
Wide Area Network (WAN) A communication system of connected PCs and other computing devices across a large local, regional,
national or international geographic area. Also used to distinguish between phone-based data networks
and Wi-Fi. Phone networks are considered WANs and Wi-Fi networks are considered wireless LANs.
Wi-Fi Wireless-Fidelity: Wi-Fi is the common name used for 802.11 wireless network technology.
Wi-Fi Alliance A non-profit international association formed in 1999 to certify interoperability of wireless LAN products
based on IEEE 802.11 specification.
Wired Equivalent Privacy (WEP) A security protocol for wireless LANs defined in the IEEE 802.11 standard. WEP is designed to provide
the same level of security as a wired LAN.