User's Manual

Appendix A Glossary

Access Point - An internetworking device that seamlessly connects wired and wireless

networks together.

Ad-Hoc - Ad-Hoc is a peer- to-peer wireless network without Access Point. A group of

wireless clients consistent an independent wireless LAN.

Backbone - The core infrastructure of a network, the portion of the network that transports

information from one central location to another central location. The information is then off-

loaded onto a local system.

BSS - Stands for “Basic Service Set.” An Access Point associated with several wireless

stations.

ESS - Stands for “Extended Service Set.” More than one BSS can be configured as an

Extended Service Set. An ESS is basically a roaming domain.

Infrastructure - An integrated wireless and wired LAN is called an Infrastructure

configuration.

MINI-PCI TYPE III– Mini-PCI is a small form factor version of the PCI specification.

The Mini-PCI format comes in several different form factors: the Type I, Type II, and Type

III. The Mini-PCI Type III card is the most popular of the Mini-PCI standards. The Mini-

PCI Type III golden finger plugs into a 124-pin card edge type connector that is similar to

the SODIMMS type. Mini-PCI provides the same 32bit 33MHz performance that you

have come to expect from the PCI bus. Mini-PCI is still pretty much an OEM product, as

you are not yet able to go to a store and purchase a Mini-PCI card.

Roaming - A function that allows one to travel with a mobile end system (wireless LAN

mobile station, for example) through the territory of a domain (an ESS, for example) while

continuously connecting to the infrastructure.

Wired Equivalent Privacy (WEP) - To prevent access from the unauthorized wireless

stations to the data that is transmitting through the network, the Wireless LAN card provides

the WEP (Wired Equivalent Privacy) level of security that was part of the original 802.11

standard. The wireless LAN card supports both 64 bits WEP and 128 bits data encryption

based on the RC4 algorithm.

SSID - Short for Service Set Identifier. The SSID differentiates one WLAN from another,

so all access points and all devices attempting to connect to a specific WLAN must use the

same SSID. A device will not be permitted to join the BSS unless it can provide the unique

SSID.