User's Manual

ORiNOCO Wireless Client User Guide
Appendix C Technical Support and Glossary 67
C-2 Glossary
PCU - Proxim Client Utility (PCU); the utility that configures the ORiNOCO Wireless Client.
PCI - Peripheral component Interconnect; a standard bus interface found on most desktop computers.
Access Point - An internetworking device that seamlessly connects wired and wireless networks
together.
Ad Hoc - 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 - Basic Service Set. An Access Point associated with several wireless stations.
ESS - Extended Service Set. More than one BSS can be configured as an Extended Service Set.
An ESS is basically a roaming domain.
ESSID – Extended Service Set Identifier. The length of the ESSID information is between 0 and 32
octets. A 0 length identifier indicates the broadcast SSID.
Ethernet - A popular local area data communications network, originally developed by Xerox
Corp., which accepts transmission from computers and terminals. Ethernet operates on
10/100 Mbps transmission rate over shielded coaxial cable or over shielded twisted pair
telephone wire.
Infrastructure - An integrated wireless and wired LAN is called an infrastructure configuration.
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.
SSID – Service Set Identifier (SSID) is the network name used by the Wireless LAN. The length of
the SSID information is between 0 and 32 octets.
WEP – Wired Equivalent Privacy is the optional cryptographic confidentiality algorithm specified by
IEEE 802.11 used to provide data confidentiality that is subjectively equivalent to the
confidentiality of a wired local area network (LAN) medium that does not employ
cryptographic techniques to enhance privacy.