NEWTON's
`TELECOM
`DICTIONARY
`
`22nd Edition
`
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`NEWTON's TELECOM DICTIONARY
`Copyright © 2006 Harry Newton
`email: Hary@HarryNewton.com
`Bersonnl web site: www.HamryNewton.com
`usiness web site: www.InSearchOfThePerfectinvestment.com
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`All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright conventions,
`including the right fo reproduce this book or porfions thereof in any form whatsoever.
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`Published in the United States by
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`ISBN Number 1-57820-319-8
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`February 2006
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`Twenty Second Edition
`
`Steven Schoen, Contributing Editor
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`Valerie Pippin, Publisher
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`Gail Saari, Managing Editor
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`Sachie Jones, Markefing Manager
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`Saul Roldan and Damien Casteneda, Cover design
`Brad Greene, Greene Design, Text layout
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`4. Multimedia Terminal Adapter. See Multimedia Terminal Adapter and CMTS.
`MTBF Meon Time Between Failure. The length of fime a user may reasonably expect a
`device or system to work before an incapacitating fault occurs. The MBTF stafistical method
`vios developed and odministered by the U.S. military for purposes of estimafing mainte-
`nance levels required by various devices. Since accurate stafistics (i.e. lots of numbers)
`require o basis of “failures per million hours of operation,” an MTBF estimate on o single
`device is not stafistically very accurate. It would take over 100 years to see if the device
`really hod that many foilures. Similarly, since the MTBF is an estimate of averages, half of
`the devices can be expected to fail beYore then, and half after. Thus, MTBF cannot be used
`os o guorantee of how long something might or might not work for. Telecommunications
`systems operate on the principle of “ovailability,” for which there is o body of CCITT
`Recommendations. See Availability.
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`MTC Mobile Terminating Call. Mobile phone receiving the inbound leg of a call. See also
`MT0.
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`MTD Memory Technology Drive.
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`MTIE Maximum Time Interval Error.
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`MTM 1. Maintenance Trunk Monitor.
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`2. Mean Time Maintenance.
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`MTNM Version 3 Multi-Technology Network Management. On October 28, 2003,
`The TeleManagement Forum announced the release of the Multi Technology Network
`Management (MTNM) Version 3. About 40 of the world’s top telecommunications soft-
`ware vendors and network equipment suppliers have incorporated the MTNM interface info
`their products, making it de focto industry stondard for network management of optical
`technologies. Version 3 eases the infegration of mulfi-vendor products in an operator’s net-
`work, and features a host of enhancements to support new and exisfing technologies, such
`os ATM, frome relay,- SONET/SDH, DSL and Ethemet. New features in MTNM Version 3,
`according to the Forum, include:
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`* Support for new transport technolo%ies such os Digital Subscriber Line (DSL),
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`microwave radio, and management of Ethenet fributary interfaces
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`* Enhanced support for existing technologies such os ATM and DWDM and general
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`ization of Multiplex Section Protection (MSP)
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`* Enhancements not specific to transport such as connection, configuration, equip-
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`ment, performance and fault management.
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`The Forum likely will submit MTNM version 3 to the ITU (Infernational Telecommunico-
`fions Union) for acceptance as a standard.
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`MTP Message Transfer Part of the SS7 Protocol. It provides functions for basic routing of
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`signaling messages between signaling points. It is Level 1 through 3 protocols of the SS7
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`protocol stack. MTP 3 (Level 3) is used to support BISUP. See Message Transfer Part.
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`MTS 1. Message Telecommunications Service. AT&T's nome for standard switched tele-
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`phone service. Also called DDD, for Direct Distance Dial.
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`R&[)Zi }gember of the Technical Staff. A common term at AT&T Bell Labs, Bellcore and other
`abs.
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`3. Microsoft Terminal Server. Microsoft's answer o a dumb ferminal.
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`4. Measured Toll Service.
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`5. Material Transfer System.
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`MTSO Mobile Telephone Switching Office. This central office houses the field monitoring
`and relay stations for switching calls between the cellular and wire-bosed (land-ine) cen-
`trol office. The MTSO controls the entire operation of o cellulor system. It is o sophisficat-
`ed computer that monitors all cellular calls, keeps track of the location of all cellulor-
`equipped vehicles fraveling in the system, amanges handoffs, keeps track of billing infor-
`mafion, efc.
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`MTTR Mean Time to Repair. The average fime required fo retum a failed device or sys-
`tem to service.
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`MTU 1. Moximum Transmission Unit. The largest possible unit of data that can be sent
`on a given physical medium. Example: The MTU of Ethernet is 1500 bytes.
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`2. Multi Tenant Unit or Multiple Tenant Unit. A fancy name for o building or group of
`buildings that house many tenants—businesses and perhaps also residences. Such MTU
`could be an office building, office park or corporate campus, medical facility, hotel or cok
`lege dormitory. The reason for this term is that the new newer carriers (such as the CLECs)
`or the building’s owner talk about providing telecom service to the tenants. They falk about
`placing o DSL access router (also called o DSLAM) info the bosement of a MTU and give
`themselves access to the building’s existing copper wiring (the copper was installed when
`the building was built and /or renovated to support telephone lines). DSL allows high-speed
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`607
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`MTBF / Multi-homed Computer
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`data fransmission (typically for access to the Intemet) over that existing wiring fo and from
`all customers inside the MTU. According to a recent study on MTUs, MTU owners deploy
`broadband in order to attract and retain tenants and add new revenue streams. A new class
`of broadband provider is moving the Infemet access point of presence, or POP, into the
`actual buildings where tenants reside. These Mini-POPs use scaled-down versions of aggre-
`gators used in telecommunication’s companies central offices, or even enterprise office
`switches, allowing tenanfs to share the cost of an expensive T-1 or other broadband
`Internet link. Most MTU broadband providers are offering, or looking fo offer, volue-added
`services such as voice, video, and application services s a way for customers to build new
`revenue sfreams. Many also offer remote and on-site network management, as well os
`cable instollafion services.
`MU Monitoring Unit. A wireless telecommunications ferm. Devices added to circuit con-
`figurations that use sophisticated frending rules with foult and topology information to
`determine potential outages.
`Mu Law The PCM voice coding and companding standard used in Japan and North
`Americo. A PCM encoding algorithm where the analog voice signal is sompled eight thou-
`sond fimes per second, with each somple being represented by an eight bit value, thus
`yielding a raw 64 Kbps transmission rafe. A sample consists of a sign bit, o three bit seg-
`ment specifying a logarithmic range, and a four bit step offset into the range. ANl bifs of the
`sample are inverted before fransmission. See A Law and PCM.
`MUA An acronym for Moil User Agent, is the end user’s mail program, like Eudora.
`MUD 1. Muli-User Dungeons. A term that Time Magazine in its 9/13/1993 issue
`called “the latest twist in the already somewhat twisted world of computer communica-
`fions.” Time called it “a sort of poor man’s virtual reality”—created by using words, not
`expensive head-mounted displays. The first MUD apparently was invented in 1979 os o
`way for Brifish university students to play the fantasy gome Dungeons & Dragons by nef-
`worked computers. MUD are basically now online games environments that use a great
`deal of network bondwidth.
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`2. Mult-User Dimension. This ferm refers to users who connect to each other via o host
`computer.
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`3. In the mud means low volume.
`mudbox An unsheltered item of equipment that is sufficiently rugged to withstand
`adverse environments. It is expected to work perfectly though it sits outdoors in good and
`bad weather.
`MUDS Multi-User Dungeons. A cyberspace term. MUDS are elaborate fictional gathering
`places that users create one room ot a fime. All these “spaces” have one thing in common,
`according to cyberspace wisdom, they are egalitarian. Anybody con enter the rooms (pro-
`vided he hos the corect equipment) and everybody is offorded the same level of respect.
`A significant feature of most MUDs is that users can create interactive objects that remain
`in the program ofter they leave. MUD worlds can be built gradually and collectively. See
`also USENET.
`MULDEM A coniraction for Mulfiplexer Demulfiplexer, referring o a piece of equipment
`which performs both functions and generally operates between two of the ATT digital hier-
`archy rates (i.e., DSI o DS3).
`mule tape Mule tope is very strong, flat tape which is used to pull cable through
`underground conduit. Here"s how it typically works: First, you use a bore to make an under-
`?round hole. Then you fil that hole with hollow concrete cement pipes joined together to
`orm one long underground conduit (.. tunnel). Then you go to one end of the tunnel and
`use a qir compresseél device to blow a very lightweight “birdie” attached to a lightweight
`string through the tunnel. Someone at the other end catches the birdie and pulls gently on
`the string. Attached to the end of the string is strong mule tape. He keeps pulling on it.
`Attached to the end of the mule tape is the telecommunications cable—fiber or wire—
`that you really want to instal in the underground conduit. The whole point of this elaborate
`procedure is that it's for better for the cable to lay it after the pipes are laid thon it is dur-
`ing the installotion process when the cable could be damaged.
`mull A verb meaning to think it over. When faced with a BIG decision, my parfner, Gerry
`Friasen, often says he'd like “to mull it over.” Often he takes a day or fwo. It's a good
`strategy since it also gives you the fime fo do o litfle more due diligence, also call research.
`multi entity buildings In lorge mefropolitan areas, it is common fo find one
`local telephone exchange building housing more than one local switch, and for each switch
`to handle five or more exchanges.
`multi-homed computer A computer that hos mulfiple network adapters or that
`has been configured with multiple IP addresses for a single nefwork adapter.
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`with one wire of the telephone circuit. Normally o porasite (i.e. tokes power from the
`phone fine). Transmits both sides of the conversation. It transmits only when the phone is
`ofthook. See also Series.
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`serve shield A type of shield used in cooxial cable systems, a serve shield, or spiral
`shield, is simply wound oround the inner conductor. See also Coaxial Cable.
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`server 1. Hordware definifion of server: A server s a shared computer on the local area
`network that can be as simple as a regular PC set aside to handle print requests fo a sin-
`gle printer. Or, more usually, it is the fastest and brawniest PC around. It may be used os
`a repository and distributor of oodles of data. It may also be the gatekeeper confrolling
`access to voice mail, electronicmail, facsimile services. At one stage, a local orea network
`had only one server. These days netwarks have mulfiple servers. Servers these days have
`multiple brains, large 0"% of big disk drives (often in redundant arys) and other pow-
`erful features. New powerful servers are called superservers. A $35,000 superserver today
`con match the performance of o $2 million mainframe of ten years ago. Then again,
`according to Peter Lewis of the New York Times, the lowliest client todoy has more com-
`Poufing power than wos availoble to the entire Allied Ammy in World War II. See Downsizing
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`r some of the benefits of running servers s against mainfromes.
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`2. Software definition of server: A server is a progrom which provides some senvice fo
`other (client) progroms. The connection between a client program and the server program
`is tradtionally by message passing, often over a local area or wide area netwark, and uses
`some protocol to encode the client’s requests and the server's responses. Any given pro-
`grom moy be capable of acting as both o client and a server, perhaps switczin its role
`based on the nature of the connection. The terms “client” and “server” simpw re?er to the
`role that the software progrom performs during a specific connection. Similarly, any given
`server may function as on origin server, a proxy server, a gofeway server, or a funnel, mod-
`ifying its behavior bosed on the specific nature of a given request from a client.
`Server API A SCSA term. A communications protocol that allows a call processing
`opplication running on one computer to control SCSA hardware residing in another com-
`puter,
`server appliances litle servers designed for small businesses or workgroups
`without supervision by a central IT department. See Server.
`server application A Windows NT application that can create objects for linking
`or embedding into other documents.
`server certificate A unique digitol identification that forms the basis of o Web serv-
`er's SSL security features. Server certificates ore obtained from o mutually trusted, third-party
`orgonization, and provide a way for users to authenticate the identity of a Web site.
`server cluster A gioup of server computers that are networked fogether both phys-
`ically and with software, in order to provide cluster features such as fault tolerance or load
`balancing. See also Fault Tolerance and Load Balancing.
`server colocation An ISP/web hoster service in which a client places their server
`on the Intemet at an ISP's office for monthly fee. In retum, the server is, theorefically,
`olways connected via mulfiple redundant high speed connections to the Internet. See also
`Web Hosting.
`server 3¢rm Imagine o room stuffed with PCs, ranged in racks olong walls, ranged
`in racks in lines like a library’s back room. The PCs are really servers—powerful PCs con-
`toining databases and other information they are dispensing to the thousands of PCs diak
`ing into them from ofar. A server form may be owned by one company and used by one
`company, or it may be owned by one company and each of the machines leased to other
`companies. | first heard the term when MC| described a room it had in a place colled
`Pentogon City. There it had hundreds of servers each of which it leased to other companies
`who used those servers as their Web sites.
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`Server Message Block SMB. The protocol developed by Microsoft, Intel, and
`IBM thot defines a series of commands used fo pass information between network com-
`puters. The redirector packages SMB requests into a network control block (NBC) structure
`that can be sent over the netwark o o remote device. The network provider listens for SMB
`messoges destined for it and removes the data porfion of the SMB request so that it can
`be processed by a local device. In short, SMB is basically o protocol to provide access to
`severbosed files and print queves. SMB operates above the session layer, and usually
`works over o network using a NetBIOS application program inferface. SMB is similar in
`nature to o remote procedure call (RPC) that is specialized for file systems.
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`server mirroring Server miroring means you have two servers on your networks
`ond each exactly whot the other is doing simultaneously. It's a backup method. In Novell's
`NetWare, server mirroring requires two similorly configured NetWare servers. They should
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`813
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`Serve Shield / Service Affecting
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`be evenly matched in terms of CPU speed, memory, and storage copacity. The servers are
`not reqired to be identical in terms of microprocessors type (386,/486), microprocessor
`revision level, or clock speed. However, identical servers are recommended for NetWare
`SFTIII 3.11. If the two servers are unequal in terms of performance, then SFT Ill performs
`ot the ?eed of the slower server. The NetWare servers must be directly connected by o
`mimored server link. SFT lll servers can reside on different network segments, as long as
`they share o dedicated mirrored server link.
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`server node An individual computer in a server cluster.
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`Server Operating System An SCSA definifion. Operating System running on
`the SCSA Server.
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`server process A process that hosts COM components. A COM component can be
`loaded into a sumrogate server process, either on the client computer (local) or on another
`computer (remote). It can also be loaded into a client application process (in-process).
`server rush Server push is a Intemet term. With server push, the Web server sends
`data to display on the browser display, but leaves the connecfion open. At some point, the
`server sends odditional data for the browser to disploy. Server push is used for disploying
`multimedia information on the browser.
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`server (Auouin When you have too many people frying to get on your web site
`and they're having trouble getting on, it's called server queving. | don't think this is a por-
`ficularly profound definition,
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`solrver scriptlet A (OM object that is created with Microsoft Server Scriptlet tech-
`nology.
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`server-hased network A network in which oll client computers use a dedicat-
`ed centrol server computer for network functions such os storage, security and other
`18SOUICS.
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`Severely Errored Second SES. A second during which the bit error rate over
`a digital circuit is greater thon a specific limit. During a severely emored second, fransmis-
`sion performance is significantly degraded. The specific definition of SES depends on the
`clrcuit involved, e.g. T-1, T-3, 0C-3 and 0C-48.
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`servers Senvers are typically ruggedized, industriakstrength PCs, i.e. they hove sever-
`ol fans, perhaps two power supplies, perhaps two disk drives, perhaps several central
`processors. They are designed to work 24 hours a day, seven days o week without break-
`ing down. They are designed fo give the reliability of demanded of a business telephone
`system. See also Server.
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`serve A filament or group of filaments such os fibers or wires, wound around a central
`ore,
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`Service Access Code SACs (also called Special Area Codes) are 3di?it codes in
`the Numbering Plan Area (NOO) format that re used os the first three digits of o 10-digit
`address, and that are ossigned for speciol network uses in North America. Whereas NPA
`codes are normally used for identifying specific geographical areas, certain SACs have been
`allocated in the NANP (North American Numbering Plan) to identify generic services or pro-
`vide access capobility. Cumrently only four SACs have been assigned and are in use: 600,
`700, 800, and 900. There are two general categories of NPAs: 1) Geographic NPA—
`Associated with o defined geogmphic orea; all telephone numbers bearing such an NPA are
`associated with services provided within thot geographic area.
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`2) Non-Geographic NPA—Associated wir?. 0 speciolized telecommunications service,
`which may be provided across multiple geographic NPA areas; for example 800, 900,
`700, 500 ond 888. Also known as an area code. See also SAC.
`service acess point A logical address that allows a system to route dota
`between a remote device and the oppropriate communications support.
`service advertising protocol A protocol developed by Novell so that
`devices attached to o network could advertise their functionality. For instance, a file server
`ond print server advertise different functions. An SNMP agent can also advertiser tself using
`SAP's. All of the Compaq manageable repeaters and switches except the 50xx switches
`support SAP broadcasts.
`service affecting This definition courtesy Steve Gladstone, author of the book,
`“Testing Computer Telephony Systems.” These are major bugs that significantly impact the
`reliability or the functionality of computer telephony systems. Comprehensive testing must
`uncover all senvice affecting problems with the goal that no computer telephony system
`should be installed ot a live customer installation without an acceptable workaround for the
`sevice offecting problem. The goal for transifion of o product from one phase to the next
`is that no service affecting bugs remain, ond that the bug rate for new bugs be at or
`opproaching zero.
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