1×EV-DO—1× evolution data optimized is an evolution of the CDMA2000 (3G) standards and provides for high-speed data applications.
1×EV—DV—1× evolution data and voice is an evolution of the CDMA2000 standards (3G) for data and voice services.
3G-324M—A set of protocols for establishing circuit-switched video calls under the 3GPP framework. It has been evolved from H.324 by considering limitations for mobile networks.
3GPP—Third Generation Partnership Project is a collaboration agreement signed in 1998 bringing together a number of telecommunications standards bodies for evolving standards for GSM, GPRS, EDGE, and 3G-UMTS services.
3GPP2—Third Generation Partnership Project 2 is a collaboration agreement between standards bodies for the evolution of the CDMA2000 and its evolved networks.
AAC—Advanced audio coding is a compression standard of audio (music) that provides a better fidelity than MP3. AAC has been standardized in MPEG-2 Part 7 or MPEG-4 Part 3. The latter is also called MP4. Still better fidelity can be achieved through AAC+ compression, which uses techniques such as spectral band replication and parametric stereo.
AES-3—The Audio Engineering Society and the European Broadcasting Union have jointly come out with the AES3 standard for carrying digital audio in physical networks. The AES-3 specification describes the connector types as well as the frame structure for the digital audio.
AMPS—Advanced mobile phone system is the first generation mobile phone technology. It was launched in 1983 and now has been largely replaced by digital technologies.
AMR—Adaptive multirate is an audio compression and coding technique optimized for speech coding. AMR has been adapted as a standard speech codec by the 3GPP. The speech coder samples audio at 8 kHz and can provide bit rates of 4.75 to 12.2 kbps.
AMR-WB—Adaptive multirate wideband coder (ITU G.722.2) provides higher quality speech by encoding to bit rates between 6.6 and 23.85 kbps.
ARIB—The Association of Radio Industries and Business, Japan, has been involved in the finalization of standards relating to wireless and mobile industries. ARIB issues its own standards in addition to cooperating with standards organizations.
ARPU—Average revenue per user.
ATIS—The Alliance for Telecommunications Industry Solutions, USA, is involved in technical and operational standards for telecommunications industries in the United States. It has a membership of over 350 telecommunications companies.
ATSC—The Advanced Television Systems Committee is a digital television standard used in North America, Korea, Taiwan, and some other countries. It uses 6-MHz channels previously used for NTSC analog TV to carry a number of digital TV channels. It is based on the use of MPEG-2 compression and transmission stream, Dolby digital audio, and OFDM modulation.
AVI—Audio video interleave is a format for describing multimedia files having multiple video and audio streams. It was first introduced by Microsoft.
BIFS—Binary Format for Scenes is a language for describing audio-visual objects under MPEG-4. BIFS is based on Virtual Reality Modeling Language and provides for features such as animating objects. BIFS is covered under MPEG-4 Part 11.
Bluetooth—A short-range personal area wireless network. Bluetooth classes 1, 2, and 3 can cover up to 100, 10, and 1 m, respectively. It can be used for hands-free kits, remote mouse, keyboard, or printers. Bluetooth is standardized as IEEE 802.15.1. Bluetooth 2.0, the current version, can support data rates up to 3 Mbps.
BREW—Binary Runtime Environment for Wireless is a software platform for mobile phones. It was created by Qualcomm. BREW provides an API that can be used for new applications or migration of applications across handsets. BREW can be used in all networks, such as CDMA, GSM, or 3G-UMTS, but its major use has been in CDMA networks.
BTS—Base transceiver station in a cellular mobile network.
CA system—Conditional access system, used for broadcast-level security in digital TV transmission systems including terrestrial, cable and satellite. CA systems have also been modified for use to protect mobile TV content.
CDG—The CDMA Development Group is an association of cellular network operators, handset manufacturers, and technology providers for the CDMA networks. The CDG is responsible for the development of the CDMA2000 standards as well as providing a forum of interaction among its members representing various facets of the CDMA industry.
CDMA2000—Code division multiple access is a 3G evolution of the 2G cdmaOne networks under the IMT2000 framework. It consists of different air interfaces such as CDMA2000 1× (representing use of one 1.25-MHz carrier) and CDMA 2000 3×, etc.
CELP—Code excited linear predictive coding is used for voice encoding in mobile telephony. It can do encoding at 4.8 kbps.
CIF—Common interface format (352 × 240 in NTSC, 340 × 288 in PAL).
CLDC—Connected limited device configuration is a Java Micro Edition framework for devices with limited resources such as mobile phones. It is expected to have a footprint of lower than 160 Kbytes of memory and 16-bit processor resources and a limited connection capability to a network. There are two versions, CLDC 1.0 (without capability of floating point arithmetic) and CLDC 1.1.
COFDM—Coded OFDM employs channel coding and interleaving in addition to the OFDM modulation to obtain higher resistance against multipath fading or interference (see OFDM). Channel coding involves forward error correction and interleaving involves the modulation of adjacent carriers by noncontiguous parts of the signal to overcome bursty errors.
CS—Circuit switched, denotes a physical or logical fixed bit rate switched connection (e.g., 64 kbps).
CSCF—Call session control function provides session control for subscribers accessing services in an Internet multimedia system. CSCF provides SIP functionalities.
CTIA—Cellular Telecommunication Industry Association.
CWML—Compact Wireless Markup Language, used in the i-mode mobile Internet network in Japan instead of WAP. CWML has support for GIF images and uses four buttons for navigation. There is no provision for scrolling.
DAB—Digital audio broadcasting is an international standard for audio broadcasting in digital format. It has been standardized under ETSI EN 300 401 (also known as Eureka 147 based on the name of the project). DAB uses a multiplex structure for transmitting a range of data and audio services at fixed or variable rates.
DAB-IP—Digital audio broadcasting–Internet protocol is an extension of the DAB standards for multimedia broadcasting based on IP data transmission on the DAB channels multiplex. This is achieved by using the enhanced packet mode, which is meant for video and other services. Enhanced packet mode has been standardized by the world DAB forum. The IP encapsulation and enhanced packet mode are defined in ETSI TS 101 735.
DCH—Dedicated channel is a channel allocated to an individual user in a UMTS network. It is a logical channel and is usually used for carrying speech.
DCT—Discrete cosine transformation is a mathematical function related to Fourier transform, which transforms a signal representation from amplitude versus time to frequency coefficients. This helps to eliminate the higher frequency coefficients and achieve compression without significant loss in quality.
DECT—Digital enhanced cordless communications is used to connect handsets to a base station using wireless. DECT uses a frequency band of 1880–1900MHz (Europe) or 1920–1930 MHz (USA). Connection protocols are defined by ITU Q.931.
DMB—Digital multimedia broadcasting is an ETSI standard for broadcasting of multimedia using either satellites or terrestrial transmission. DMB is a modification of the digital audio broadcasting standards. The DMB services were first launched in Korea.
DRM—Digital rights management refers to the technologies that enable the publishers or license holders the means to control the manner in which the content is used. DRM-protected content can include text, pictures, audio, and video and in general any multimedia object. The DRM technologies can control the devices on which the content can be viewed as well as the expiry time, copy and forwarding protection, and other attributes. DRM technologies are available from many sources such as OMA, Microsoft Windows, or Apple.
DTH—Direct-to-home broadcasting operates in the Ku band. Subscribers can receive the DTH signals using a small dish and a set-top box.
DVB-CBMS—DVB Convergence of Broadcast and Mobile Services are the Digital Video Broadcasting group’s recommendations for providing IP-based services over DVB-H networks. They cover the electronic service guide, audio and video coding formats, digital rights management, and multicast file delivery.
DVB-H—Digital video broadcasting–handhelds is a DVB standard for mobile TV and multimedia broadcasting. DVB-H is a modification of digital terrestrial standards by adding features for power saving and additional error resilience for mobiles. The DVB-H systems can use the same infrastructure as digital terrestrial TV under DVB-T. DVB-H services have been launched in Italy, Germany, and other countries.
ECM—Entitlement control messages are used in conditional access systems to carry the program information and the current scrambling keyword. As the current scrambling keyword changes frequently, the ECMs need to be transmitted periodically to enable the receiver to keep working.
EDGE—Enhanced data for global evolution denotes a GSM standard for carriage of high-speed data on the GSM/GPRS networks. It is an enhancement to the GPRS networks that uses more advanced modulation techniques such as GMSK and 8-PSK.
EMM—Entitlement management messages are used in conditional access systems to convey the subscription information and service keyword.
ESG—Electronic service guide is a feature of all TV transmission systems including mobile TV to provide program-related information to the users. ESG is usually based on XML to effectively carry structured data along with metadata. Specifications of ESG have been made under major standards such as DVB-CBMS and OMA-BCAST.
ETSI—European Telecommunication Standards Institute.
FCC—Federal Communications Commission is the U.S. regulator responsible for allocation of RF spectrum, domestic communications policies, wireline competition, electronic media including cable and broadcast TV, and consumer policies, among other functions. The FCC was established under the Communications Act of 1934.
FDD—Frequency division duplex, a modulation technique by which the carriers are separated by frequency.
FEC—Forward error correction is a method of correcting transmission errors by adding additional bits (called redundant bits) into the transmitted stream that carry the parity information. There are many FEC algorithms, a common one being the Viterbi algorithm.
FLUTE—A file transfer application meant to be used over unidirectional networks. FLUTE is used to transfer files, ESG data, video and audio clips, etc. IP datacasting in DVB-H, being a unidirectional transmission medium, uses FLUTE for delivery of files. FLUTE was published by the IETF as RFC 3926.
FOMA—Freedom of Mobile Multimedia Access is the name of the 3G service being provided by NTT DoCoMo Japan. It is compatible with the UMTS standard.
GERAN—GSM EDGE Radio Access Network. It is an air interface under the 3G-UMTS 3GPP standards.
GGSN—Gateway GPRS support node is a major interface in a fixed mobile network (GPRS/3G) architecture. It is an interface between the mobile GPRS network and land-based IP or packet-switched networks. It contains the necessary information for routing to mobile devices and is used by the land-based networks to access mobiles.
GPRS—General Packet Radio Service denotes a packet mode “always on” data service in GSM networks.
GPS—Global Positioning System is a navigation system based on the determination of absolute position by using a constellation of around 24 GPS satellites. The GPS satellites transmit timing signals that enable the receiver to determine position accurately by measuring signals from a number of satellites simultaneously.
GPS One—A chip set from Qualcomm that enables the implementation of GPS services in cell phones. It is used in the United States for enhanced 911 services among other applications.
GSM—Group Special Mobile, which established recommendations for a global system of mobile communications, adapted initially in Europe and worldwide shortly thereafter.
H.263—An ITU standard for video coding with low bit rates. It has been used extensively in telecommunications applications such as videoconferencing and video telephony. Applications using H.263 work in conjunction with other standards for synchronization and multiplexing such as H.320. It is now considered a legacy standard replaced by H.264.
H.264—An ITU standard for advanced video codecs. Also known as MPEG-4 advanced video coding or MPEG-4/AVC, it is characterized by very efficient data compression. It has been adapted as a standard in many multimedia and broadcast applications with different implementation profiles. H.264 is used in DMB and DVB-H systems of mobile TV, together with other codec types.
H.324—An ITU standard for establishing switched video and data calls on analog telephone networks.
HLR—Home Location Register—a database in mobile networks having all the details of mobile subscribers.
HSDPA—High-speed downlink packet access is an evolution of 3G-UMTS technologies for higher data speeds. HSDPA can provide speeds of up to 7.2Mbps at the current stage of evolution.
HSPA—High-speed packet access (HSDPA + HSUPA).
HSUPA—High-speed uplink packet access is a 3.75G technology and an evolution of the 3G-UMTS and HSDPA networks. It has been standardized by 3GPP release 6. HSUPA provides a high-speed uplink speed of 5.76 Mbps.
HTML—Hypertext Markup Language is used for creation of Web pages. HTML was first published by the Internet Engineering Task Force in 1995 as RFC1866 and later adapted by the World Wide Web Consortium as a standard in 1997.
HTTP—Hypertext Transfer Protocol is an Internet and World Wide Web Consortium protocol for transfer of data over the Internet or the World Wide Web. It is usually used in a client server environment.
HTTPS—Hypertext Transfer Protocol Secure is a combination of HTTP and SSL protocols. HTTPS communications are established through port 443 using SSL. The server accepting HTTPS connections must have its public key certificate.
i-mode—The mobile Internet services platform of NTT DoCoMo. With nearly 50 million registered users, the platform provides a wide range of services in cooperation with vendors, such as ticket reservations, bill payments, and m-commerce.
IMPS—Instant messaging and presence service is an OMA standardized service for instant messaging, chat, and location identification features. IMPS is also known as the Wireless Village. The devices using IMPS need an IMPS client, which implements the Wireless Village Protocol. IMPS can be used from handsets that implement this feature.
IMS—IP multimedia subsystem is an IP-based architecture for providing fixed and mobile services using the Internet network. The IMS consists of, among other features, a session initiation protocol for call setup and standardized protocols for streaming, messaging, file download, etc.
IMT2000—The ITU’s framework for 3G services. It covers both CDMA-evolved services (CDMA2000) and 3G-GSM-evolved services (3G-UMTS). Different air interfaces such as WCDMA, TD-CDMA, IMT-MC (CDMA2000), DECT, and EDGE form a part of the IMT2000 framework.
IMTC—The International Multimedia Telecommunications Consortium is an organization dedicated to furthering interoperability between multimedia applications. It tests the conformance to various multimedia protocols such as H.324 or 3G-324, which have been standardized under the ITU. At the same time it maintains relationships with organizations such as 3GPP for mobile network protocols.
IP—Internet protocol is a layered protocol for communications across packet-switched networks. The layers comprise a physical layer (e.g., optical fiber or wireless), data link layer (e.g., ethernet), and network layer.
IPSEC—IP security is a mechanism for encrypting and securing IP-based connections. The IPSEC is supported by most operating systems, including Unix, Linux, Windows, Solaris, Mac OS, etc. IPSEC comprises a cryptographic encryption and a key exchange protocol. It operates at the network layer (Layer 3) and thus provides packet level security. IPSEC components have been published as RFCs by IETF.
IPv4—Internet Protocol version 4 is described by RFC 791 and is the set of protocols that define the working of the Internet today before migration to IPv6. IPv4 uses a 4-byte or 32-bit addressing scheme, which restricts its addressing capability severely as the industry moves into the next stage at which every device will be expected to have its own IP address. IPv4 is characterized by the use of network layer protocols such as TCP and UDP.
IPv6—Internet Protocol version 6 is the new network layer protocol for the Internet. IPv6 uses 128-bit addressing(16 bytes), which gives it a much larger addressing space. IPv6 is expected to make strong headway in the next few years. New generation architectures such as IMS in mobile multimedia are based on the use of IPv6.
IrDA—The Infrared Data Association standard defines the specifications of short-range communication protocols for data transfer using infrared light. Typical range is 20 cm with data rates of up to 16 Mbps. IrDA communications are half duplex.
ISDB—Integrated services digital broadcasting is the digital TV standard adopted by Japan. It features the broadcasting of audio as well as digital TV and data. The standard features multiple channels of transmitted data occupying 1 or more of the 13 segments available in the OFDM spectrum.
ISP—Internet service provider.
ITU—The International Telecommunication Union is an international organization headquartered in Geneva and responsible for the standardization of the telecommunications systems and radio regulations. Recommendations of the ITU are used for all major telecommunications activities.
J2ME— Java 2 platform Micro Edition is used to refer to the Java APIs and runtime environment of Java for mobile devices such as cell phones and PDAs. It is a standard (JSR 68) under the Java Community Process and is specifically designed to work with the limited memory, processor resources, screen size, and power consumption typical of the mobile environment. J2ME is widely used for animation, games, and other applications in mobile phone networks.
JPEG—Joint Photographic Experts Group is an image compression standard. Named after the Joint committee of ISO and CCITT (now ITU), JPEG is a lossy compression based on discrete cosine transformation used extensively for photographs and images. Files compressed by JPEG are usually denoted by .jpg file extension.
JVM—Java Virtual Machine is a machine having software that executes the Java code. It was developed by Sun Microsystems with the objective that it can be used to write application in a common language (Java) that runs on any machine that implements the JVM. JVM specifications have been developed under Java Community Process JSR 924.
LTE—Long-term evolution (air interface).
MBMS—The multimedia broadcast/multicast service can be offered by GSM or 3G-UMTS networks. In broadcast mode the service is received by all receivers, while in multicast mode only certain authorized users can receive the service. MBMS is meant for overcoming the limitations of unicast networks in delivering services such as mobile TV to a large number of simultaneous users. MBMS is a 3GPP standard under release 6.
MediaFLO—A multimedia broadcasting technology from Qualcomm. It is based on a CDMA modulated carrier for broadcast or multicast of multimedia including mobile TV. It is designed to use spectrum outside the cellular allocations for easy implementation in different countries. In the United States 700 MHz is planned as the frequency of introduction. MediaFLO is a competitor to other broadcast technologies such as DVB-H or DMB.
MGIF—Mobile Games Interoperability Forum (now a part of the Open Mobile Alliance) was set up primarily to impart a degree of standardization and interoperability in the mobile games field. MGIF has issued platform specifications (MGIF Platform version 1.0) and specifications of Java among others for gaming applications.
MIDI—Musical instrument digital interface is a standard for describing musical notes as communications protocols. MIDI enables synthesis and transmission and playback of musical notes on computers and wireless devices. MIDI files are very compact in size.
MIDP—Mobile information device profile is used for Java applications in mobile devices, which have limited resources, small screen sizes, etc. The MIDP is a part of the Java Community Process under JSR 118 (MIDP 2.0). Java for mobile devices is used under the Connected Limited Device Configuration. MIDP is a part of the Java Micro Edition.
MMC—The multimedia card is used for providing additional storage for multimedia data in mobile devices. It is essentially a flash memory card available in memory sizes up to around 8 Gbytes.
MMDS—Multichannel multipoint distribution service is a technology for delivery of TV signals using microwave frequencies (2- to 3-GHz band). MMDSs are point-to-multipoint systems and are an alternative to cable TV to deliver channels to homes. Digital TV systems such as ATSC or DVB-T are now considered better alternatives for such delivery.
MMS—The multimedia messaging service is available in mobile networks for sending multimedia content as part of a message. MMS can contain pictures, video clips, text, or presentations. MMS has been standardized by 3GPP as well as 3GPP2. The Open Mobile Alliance is working toward full harmonization of the MMS standards.
Mobile WiMAX—A mobile version of WiMAX has been defined under the IEEE 802.16e recommendations (see WiMAX). Mobile WiMAX uses scalable OFDM modulation for providing better protection against multipath effects. Mobile WiMAX can be used for mobile broadband Internet in a mobile environment.
MP3—MPEG-1 Layer 3 is an audio coding standard. MP3 is widely used in handling music files on the Internet and mobile networks.
MPEG—Motion Pictures Expert Group is a standards organization that has standardized various audio and video compression formats such as MPEG-1, MPEG-2, and MPEG-4.
NGN—Next Generation Network is an ITU-T recommendation for networks encompassing fixed-line and wireless networks. The Next Generation Networks will be based on IP and protocols such as SIP and multiprotocol label switching. The Internet multimedia system is an implementation of NGN as formalized by 3GPP. NGN is an ETSI-approved standard (ETSI TR 102 478).
NMTS—Nordic Mobile Telephone System is an analog first generation cellular mobile technology introduced in the Nordic countries. It is now largely replaced by GSM or 3G.
NTSC—The National Television Standards Committee stands for the analog TV transmission standard used in North America, Japan, Korea, Taiwan, etc.
Ofcom—Office of Communications in the United Kingdom. Refers to the UK regulator for communications and broadcasting. Ofcom is also responsible for spectrum allocations in the United Kingdom.
OFDM—Orthogonal frequency division multiplexing is a multipath resistant modulation technique used in digital television transmissions (using ATSC standard) and other applications. It is based on a large number of carriers (up to 2K) being modulated independently by a stream of data. The signal is thus split into a number of streams, each with a low bit rate. The frequencies selected are such that each modulated stream is “orthogonal” to the others and can be received without interference.
OMA—The Open Mobile Alliance is a voluntary organization of major industry players in the mobile industry working toward the goal of interoperable services, networks, and services. OMA has been responsible for some of the major recommendations such as those for MMS, digital rights management (OMA-DRM), and OMA BCAST for DVB-H mobile TV transmission systems.
OMA-BCAST—An Open Mobile Alliance standard for broadcasting of content so that it is interoperable on mobile networks. OMA-BCAST specifications include content protection using OMA-DRM, electronic service guides, and transmission scheduling. OMA-BCAST is an open standard and independent of the underlying layer, which can be DVB-H, MBMS, or other technologies.
OTA—Over the air; used to denote loading of programs, data, or configuration files in various devices using the wireless interface.
PAL—Phase alternation by line is a system of analog TV used widely in Europe, Asia, and other regions. It consists of 625 lines per frame with 25 frames per second.
PKI—Public key infrastructure is an important part of cryptography. PKI is used to generate the public keys for a given entity. Information encrypted by the sender using the public key of a receiver can be decrypted only by the receiver by using his private key. The PKI is also used for providing a third party infrastructure to verify the identity of any party. The third party is called a trusted party.
PLMN—Public Land Mobile Network is a wireless network with land-based radio transmitters or base stations acting as network hubs.
Podcasting—The broadcasting of multimedia programs available on the Internet in multimedia format. Podcasts can consist of audio, video, and pictures. Podcasting involves the reception of relatively large files in mobile phones by programs called Podcatchers.
PSS—Packet-switched streaming is a 3GPP specification (TS 26.234) for real-time streaming of video, audio, and multimedia files on mobile networks. The specification includes the session setup, data transfer, streaming rate management, and session release, among other elements.
QAM—Quadrature amplitude modulation is a technique of modulation by which two sinusoids that are 90° out of phase are amplitude modulated by the signal. Different QAM standards are defined based on the desired density of packing or modulation data rates. These include 16QAM, 64QAM, or 256QAM. In case of 256QAM, one symbol can carry 8 bits.
QCIF—Quarter common interface format (176 × 120 NTSC and 176 × 144 PAL).
QPSK—Quadrature phase shift keying is a modulation technique used in satellite communications and other applications. AQPSK symbol can have four states on the constellation diagram and hence can carry two bits of information. A QPSK system operating at 27.5 megasymbols per second can carry 55 Mbps of data without considering the FEC, etc. Other modulation techniques such as 8PSK can carry higher bit rates.
QVGA—Quarter video graphics array (320 × 240 pixels).
RADIUS—Remote authentication dial-in user service is a security protocol for remote access and authentication to IP, VoIP, or mobile IP networks. It uses AAA (authentication, authorization, and accounting protocol). IETF has published the RADIUS specifications as RFC 2865 and 2866.
RS coding—Reed–Solomon code is an error-correcting code commonly used in communication applications, CDs, and DVDs. An RS code can correct approximately half the number of errors as the redundant bits carried.
RTCP—Real-time control protocol is meant to provide the multimedia data transfer via RTP by providing control information such as quality of service, packet loss, and delay. This helps the sending device to reduce or enhance the flow of packets as per network conditions. RTCP is published by IETF as RFC 3550, which is same as RTP.
RTP—Real-time transport protocol is a transport protocol for transfer of data over the Internet. RTP is published by IETF as RFC 3550. RTP is widely used in media streaming using UDP as underlying layer.
RTSP—Real-time streaming protocol is used in a client server network operated on the Internet from the client side to control the Internet streaming server. The client can thus pause or play the media as per its readiness. From the server side the data is transferred using the RTP. The RTSP is published by IETF as RFC 2326.
SDIO—Secure digital input–output cards are used in addition to SD cards (secure digital cards) for various applications such as Wi-Fi (802.11b), GPS, TV tuner, modem, and camera. The mobile phones have an SD slot that can be used to host any of the devices. SD is a standard by the association of over 30 companies, the SDAssociation.
S-DMB—Satellite-based digital multimedia broadcasting, a mobile TV broadcasting system standardized by ETSI under ETSI TS 102 428. It is used in Korea and planned for use in Europe. DMB is a modification of the digital audio broadcasting standards to carry multimedia signals.
SIM—Subscriber identity module used in GSM handsets. It is a smart card containing the subscriber’s identity, subscription details, and additional memory for subscriber-stored data such as phone book or ring tones.
SIP—Session initiation protocol is used by the applications in the Next Generation Network (e.g., 3GPP IMS) to initiate calls or sessions between different entities. SIP is published by IETF as RFC 3261.
SMIL—Synchronized Multimedia Integration Language is a structured language for presentation of multimedia information. The layout, sequence, and timing of various objects can be controlled by SMIL. Multimedia messaging is also based on SMIL presentation. It has been a World Wide Web Consortium standard since 1998 and SMIL version 2.1 was approved in December 2005. SMIL files are usually denoted by .SMIL or .smi extensions.
SMS—The short message service is a text-based messaging service used in 2G and 3G mobile networks.
SoC—System-on-chip is a single chip that contains all functional blocks of a system implemented on the silicon. Integrating all functions such as tuner, decoder, demultiplexer, rendering engines, etc., in a mobile phone environment can help reduce chip count and consequently manufacturing cost.
SRTP—Secure real-time protocol is a secure version of the real-time protocol. The new profile includes encryption of data, message authentication, and integrity check. SRTP can be used for unicast or multicast applications and the features such as encryption can be enabled or disabled. It was published by IETF as RFC 3711.
SSL—Secure sockets layer is a set of protocols that help establish secure connections by using cryptography and verification of the identity of the connected party. It uses the public key infrastructure for cryptography. SSL runs below the application layer sync as HTTP and above the transport layer (e.g., TCP).
SVG—Scalable vector graphics is a vector graphics standard approved by the World Wide Web Consortium. It comprises an XML markup language for vector graphics (2 Dimension). Graphics created in SVG are scalable and the file sizes are very small compared to bit-mapped graphics.
Symbian—Symbian is an operating system specifically designed for mobile devices. Symbian is designed to run on ARM processors and is available in a number of different versions for different types of mobile devices based on screen sizes and features. Symbian has found wide deployment in Nokia phones as well as a number of smart phones.
T-DMB—Terrestrial digital multimedia broadcasting, a mobile TV broadcasting system standardized by ETSI under ETSI TS 102 427. It is used in Korea and Europe. DMB is a modification of the digital audio broadcasting standards to carry multimedia signals.
TDtv—TDtv is a standard for mobile TV that uses the unpaired part of the 3G spectrum meant for TD-CDMA systems and 3GPP MBMS technology. A 5-MHz slot can provide up to 50 channels of mobile TV by using technology from IPWireless, which was instrumental in the formulation of these standards.
TTA—The Telecommunications Technology Association, Korea, is involved in the standardization of the field of wireless and telecommunications. Some of its prominent standards include WiBro, DMB, and ZigBee.
TTC—The Telecommunications Technology Committee, Japan, is involved in the development of standards and protocols for telecommunications networks. The TTC has been working in close cooperation with international standards organizations for development of standards.
UDP—User datagram protocol is used to broadcast or multicast packets (called datagrams) without having a paired mechanism of acknowledgements. UDPs do not guarantee the arrival of data packets or their sequence. UDP is used for voluminous data and time-sensitive applications. UDP is published by IETF as RFC 768.
UI framework—The user interface framework is used to denote a rendering engine that accepts commands and presents displays to the user (e.g., in a mobile phone). Content for news, weather, and sports can be created in a number of ways by using HTTP, SVG-T, SMIL, etc., and can be displayed by a common user interface.
UICC—The universal integrated circuit card is a chip card used in handsets in mobile networks sync as GSM or 3G-UMTS. It holds personal data of the user and the SIM or USIM application. The UICC has its own CPU and memory.
UMTS—Universal Mobile Telecommunication System (WCDMA).
USIM—SIM for UMTS networks is an upgrade to the SIM used in GSM networks.
UTRA—Universal terrestrial radio access refers to 3G air-interface channels in IMT2000. Specifically the UTRA-FDD is used in 3G-UMTS systems.
V CAST—A video clip streaming service from Verizon Wireless, USA.
VGA—Video graphics array (640 × 480 pixels).
VHDL—VHSIC Hardware Description Language is a general purpose language used to develop application-specific integrated circuits using basic elements such as gates or field-programmable gate arrays.
VoIP—Voice over Internet protocol, used for making voice calls using the Internet as the underlying media rather than conventional circuit-switched networks.
VPN—Virtual private network.
WAP—Wireless application protocol is an open international standard for access to the Internet using wireless mobile devices. It comprises protocols to access the Internet and Wireless Mark Up Language, in which the Web sites are written.
WARC—The World Administrative Radio Conference is responsible for giving recommendations on international allocations of frequency spectrum for various services. The WARC is an organ of the ITU. The WARC allocations cover all services ranging from radio astronomy, HF, UHF, VHF, S, and Ku bands and higher frequencies. WARC works in conjunction with regional radio committees and its recommendations are published as radio regulations.
WCDMA—Wideband code division multiple access, a modulation technology used in 3G-UMTS networks. The name wideband denotes the wider 5-MHz channels as opposed to the 1.25-MHz CDMA channels used in 2G networks.
WiBro—Wireless broadband is a technology developed in Korea for providing broadband in a mobile environment. WiBro uses the 2.3-GHz band in Korea and provides aggregate data rates of 30–50 Mbps. WiBro is a TTA standard.
WiMAX—Worldwide interoperability for microwave access is an IEEE 802.16 family of standards for providing broadband wireless access over large areas with standard cards for reception. The bit rates achievable depend on the spectrum allocated and can be typically over 40 Mbps in a given area. Fixed WiMAX is provided as per IEEE 802.16d standards. Spectrum for WiMAX is usually provided in the 2–11 GHz range.
WLAN—Wireless local area network is a standard (IEEE 802.11) for wireless access to local area networks.
XML—Extensible Markup Language is a widely used markup language for data transfer between applications. It is a World Wide Web Consortium standard. XML has syntax and parsing requirements that make the language machine-readable as well. XML coding helps structured data transfer for various applications.