Wireless Glossary – M

Medium Access Control data communication protocol is a sublayer of the data link layer, which itself is layer 2. The MAC sublayer provides addressing and channel access control mechanisms that make it possible for several terminals or network nodes to communicate within a multiple access network that incorporates a shared medium, e.g. Ethernet. The hardware that implements the MAC is referred to as a medium access controller.

The Media Access Control (MAC) sublayer is the part of the OSI network model data link layer that determines who is allowed to access the physical media at any one time. It acts as an interface between the Logical Link Control sublayer and the network physical layer. The MAC sublayer is primarily concerned with recognizing where frames begin and end in the bit-stream received from the physical layer (when receiving) delimiting the frames (when sending), i.e. inserting information (e.g. some extra bits) into or among the frames being sent so that the receiver(s) are able to recognise the beginning and end of the frames detection of transmission errors by means of e.g. inserting a checksum into every frame sent and recalculating and comparing them on the receiver side inserting the source and destination MAC addresses into every frame transmitted filtering out the frames intended for the station by verifying the destination address in the received frames the control of access to the physical transmission medium (i.e. which of the stations attached to the wire or frequency range has the right to transmit?)

A hard-coded (burned-in) address located on the network interface controller (NIC) of the Physical layer node which is attached to the network.

Media Access Control address. The hardware address that the factory assigns to the module for identification in the Data Link layer interface of the Open Systems Interconnection system. This address serves as an electronic serial number.

A type of internetwork that is equal to or smaller in size than a WAN, but larger than a LAN.

The management VLAN, or VLAN1 by default, contains the management IP address of the switch, along with CDP and VTP advertisements .

Designation that defines the role of a component relative to the role of another. This designation both applies to a Backhaul module that provides synchronization over the air to another Backhaul module (a Backhaul timing slave) and applies to a Bandwidth and Authentication Manager (BAM) server whose SQL database is automatically copied onto a redundant BAM server (BAM slave). In each case, the master is not a product. Rather, the master is the role that results from deliberate configuration steps.

The cap applied to the bandwidth of an SM or specified group of SMs. In the Motorola Canopy implementation this is controlled by the Sustained Uplink Data Rate, Uplink Burst Allocation, Sustained Downlink Data Rate, and Downlink Burst Allocation parameters.

Multimedia Broadcast Multicast Services is a point-to-multipoint interface specification for existing and upcoming 3GPP cellular networks, which is designed to provide efficient delivery of broadcast and multicast services, both within a cell as well as within the core network. For broadcast transmission across multiple cells, it defines transmission via single-frequency network configurations.

Maximum Bit Rate. The upper limit on the bit rate which can be expected from a Guaranteed Bit Rate (GBR) bearer.

Mobile Country Code is part of the International Mobile Subscriber Identity (IMSI) number, used in combination with a Mobile Network Code (MNC) (also known as a “MCC / MNC tuple”) to uniquely identify a mobile phone operator/carrier using the GSM/LTE, CDMA, iDEN, TETRA and UMTS public land mobile networks and some satellite mobile networks.

A hashing algorithm that uses 128-bit hash and was created in 1991 by Ronald Rivest, an MIT professor.

Joining two fibers together by permanent or temporary mechanical means (vs. fusion splicing or connectors) to enable a continuous signal. The CamSpliceв„ў mechanical splice is a brand of this type of product.

A standard interface between the MAC layer and any of the three physical layers (100 Base-TX, 100 Base-T4, and 100 Base-FX) for Fast Ethernet, similar to the AUI interface for traditional Ethernet.

One million cycles per second. A unit of measure for frequency.

Mesh networking is a way to route data, voice and instructions between nodes. It allows for continuous connections and reconfiguration around blocked paths by “hopping” from node to node until a connection can be established. Mesh networks are self-healing: the network can still operate even when a node breaks down or a connection goes bad. As a result, a very reliable network is formed. This concept is applicable to wireless networks, wired networks, and software interaction. A mesh network is a networking technique which allows inexpensive peer network nodes to supply back haul services to other nodes in the same network. It effectively extends a network by sharing access to higher cost network infrastructure. Mesh networks differ from other networks in that the component parts can all connect to each other.

A new type of technology that provides high-speed, low-cost fiber connections between offices within metropolitan locations.

Master Information Block is a block of system information which contains a limited number of the most frequently transmitted parameters which are essential for an user equipment access to the network: an indicator of the resources allocated to HARQ acknowledgement signaling in the downlink, the downlink system bandwidth and the System Frame Number.

Message Integrity Code

Minute curvature in a fiber causing light loss and hence increased attenuation.

The process in which a switch creates a dedicated path for each connect host to send and receive transmissions. Each host then has its own dedicated bandwidth and separate collision domain.

Multiple-Input and Multiple-Output (commonly pronounced my-moh) is the use of multiple antennas at both the transmitter and receiver to improve communication performance. It is one of several forms of smart antenna technology. Note that the terms input and output refer to the radio channel carrying the signal, not to the devices having antennas.

MIMO, a piece of 802.11 wireless technology, utilizes multiple antennas at both ends – the transmitter and receiver – to increase the performance of the wireless connection.

Mobile Internet Protocol is a communications protocol that allows users to move from their home network while keeping their home IP address.

Multiple-Input and Single-Output is a type communication between a transmitter equipped with multiple antennas and a receiver equipped with a single antenna.

Mobile broadband is the marketing term for wireless Internet access through a portable modem, mobile phone, USB wireless modem, or other mobile devices.

A modem, abbriviation for modulator and demodulator, is a device that modulates an analog carrier signal (sound) to encode digital information, and also demodulates such a carrier signal to decode the transmitted information. The goal is to produce a signal that can be transmitted easily and decoded to reproduce the original digital data.

Modem (modulator-demodulator) is a device that modulates an analog carrier signal to encode digital information, and also demodulates such a carrier signal to decode the transmitted information. The goal is to produce a signal that can be transmitted easily and decoded to reproduce the original digital data. Modems can be used over any means of transmitting analog signals, from light emitting diodes to radio. The most familiar example is a voice band modem that turns the digital data of a personal computer into modulated electrical signals in the voice frequency range of a telephone channel. These signals can be transmitted over telephone lines and demodulated by another modem at the receiver side to recover the digital data.

All the light waves that can propagate in an optical fiber.

Any of several techniques for combining user information with a transmitter’s carrier signal.

Mesh Point

Maximum Radio Combining

With this type of Ethernet LAN address, a frame can be sent to a group of devices in the same LAN. These addresses always begin with 0100.5E in hexadecimal format, and the last three bytes can be any combination.

Ideal for campus-sized networks, this type of fiber cable is typically used for shorter distances.

Optical fiber whose core diameter is large relative to the wavelength (see wavelength) of the light, thus allowing a large number of modes (see modes) to propagate.

Multipath is the composition of a primary signal plus duplicate or echoed images caused by reflections of signals off objects between the transmitter and receiver. The receiver “hears” the primary signal sent directly from the transmission facility, but it also sees secondary signals that are bounced off nearby objects. These bounced signals will arrive at the receiver later than the incident signal. Because of this misalignment, the “out-of-phase” signals will cause intersymbol interference or distortion of the received signal. Although most of the multipath is caused by bounces of tall objects, multipath can also occur from bounces on low objects such as lakes and pavements.

The process of merging multiple messages over one channel.

Package group that enables the SQL Database Server application in the Red Hat® Linux® 9 operating system to provide SQL data for Bandwidth and Authentication Manager (BAM) operations.