This Glossary of terms lists the terminology used for DSL products and in the WIDEBEAM project reports on Technologies and Standards, the Internet, CAD/CAM data exchange and Video Communications. An explanation is provided for each entry.
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Glossary
| ActiveX | A collective term used to describe a number of key Microsoft technologies, one of which is the Distributed Common Object Model (DCOM). |
| ADSL (Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line) | The first of a set of DSL technologies to use existing telephone lines for high speed data communications. Asymmetric because capacity is higher for receiving (1.5 to 9 Mbit/s) than for transmitting (16 to 640 kbit/s), i.e. focused on downloading from web sites, FTP sites, etc. |
| AECMA | Association Europeénne des Contracteurs de Matériel Aerospatiale - European Association of Aerospace Industries. |
| AECMA 1000D | International Specification for Technical Publication |
| AECMA 2000M | International Specification for Material Management |
| AIIM (Association for Information and Image Management) | An organisation of Users, Buyers, Specialists, Manufacturers and Service Companies engaged in the creation, design and use of Image and Document-based technologies in information systems. |
| ANA | Article Numbering Association (UK EDI Standards body) |
| ANSI (American National Standards Institute) | The primary organisation for technical standrds in the USA. |
| AP (Application Protocol) | Part of the STEP standard (ISO 10303 - 2xx) describing schema definitions for a specific application area |
| Aperture Card | A card (the size of a punched card) with a rectangular opening for mounting microfilm. Aperture Cards are used primarily for storing images of engineering drawings. |
| API (Application Programming Interface) | An interface through which the functionality of an application can be accessed. The API provides the ability to build customised functionality into a standard software product. |
| ASCII | American Standard Code for Information Interchange is a standard for defining character set (text)data. |
| ATM (Asynchronous Transfer Mode) | A protocol which is optimised for communication of continual data streams, particularly multimedia. It forms part of a protocol ‘stack’ which can be scaled to any size and speed of network. |
| ATU-R (ADSL Terminal Unit - Remote) | This is sometimes called an 'ADSL modem'. It is a hardware unit that connects a computer to an ADSL service. |
| Audiographic teleconferencing | Teleconferencing in real time using audio and data between two computers (also known as whiteboarding). |
| Backfile Conversion | Process of converting a document file (typically paper and microfilm) into images and/or text by scanning using Optical Character Recognition (OCR) or Document Image processing (DIP). |
| Bandwidth | The range of frequencies (Hz, kHz, MHz) within which performance with respect to some characteristic falls within specified limits. Incorrectly, but universally, used in computing jargon to mean the capacity of a line or channel expressed as bits per second (bit/s or bps) in thousands (kbit/s) or millions (Mbit/s). |
| Base64 | A coding method that converts 8-bit binary to 7 bits for transmission via the Internet. See MIME. |
| Baud | A unit of transmission rate which counts every transition on the medium, not just the bit representations. (NB: Never Baud rate; this is equivalent to saying PIN number or TSB bank) |
| BAUDOT | 5 bit Code used for Telex |
| BBS (Bulletin Board Service) | Traditional client-server arrangement, usually limited to invitees. The host holds the information on a server and anyone adding files (up-loading) or copying existing files (down-loading) needs to obtain the client software |
| Bi-level | Refers to representing each position/pel/pixel/dot of an image by a single bit, which is ON (black) of OFF (white). |
| Bitmap | A combination of pels/pixels which are individually stored as bits by a computer and collectively define an image. |
| BoM (Bill of Material) | An ordered list of the parts, sub-assemblies and assemblies that define a product. |
| Broadband | ‘Over a wide range of frequencies’. Incorrectly but widely used in computing jargon to mean ‘at bit rates greater than (say) 2Mbit/s’. |
| Cable Modem | Modulator-Demodulator used to transmit data over ‘cable’ TV networks (see CATV) |
| CALS (Continuous Acquisition and Life-cycle Support) | Previously Computer Aided Logistics Support, CALS is a US Department of Defence (DoD) initiative intended to establish standards for the delivery of digital data. CALS includes standards for electronic data interchange, electronic technical documentation, and guidelines for process improvement. |
| CATV (Community Antenna Television) | TV distribution from a single receiving station via optical fibre and copper cable (pronounced CatVee). |
| CCITT (Consultative Committee on International Telegraphy and Telephony) | A defunct body which issued standards used in telecommunications, e.g. standards on compression and decompression techniques used in FAX transmissions. Now replaced by ITU-T. |
| CCITT 4 | International Telegraph & Telephone Group 4–a standard for Image compression (MIL-R-28002). |
| CD-ROM | Compact Disc technology (originally Read Only Memory, now re-writeable). |
| CGM (Computer Graphics Metafile) | a format for the storage and transfer of data describing images. Standard for vector images (MIL-D-28003, SS-ISO 8632). |
| Client-server model | Network where a superior machine serves the needs of inferior clients by multiplexing one to one communications with them as they request service. Alternative models are peer to peer and producer-consumer (also known as publisher-subscriber). |
| CODEC (coder and decoder) | Software which encodes transmitted data and decodes received data. |
| COM (Component Object Model) | Proprietary Microsoft standard which allows software objects to be defined and read by different, conformant applications. |
| Compound Document | Electronic document comprising more than one type of file, e.g. text file and graphics, or text files and image files. |
| Compression | The raw 'bit image' delivered by a scanner to a computer is extremely large and wasteful of storage and transmission capacity. Coding algorithms and systems have been devised to compress the image, e.g. by making use of the fact that most documents have many 'white' or single tone areas. Decompression must take place before viewing or printing - adding to the time cycle. The original resolution is retained. |
| Concurrent Engineering | Concurrent Engineering (Simultaneous Engineering) is a systematic approach to the integrated concurrent design of products and their related processes, including manufacture and support. |
| Configuration Management (CM), also called configuration control | Engineering discipline that covers processes for defining and controlling product structure (configuration) and its related documentation. CM includes maintaining revision control and history data about all changes to a document or product. |
| CO (Central Office) | Used, particularly in DSL information, to differentiate between Central Office Eqipement and Customer Premises Equipment (CPE) |
| CORBA (Common Object Request Broker Architecture) | OMG specification for interoperability of objects in a heterogeneous distributed environment. A CORBA-compliant system allows objects to communicate with each other without requiring detailed knowledge of their internal workings. The CORBA specification ensures that Object Request Brokers (ORBs) from different vendors can interoperate. See ORB. |
| CP (Customer Premises) | Used, particularly in DSL information, to differentiate between it and Central office (CO) |
| CPE (Customer Premises Equipment) | Used, particularly in DSL information, to show the equipment is in the Customer Premises and not in the Central Office |
| CWIX (Cable & Wireless Internet Exchange) | Proprietary service for radio access to the Internet. |
| DARPA (Defence Advanced Research projects Agency) | Organisation in the USA that is funding much of the work on a future high speed Internet. |
| DAT (Digital Audio Tape) | Tape format used for high capacity data storage. |
| Data Model | The definition of data objects and their relationships. The data model defines the conceptual schema for a database or data warehouse. |
| Data Translation | Translation of data from one format to another. Though translation can be effected between one native format to another (e.g. CADDS 5 to CATIA), translation is normally effected from a native format to a standard format (e.g. to IGES, STEP) or vice versa. |
| Data Transport | The action of moving data within a distributed environment. Data transport does not alter the format of the transported data. |
| DAVIC (Digital Audio-Visual Council) | Body promoting broadband digital services via a variety of delivery media by ensuring compatibility and interoperability and by overcoming the limitations of standardisation. |
| DCT (discrete cosine transform) | Compression algorithm used by MPEG-1 |
| DGN | Bentley’s MicroStation CAD format (proprietary, though open, de facto standard). |
| DIP (Document Image Processing) | Document image processing transforms the unstructured image scanned in or faxed in from paper documents into machine readable form which can be accessed by computer processing applications and enables the automation of filing, retrieval, distribution and display. For historic reasons DIP is often misnamed OCR (optical character recognition). |
| DMA (Document Management Alliance) | AIIM task force with charter to develop a uniform programming model enabling enterprise-wide interoperability for every document-oriented application program and DMS (document management system) from different vendors. |
| DMS (Document Management System) | Software for managing document creation, replication, communication, storage, version control etc. |
| Document | A container and vehicle for recording, transporting and presenting data. Computer jargon often uses document in a restricted sense to mean word processing output only. |
| DSL (Digital Subscriber Line) | Refers collectively to all types of digital subscriber lines, the main categories being ADSL, SDSL, SHDSL and VDSL. All provide higher data rates than POTS or ISDN and are loosely referred to as 'Broadband', although this also covers Cable Modems. |
| DSLAM (Digital Subscriber Line Access Multiplexer) | A mechanism at a telephone company's central location that links many customer DSL connections to a single high-speed ATM line. |
| DSSSL (Document Style Semantics and Specification Language) | An SGML standard for the formatting of documents to both display and print media (ISO 10179). |
| DTD (Document Type Definition) | Definition of the syntax of HTML as an SGML application see HTML, SGML. |
| DVB (Digital Video Broadcast) | Simultaneous transmission of continuous video data to all subscribers, now in use for TV. |
| DWG | AutoCAD’s CAD format (proprietary, though open, de facto standard) |
| DXF | AutoCAD’s Drawing eXchange Format (proprietary, though open, de facto standard). |
| EANCOM | EDI standard for International messaging. |
| EDI (Electronic Data Interchange) | The technologies which support business transactions by enabling the electronic transfer of formatted information from computers in one organisation to computers in other organisations. |
| EDIF (Electronic Design Interchange Format) | Language for electronic design. Also an interchange format for electronic design data. |
| EDIFACT (EDI For Administration, Commerce and Transport) | A UN sponsored standard for EDI used mainly in Europe. Soon to be merged with the ANSI X.12 standard used in the United States. |
| EDM | An acronym variously used for Electronic Document Management, Engineering Data (or Document) Management, Enterprise Data (or Document) Management. |
| Encoding (for file transfer via the Internet) | 8-bit binary files must be encoded into 7-bit format before they can be E-mailed via the Internet due to its historic 7-bit limitation (see MIME). X.400, CompuServe, etc. handle 8-bit binary without coding. |
| Encryption | A method of scrambling messages so they cannot be read without a password e.g. for financial transactions. |
| Ethernet | The common name for a popular standard for the lower layers of a local area network. Higher layer protocols are also required in order to use Ethernet for data communication. Ethernet was the name used by the three originating organisations prior to standardisation as IEEE 802.3, then ISO/IEC 8802.3. Thick and thin Ethernet refers to the cable standards, offering a choice between quality and convenience. |
| EXPRESS | The STEP data definition and information modelling language, ISO 10303–11. |
| Extended Enterprise | A partnership among suppliers, manufacturers and customers, acting as an integrated company for developing and/or producing complex products. |
| Extranet | An intranet that allows external users to access specified areas of data often by password only. |
| FAX (facsimile transmission and reception) | A well established method of transmitting a monochrome image of an A4 document over standard telephone lines to a single recipient at up to 14.4 kbit/s with near instantaneous delivery to receiving machine. Special paper handling machines are traditionally used. Now computers and networks have ‘FAX software’. |
| FAX MODEM | Modulator-Demodulator for transmitting and receiving FAX, usually combined with a data modem. |
| Federated Systems | Linked systems that allow the sharing of controlled data. |
| File | A logical collection of data. Generic computing name encompassing document, spreadsheet, database, drawing, chart, program, etc. |
| FOSI (Formatting Output Specification) | Powerful SGML style sheet, well suited to both printed and electronic output, that specifies the formatting for each tag in a DTD. A complete interchange package for printed documents comprises the FOSI, the document, and the DTD. (usually pronounced ‘fossy’). See also DTD. |
| FTP (File Transfer Protocol) | Internet Society (IETF) specification RFC 959 for file transfer between computers. FTP is used by a local ‘client’ machine to upload and download files to and from a remote ‘server’. Ideal for files that are too large to be E-mailed as attachments. Still a common method for obtaining software via the Internet, although WWW is replacing it for such ‘download only’ functions. |
| FTR (Full Text Retrieval) | A function that automatically builds an index for a set of managed documents that contain coded data. |
| G5 messaging | proposed service for inter-company communications designed to integrate seamlessly with Fax, Internet E-mail, Intranet or LAN E-mail. |
| GIF (Graphics Interchange Format) | Proprietary specification from CompuServe made available to all developers. Used very extensively on the WWW for simple graphics (pronounced ‘Jiff’). |
| G-Lite | The informal name for an early way of implementing ADSL. Also known as Universal or splitterless ADSL. |
| G-NAPs (Global Network Access Points) | Capable, high capacity network nodes that provide a wide range of services. |
| Groupware | E-mail based software offering other facilities such as diaries, personal schedulers, basic workflow and address books. |
| GSM (Groupe Systeme Mobile) | Standard for cellular radio mobile telephone networks throughout Europe and many other countries but not USA. |
| GTDI (Guidelines for Trade Data Interchange) | European EDI standard available prior to EDIFACT. |
| Heterogeneous | Describes a computing environment in which dissimilar hardware and/or software are used to perform related tasks. |
| HFC (IEEE 802.14 Hybrid Fibre Coax) | Standard being developed to provide a scaleable advance on broadband Ethernet. |
| HIPERLAN | European family of standards for digital high speed wireless communication in the 5.15-5.3 GHz and the 17.1-17.3 GHz spectrum developed by ETSI. |
| Home Highway | Reduced cost ISDN variant for UK domestic use from BT. |
| HTML (HyperText Mark-up Language) | The standard WWW language. HTML is not a programming language in the traditional sense of the word but rather a scripting language allowing users to describe how Web pages should be displayed by Web Browsers. |
| HTTP (HyperText Transport Protocol) | The World Wide Web client-server communications protocol. In order to create a Web Site users must have access to a HyperText transport protocol daemon (httpd). This software - which understands HTTP - runs on a Web Server and is responsible for dealing with requests for documents from Web Browsers. |
| Hyperlink | The link between information objects - may be on different media, enabling the user to access information in non-sequential order. |
| HyperText | Text that provides the interface between the user and a hyperlink. |
| IAPP (Inter-Access Point Protocol) | Wireless network standard designed to allow different vendor’s access points to support roaming users |
| ICQ (I seek you) | General purpose conferencing software from Miriabilis in Israel (see www.icq.com). Used from the keyboard without voice or video being active, very useful when they are not working properly |
| IDEF (Integrated DEFinition method) |
First developed by the US Air Force as a Process Modelling tool and is now widely used internationally as a key part of BPR projects. A number of IDEF tools, have been developed to support Process Modelling :
|
| IDL (Interface Definition Language) | Developed by the OMG to define the inputs and outputs of an application to enable it to plug into a CORBA environment. |
| IEEE 802.3 | Standards committee for collision sensing contention LAN (Ethernet) |
| IEEE 802.5 | Standards committee for the Token Ring developed by IBM. A special case of the general definition (see Token Passing Ring). |
| IEEE 802.11 | Standards committee for spread spectrum radio and infra-red systems. |
| IETF (Internet Engineering Task Force) | Internet Society committee which develops the Internet standards. |
| IETM (Interactive Electronic Technical Manual) | A Standard for digital documents meeting US DoD’s fundamental demands relating to contents, design, format and interaction with the user when working with an ITEM. |
| IGES (Initial Graphics Exchange Specification) | An exchange standard for geometry data (MIL-D-28000). |
| IIOP (Internet Interoperable ORB Protocol) | Protocol for specifying how object request brokers (ORBs) communicate over the Internet. |
| ILS (Integrated Logistic Support) | A support environment used for military projects. |
| Image Management | The management and control of raster images (generated by image scanning and raster conversions of electronic data created in other formats), vector data (from CAD and illustration systems), and multimedia data (audio and video images). |
| Internet | ‘The Internet’ is an open International computer network which uses the protocols from the Internet Society. The definite article ‘The’ should always be used to avoid confused with Internet as in the protocol (see IP). |
| Internet TV | An imminent offering by the cable TV industry combining a television and ‘set-top box’ with lap-top keyboard using infra-red communication to provide computer-less Internet access. Not to be confused with ‘Web TV’, which uses television only for receiving plus a normal telephone line providing the return path. |
| Intranet | A network of computers, owned and operated for the private needs of an organisation, which uses the protocols from the Internet Society. |
| IP (Internet Protocol) | part of the Internet Society’s communication software ‘stack’. |
| ISDN (Integrated Services Digital Network) | The current standard for digital telephone links, normally used for hybrid voice and data communications. |
| ISO | International Standards Organisation. |
| ISP (Internet Service Provider) | Organisation that provides the user with Internet access and stores the user’s web pages, FTP files and incoming E-mail. |
| ITU (International Telecommunications Union) | An international standards body, specialising in the telecommunications field. |
| JAMA | Japanese Automobile Manufacturers Association |
| JAVA | An object-oriented programming language. Java applications can run unchanged on any platform that contains a Java Virtual Machine (JVM), e.g. .a Web Browser |
| JIT (Just In Time) | A Japanese originated management philosophy which strives to minimise work-in-progress by ensuring that material and resources are scheduled according to the immediate needs of production. |
| JPEG (Joint Photographic Experts Group) | JPEG produces standards for compression and decompression of images such as photographs (ISO 10918) |
| K56 (Rockwell) | Proprietary standard for 56 kbit/s modems. |
| LAN (Local Area Network) | Communication network connecting devices (which might not be computers) within a local area such as an office, building or site. Some LAN trunk lengths approach 2 km, more with optical fibre or repeaters. |
| Leased line | Contracted service from a telecommunications company to provide a permanent high speed data connection. An expensive option for SMEs. |
| Life cycle | The description of the distinct phases through which each product passes during its product life. This includes phases such as requirements definition, concept design, production, operation, maintenance, etc. |
| List server | Server holding list of E-mail addresses. Users ‘subscribe’ to the list and automatically receive all mail addressed to it. Software is usually Majordomo. |
| Majordomo | Standard software for list servers. |
| Mark-up | The process of annotating an engineering drawing with comments or corrections. This may be done directly on a copy of the drawing or as an overlay on an image. |
| MCNS (Multiple Cable Network Systems) | Specification being developed by a consortium of 6 major cable operators and the IEEE 802.14 committee. |
| MCU (Multipoint Control Unit) | A device that links three or more locations for video conferencing. |
| Meta-data | Information about the data objects controlled by an EDM system, e.g. part number, quantity, description. Such data is usually defined and controlled from within the DBMS (the core element of the EDM system) via a database model or 'schema'. |
| Microfiche | A piece of microfilm (typically 105 by 148 mm) on which images are recorded in a grid-like fashion and reduced in size from the original. |
| Microfilm | A high resolution roll of film to record images reduced in size from the original. |
| Micrographics | The technology of capturing, storing and retrieving microfiche, aperture card or microfilm-based images. |
| MIME (Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions) | The Internet Society (IETF) specifications, RFCs 2045 to 2049, for encapsulating (‘packing’) files for transfer via the Internet. It handles multiple language support and character translations across platforms; IBM mainframes, UNIX systems, Macintosh and Intel/Microsoft PCs. MIME incorporates Base64 encoding as defined in RFC 1421. Other de facto encoding standards are UUencode/decode, originated on UNIX computer systems but now universal, Binhex (Macintosh traditionally) and XX. |
| Modem (MOdulator-DEModulator) | Device to enable transfer of digital data over analogue telephone lines at voice frequencies. |
| MPEG | Motion Picture Experts Group--a standard for coding moving television pictures and associated audio. |
| MPEG1 | Standard for television transfer rates up to 1.5 Mbit/s (ISO 11172) |
| MPEG2 | Standard for television transfer rates between 3 and 10 Mbit/s (ISO 13818) |
| MSN (Microsoft Network) | A proprietary international communications network with Internet access. At December 1998 was still using outdated UUencoding for outgoing E-mail. |
| MVDS (Microwave Video Distribution Systems) | New class of radio network, already operating in a few locations. |
| NetMeeting | Microsoft video conferencing software. |
| NGI (Next Generation Internet) | Initiative that supports networking research, high speed test beds and experimentation with new multimedia applications to increase the Internet speed by 100 to 1000. |
| NIC (Network Interface Card) | A card that connects a computer to a network. |
| N-ISDN (Narrowband ISDN) | Class of ISDN used for transmitting data via CATV networks. |
| NSF (National Science Foundation) | One of the USA sponsors of NGI. |
| ODA (Office or Open Document Architecture) | Standard for modelling of office documents, such as reports, memos, and letters, also for those documents containing information other than text (ISO 8613) |
| ODETTE (Organisation for Data Exchange by TeleTransmission in Europe) | Specification of approved standards and methodologies used by the European automotive industry. |
| ODIF (Office Document Interchange Format) | Object-oriented document interchange format for ODA. |
| OMG (Object Management Group) | An industry consortium whose aim is the promotion of awareness and standards in object technology. |
| ORB (Object Request Broker) | Program enabling applications to request and receive services from other applications within a distributed computing environment. See CORBA. |
| PDF(Portable Data Format) | Proprietary format widely used for the communication of word processed and other types of documents, developed by Adobe under the name ‘Acrobat’. |
| PDM (Product Data Management) | A technology and methodology used within an enterprise to organise, access, and control data related to its products and to manage the life cycle of those products. |
| PKzip | Proprietary (but free) software for compressing files without loss of data. |
| PNG (Portable Network Graphics) | Newer portable lossless well-compressed format for single images which provides a patent-free replacement for GIF (pronounced ‘ping’). |
| POP (Point of Presence) | Point where a user can access a service provider. |
| POP3 (Post Office Protocol 3) | Internet Society protocol used by most Internet Service Providers for incoming mail. ISPs that do not use it could be incompatible with mail clients incorporated in web browsers. |
| Postscript | Adobe Systems Inc. Graphical page layout language specification, including graphic and font functionality, primarily for laser print output devices. |
| POTS (Plain Old Telephone Service) | Public switched telephone network (see PSTN). |
| PPP (Point-to-Point Protocol) | Internet Society (IETF) specification RFC 1661 for dialling in to the Internet. Users can download the software, e.g. FreePPP, or use that supplied with the computer, which is likely to be hidden by a proprietary name. |
| Protocol | Rules defining format, sequence and control of communications. |
| PSTN (Public Switched Telephone Network) | The standard wide area analogue communications network for the great majority of subscribers without a leased line or so-called 'Broadband'. PSTN is switched point-to-point and optimised for voice traffic. |
| QAM (Quadrature amplitude modulation) | One of the two modulation methods considered for MCNS (Multiple Cable Network Systems). Permits bit rates up to 36 Mbit/s. |
| QPSK (Quadrature phase shift keying) | One of the two modulation methods considered for MCNS (Multiple Cable Network Systems). Permits bit rates up to 10 Mbit/s and is more robust than QAM in an electrically ‘noisy’ environment. |
| Raster Format | Format for representing an image as a matrix/grid of pixels, i.e. a bitmap. |
| Raster Image | An image in raster format. |
| Raster to Vector Conversion | A computer application used to convert a raster image to a vector image. This is used primarily in connection with product drawings. |
| Red-line | Process of annotating an engineering drawing with comments or corrections; directly on a copy of the drawing or as an overlay on an image. See mark-up. |
| RFC 1421 | Internet Society (IETF) specification for Privacy Enhanced Mail (PEM) applications. Includes Base64 encoding/decoding as used with MIME. |
| RFC 1866 | Internet Society (IETF) specification for HTML version 2. |
| RFC 821 | Internet Society (IETF) specification for SMTP (Simple Mail Transfer Protocol) as used for E-mail via The Internet. |
| RFC 822 | Internet Society (IETF) specification for ARPA Internet Text Messages. |
| RFC 959 | Internet Society (IETF) specification for File Transfer Protocol (FTP) |
| RFC 1661 | Internet Society (IETF) specification for Point-to-Point Protocol (PPP) |
| RFCs 2045 to 2049 | Internet Society (IETF) specification for MIME |
| Router | Hardware/software allowing networks with interoperable lower layers to be interconnected above the Network Layer. Unlike a bridge, which connects above the Data Link Layer, a router is not transparent and must be addressed. |
| RT (Remote Terminal) | The end of a communications link that is viewed as 'remote' from the centre. It is often synonymous with Customer Premises (CP). |
| RTF (Rich Text Format) | Microsoft intermediate format for exchanging files between word processing applications of different versions and from different vendors. Works well for text but produces very large files if graphics are included. |
| SDAI (Standard Data Access Interface) | The STEP Application Programming Interface language (ISO 10303 - 22) |
| SDSL (Symmetric Digital Subscriber Line) | The second of a set of DSL technologies to use existing telephone lines for high rate data communications (up to 3Mbit/s for SDSL). Symmetric because capacity is the same for receiving as for transmitting. |
| Server | A computer in a network supplying a specialised service to clients on the network. See Client-Server Model. |
| SET (Standard d'Échange et de Transfert) | French data exchange standard, AFNOR z68-300:(1989), that includes finite elements, boundary representations, constructive solid geometry, scientific data and NC toolpaths. |
| SGML (Standard Generalised Mark-up Language) | A standard for the definition and mark-up of electronic documents. The MIL-STD for SGML is MIL-D-28001, ISO 8879. SGML is used for structuring text, illustrations, and other information, for example, in operations, servicing and training manuals. |
| SHDSL (Symmetric High-Speed Digital Subscriber Line) | One of the DSL technologies to use existing telephone lines for high rate data communications (up to 2.2 Mbit/s for SHDSL). Symmetric because capacity is the same for receiving as for transmitting. |
| SMFCB (Subcarrier Modulated Fibre-Coax Bus) | Network architecture used by the HFC (IEEE 802.14 Hybrid Fibre Coax) committee. |
| SMTP (Simple Mail Transfer Protocol) | Internet Society (IETF) specifications, RFCs 821 & 822, for E-mail via The Internet. It uses only 7 data bits per character as it was originally intended for plain ASCII text comprising just 127 characters. |
| SQL (Structured Query Language) | The ANSI standard query language for relational database systems. |
| STEP (STandard for the Exchange of Product model data) | An international standard ISO 10303 for data exchange and sharing. |
| TCP/IP (Transmission Control Protocol / Internet Protocol) | A pair of protocols which form the major layers of the Internet Society (IETF) protocol ‘stack’ for transmission of digital information between computers. Approximately equivalent to the ISO OSI Network and Transport Layers. |
| TELEX | Obsolete communications network for BAUDOT coded plain text. Replaced by FAX |
| TIFF (Tagged Image File Format) | Tag-based file format designed to promote the interchange of digital image data. Many variants led to the interpretation ‘Thousands of Incompatible File Formats’. |
| Token Passing Ring | A local area network with a physical topology whereby, in principle, each node is connected to the next and the last is connected back to the first. The logical order may be different from the physical order. Only one node, the token holder, can transmit at any one time and not all nodes need have that capability. See IEEE 802.5 |
| Topology | The description of the physical layout of a computer network. |
| TyTime | Information Technology Hypermedia/Time-based Structure Language - SGML standard for representations of hyperlinks and time-based relations (ISO 10744) |
| UN/EDIFACT (United Nations Electronic Data Interchange for Administration Commerce and Transport) | A single international EDI standard comprising an extensive set of internationally agreed-upon standards, directories and guidelines. Their purpose is to facilitate the electronic interchange of structured data that relates, in particular, to trade in goods and services between independent computerised information systems. It covers both batch EDI and interactive EDI, and addresses security services and business information modelling. |
| URL (Uniform Resource Locator) | A unique alias for a WWW page or FTP server address used by browsers. WWW URLs commence http:// (not necessarily followed by www) whereas FTP URLs commence ftp:// (for public access via a browser). |
| UU encoding / decoding | UU was the most popular form of 7-bit encoding/decoding but has been overtaken by the Internet standard MIME, which incorporates base64 encoding. |
| V24 | Standard for modems transmitting data at up to 33.6 kbit/s. |
| V42bis | Modem compression standard. |
| VAN (Value Added Network) | A proprietary network that distinguishes itself from a basic ISP by also providing news, forums etc. Such services have been surpassed by the World Wide Web. |
| VDA-FS (Verband der Automobilindustrie-FlächenSchnittstelle) | German standard DIN 66301 (1986) developed by and for the German Automotive industry, intended to transfer only the essential elements necessary in the exchange of information about curves and surfaces. |
| VDA-IS or VDA-IGES (Verband der Automobilindustrie - IGES Subsets) | Subset of IGES, now used widely both in the UK and German car industries, which was developed after VDA-FS. The document reference is VDMA/VDA 66 319. |
| VDSL (Very High Speed Digital Subscriber Line) | A DSL variant that transmits data in the 13 - 55 Mbit/s range over short distances, usually between 300 and 1500 metres, of twisted pair copper wire. The shorter the distance, the higher the data rate. |
| VHDL (VHSIC Hardware Description Language) | US DoD language for electronic design and therefore the main competitor to EDIF. Its use is not confined to VHSICs (Very High Speed Integrated Circuit). |
| Virtual Product Modelling | The concept of building and managing the data, parts definition and product structure, without the production hard copy documents or physical prototypes. |
| VRML (Virtual Reality Mark-up Language) | A scripting language that allows users to create three-dimensional worlds that others can explore. |
| W3C (the WWW consortium) | Consortium formed to ensure harmonisation of World Wide Web standards. |
| WAN (Wide Area Network) | A network (such as the Internet) which extends beyond the limits of a local site or even a metropolitan area. |
| Web Browser | Client software which transmits requests for information to a Web Server and displays the returned information on the host platform. |
| Web TV | Internet access using television only for receiving, a normal telephone line providing the return path. |
| Wireless LAN | Wireless network limited to a local area such as a factory or industrial site. |
| Wireless Network | Network relying on radio or optical (e.g. infra red) signals for transmission of data. |
| WWW (World Wide Web) | The Internet HyperText facility for presenting multimedia (textual, image, audio and video) information via the Internet. |
| X.400 | The International standard for E-mail, used mainly by government departments and large corporations. Overtaken by the Internet but provides a far superior service. |
| X2 | US Robotics proprietary standard for 56 kbit/s modems. |
| Xtranet | An intranet that allows external users to access specified areas of data often by password only. |
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Copyright for the contents of this web page is owned by the WIDEBEAM consortium. Reproduction is permitted without charge on condition that the WIDEBEAM project and the support received from the Integration in Manufacturing Group within DGIII of the European Commission are acknowledged.
Page content was last updated in November 1998. The HTML code was revised and its syntax checked on 26 July 2004 using BBEdit on an iMac 
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Isomatic has a policy of continual product improvement and therefore reserves the right to change specifications, dimensions and appearance from that shown on this web page.
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