Foreword

The information contained in this Foreword is not part of this American National Standard (ANS) and has not been processed in accordance with ANSI’s requirements for an ANS. As such, this Foreword may contain material that has not been subjected to public review or a consensus process. In addition, it does not contain requirements necessary for conformance to the Standard.

The Alliance for Telecommunication Industry Solutions (ATIS) serves the public through improved understanding between carriers, customers, and manufacturers. The previous version of this standard was published by Accredited Standards Committee T1 – Telecommunications (ASC T1), established in February 1984 with the divestiture of AT&T to develop technical standards and reports regarding interconnection and interoperability of telecommunications networks at interfaces with end-user systems, carriers, information and enhanced-service providers, and customer premises equipment (CPE). ASC T1 was sunset in 2004, with its subcommittees becoming full committees of ATIS, an ANSI-accredited Standards Development Organization (SDO).

The Network Performance, Reliability, and Quality of Service Committee (PRQC) — formerly T1A1 — develops and recommends standards, requirements, and technical reports related to the performance, reliability, and associated security aspects of communications networks, as well as the processing of voice, audio, data, image, and video signals, and their multimedia integration. PRQC also develops and recommends positions on, and foster consistency with, standards and related subjects under consideration in other North American and international standards bodies.

ANSI guidelines specify two categories of requirements: mandatory and recommendation. The mandatory requirements are designated by the word shall and recommendations by the word should. Where both a mandatory requirement and a recommendation are specified for the same criterion, the recommendation represents a goal currently identifiable as having distinct compatibility or performance advantages.

Footnotes are not part of this standard.

The communication of facts and ideas depends upon a mutual understanding of terminology. This is particularly true in the rapidly growing field of information technology, where there is a continuing need for a comprehensive source of agreed-upon technical terms and definitions.

This Glossary began as a 5800-entry, search-enabled hypertext telecommunications glossary titled Federal Standard 1037C, Glossary of Telecommunication Terms . Federal Standard 1037C was updated and matured into an American National Standard (ANS): T1.523-2001, Telecom Glossary 2000 , under the aegis of ASC T1. In turn, T1.523-2001 has been revised and redesignated under the ATIS procedures for ANS development as ATIS-0100523.2011, ATIS Telecom Glossary 2011.

Future control of this document will reside with PRQC. This control of additions to the specification, such as protocol evolution, new applications, and operational requirements, will permit compatibility among U.S. networks. Such additions will be incorporated in an orderly manner with due consideration to the ITU-T layered model principles, conventions, and functional boundaries.

Suggestions for improvement of this document are welcome. They should be sent to the Alliance for Telecommunications Industry Solutions, Attention: PRQC, 1200 G Street NW, Suite 500, Washington, DC 20005.

Notice of Disclaimer & Limitation of Liability

The information provided in this document is directed solely to professionals who have the appropriate degree of experience to understand and interpret its contents in accordance with generally accepted engineering or other professional standards and applicable regulations. No recommendation as to products or vendors is made or should be implied.

NO REPRESENTATION OR WARRANTY IS MADE THAT THE INFORMATION IS TECHNICALLY ACCURATE OR SUFFICIENT OR CONFORMS TO ANY STATUTE, GOVERNMENTAL RULE OR REGULATION, AND FURTHER, NO REPRESENTATION OR WARRANTY IS MADE OF MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PARTICULAR PURPOSE OR AGAINST INFRINGEMENT OF INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY RIGHTS. ATIS SHALL NOT BE LIABLE, BEYOND THE AMOUNT OF ANY SUM RECEIVED IN PAYMENT BY ATIS FOR THIS DOCUMENT, WITH RESPECT TO ANY CLAIM, AND IN NO EVENT SHALL ATIS BE LIABLE FOR LOST PROFITS OR OTHER INCIDENTAL OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES. ATIS EXPRESSLY ADVISES ANY AND ALL USE OF OR RELIANCE UPON THIS INFORMATION PROVIDED IN THIS DOCUMENT IS AT THE RISK OF THE USER.

NOTE – The user’s attention is called to the possibility that compliance with this standard may require use of an invention covered by patent rights. By publication of this standard, no position is taken with respect to whether use of an invention covered by patent rights will be required, and if any such use is required no position is taken regarding the validity of this claim or any patent rights in connection therewith.

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Alliance for Telecommunications Industry Solutions
1200 G Street, NW, Suite 500
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No part of this publication may be reproduced in any form, in an electronic retrieval system or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the publisher. For information contact ATIS at 202.628.6380. ATIS is online at < http://www.atis.org >.

Historical Summary of Development

1976, MIL-STD-188-120, Glossary of Telecommunication Terms.

1980, FED-STD-1037, Glossary of Telecommunication Terms.

1979, NTIA-SP-79-14, Fiber Optics Glossary.

1979-80, NBS Handbook 140, Optical Waveguide Communications Glossary, which became EIA-44A, and IEEE 812.

1986, FED-STD-1037A, Glossary of Telecommunication Terms.

1990, T1 Glossary [compiled from ANSI T1 standards and reports]

1991+ ASC T1 (Telecommunications) standards and reports published since 1990. [For a select listing, see the References below.]

1991, FED-STD-1037B, Glossary of Telecommunication Terms.

1996, FED-STD-1037C, Glossary of Telecommunication Terms.

1996, ANSDIT, The American National Standard Dictionary for Information Technology, ANSI X3.197-1996.

2001, T1.523-2001, Telecom Glossary 2000.

2001+, T1 (Telecommunications) Standards and reports published since 2001. [For a select listing, see the References below.]

2004+, ATIS Standards and reports published since 2004, upon the retirement of ASC T1.

2007, ATIS-0100523.2007, ATIS Telecom Glossary 2007

Participants in the Revision

At the time of consensus on this document, PRQC, which was responsible for its development, had the following roster:

P. Tarapore, PRQC Chair (AT&T)

M. Neibert, PRQC Vice-Chair(Telcordia)

P. Tarapore, Technical Editor (AT&T)

K. Biholar, Technical Editor (Alcatel-Lucent)

J. Colombo, Technical Editor (Verizon)

G. Linnell, Technical Editor (Telcordia)

H. Pant, Technical Editor (Huawei)

C. Underkoffler, ATIS Chief Editor

Active Participants:

K. Biholar
C. Dvorak
E. Geelen
Y. Kogan
O. Lima
M. Linnell
S. Makris
A. Morton
M. Neibert
A. Nguyen
H. Pant
E. Rojek
J. Schiavone
P. Tarapore
A. Webster