Terminology

This page on terminology covers basics and meanings of terms in RF,wireless,networking,telecom,switching and embedded domains. It includes terminologies on satellite,wimax,WLAN,GSM,GPRS,EDGE,CDMA,zigbee,LTE standards/technologies.

RF terminologies

RF Terms-Useful for RF design and testing.
RF-This page describes RF meaning/basics.
RF circulator-This page describes basics of rf circulator, its applications,specifications and popular suppliers/vendors.
RF Isolator-This page describes basics of rf isolator,its applications,specifications and popular suppliers/vendors.
RF Power Amplifier-This page describes about rf power amplifier,rf amplifier stages,classes,technical specifications and applications.It also covers example of solid state power amplifier design.
RF mixer-This page describes basics of rf mixer,its types,functions,how it works,technical specifications and thumb rules for using rf mixer in the design.
RF switch-This page describes RF switch and its applications and provides rf switch manufacturers/suppliers.
RF Transceiver-This page describes basics of RF Transceiver description,applications,specifications and suppliers
DigRF-This page describes basics of DigRF interface used between Baseband IC and RF IC(e.g. RF Transceiver).
RF synthesizer-This page describes RF Synthesizer description,block diagram, equations,specifications and synthesizer design example.
RF diplexer versus duplexer- This page describes difference between diplexer and duplexer.
RF isolator versus rf circulator- describes difference between RF isolator and rf circulator
RF Link Budget- basics of RF link budget, example of ku band satellite system rf link budget in excel sheet and friis equation.
RF phase noise & phase jitter-Covers basics of RF phase noise and jitter, mention conversion between them and list out phase noise reduction techniques.
Smith chart basics  RF Jammer  RF Welding  RF Choke  RF Interference  RF Radiation  RF Remote  RF Shielding  RF skin Tightening  CNR vs SNR  dB vs dBm vs dBW vs dBC   RF drive test-testing basics  RSSI  Noise figure vs Noise Temperature  P1dB vs TOI  Reflection coefficient vs Return Loss vs VSWR  second order intercept point vs third order intercept point  EMI vs EMC  RF vs IF  Maxwell Equations  Spurious vs Harmonics  Minimum Detectable Signal vs SFDR  ADC Synamic Range   Amplifier classes   Microstrip line vs Coplanar Waveguide  Nonlinearity basics and types   PA Efficiency types   Dielectric material  Pure carrier vs modulated carrier 

Wireless technologies

wireless-This page describes about wireless term and its network are composed of.
GSM Terms
Satellite Terms-Useful for RF and satellite communication Engineer
WiMAX Terms-Useful for wimax professionals working as developer,tester or system engineer.
LTE Terms-Useful for LTE professional working as developer,tester or system engineer.

RELATED POSTS on RF WIRELESS WORLD

What is this?

what is GSM-Describes GSM basics and provide GSM references.
WLAN-This page describes about wlan and its application and various standards.
WiMAX-This page describes about what wimax is and its application and various standards.
Zigbee-This page describes basics of zigbee,zigbee applications and useful zigbee references.
LTE -This page describes about lte and its application.
ip Address-This page describes about what IP(Internet Protocol)address is all about, its various classes and use in networking.
mac address-This page describes MAC address or physical address and its importance in networking.
modulation-This page describes what the Modulation is and mention types of modulation.
FPGA-This page covers about FPGA,FPGA benefits,applications and FPGA development tools.
DSP-This page describes DSP.
Bluetooth-This page describes about what Bluetooth is all about,Bluetooth applications, protocol layers and useful Bluetooth references.
Lightwave RF-This page covers what lightwave RF is and lightwave RF product manufacturers.
Z-Wave-This page coversbasics of z-wave and z-wave product manufacturers.
microcontroller-This page covers basics of microcontroller Microcontroller interfacing,chip manufacturers,applications,programming.
what is CDMA-Describes CDMA and provide CDMA references.
what is GPRS-Describes GPRS basics and provide GPRS modem details.
what is infrared- Describes infrared and provide infrared applications.
Tablet PC- describes basics of tablet pc and components inside a typical tablet pc and lists tablet manufacturers.

Test and Measurement Terminologies

AM-AM conversion-Describes AM to AM conversion in RF power amplifier and its effect on constellation.
AM-PM conversion-Describes RF AM to PM conversion, its effect on constellation, AM to PM conversion measurement set up.
EVM- Lists what the Error Vector Magnitude(EVM) is,lists EVM equation and EVM effect on constellation.
IQ imbalance- basics of IQ imbalance impairments and compensation.
BER-This page describes Bit Error Rate basics and measurement of Bit Error Rate for VSAT system.
SNA vs VNA   S parameters  RF VSG vs VSA 

Comparison(Difference Between)

TCP vs UDP
difference between OSI and TCPIP
GPS vs AGPS
difference between GPS and GLONASS
difference between 11a 11b 11g 11n
difference between 11n 11ac 11ad
3G versus 4G-This page describes comparison between 3G and 4G technologies.
comparison of wimax and LTE-Comparison of similarities and differences between Mobile wimax and LTE systems.
Bluetooth versus Zigbee-This page describes comparison between Bluetooth and Zigbee technologies.
Zigbee vs Z-wave
-fixed wimax versus mobile wimax-This page covers comparison features between fixed wimax and mobile wimax technologies.
wibro versus mobile wimax-This page covers comparison between wibro and mobile wimax technologies.
microcontroller vs microprocessor-This page covers microcontroller versus microprocessordescribes similarity and difference between microcontroller and microprocessor.
white noise vs. colored noise-This page describes difference between white noise and colored noise.
FDMA-versus-TDMA-versus-CDMA-This page covers comparison between FDMA,TDMA and CDMA access techniques.
hub vs switch- compares hub vs switch.
FDM-versus-TDM-This page covers compares FDM and TDM multiplexing techniques.
CS vs PS - circuit switching(CS), packet switching(PS) and comparison between them.
heterodyne vs homodyne- compares heterodyne receiver and homodyne receiver architectures.
GSM versus GPRS- This page describes similarities and differences between GSM and GPRS technologies.
FIR filter vs IIR filter- difference between FIR and IIR filter.
HSDPA versus HSUPA-This page describes comparison/difference between HSDPA and HSUPA technologies and also highlights features of HSPA+.
SCPC versus MCPC-This page provide difference between SCPC and MCPC and provide link to SCPC and MCPC basics.
Similarities and difference between IS-136 and IS-95 technologies.
PDH versus SDH-This page describes PDH(Plesiochronous Digital Hierarchy),SDH(Synchronous Digital Hierarchy) and mention comparison or difference between them.
CAS versus CCS-This page describes describes CAS(Channel Associated Signaling),CCS(Common Channel Signaling) and mention comparison or difference between them.
Difference between soft handover and softer handover
DSSS versus FHSS comparison between DSSS and FHSS systems.
CS call vs PS call-This page circuit switched call vs packet switched call describes circuit switched(CS) call,packet switched(PS) call.It provide link to GSM/WCDMA circuit switched call and packet switched call flow. It include both MO(Mobile Originated) and MT(Mobile terminated) call.
MMDS vs LMDS-This page on MMDS versus LMDS describes MMDS and LMDS basics and provides comparison between MMDS and LMDS.
ARQ vs HARQ-This page on ARQ versus HARQ describes ARQ and HARQ techniques and provides difference between ARQ and HARQ techniques.
Chase combining HARQ vs IR HARQ-This page on Chase Combining HARQ vs. Incremental Redundancy HARQ describes Chase Combining HARQ and Incremental redundancy HARQ techniques and provides difference between these techniques.
DC vs VC-Describes difference between Data communication and voice communication.
SMS vs MMS-This page on SMS versus MMS describes basics of SMS and MMS service provided in GSM/WCDMA network.
Noise Factor versus Noise Figure  Receiver sensitivity versus receiver selectivity-describes difference between sensitivity and selectivity of receiver.

Useful Terms

802.11ad-This page describes about features of wlan-11ad as per IEEE 802 family of standards and provide link to WLAN 11n,11a,11ac and more standards.
WiMAX Frame Structure-This page describes all the fields of fixed wimax frame structure as per 16d standard and mobile wimax frame structure as per 16e standard.
4G -This page describes 4G and 4G technologies.
3G -This page describes 3G and 3G technologies.
BPSK -This page describes BPSK modulation technique with equation and constellation diagram.
QPSK -This page describes QPSK modulation technique with equation and constellation diagram.
QAM-This page describes QAM modulation technique with equation and constellation diagram.
MIMO-This page describes MIMO and its types.
FFT -This page describes FFT-Fast Fourier Transform.
MMIC-This page describes MMIC,biasing of mmic amplifier and popular manufacturers.
microcontroller programming-Describes microcontroller programming, microcontroller C programming,devices,cross compiler etc.
Cell re-selection procedure-Describes Cell re-selection procedure used in GSM/WCDMA.
Compressed mode-Describes WCDMA compressed mode used for neighbour cell measurements in WCDMA.
Interpolation- Describes Interpolation process with figures and example.
Decimation- Describes Decimation process with figures and example.
home automation-This page describes home automation and mention home automation software and useful links to products for home automation.
channel model-This page describes channel models viz. awgn,rayleigh,rician and other channel models for wimax,wlan,lte systems.

forward error correction-This page describes forward error correction and its application and mention different forward error correction techniques.
handoff-This page describes handoff or handover used in cellular communication and also mention different types of handoff/handover.
Handover-This page describes RAT,IRAT and IRAT handover with example of WCDMA RAT to GSM RAT handover.
RS Encoder-This page covers RS Encoder i.e. reed solomon encoding basics with example.
CRC-This page covers CRC or Cyclic Redundancy Check basics.
Turbo encoder-This page covers CTC Encoder or Convolutional Turbo Encoder technique with rate 1 by 3 example used for forward error correction.
EPABX basics-This page covers EPABX basics and provide link to EPABX manufacturers.
signaling-This page describes signaling-types which include Start Dial signaling, Ground start signaling, E & M signaling used on trunk of exchange.
echo canceller-This page covers echo canceller and lists echo canceller manufacturers.
TDMA-This page covers TDMA basics,types of TDMA and mention disadvantages.
gateway-This page describes networking gateway with example.
network switch-This page describes ethernet switch used for networking.
network bridge-describes network bridge.
firewall-describes firewall basics, firewall types, firewall software and firewall hardware manufacturers.
Hub-describes Hub and Types of Hub.
VAMOS- This page describes VAMOS basics in GSM system,how VAMOS works at both base station and mobile station transmitter and provide references for further study on VAMOS.
Read our page on PMP formulas useful for PMP Exam.
Wireless physical layer -describes wireless physical layer basics and provide links to various standards on physical layer which include wlan,wimax,GSM,GPRS,LTE,CDMA and more.
ARP protocol -describes ARP,RARP protocol and provide example of fields carried in a typical ARP request and ARP response.
Ping protocol -describes ping protocol basics and provide example of fields carried in a typical ping request and ping response.
Coherence Bandwidth and Coherence Time   Delay spread and Doppler Spread
DAMA-This page describes DAMA at Hub station and DAMA at remote Station.
Carrier Aggregation-This page describes carrier aggregation basics for LTE in TDD and FDD mode. It also mention carrier aggregation types used in LTE with frequency allocations.
VoLTE-This page describes VoLTE(Voice Over LTE) basics. It also covers types of VoLTE which include VoLTE using IMS(VOIP) and VoLTE using CSFB(SRVCC).
Erlang/Grade of Service Describes Erlang and Grade of Service with example.
GSM SIs-This page covers GSM System information messages which include SI1,SI2,SI3,SI4,SI5,SI6,SI7,SI8,SI9 and SI13 transmitted on BCCH/SACCH.
AT cmds-This page covers modem AT commands commonly provided by HF/GSM/CDMA/LTE modem manufacturers.
EVDO-This page describes EVDO types and features of EVDO Rev. 0, EVDO Rev. A and EVDO Rev. B.
Zadoff chu sequence-This page covers Zadoff chu sequence or CAZAC sequence used in LTE. It covers Zadoff chu sequence mathematical equation,features and properties.It mentions which channels/signals in LTE use Zadoff chu sequence.
Difference between conditional and unconditional stability  GSM Timers   What is Electrical length  LTE vs LTE Advanced  EDGE-EGPRS- This page describes EDGE/EGPRS and Evolved EDGE features and changes/enhancement compare to previous GSM/GPRS technologies.
AMR- This page describes AMR(Adaptive Multi Rate) basics in GSM.
MSK-GMSK- This page describes MSK modulation,GMSK modulation and GMSK demodulation.
8PSK- This page describes 8-PSK modulation or multilevel PSK or phase shift keying modulation technique.
ATC- This page describes Automatic Time offset correction/compensation.
AFC- This page describes Automatic Frequency offset correction/compensation.
AGC-describes Automatic Gain Control signal processing algorithm used in a mobile receiver.
STB Basics-This page describes Set Top Box basics and provide link to Set Top Box manufacturers/suppliers.
Fax machine-This page describes Fax machine basics, how to use fax machine and provide link to manufacturers of Fax machine.
SCPC-This page describes SCPC(Single Channel Per Carrier) and provide link to pages on MCPC and difference between SCPC and MCPC.
MCPC-This page describes MCPC(Multiple Channels Per Carrier) and provide link to pages on SCPC and difference between MCPC and SCPC.
RS232 interface   Difference between RS232 and RS485 interfaces   RS485 interface   RS422 interface   CAN interface   SPI interface   interface types and converters