Glossary of Terms

A

Access Point (AP):

The base station in an 802.11 wireless LAN.

Acknowledgment (ACK):

A protocol message sent to acknowledge correct receipt of a transmission.

Active Directory:

Active Directory is an implementation of the IETF s Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (LDAP) directory service developed by Microsoft for Windows environments. In computer networks, directories maintain information on users, applications, files, and other resources available. Active Directory allows administrators to assign enterprise-wide policies, deploy programs to many computers, and apply critical updates to an entire organization.

Address Resolution Protocol (ARP):

An IP-defined protocol that allows a station to discover the MAC address of another station when it knows the station s IP address. The process involves the device broadcasting an ARP request with the IP address it is trying to resolve onto the LAN causing the device with that address to respond.

Ad Hoc Network:

A network configuration defined for 802.11 wireless LANs where two devices communicate directly with one another without using an access point. Also called an Independent Basic Service Set (IBSS) or a peer-to-peer connection.

Advanced Encryption Standard (AES):

An encryption standard adopted by the National Institute of Standards and Technology. It uses an encryption algorithm called Rijndael, and it is used with the 802.11i security protocol.

Analog:

The transmission of signals in the form of continuously varying waves. This is the natural form of the energy produced by the human voice.

Antenna:

Any structure or device used to...