Glossary
3G: Third-Generation Partnership projects. Set up to expedite the development of open, globally-accepted technical specifications for third-generation mobile communications technology.
GPRS: General Packet Radio Service. An enhancement of the GSM core network that introduces packet data transmission. It makes very efficient use of available radio spectrum, and gives users more access bandwidth than over a standard connection.
GSM: Global System for Mobile communications. Originally defined as a pan-European standard for a digital cellular telephone network to support cross-border roaming. GSM is Europe's main digital mobile standard.
Circuit Switching: The basis of telephone call handling, with a circuit connection set up between caller and called party. This connection is held open for the duration of the call, even when no information (voice, data, images, or video) is being transmitted. The alternative is packet switching.
Packet Switching: A core network transmission technique that involves splitting information into "e;packets"e; of data routed independently through the network over different routes to the final destination. Packet switching is attractive for mobile access because the radio spectrum is used only when data is actually transmitted. The alternative is circuit switching. GPRS is a packet-based technology designed for digital mobile networks.
Roaming: The ability of a cordless or mobile phone user to travel from network to network, with complete communication continuity.
UMTS: Universal Mobile Telecommunications System. A system for delivering third-generation services, which will become widely available over the next few years.
WAP: Wireless Access Protocol. A global, open standard for on-line service access from small-screen mobile phones.
WAP Gateway: Forms a bridge between two distinct worlds, the Internet (or another IP packet network) and the wireless phone/data network, which use fundamentally different underlying technologies.
WAP Hosting: Supplying the hardware and software platform for customers' WAP applications (similar to web hosting).
WAP Security: Ensuring a secure communication between the WAP server and the WAP-enabled terminals supporting Wireless Transport Layer Security (WTLS). Like other forms of security, development of WAP security involves:
- Authentication
- Confidentiality
- Integrity
- Authorization
- Non-repudiation
WML: Wireless Markup Language. The WAP version of HTML, used to format web data for the limited space of a WAP-enabled device.
WMLScript: The WAP version of JavaScript.