Glossary

A networking hardware device that allows other Wi-Fi® devices to connect to a wired network.

A system that converts an analog signal, such as a sound picked up by a microphone or light entering a digital camera, into a digital signal.

A language and message format used by an application program to communicate with an operating system, application, or other service.

A subgroup of devices in a service set that share physical-layer medium access characteristics such that they are wirelessly networked.

A unique address that identifies the access point/router that creates the wireless network.

A single-frequency electromagnetic wave that can be modulated in amplitude, frequency, or phase to convey information.

A system that converts a digital signal into an analog signal.

A Traffic Indication Message (TIM) that informs clients about the presence of buffered multicast/broadcast data on the access point.

An authentication framework frequently used in network and internet connections. It provides the transport and usage of material and parameters generated by EAP methods.

Pre-programmed registers that contain chip-specific information and configuration. FICRs cannot be erased by users.

A digital signal pin that can be used as input, output, or both. It is uncommitted and can be controlled by the user at runtime.

A key used to decrypt multicast and broadcast traffic

Physical objects that are embedded with sensors, processing ability, software, and other technologies that connect and exchange data with other devices and systems of the Internet or other communications networks.

The layer that controls the hardware responsible for interaction with the wired, optical, or wireless transmission medium.

A small computer on a single metal-oxide-semiconductor integrated circuit chip.

A computer hardware unit that provides memory protection and is usually implemented as part of the CPU.

A type of non-volatile memory that permits data to be written to memory only once.

A multiple access mechanism for shared medium networks based on Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM) achieved by assigning subsets of channel sub-carriers to individual users. This allows simultaneous on-air frame transmissions to or from multiple users.

A collaborative coexistence mechanism for collocated wireless protocols.

An intermediate encryption key used by the 4-way handshake to generate the temporal keys needed for data stream encryption."

A key that protects unicast data between the client station and access point.

A distributed application architecture that partitions tasks or workloads between peers.

The first and lowest layer of computer networking. This layer is closely associated with the physical connection between devices.

A password authentication method, a string of text, expected before a username and password to establish a secured connection. Also known as a "shared secret".

A board that connects electronic components.

A modulation method for representing an analog signal using only two levels (1 and 0).

A method of reducing the average power delivered by an electrical signal, by effectively dividing it into discrete parts.

A Serial Peripheral Interface (SPI) controller that allows the use of multiple data lines.

An electronic device that keeps accurate track of time.

An indication of the power of a received radio signal.

Synchronous serial communication interface specification used for short-distance communication.

A unique identifier assigned to a wireless local area network.

The use of only one antenna both in the transmitter and receiver.

Software that enables a computer to become a wireless access point.

A device that can use the IEEE 802.11 protocol.

A microchip that integrates all the necessary electronic circuits and components of a device or other electronic systems on a single integrated circuit.

A function that permits an access point to define a specific time or set of times for individual stations to access the medium.

A signal analyzer capable of analyzing digitally-modulated radio signals that may use any of a large number of digital modulation formats.