Page 260 - M. Abrahim Thesis

List of Terms and Acronyms

anycast

In ATM, an address that can be shared by multiple end systems. An anycast address can be used
to route a request to a node that provides a particular service.
ARP

Address Resolution Protocol. Internet protocol used to map an IP address to a MAC address.
Defined in RFC 826.

ARQ

automatic repeat request. Communication technique in which the receiving device detects
errors and requests retransmissions.

bandwidth

Difference between the highest and lowest frequencies available for network signals. The term
is also used to describe the rated throughput capacity of a given network medium or protocol.

BER

1. bit error rate. Ratio of received bits that contain errors.

2. basic encoding rules. Rules for encoding data units described in the ISO ASN.1 standard.

BGP

Border Gateway Protocol. Interdomain routing protocol that replaces EGP. BGP exchanges
reachability information with other BGP systems. It is defined by RFC 1163.
binary

Numbering system characterized by ones and zeros (1 = on, 0 = off).

BOOTP

Bootstrap Protocol. Protocol used by a network node to determine the IP address of its Ethernet
interfaces, in order to affect network booting.
BPDU

Bridge Protocol Data Unit. Spanning-Tree Protocol hello packet that is sent out at configurable
intervals to exchange information among bridges in the network.

bps

bits per second.

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