154 lines
7.5 KiB
Plaintext
154 lines
7.5 KiB
Plaintext
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Okay, here goes with a neutral glossary of amateur packet radio terms.
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ARPA Suite - the set of protocols standardized by the Advanced Research
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Projects Agency of the US Department of Defense. Includes TCP and IP as
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elements, but leaves the lower levels (subnetwork and down) deliberately
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unspecified; the ARPA suite can be run on top of multiple subnetworks,
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unifying them into a single Internet.
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ASLIP - Asynchronous Serial Line (usually just called SLIP). A technique
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for encoding IP datagrams so they can be sent across ordinary asynchronous
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modems and communications hardware.
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CLNS - Connectionless Network Service (see connectionless, datagram).
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CMU/MIT PC/IP - one of the public domain packages that implement the ARPA
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protocols on the IBM PC and its clones.
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connectionless - refers to a packet protocol or service that does not
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have the concept of a "connection". Packets may be sent at will, without
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prior arrangement or need for connection setup/teardown procedures.
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connection-oriented - refers to a protocol or service that requires that
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a logical or virtual "connection" first be established with a special
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procedure before data can be sent. Another procedure is used to "tear
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down" the connection when it is no longer needed.
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CONS - Connection Oriented Network Service (see connection-oriented, virtual
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circuit).
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COSI - Connection-oriented Open Systems Interconnect. A project of W2VY
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and N2DSY to implement for amateur packet radio use the
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connection-oriented protocols published by the International Standards
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Organization (ISO) and the International Consultative Committee for
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Telephony and Telegraphy (CCITT). (OSI protocols include both
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connection-oriented and connectionless flavors, hence the inclusion of
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the qualifier "connection-oriented" in the name). The COSI software is
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presently under development.
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datagram - Information packets in a connectionless environment.
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Datagrams are completely self-contained as far as the network is
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concerned. The information needed to get each datagram to its
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destination (including, but not limited to, full source and destination
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addresses) is carried in each datagram.
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DDN Protocol Suite (Defense Data Network Protocol Suite). See ARPA
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Protocol Suite.
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duplex digi - like a simplex digi, except that different receive and transmit
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frequencies are used. Allows simultaneous reception and transmission.
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Gateway - a very general term for anything that connects two networks
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together. In the ARPA world, "gateway" has a much more specific meaning:
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a packet switch that handles IP datagrams.
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IP - Internet Protocol. The core protocol of the ARPA suite. IP is a
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simple connectionless (datagram) protocol that handles addressing,
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fragmentation and type-of service routing in the heterogeneous
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internetwork environment.
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IS - Intermediate System. ISO's term for a packet switch.
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ISO - International Standards Organization. Publishes specifications for
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everything from screw threads to computer communication protocols. Also,
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International Snake Oi...oops, promised to keep things neutral. :-)
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KA9Q Internet - name for a C software package developed by KA9Q with
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programming contributions from N3EUA, K3MC, NG6Q, WA3CVG, PA0GRI, NN2Z,
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WB6ECE, AJ9X, K4FUM, N9DVG, K3EZ and probably some others I've
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overlooked. Implements the major elements of the ARPA protocol suite:
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IP, ICMP, TCP, UDP, Telnet, FTP, SMTP and ARP. Also implements
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subnetwork drivers for SLIP, KISS, AX.25, Ethernet and Appletalk.
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Primary environment is the IBM PC (and clones), but has been ported to
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68K-based machines like the Commodore Amiga and Apple Macintosh, also to
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UNIX System 5 environments. Sources, objects and documentation are
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available for anonymous ftp from louie.udel.edu under /pub/ka9q.
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KISS - Keep It Simple, Stupid. A TNC operating mode where the TNC merely
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translates packets between half duplex, synchronous HDLC on the radio
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port and full duplex asynchronous SLIP framing on the host port; the
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host computer must implement all higher level protocols, including AX.25
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if it is used. Gives the host computer full access to and control over
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all fields in each packet. Compensates for the lack of a HDLC hardware
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controller on many computers.
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NET/ROM - A proprietary product of Software 2000, Inc (WA8DED and W6IXU).
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Consists of ROM firmware for the TNC-2. Implements AX.25 at the link layer,
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with ad-hoc protocols at the network and transport layer. Also provides
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a command interpreter and "transport level bridge" that patches incoming
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or outgoing vanilla AX.25 connections to internal transport layer
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connections. Uses datagrams at the network layer, virtual circuits at the
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transport layer. Provides automatic routing between NET/ROM nodes, the user
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is still responsible for "source routing" between the end NET/ROM nodes and
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the ultimate source and destination.
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OSI - Open Systems Interconnect. A project of the ISO to develop a set of
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computer communications protocols.
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PAD - Packet Assembler/Disassembler. A device that interfaces an ordinary
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"dumb" terminal to an X.25 packet network. It gathers typed characters
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into outgoing packets and translates incoming packets back into serial
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asynchronous data streams. Also provides a simple command interpreter for
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setting up and tearing down connections, controlling parameters, etc.
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The amateur packet radio TNC was heavily modeled on the PAD.
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PTT - Postal, Telephone and Telegraph authority. The government-owned
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phone monopoly found in almost every country except the USA.
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RFC - Request for Comments. Memoranda published in electronic form by the
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ARPA Network Information Center. Documents everything from informal proposals
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to established standards.
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Router - Yet another term for a packet switch. Used by Xerox's XNS and
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Digital's DECNET, two proprietary networking protocol suites very
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similar to (but incompatible with) the ARPA suite (and with each other).
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simplex digi - a regenerative digital repeater that receives a packet,
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verifies that it was received correctly, and (if appropriate) retransmits
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it on the same frequency it was received on.
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TCP - Transmission Control Protocol. A major element of the ARPA Suite.
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Provides reliable, connection-oriented byte stream service on an end-to-end
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basis. Runs atop IP and sits at the transport and session layers.
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TELNET - A presentation/application protocol in the ARPA Suite used for
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terminal to terminal and terminal to host communications (e.g., remote
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login).
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TP4 - An element of the ISO OSI suite. A transport protocol that provides
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reliable, connection-oriented byte stream service on an end-to-end
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basis, analogous to TCP in the ARPA suite.
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VC - virtual circuit. The service provided by a connection-oriented network
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(qv). Virtual circuit data packets generally carry less header information
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than datagrams, since addresses have been specified at connection setup
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time.
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wideband packet - Anything faster than 1200 baud. Generally refers to operation
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at 56kbps with modems designed by WA4DSY.
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W0RLI - Hank Orelson, W0RLI, author of a very widely used packet
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bulletin board.
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X.25 - A CCITT standard protocol for the subscriber interface to a public
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packet switched network. Consists of two layers, link (level 2) and packet
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(level 3). The amateur AX.25 protocol is a highly modified version of just
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the link layer of X.25; it does not have a packet layer.
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X.75 - A CCITT standard protocol for the interface between two separate
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public packet switched networks. Resembles X.25 in considerable detail.
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Phil, KA9Q
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