Multipath:
The signal variation caused when radio signals take multiple paths from
transmitter to receiver.
O
Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM):
A modulation technique for
transmitting large amounts of digital data over radio waves. 802.11a uses OFDM, as will
802.11g.
P
Peer-to-Peer Mode:
A wireless network structure that allows wireless clients to
communicate with each other without using an access point.
Personal Area Network (PAN):
A personal area network, or PAN, is a networking
scheme that enables computing devices such as PCs, laptop computers, handheld
personal computers, printers and personal digital assistants (PDAs) to communicate with
each other over short distances either with or without wires.
Preamble:
A preliminary signal transmitted over a WLAN to control signal detection and
clock synchronization.
R
Radio Frequency (RF) Terms (GHz, MHz, Hz):
The international unit for measuring
frequency is Hertz (Hz), which is equivalent to the older unit of cycles per second. One
Mega-Hertz (MHz) is one million Hertz. One Giga-Hertz (GHz) is one billion Hertz. For
reference: the standard US electrical power frequency is 60 Hz, the AM broadcast radio
frequency band is 0.55 -1.6 MHz, the FM broadcast radio frequency band is 88-108 MHz,
and microwave ovens typically operate at 2.45 GHz.
Range:
The distance over which a given system can communicate.
RC4:
An encryption algorithm designed at RSA Laboratories; specifically, a stream
cipher of pseudo-random bytes that is used in WEP encryption.
Remote Authentication Dial-In User Service (RADIUS):
An authentication and
accounting system that verifies users' credentials and grants access to requested
