Wireless Glossary
Li - Ion or Lithium Ion
Lithium cell phone batteries are more efficient and lighter in weight than other batteries listed here. Though more expensive, they develop no memory effect, and are the least toxic of current cell phone battery technologies. Charging requires a constant voltage, but the life of a Lithium Ion battery can be reduced by over 50 percent if overcharged. Use only chargers that are recommended or designed for Li - Ion batteries. Chargers made only for the nickel - based batteries should never be used to charge lithium batteries, because the levels of monitored voltage sent to the cell phone battery is different.
microSD

A type of removable flash memory card designed specifically for mobile phones.

 

NiCd or Nickel Cadmium
NiCd cellphone batteries are known for their "memory effect". NiCd's develop the less than nicad batteries develop a memory effect if repeatedly charged without being fully discharged. They perform best if used regularly, because they self - discharge if left unused, losing as much as 10 percent of their energy the first day, then 1 or 2 percent per 24 hours thereafter. Nickel Cadmium battery chargers should have preventative circuitry protecting from overcharge. These batteries are highly toxic and harmful and should be disposed of as toxic waste.
Nickel Metal Hydride

These cellphone batteries can have 30% more capacity than a same sized NiCad battery. These batteries are also relatively non toxic. However, unlike NiCad, deep cycling or discharging of the battery contributes to a decline in it's life, and so does constant over charging. In general, Nickel Metal Hydride technology is more sensitive to overcharge, but the recommended charging process is a constant charge. They should always be rapid charged.

 

OFF-PEAK HOURS

The hours after the business day and during weekends when the wireless networks have less transmission. During these hours the rates are usually cheaper. This is usually between 9pm and 7am.

 

PCS or PERSONAL COMMUNICATION SYSTEM, or SERVICE

This is used to describe the many different two-way digital services running at 1900 mHtz.

 

Peak Hours
The hours during the business day when wireless networks have the most transmission. During these hours the rates are the most expensive. This is usually between 7am and 9pm.
Personal Identification Number or PIN

Used together with SIM card technology to place calls using prepaid cell phones.

 

Prepaid Cellular

Pay in advace for cellular service. An alternative to postpaid or contract cellular.

 

R.F. or Radio Frequency

Radio Frequencies are electromagnetic waves sent on a particular frequency. An individual frequency is how tightly spaced the waves are measured in Hz (Hertz) or waves per second. 1900MHz is 1900 million waves per second, aka 1.9 billion waves per second.
RF technologies are in the news a lot for its potential danger to human health. However one must keep in mind that "We live in a sea of waves", everything around us gives off electromagnetic radiation, computers, toasters, microwave ovens, even the Sun. However only ionizing radiation (waves so powerful they can destabilize the molecular structure of a substance by knocking an electron free, creating an ion) are harmful to humans. Cell phones and computer networks emit a very tiny amount of non ionizing type radiation, and are therefore harmless to humans.

Author Name: IronHelix

Roaming

The ability to use a cellular phone outside of your cellular or PCS company's service area.

 

SIM or Subscriber Identity Module

SIM cards are small smart cards that contain subscriber identification data and the identity of the user's carrier. SIM cards are used in GSM and iDEN networks. Because the SIM card is what uniquely identifies the user, a user can remove his SIM card from one phone and insert it into another phone, that phone will now make calls on his account and ring when his mobile number is called. Which ever phone has his SIM card in it is 'his phone' as far as the network is concerned. SIM cards also have data storage space for address books. See also- ESN, R-UIM card

 

Author Name: IronHelix

Single-Band Phone

Operates only on the Nationwide Sprint PCS Network and has no roaming capability. Operates on 1900 MHz CDMA networks.

 

SMS or Short Messaging Service
A cell phone feature that allows PCS users to send and transceive short text messages. These messages are sent from cell phone to cell phone. This is not the same as email.
Soft Key

A key immediately beneath the cellular phone display window performing the function currently listed on the cellphone display screen.

 

Standby Time

The length of time that a cell phone is completely ready to send or receive calls, but is not being used in a call. This is one way of evaluating the battery, as well as the efficiency of the cell phone.

 

Subscriber

A user of wireless or other service(s) bought from a service provider.

 

Talk Time

 The length of time a person can talk on the cell phone without recharging the battery. Usually expressed in minutes. Typically 2 - 4 hours.

 

TDMA

A digital transmission format used for DAMPS and GSM format.

 

Vibrating Alert

A cell phone feature telling the user of an incoming call by means of a vibration mechanism.

 

Voice Activated Dialing

 A feature that allows the user to dial a telephone number by speaking the name or number into the cell phone.

 

 

Voice Recognition

A feature allowing cell phones to be operated by spoken words.

 

WAP - Wireless Application Protocol

Wireless Application Protocol is an open, global specification that defines how a website will be written to show up on a mobile device. WAP sites are small and contain few images or ads, however the WAP protocol defines two softkeys on the bottom of the screen that the site can use as it sees fit for navigation or other things. To see a site in WAP, the site has to be specially rewritten as a WAP site by the site's operator.
This is not the same as HTML internet browsing, HTML browsing involves seeing the full website as written for a computer.

Author Name: IronHelix

WIFI or Wi-Fi - Wireless Fidelity

Popular wireless networking (for computers) standard that operates in the 2.4GHz and 5.8GHz bands. Anybody can set up and use WiFi transmitters and base stations without a license, and their relatively low cost has made them quite popular for consumers and companies. WiFi is split into 3 standards:
802.11b 11mbit/sec speed over 2.4GHz frequency bands. This was the original WiFi spec
802.11a 54mbit/sec speed over 5.8GHz frequency bands. This was added to address interference problems in the crowded 2.4GHz band by switching to the less-used, higher frequency.
802.11g 54mbit/sec speed over 2.4GHz frequency bands. This is the most popular today, as a .11g device can fall back to .11b mode without needing a second transmitter/antenna for the higher 5.8GHz frequency. Almost all consumer computer routers now support 802.11g, including the popular Linksys WRT54G series.

Author Name: IronHelix

Wireless Data

The service that allows you to send digital information on a cellular phone.

 

RD Glossary by Run Digital