The IT world is a maze of abbreviations, Acronyms and technological terms. Our Glossary will help you find your way through the maze.

Bandwidth
Expressed in hertz, bandwidth is the range of frequencies that allow a data channel to be transported. It is defined as the difference between the lowest and highest frequencies transmitted. In IT, it is often confused with the transfer rate or capacity expressed in bits per second.

Bluetooth
A global initiative by Ericsson, IBM, Intel, Nokia and Toshiba to set a standard for cable-free connectivity between mobile phones, mobile PCs, handheld computers and other peripherals.
It uses short-range radio links in the 2.45 GHz Instrumentation Scientific and Medical ISM - " free band ".
Limit is 10 meters and the dataflow is limited to 1 Mbits/s
The term Bluetooth comes from a Scandinavian king who first federates the Scandinavian countries.
The king had a dark broken tooth.

GPRS (General Packet Radio Services)
Packet switching system enabling enhanced data rate over GSM networks (cf. "Switching").

ISDN (Integrated Services Digital Network)
Digital telecommunications network, capable of carrying image, sound and text data simultaneously.

Internet Protocol (IP)
Telecommunications protocol used on networks which support Internet, enabling the transmission of data packets, from one end system to another based on address information carried in the message. The Transmission Control Protocol, is used to with IP to guarantee reliable stream transport, by providing acknowledgements between the source and destination, hence reference is often made to the two protocols together (TCP / IP).

Intranet
A corporate network using Internet Protocol, reserved for internal data exchange. Hypertext Markup Language (HTML) makes the presentation of data user-friendly, using hyperlinks to permit user to browse through screen pages (as on a web site).

IP Address
Address identifying a terminal connected to the Internet network.

RAM (Random Access Memory)
The main working memory of a computer in which program instructions and data are stored where they are directly accessible to the central processing unit (CPU). Often called read/write memory to distinguish from read-only memory.

Virtual Private Network
Network facility provided over one or several public networks for a closed user group. It responds to a need for both internal communication (within the user group), and external communication (to public network users). For businesses whose sites are spread over a wide area, the virtual private network can function like a private network, with its own private numbering plan. In this case it is an attractive alternative, as it saves the business from investing in a costly private automatic branch exchange (PABX).

WAP (Wireless Application Protocol)
Protocol concerning the use of the Internet with mobile telephones. It deals in particular, with the use of a suitable content format. This new communications protocol is part of the process of incorporating Internet applications into GSM mobile networks.