Appendix: Terminology

This Annex summarizes the definitions of themost important technical terms introduced in this book. For other terms please consult the index and look up the corresponding chapter. Note that a number of the terms introduced in this book are used in a different, often more loose, meaning elsewhere! The reason for this is that we are travelling at the intersection of Telecommunication Networks and Computer Networks. Some terms have a TelecommunicationNetworks origin; some have aComputer Networks origin. Sometimes a term coined by one of the communities was taken up and used by the other community—however, with a slightly different meaning. This terminology section therefore intends to clarify in which sense a particular term is used in this book. Vice versa, the same functionality is sometimes named differently in the two types of network and in different technologies, and a generic term is not agreed. In such a case, this book defines a generic name which allows one to reference a particular functionality without reference to a particular technology. Terms with a book-specific meaning are put in Arial in this Appendix.