Network Computing Devices WUSB11 - Manual (Page 23)

Wireless USB Network Adapter
39
Instant Wireless ® Series
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cient delivery over the network. UDP is known as a “connection-less” protocol
due to NOT requiring the receiver of a packet to return an acknowledgment of
receipt to the sender of the packet (as opposed to TCP).
USB (Universal Serial Bus) - A “plug-and-play” interface between a comput-
er and peripherals, such as digital cameras, scanners, game controllers, speak-
ers, keyboards, portable data storage, or printers. With USB, you can add a new
peripheral to your computer without having to add an adapter card or powering
down the computer. USB also supports hot-swapping, the addition or removal
of devices while the computer is running.
USB 1.1-compliant devices support data rates of 1.5Mbps (low-speed) and up
to 12Mbps (full-speed).
WEP (Wired Equivalent Privacy) - A data privacy mechanism based on a 64-
bit shared key algorithm, as described in the IEEE 802.11b standard.
WINIPCFG - Configuration utility based on the Win32 API for querying,
defining and managing IP addresses within a network. A commonly used util-
ity under Windows 95, 98, and Me.
WLAN (Wireless Local Area Network) - A group of computers and associat-
ed devices that communicate with each other wirelessly.
Roaming - In an infrastructure mode wireless network, this refers to the abili-
ty to move out of one access point's range and into another and transparently
reassociate and reauthenticate to the new access point. This reassociation and
reauthentication should occur without user intervention and ideally without
interruption to network connectivity. A typical scenario would be a location
with multiple access points, where users can physically relocate from one area
to another and easily maintain connectivity.
SSID (Service Set Identifier) - An identification name that wireless devices
use to make connections. In order for wireless devices to communicate, they
must all be set to the same channel and they all must use the same SSID. For
instance, if you are using an access point to connect two computers using wire-
less devices, the access point and each of the wireless devices must use the
same SSID. Even if they are set to the same channel, they cannot communicate
unless the SSID is the same.
Static IP Address - A permanent IP address that is assigned to a node in a
TCP/IP network.
Subnet Mask - The method used for splitting IP networks into a series of sub-
groups, or subnets. The mask is a binary pattern that is matched up with the IP
address to turn part of the host ID address field into a field for subnets.
TCP (Transmission Control Protocol) - A method (protocol) used along with
the IP (Internet Protocol) to send data in the form of message units (datagram)
between network devices over a LAN or WAN. While IP takes care of handling
the actual delivery of the data (routing), TCP takes care of keeping track of the
individual units of data (called packets) that a message is divided into for effi-
cient delivery over the network. TCP is known as a "connection oriented" pro-
tocol due to requiring the receiver of a packet to return an acknowledgment of
receipt to the sender of the packet resulting in transmission control.
TCP/IP (Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol) - The basic com-
munication language or set of protocols for communications over a network
(developed specifically for the Internet). TCP/IP defines a suite or group of
protocols and not only TCP and IP.
UDP (User Datagram Protocol) - A method (protocol) used along with the IP
(Internet Protocol) to send data in the form of message units (datagram)
between network devices over a LAN or WAN. While IP takes care of handling
the actual delivery of the data (routing), UDP takes care of keeping track of the
individual units of data (called packets) that a message is divided into for effi-