WAN
wide-area network. Data communications network that serves users across a broad geographic area and often uses transmission devices provided by common carriers. Frame Relay, SMDS, and X.25 are examples ofWANs. Compare with LAN and MAN.
WDM
wavelength division multiplexing. Multiple optical wavelengths can share the same transmission fiber. The spectrum occupied by each channel must be adequately separated from the others.
Web
World Wide Web (also called WWW). A client/server system based on HTML and HTTP.
WFQ
weighted fair queuing. Congestion management algorithm that identifies conversations (in the form of traffic streams), separates packets that belong to each conversation, and ensures that capacity is shared fairly between these individual conversations. WFQ is an automatic way of stabilizing network behavior during congestion and results in increased performance and reduced retransmission.
WIC
WAN interface card. Connects the system to the WAN link service provider. See also WAN.
wireless access protocol
A language used for writing Web pages that uses far less overhead, which makes it more preferable for wireless access to the internet. WAP’s corresponding OS is that created by 3Com in its Palm Pilot. Nokia has recently adopted the Palm OS for its Web-capable cellular phone.
WiFi Protected Access WPA
a specification for a security enhancement to provide confidentiality and integrity for wireless communications; it includes the temporal key implementation protocol (TKIP). WPA is the successor of WEP.
Wired Equivalent Privacy WEP
a cryptographic protocol offering stream cipher encryption with a key length of 128 bits; it is defined within the IEEE 802.11 Wireless LAN specifications
Wireless Fidelity WiFi
a trademark provided by the WiFi Alliance promoting the use of wireless LAN equipment
Wireless LAN WLAN
a network using radio frequencies. The most common standards in use are IEEE 802.11b and 802.11g with up to 11 Mbps respectively 54 Mbps transfer rate utilising the 2,4 GHz frequency band.
worm
A computer program that can run independently, can propagate a complete working version of itself onto other hosts on a network, and can consume computer resources destructively.
WRED
weighted random early detection. Queueing method that ensures that high-precedence traffic has lower loss rates than other traffic during times of congestion.
WWW
World Wide Web. Large network of Internet servers providing hypertext and other services to terminals running client applications, such as a browser. See also browser.
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