Telecommunications terms starting with M

413 terms

metallic voltage A potential difference between metallic conductors, as opposed to a potential difference between a metallic conductor and ground.
meteor burst communications Communications by the propagation of radio signals reflected by ionized meteor trails. [NTIA]
meteorological aids service A radiocommunication service used for meteorological, including hydrological, observations and exploration. [NTIA] [RR]
meteorological-satellite service An Earth exploration-satellite service for meteorological purposes. [NTIA] [RR]
metric system A decimal system of weights and measures based on the meter as a unit of length and the kilogram as a unit of mass.
metropolitan area network (MAN) A data communications network that (a) covers an area larger than a campus area network and smaller than a wide area network (WAN), (b) interconnects two…
metropolitan service area The area around and including a relatively large city and in which substantially all of the message telephone traffic between the city and the suburban…
MF Abbreviation for medium frequency.
MFD Abbreviation for mode field diameter.
MFJ Abbreviation for Modification of Final Judgment.
MFSK Abbreviation for multiple frequency-shift keying.
MHS Abbreviation for message handling system.
MHz Abbreviation for megahertz.
MIC Meteorologist In Charge
micro-mainframe link A physical or logical connection established between a remote microprocessor and mainframe host computer for the express purpose of uploading…
microbend In an optical waveguide, sharp curvatures involving local axial displacements of a few micrometers and spatial wavelengths of a few millimeters.
microbend loss In an optical fiber, the optical power loss caused by a microbend. [2196]
microbending See microbend.
microcircuit Synonym integrated circuit.
microcode A sequence of microinstructions that is fixed in storage that is not program-addressable, and that performs specific processing functions.
microcomputer A computer (a) in which the processing unit is a microprocessor and (b) that usually consists of a microprocessor, a storage unit, an input channel, and…
microfinishing film A film of dimensionally stable plastic, to which are adhered carefully graded abrasive or polishing powders, i.e.
microinstruction An instruction that controls data flow and instruction-execution sequencing in a processor at a more fundamental level than machine instructions.
Microprocessor A processor on the RAID card which performs all RAID management functions.
microprogram A sequence of microinstructions that are in special storage where they can be dynamically accessed to perform various functions.
microwave (mw) Loosely, an electromagnetic wave having a wavelength from 300 mm to 10 mm (1 GHz to 30 GHz).
Mie Scattering Any scattering produced by spherical particles whose diameters are greater than 1/10 the wavelength of the scattered radiation.
mileage In telecommunications, a specified distance used in tariff calculations, i.e., toll charge calculations.
military common emergency frequency A frequency that (a) is used by all military units that are equipped to operate at that frequency or in the band in which that frequency lies and (b) is…
millimeter wave Loosely, an electromagnetic wave having a wavelength from 1 mm to 0.1 mm (300 GHz to 3000 GHz).
MIME Multipurpose Internet Mail Extension.
mimicking [A] form of spoofing. [INFOSEC-99]
minicomputer See computer.
minimize A condition wherein normal message and telephone traffic is drastically reduced in order that messages connected with an actual or simulated emergency…
minimum ACL An ACL that contains only the required entries [POSIX.6].
minimum bend radius The radius below which an optical fiber or fiber-optic cable should not be bent.
minimum discernable signal (MDS) See threshold.
minimum picture interval The minimum time between the television pictures that have been selected for encoding. Note: ITU-T Recommendation H.
minimum standards left
minimum-dispersion slope See zero-dispersion slope.
minimum-dispersion wavelength Synonym zero-dispersion wavelength.
minimum-dispersion window The window of an optical fiber at which material dispersion is very small. Note 1: In silica-based fibers, the minimum-dispersion window occurs at a…
minimum-loss window Of an optical fiber, the transmission window at which the attenuation coefficient is at or near the theoretical (quantum-limited) minimum.
minutes-of-use A unit of measurement expressed as either holding time or conversation time. [47 CFR Pt.36-A]
minutes-of-use-kilometers The product of (a) the number of minutes-of-use-and (b) the average route kilometers of circuits involved. [47 CFR Pt.36-A]
MIP Maintenance Index Page (Navy ILS term).
mirroring The duplication of data for purposes of backup or to distribute Internet or network traffic among several servers with identical data.
MIS Management information systems.
misalignment loss See angular misalignment loss, gap loss, lateral offset loss.
misdelivered block A block received by a user other than the one intended by the message source.
misdelivered frame A frame transferred from a source user to a destination user other than the intended destination user.
mission bit stream Synonym payload.
Mistracking The phenomenon that occurs when the path followed by the read head of the recorder does not correspond to the location of the recorded track on the…
mixer 1. A nonlinear analog circuit or device that accepts as its input two different frequencies (signals) and presents at its output (a) a signal equal in…
mixing See heterodyne, mixer.
MJU Abbreviation for multipoint junction unit. Equipment used by the service provider to perform the bridging functions for multipoint service. [T1.Rpt39-1995]
MLP(multilevel precedence) compatibility mode An ANSI Tl.224 operation mode that uses the MLP Channel to transfer data. ANSI Tl.224 data sent on the MLP channel is broadcast to all other ANSI T1.
MLPP Abbreviation for multilevel precedence and preemption.
MM patch bay A patching facility designed for patching and monitoring of digital data circuits at rates exceeding 3 Mb/s.
mobile Earth station An Earth station in the mobile-satellite service intended to be used while in motion or during halts at unspecified points. [NTIA] [RR] 2.
mobile service A radiocommunication service between mobile and land stations, or between mobile stations. [NTIA] [RR] [47CFR]
mobile services switching center (MSC) In an automatic cellular mobile system, the interface between the radio system and the public switched telephone network.
mobile station A station in the mobile service intended to be used while in motion or during halts at unspecified points. [NTIA] [RR] [47CFR] 2.
mobile station international ISDN number A dialable number and, in the context of this document, a 10-digit NANP (North American Numbering Plan) directory number assigned to address a wireless…
mobile-satellite service A radiocommunication service: between mobile earth stations and one or more space stations, or between space stations used by this service; or between…
modal dispersion Incorrect synonym for multimode distortion.
modal distortion Synonym multimode distortion.
modal distribution In an optical waveguide operating at a given wavelength, the number of modes supported, and their propagation time differences.
modal loss In an open waveguide, such as an optical fiber, a loss of energy on the part of an electromagnetic wave due to obstacles outside the waveguide, abrupt…
modal noise Noise generated in an optical fiber system by the combination of mode-dependent optical losses and fluctuation in the distribution of optical energy among…
mode In a frequency distribution, the class having the greatest frequency.
mode [identification friend or foe] The number or letter referring to the specific pulse spacing of the signals transmitted by an interrogator. [JP1]
mode coupling In an electromagnetic waveguide, the exchange of power among modes. Note: In a multimode optical fiber, mode coupling reaches statistical equilibrium, i.e.
mode field diameter (MFD) An expression of distribution of the irradiance, i.e., the optical power, across the end face of a single-mode fiber.
mode filter A device used to select, reject, or attenuate a certain mode or modes.
mode mixer Synonym mode scrambler.
Mode of Operation An algorithm for the cryptographic transformation of data that features a symmetric key block cipher algorithm.
mode partition noise In an optical communications link, phase jitter of the signal caused by the combined effects of mode hopping in the optical source and intramodal…
mode scrambler A device for inducing mode coupling in an optical fiber. 2. A device composed of one or more optical fibers in which strong mode coupling occurs.
mode stripper See cladding mode stripper.
mode volume The number of bound modes that an optical fiber is capable of supporting. Note: The mode volume M is approximately given by V2/2 and (V2/2)[g/(g+2)]…
Modem A device that allows a computer system to transmit data over telephone or cable lines.
modem patch A method of electrically interconnecting circuits by using back-to-back modems.
moderated conference An electronic conference in which participants exchange computer messages via a moderator who may accept, modify, or reject them. [2382-pt.35]
moderator In computer conferencing, a person who receives the prospective messages from conference attendees and may accept, modify, or reject them. [2382-pt.
modification detection Synonym manipulation detection.
modification detection code Synonym manipulation detection code.
Modification of Final Judgment (MFJ) The 1982 antitrust suit settlement agreement ("Consent Decree") entered into by the United States Department of Justice and the American Telephone and…
modified AMI code Abbreviation for modified alternate mark inversion code. A T-carrier AMI line code in which bipolar violations may be deliberately inserted to maintain…
modular Pertaining to the design concept in which interchangeable units are used to create a functional end product.
modular jack A device that conforms to the Code of Federal Regulations, Title 47, part 68, which defines the size and configuration of all units that are permitted for…
Modulation Modulation is the method by which a high-frequency digital signal is grafted onto a lower-frequency analog wave, so that digital packets are able to ride…
modulation factor In amplitude modulation, the ratio of the peak variation actually used, to the maximum design variation in a given type of modulation.
modulation index In angle modulation, the ratio of the frequency deviation of the modulated signal to the frequency of a sinusoidal modulating signal.
modulation rate The rate at which a carrier is varied to represent the information in a digital signal.
modulation suppression In the reception of an amplitude-modulated signal, an apparent reduction in the depth of modulation of a wanted signal, caused by the presence, at the…
modulator A device that imposes a signal on a carrier.
modulator-demodulator (modem) See modem.
module The smallest self-contained, environmentally protected structure housing interconnected photovoltaic cells and providing a single dc electrical output…
modulo-2 addition Binary addition with no carry. [After X9.8]