Understanding Mobile Terms - Part 8

in Mobile Help

UTRA
Universal Terrestrial Radio Access; the air interface component of WCDMA.

UTRAN
Universal Terrestrial Radio Access Network; the UMTS radio access network comprising the RNC, Node B and the air interface

USIM
Universal Subscriber Identity Module; the 3G equivalent of the GSM SIM

UWB
Ultra Wide Band

VAS
Value Added Services

VBR
Variable Bit Rate

VHE
Virtual Home Environment

VLR
Visitor Location Register

Vocoder
Voice coder

VoIP
Voice over Internet Protocol

VPN
Virtual Private Network

VSAT
Very Small Aperture Terminal

VSELP
Vector Sum Excited Linear Prediction

WAP
Wireless Application Protocol; a de facto standard for enabling mobile phones to access the Internet and advanced services. Users can access websites and pages which have been converted by the use of WML into stripped-down versions of the original more suitable for the limited display capabilities of mobile phones

WARC
World Administration Radio Conference; an ITU conference held at regular intervals to determine the allocation of spectrum for various services

WCDMA
Wideband CDMA; the technology created from a fusion of proposals to act as the European entrant for the ITU IMT-2000 family

WLL
Wireless Local Loop; a technique for providing telephony and low speed data services to fixed customers using wireless. Regarded as having considerably potential for rapidly addressing the telecommunications gap in developing countries. A number of different WLL solutions have been marketed based on cellular and cordless technologies

WLAN
Wireless Local Area Network; a short range radio network normally deployed in traffic hotspots such as airport lounges, hotels and restaurants. WLAN enables suitably equipped users to access the fixed network wirelessly, providing high speed access (up to 11Mbit/s download) to distant servers. The key WLAN technologies are the IEEE802.11 family and ETSI HIPERLAN/2

WML
Wireless Markup Language; a markup language developed specifically for wireless applications. WML is based on XML

WQAM
Weighted Quadrature Amplitude Modulation

WWW
World Wide Web

XML
extended Markup Language

The Consumer Mobile Glossary

Advice of charge
A service which provides the user with information on the cost of calls from a mobile phone

Airtime
The amount of time a subscriber spends using his/her mobile phone

Battery status/Battery charge display
An indication of the amount of battery life remaining

Battery
A chargeable device which provides the mobile phone with power. A variety of battery technologies have been used for mobile phones including nickel cadmium (NiCad), nickel metal hydride (NiMH) and lithium ion (Li-ion)

Call barring
A service which enables users to bar certain incoming or outgoing calls on their mobile phones

Call timer
A service which keeps track of the amount of airtime being used by the subscriber on a cumulative basis

Call divert
The capability to divert incoming calls to another phone (fixed or mobile) or to an answering service

Call hold
The ability to put an ongoing call on hold whilst answering or making a second call

Caller ID
Caller Identification; displays the name/number of the person calling a mobile phone. Also known as CLI

CLI
See Caller ID

CLR
Clear; the key on a cellular phone which is pressed to remove information from the display

Data capable
Mobile phones which have the capability to enable transmission of data from a laptop computer or PDA via the phone

Dual band
Mobile phones which support transmission and reception of calls on the 900MHz and 1800MHz bands with seamless handover between the two frequency bands

EFR
Enhanced Full Rate (codec); an improved version of the standard voice codec used in GSM phones; offers improved speech quality without impacting on network capacity

END
The key on a cellular phone which is pressed to terminate a call

Infrared data port
A facility on a mobile phone to allow information to be exchanged with other devices e.g. a PC using infra red technology

Lock
A function on a cellular phone which, when activated, prevents use of the phone until the user enters a security code

No Service
An indication on the display of a cellular phone that indicates that the user is in an area where cellular service is unavailable

One-touch dialing
The ability to dial frequently called numbers using a single key stroke; see Speed Dialing

PCN
Personal Communications Networks; an outdated term for GSM services in the 1800MHz band

PDA
Personal Digital Assistant; a sophisticated handheld device with advanced display facilities and a range of business-oriented software programs

Phone book
A list of personal names and numbers stored in a mobile phone’s internal memory or in the SIM card. These numbers can be called by accessing the appropriate memory and making a single key stroke

PIN
Personal Identity Number; a number, usually four digits, that must be keyed into a mobile phone to make it work. A security measure to prevent unauthorised usage

RCL
The function on a cellular phone which recalls a phone number from memory

Roaming
The ability to make and receive calls on the same mobile phone when traveling outside the area of the home network operator

Smartphone
a combination of mobile phone and personal digital assistant

SND
Send; The key on a cellular phone which initiates a call or answers an incoming call

Speed dialing
See One-touch dialing

Standby time
The length of time a battery can power a mobile phone when it is switched on but not making or receiving calls

Talk-time
The length of time a battery can power a mobile phone when making or receiving calls

Voicemail
A service offered by network operators whereby calls received when the mobile is in use, switched off or out of coverage can be diverted to an answering service which can be personalised by the user

WAP
Wireless Application Protocol; a standard whereby mobile phones can gain access to specially tailored Internet websites

WML
Wireless Markup Language; a specially designed markup language used for tailoring WAP content. WML enables optimum usage of the limited display capabilities of the mobile phone.