Glossary 3
Fiber Thin filament of glass. An optical waveguide consisting of a core and cladding, which is capable of carrying information in the form of light. Fibre is also a general term used to cover all physical media types supported by Fibre Channel, such as optical fiber, twisted pair, and coaxial cable.
Fiber Optics Light transmission through optical fibers for communication or signaling.
Fibre Channel A
GLM Gigabit Link Module. A transmitter and receiver that provides
Host Adapter Module (HAM) A HAM is the driver component used to drive specific HBA hardware in the
NetWare Peripheral Architecture (NPA).
Interrupt Request (IRQ) Network boards are supplied with default settings for the IRQ, I/O port and base memory address. An IRQ is a signal protocol used by hardware devices, such as printers and modems, to let the computer know that they need some attention. When an IRQ is invoked, the CPU puts its other work “on hold” and services the needs of the interrupting device.
Kilometer 1,000 meters or 3,281 feet. The kilometer is a unit of measurement commonly used in fiber optics. To convert kilometers to miles, multiply the number of kilometers by .62 to achieve the number of miles. To convert miles to kilometers, multiply the number of miles by 1.61 to achieve the number in kilometers.
Laser Light Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation. A device that produces coherent light with a narrow range of wavelengths.
Latency Delay in transmission; can be caused by arbitration time prior to winning control of the network.
Light In the laser and optical communication fields, the portion of the electromagnetic spectrum that can be handled by the basic optical techniques used for the visible spectrum extending form the near ultraviolet region of approximately 0.3 micron, through the visible region and into the
Light Emitting Diode (LED) A device used in a transmitter to convert information from electrical to optical form. It typically has a large spectral width.