Glossary

Transmission Control Protocol (TCP): A communications protocol used in Internet and in any network that follows the US Department of Defense standards for internetwork protocol. TCP provides a reliable host-to-host protocol between hosts in packet-switched communications networks and in interconnected systems of such networks. It assumes that the Internet protocol is the underlying protocol.

Transport Layer: Layer 4 of the Open Systems Interconnection (OSI) model; provides reliable, end-to-end delivery of data, and detects transmission sequential errors.

Transport Protocol Data Unit (TPDU): A transport header, which is added to every message, contains destination and source addressing information that allows the end-to-end routing of messages in multi-layer NAC networks of high complexity. They are automatically added to messages as they enter the network and can be stripped off before being passed to the host or another device that does not support TPDU’s.

Trunk: Transmission links that interconnect switching offices.

TSR (terminate and stay resident): A software program that remains active and in memory after its user interface is closed. Similar to a daemon in UNIX environments.

Tunneling: Encapsulation data in an IP packet for transport across the Internet.

Twisted pair wiring: A type of cabling with one or more pairs of insulated wires wrapped around each other. An inexpensive wiring method used for LAN and telephone applications, also called UTP wiring.

Type A: The upstream (USB Type A) connector. A Type A Connector is for those devices on which the external cable is

permanently attached. Connectors for USB come in two designs: the 'A' and 'B' types. Upstream connections (computer, hub input, etc.) are made using the 'A' type connector, downstream connections (peripherals, hub outputs) are made using the 'B' type connector. The USB spec defines two types of connectors to protect the bus from illegal topologies (e.g., connecting one downstream port back to another, etc.) and to prevent end-user confusion. This allows end users to easily attach the correct connectors to peripherals and ports. Type A Plug and receptacle are to be used for those devices on which the external cable is permanently attached to devices such as Keyboard, mouse and hubs. Series B Plug and receptacle are to be used for those devices that require an external detachable cable such as printers, scanners and modems.

Type B: The uplink (USB Type B) connector. A Type B Connector is for detachable external cables. Allows for double

ended cable assemblies. Connectors for USB come in two designs: the 'A' and 'B' types. Upstream connections (computer, hub input, etc.) are made using the 'A' type connector, downstream connections (peripherals, hub outputs) are made using the 'B' type connector. The USB spec defines two types of connectors to protect the bus from illegal topologies (e.g., connecting one downstream port back to another, etc.) and to prevent end-user confusion. This allows end users to easily attach the correct connectors to peripherals and ports. Type A Plug and receptacle are to be used for those devices on

which the external cable is permanently attached to devices such as Keyboard, mouse and hubs. Series B Plug and receptacle are to be used for those devices that require an external detachable cable such as printers, scanners and modems.

UART (Universal Asynchronous Receiver/Transmitter) (pronounced “you art”): A chip that transmits and receives data on the serial port. It converts bytes into serial bits for transmission, and vice versa, and generates and strips the start and stop bits appended to each character.

UHCI (Universal Host Controller Interface): The USB Universal Host Controller Interface. All transfers on the USB are initiated by the host system’s host controller. The host controller is responsible for controlling traffic on the USB and can be appropriately programmed to transfer data to and from USB devices. This is typically a PCI device that can be programmed to run a given schedule of transfers on the USB and bus master the results into memory for processing by the host software. There are currently two standards for host controllers: OpenHCI (OHCI or Open Host Controller Interface) and UHCI (Universal Host Controller Interface). Both these standards define register level interfaces of the host controller to PCI bus. Bandwidth allocation over the USB is software managed and is done by the programming of the host controller.

UNIX: An operating system developed by Bell Laboratories that features multiprogramming in a muti-user environment.

Universal Serial Bus: A collection of Universal Serial Bus devices and the software and hardware that allow them to connect the capabilities provided by functions to the host.

Universal Serial Bus Device: Includes hubs and functions. See device.

Universal Serial Bus Driver: The host resident software entity responsible for providing common services to clients that are manipulating one or more functions on one or more Host Controllers.

Universal Serial Bus Interface: The hardware interface between the Universal Serial Bus cable and a Universal Serial Bus device. This includes the protocol engine required for all Universal Serial Bus devices to be able to receive and send packets.

Unshielded Twisted Pair (UTP): Telephone-type wiring. Tansmission media for 10Base-T.

Upstream: The direction of data flow towards the host. An upstream port is the port on a device electrically closest to the host that generates upstream data traffic from the hub. Upstream ports receive downstream data traffic.