Agilent Technologies J3916A manual ThickLAN, Token-Ring Cable, Topology, Virtual Circuit

Glossary

ThickLAN

A local area network (LAN) operating over 10-mm diameter coaxial LAN cable. Agilent ThickLAN networks are compatible with the IEEE 802.3 Type 10Base5 standard.

Token

A short frame that circulates over the ring until captured by a station that wants to transmit a message. Tokens have a specific format as defined by the Token-Ring standard.

Token-Ring

A LAN developed by IBM Corporation. Token-Ring transmits at 4 Mbit or 16 Mbit per second.

Token-Ring Cable

The MsAU cable used to connect devices to the Token-Ring network. This cable connects a MsAU network port to either the RJ-45 or DB-9 probe port.

Topology

The organization of network devices in a network. FDDI uses a ring topology, Ethernet uses a bus Topology, and Token-Ring uses a ring topology.

UTP (Unshielded Twisted Pair)

A cable that is twisted in pairs. Pair twisting reduces crosstalk by canceling the magnetic fields generated in each of the twisted wires.

Vertical Redundancy Check (VRC)

A technique for error checking in the data stream where each character plus parity is used to calculate for errors (similar to LRC).

Virtual Circuit

An end-to-end logical connection of users without specific paths defined. It is not a direct connection, but a logical communication path. The Frame Relay and X.25 technique of routing user data through the network.

Vp (nominal Velocity of Propagation)

The speed that a pulse travels along a given cable. Vp is expressed as a percentage of the speed of light in a vacuum.

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