W

(WAN) Wide Area Network: A network that connects two or more LANs in multiple cities via telephone lines.

 

(WDN) Wavelength Division Multiplexing: A technology that utilizes the transmission of multiple light signals simultaneously through the same optical fiber, while preserving the integrity of each individual signal.

 

White Area: An area unserved by a local, over-the-air broadcast signal (outside its grade B contour).

 

Wireless systems:  A Public Mobile Network (PLMN) is any wireless communications system intended for use by terrestrial subscribers in vehicles or on foot. Such a system can stand alone, but often it is interconnected with a fixed system such as the Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN). 

 

The most familiar example of a PLMN end user is a person with a cell phone.  However, mobile and portable Internet use is also becoming common.  The ideal PLMN provides mobile and portable users with a level of service comparable to that of subscribers in a fixed network. 

 

This can be a special challenge in regions where the terrain is irregular, where base station sites are hard to find and maintain, and in urban environments where there are numerous obstructions such as buildings, and myriad sources of radio-frequency (RF) radiation that can cause noise and interference. Most systems today use digital technology rather than the older analog methods.

 

ALSO CALLED:   Mobile Data, Digital Cellular Systems, Mobile Data Systems, Terrestrial Wireless Communications Systems, Wireless Data Systems, Analog Cellular Systems, Cellular Systems, Wireless Data Transmission Systems, Wireless Communications Systems, Public Land Mobile Networks

 

Wireless tower: There are basically three kinds: 1. Cell phone towers for connecting to cell phones typically within a 1 to 5 mile radius of the tower.  2. Towers with dishes for point-to-point high capacity long distance wireless links providing backhaul capacity typically 1 to 30 miles between towers. 3. Towers supporting wireless Internet bandwidth distribution to fixed residential & business locations within a community typically within a 1 to 10 mile radius form the tower.

 

(WLL) Wireless Local Loop: A system that uses radio waves, as a substitute for copper in making telephone connections from your home or office to the public switched telephone network (PSTN).

 

(WWW) World Wide Web: A basic way of communication through the Internet for worldwide hypertext linking of multimedia documents.