The process of resolving and mapping hardware MAC addresses into their corresponding
network layer IP addresses. Depending on the underlying network, address resolution
may require broadcasts on a local network.

For more information see

“ARP” on page B.4

Adjacency

A state existing between two OSPF routers. These routers build their routing databases by
exchanging link state advertisements, often termed hello messages. When a pair has
completed the process, the routers are said to be “adjacent.”

ARP

Address Resolution Protocol. ARP is used by your device to dynamically learn the Layer 2
address of devices in its networks. Most hosts also have a MAC physical address in addition
to the assigned IP address. For Ethernet, this is a 6-byte, globally unique number. ARP
enables your device to learn the physical address of the host that has a given IP address.

For more information see

“Address Resolution Protocol (ARP)” on page 24.3

ASCII

The American Standard Code for Information Interchange. A standard character-to-number
encoding widely used within the computer industry.

ASIC

Application Specific Integrated Circuit. An integrated circuit (chip) manufactured to
perform a specific function.

Asynchronous

Transmission in which each character is sent individually. The time intervals between
transmitted characters may be of unequal length. Transmission is controlled by start and
stop elements before and after each character. See

“Synchronous” on page B.27

Autonegotiation

Autonegotiation lets the port adjust its speed and duplex mode to accommodate the
device connected to it. When the port connects to another autonegotiating device, they
negotiate the highest possible speed and

Duplex mode

for both of them.