Cabletron Systems SFCS-200BX - Manual (Page 160)

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GLOSSARY
work module hardware and software, IP connectivity, and SNMP network
management.
ANSI (American National Standards Institute) - a private organization that
coordinates the setting and approval of some U.S. standards. It also repre-
sents the United States to the International Standards Organization.
API (Application Program Interface) - a language format that defines how a
program can be made to interact with another program, service, or other soft-
ware; it allows users to develop custom interfaces with FORE products.
APP (application program) - a complete, self-contained program that per-
forms a specific function directly for the user.
AppleTalk - a networking protocol developed by Apple Computer for com-
munication between Apple’s products and other computers. Independent of
the network layer, AppleTalk runs on LocalTalk, EtherTalk and TokenTalk.
ARP (Address Resolution Protocol) - a method used to resolve higher level
protocol addressing (such as IP) into the appropriate header data required for
ATM; i.e., port, VPI, and VCI; also defines the AAL type to be used.
ASCII (American Standard Code for Information Interchange) - a standard
character set that (typically) assigns a 7-bit sequence to each letter, number,
and selected control characters.
Assigned Cell - a cell that provides a service to an upper layer entity or ATM
Layer Management entity (ATMM-entity).
asxmon - a FORE program that repeatedly displays the state of the switch and
of all its active ports.
Asynchronous time division multiplexing - a multiplexing technique in
which a transmission capability is organized into a priori, unassigned time
slots. The time slots are assigned to cells upon request of each application’s
instantaneous real need.
ATM (Asynchronous Transfer Mode) - a transfer mode in which the informa-
tion is organized into cells. It is asynchronous in the sense that the recurrence
of cells containing information from an individual user is not necessarily periodic.
ATM Forum - an international non-profit organization formed with the objec-
tive of accelerating the use of ATM products and services through a rapid
convergence of interoperability specifications. In addition, the Forum pro-
motes industry cooperation and awareness.
ATM Layer link - a section of an ATM Layer connection between two adja-
cent active ATM Layer entities (ATM-entities).
ATM Link - a virtual path link (VPL) or a virtual channel link (VCL).