Glossary

802.3

A standard defined by the IEEE that defines the operation of a type of network, often referred to as "Ethernet".

802.11

A standard defined by the IEEE that defines the operation of a type of wireless network, often referred to as "WiFi".

Big-endian

Describes a layout by which numeric values are stored in memory. The most-significant bytes of numeric values are stored at the lower addresses.

Bus-mastering

A hardware mechanism whereby a device other than the CPU can directly transfer data to or from memory.

DDK

Device Driver Kit.

DMA

Direct Memory Access. A hardware mechanism whereby data can be transferred between a device other than the CPU and memory, without the CPU being involved in the memory access cycles.

DLL

Dynamically Loadable Library.

Ethernet

A type of network that involves the transmission of data packets across a physical medium (see 802.3).

IEEE

The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers.

LAN

Local Area Network.

Little-endian

Describes a layout by which numeric values are stored in memory. The least-significant bytes of numeric values are stored at the lower addresses.

MAC

Media Access Control. The protocol used by devices on a network to arbitrate access to the media.

MII

Media Independant Interface. An interface, defined by the 802.3 standard, for connecting a MAC device to a PHY device.

MOST bus

Media-Oriented Systems Transport bus. An optical bus designed for use in vehicles.

NIC

Network Interface Controller.

PCI

Peripheral Component Interconnect. A popular, high-bandwidth bus used for connecting peripheral devices to a computer system.

PHY

A physical-layer device that deals with the details of signalling on the media.

TCP/IP

Transmission Control Protocol over Internet Protocol.

WiFi

A type of network that involves the transmission of data packets using radio or infrared signals (see 802.11).