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LAN

See Local Area Network (LAN).

Laptop

A term that the consumer and corporate marketing departments use to describe a battery- or AC-powered personal computer that is generally smaller than a briefcase; thus such devices are easily transported and convenient to use in temporary spaces such as on airplanes, in libraries, temporary offices, and at meetings. A laptop typically weighs less than 5 pounds and is 3 inches or less in thickness.

Layer 2 Bridge

A device which connects two or more networks at the Data Link Layer, which is Layer 2 of the OSI Model.

See also Bridge.

See also OSI (Open System Interconnection) Model.

LCD

See Lead Crystal Display (LCD).

LDAP

See Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (LDAP).

Lead Crystal Display (LCD)

An alphanumeric display using liquid crystal sealed between the pieces of glass.

Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (LDAP)

A standard designed to query and update a directory. The IETF introduced LDAP in order to encourage adoption of X.500 directories (a set of ITU-T standards covering electronic directory services) and to address some of the deficiencies of X.500's Directory Access Protocol.

Line-of-Site (LOS)

When speaking of RF, LOS means more than just being able to see the receiving antenna from the transmitting antenna's position. In order to have true line-of-site, no objects (including trees, houses or the ground) can be in an area known as "the Fresnel zone." The Fresnel zone is the area around the visual line-of-sight that radio waves spread out into after they leave the antenna. This area must be clear or else signal strength will weaken.

See also Fresnel Zone.

Local Area Network (LAN)

A short distance data communications network consisting of both hardware and software and typically residing inside one building or between buildings adjacent each other—thus allowing all networked devices to share each other's resources.

LOS

See Line-of-Site (LOS).

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