G: G-Gzip

G-Geek

G

1. G stands for giga, which means a billion or one thousand million. In telecommunications, a gig is actually 1,000,000,000. In computers it is ten to the ninth power, which is actually 1,073,741,824. One thousand gigas are a tera. One thousand teras are one peta, which is equal to 10 to the 15th.

2. Abbreviation of "Grin," commonly typed within pointy brackets as <G>, at the end of an item uploaded to a BBS (Bulletin Board System), where the sender wants to make sure that readers realize that the message was meant to be humorous or sarcastic , and not to be taken literally. Example: "If my wife makes meat loaf one more time, I'm going to cut her fingers off <G>." Usage is similar to appending Wayne's-World usage of "Not" to reverse the meaning of a sentence .

3. Refers to the status of an employee no longer employed. They are "G" (Gone).

G Recommendations

A series of standards defined by the ITU-T covering transmission facilities. Namely: G.703 transmission facilities running at 2.048 megabits/second (E1) and 64 kilobits per second. G.703 is the ITU-T standard 1984 current version for the physical and logical traits of transmission over digital circuits. G.703 now includes specifications for the US 1.544 megabits per second as well as the European 2.048 megabits/second, and circuits with larger bandwidths on both continents. G.703 is still generally used to refer to the standard for 2.048 megabits per second; G.821 is the ITUT Recommendation that specifies performance criteria for digital circuits for ISDN. The G.990 series covers xDSL technology. See G.990.

G2

Intelligence. The term G2 is a term used by the military (chiefly the U.S. Army) for intelligence. If someone asks, "What's the G2 on Microsoft?" they're asking for the latest information on the company, preferably information which is not public.

G3

Third Generation Mobile System. An ITU-T discussion over a proposed worldwide worldwide cellular phone GSM standard. Usually called 3G. See 3G.

G-Lite

Spelled G.Litge. A ITU standard for xDSL high-speed local loop access to the Internet. For a full explanation, see G.Lite.

G-Style Handset

A G-style handset is a standard round screw-in, screw-out hand- set, as compared to the K-style handset, which is the newer square handset with the two screws in the middle.

G.5

See G5.

G.703

ITU-T Recommendation G.703, "Physical/Electrical Characteristics of Hierarchical Digital Interfaces". See G Recommendations. 64 Kbps PCM and used for E-1 and T-1.

G.704

ITU-T Recommendation G.704, "Synchronous Frame Structures Used at Primary and Secondary Hierarchy Levels".

G.707

The ITU-T standards recommendation (1990) for Synchronous Digital Standard (SDH) bit rates. See SONET for a full listing of current bit-rate levels.

G.708

The ITU-T standards recommendation (1990) for Synchronous Digital Hierarchy (SDH) Network Node Interface (NNI). See SDH and SONET.

G.709

The ITU-T standards recommendation (1990) for Synchronous Digital Hierarchy (SDH) multiplexing structure. Development work on G.709 continues on "Interface for the optical transport network (OTN)," which focuses on the creation of a much less overhead- intensive "digital wrapper" for network management purposes in a carrier network based on pure optics such as DWDM (Dense Wavelength Division Multiplexing). See also Digital Wrapper, SDH, and SONET.

G.711

ITU-T Recommendation for an algorithm designed to transmit and receive m law PCM voice (for North America) and A-law (for the rest of the world) at digital bit rate 64 Kbps. It is used for digital telephone sets on digital PBX and ISDN channels. Support for this algorithm is required for ITU-T compliant videoconferencing (the H.320/H.323 standard).

G.721

Old ADPCM speech coding standard at 32 kbps from ITU-T, but it has now been replaced by G.726.

G.722

ITU-T Recommendation: This algorithm produces digital audio through a wideband speech coder operating at 64, 56 and 48 kbps. The sampling rate is 16 kHz. All the other ITU-T speech coding standards use a sampling rate of 8 kHz.

G.723

Old ADPCM speech coding standard at 40, 32, and 24 kbps from ITU-T, but it has now been replaced by G.726.

G.723.1

ITU-T Recommendation: Speech encoding/decoding with a low bit rate, 5.3 kbps or 6.3 Kbps output quality. This is what the Voice over IP would use over the Internet. This is the default encoder required for H.323 compliance.

G.726

G.726 defines ADPCM voice coder operating at 40, 32, 24, and 16 kbps. This has replaced the old ADPCM standards of G.721 and G.723.

G.727

G.727 defines embedded ADPCM with voice encoded at 40, 32, 24 and 16 kbps.

G.728

ITU-T Recommendation: Encoding/decoding of speech at 16 kbps using low- delay code excited linear predictive (LD-CELP) methods . Like G.722, it is optional for H.320 compliance.

G.729

The International Telecommunications Union's standard voice algorithm ” CSACELP (Conjugate Structure Algebraic Code Excited Linear Predictive) voice algorithm for the coding of encoding/decoding of speech at 8 Kbps using conjugate-structure, algebraic- code excited linear predictive methods. G.729 is supported by, inter alia, AT&T, France Telecom and Japan's NTT. G.729

See V.70, the specification for DSVD, which uses G.729.

G.729A

A simplified G.729 for DSVD applications. The bit stream of G.729A is compatible with G.729.

G.804

ITU-T Recommendation G.804, "ATM Cell Mapping into Plesiochronous Digital Hierarchy (PDH)".

G.990

On October 29. 1998, the International Telecommunications Union issued the following press release. (My edits in brackets.) Geneva - The International Telecommunication Union today closed a vital link in the high capacity Information Highway by reaching agreement on a set of new technical system specifications for Multi- Megabit/s network access, and initiating the formal approval process. The new specifications, designated as the G.990 series of Recommendations, specify several techniques to provide megabit per second network access on existing telephone subscriber lines (i.e. copper local loops ) simultaneously with the regular voice communication. Main applications are high-speed Internet access, video and other on-line data communications such as electronic commerce, home office, distance learning.

"These new specifications for multi-megabit network access link well into the already existing ITU-T fiber- and coax-based standards on Gigabit/s transport systems for the core network, enabling network providers to offer on-demand, high capacity digital services over the last mile ” another major step towards building the information society", said Peter Wery, Chairman of ITU-T Study Group 15.

The new access systems are industry's response to the yearning of subscribers for quicker network access without long waiting times and at high bit rates. Commercially very important, industry analysts foresee a market potential of several billion dollars world-wide. The new access network specifications provide for:

Symmetrical bi-directional access at bit rates of up to 2 million bits per second (New Recommendation G.991.1). Asymmetrical bi-directional access bit rates of up to 640 kilobits per second in the upstream (subscriber to network) and up to 6 million bits per second in the downstream (network to subscriber) direction, depending on the subscriber line length (Draft new Recommendation G.992.1). Splitterless, asymmetrical bi-directional access (Draft new Recommendation G.992.2, previously known as G.lite). This is a simpler, splitterless asymmetrical system which can be installed by the user . Depending on the subscriber line length, the system provides upstream access up to 512 kilobits per second and enables the subscriber to download data and video at speeds of up to 1.5 million bits per second. The standard eliminates the need for a piece of equipment called "splitter" at the consumer's premises. New G.992.2 compliant modems will simply plug into the back of the PC as current modems do. Industry analysts expect that the adoption of the standard will speed up the rollout of high-speed Internet access to consumers over existing phone lines. It is also expected that this type of Megabit per second system to become a 'best seller' in the network access arena, with transmission speed of Internet data 25 times faster than today's 56k analog modems and close to speeds achieved on cable modems. Today's agreement on a single open standard also means that consumers can choose freely from any supplier providing G.992.2-compliant products as all DSL modems will be able to interoperate . "One of the keys to the mass deployment is standardization, which allows a situation where an end-subscriber can comfortably buy a modem and be reasonably assured that they can move to a different location and have it work.

In addition to the system specifications above, a number of complementary technical specifications have also been agreed upon, addressing test procedures, system management, and 'handshaking' procedures.

The ITU, a United Nations agency, coordinates the development of global communications standards. Study Group 15 of the ITU Telecommunication Standardization Sector (ITU-T), where the work on these specifications has been carried out, is responsible for the standards development in the area of transport networks, systems and equipment.

Recommendations G.991.1 and G.992.1 have been approved and have taken effect. In respect of Recommendation G.992.2 (previously G-Lite), the Study Group has agreed to apply the approval procedure under which the draft text is circulated to all ITU-T members to determine whether the Study Group is to be assigned the authority to give it final approval ("decision") at its next meeting. After unanimous approval by the Study Group, the standard takes effect. For the G.992.2 draft standard, the "decision" step is scheduled for end of June 1999 (June 21 to July 2). The agreement by the Study Group covers the key technical specifications, thus providing the technical stability required by manufacturers and service providers to bring compatible products to the market. The next step in June/July is the formal approval of the standard before it can take effect.

G.991

See G.990.

G.992

See G.990.

G.992.2

This spec was previously known as G.Lite. See ADSL Lite and G.990.

G.DSVD

Voice digitizer for V.DSVD.

G.Lite

See ADSL Lite.

G.O.O.D. Job

A "Get-Out-Of-Debt" job. A well-paying position you take to pay off your debts , and one you'll quit as soon as you're solvent.

G.shdsl

See HDSL2, SDSL and SHDSL.

G5 Messaging Forum

This comes from a press release I received from the G5 Messaging Forum. In May 1996 a meeting of representatives of major fax industry players was called in Anaheim, California. They jointly agreed to create the G5 Messaging Forum, a non-profit organization, to develop and promote a new messaging service. Later, the group established the G5 Messaging Forum, with 25 member organizations, between them accounting for over 50% of inter-company messaging stations worldwide. A Group 5 Messaging Interoperability Agreement (G5 Messaging) which defines a new 5th generation electronic messaging service is being developed by members of the Forum. The G5 Messaging specification is based on MIME encoding, a technique that is well established in Internet e-mail. This immediately provides for transmission and identification of any file type registered with the Internet MIME registry (IANA). G5 messaging reduces the high cost of fax transmissions by allowing Internet, internal network or carrier transfer and least cost routing, irrespective of file format. G5 Messaging also reduces the handling costs associated with document transfer and retention, variously estimated at between 10 and 100 times the communications costs. The eight steps typically required to send and receive electronic documents today can be reduced in G5 Messaging to three ” create, index and record. These processes can in themselves be fully automated. G5 Messaging is a new messaging service designed and agreed by the G5 Messaging Forum. Its target is to be the 5th major inter-organization messaging service after post, telex, fax and e-mail. It brings together five currently disparate messaging application areas: Image/fax, Text/e-mail, Voice Messaging, Video and Electronic Commerce. It adds to the functionality of all these current messaging applications. Examples are: Carrier independent delivery. End delivery to person, application, peripheral or department. Transmission of document referencing information. Electronic postmarking. Delivery confirmation. Its design caters for communications of any data type e.g. an information file, instruction (control command) or software. It addresses the costs associated with transmission, handling and retention storage, the complete document life cycle burden . Electronic commerce transactions are possible and acceptable without currently required agreement, (subject to individual country legislation or accepted practice). It interworks with existing Group 3 Facsimile and with Internet SMTP E-mail It is designed to meet the identified and evolving user needs.

While fax has become ubiquitous as a means of inter-organization messaging there has been much change in the organizations served so effectively since its introduction. In particular over 70% of all business documents are generated on computers.

To provide integration with the existing user base of inter-organizational messaging, G5 Messaging is designed to support interworking with Group 3 fax and Internet SMTP e-mail. This means that with a single keystroke, a message may be sent to multiple recipients who use any mix of Group 3 fax, Internet e-mail and full G5 Messaging. G5 Messaging thus sits above existing application specific messaging services.

The G5 Messaging architecture is based on MIME enframing, which allows for transmission and identification of any file type registered with the Internet MIME registry (IANA). The Interoperability Agreement defines a G5 Message Header, which is being registered as a specific MIME file type, and which provides control functions, such as: Sender identification, Recipient identification Title, subject description and keywords. An electronic postmark. Because this header (which provides a number of functions) is itself a MIME data file, the G5 Messaging service is transport independent allowing it to operate over a variety of underlying data transport mechanisms including: PSTN: V.34, T.30 and T.434 (Group 3 fax standards) Internet: SMTP E-mail or direct network connection TCP/IP Intranet: SMTP E-mail or direct network connection. Other transport mechanisms such as cable or mobile networks can be accommodated in future developments.

The sending system generates an electronic postmark at time of transmission consisting of a unique message ID, sender, recipient, date and time stamp and cryptographic checksum). The receiving system automatically generates a confirmation containing the postmark from the original message and constructs its own confirmation postmark. The original and confirmation postmarks can be stored at the point of sending and point of receipt, providing mutual non- repudiation of the message and its contents.

Carrier independence allows flexible selective routing by carrier, Internet, or an internal network. This provides least cost routing opportunities, with major cash savings, and automatic fallback.

Within a G5 Messaging system all messages can be archived at the point of sending (even if they are subsequently transmitted as Group 3 fax or Internet E-mail). This provides an indexed, searchable unified message store and retention of Group 3 Fax, Internet e-mail and G5 messages. G5 Messages carry usable indexing information for the recipient. This saves high re-indexing costs and provides pre-use archiving, searchable message store, and retention.

G5 Messaging combined with optional optical storage conforms to existing and new codes of Practice for legal admissibility . These new Standards Body approved codes will be issued in USA, Japan, and Europe in early 1998. This provides legal status for the electronic version of the document, and a means of avoiding high paper archiving costs.

The G5 Messaging addressing scheme allows people, organizational unit, applications or devices to be directly addressed using the recipient's own choice of inbound addressing. This allows a full range of existing schemes to be used. From any G5 compliant system, messages can be automatically directed to G5, Group 3 Fax and Internet e-mail users on carrier, Internet, or internal networks (universal outbox ). People, applications, or peripherals can be addressed. Open and closed copies can be made, personal receipt confirmation requested and sender authentication added. Inboxes can combine G5, Group 3 fax, and Internet e-mail. G5 Messages can be sorted as required using inbuilt indexing, postmark, and media type data (universal inbox).

The G5 Messaging service is designed to integrate with an X.500 style distributed directory service using an access protocol based on LDAP. A local directory can be self-built from the headers of incoming message, confirmations of outgoing messages and calls to external directory services, thus minimizing the cost and effort of individual directory building.

In addition to the basic electronic postmarking, digital signature/encyptographic checksum and message confirmation G5 Messaging provides optional additional security, including file encryption, smart card, one time session encryption, file negotiation and directory referencing.

Current business electronic invoicing is limited in reach. G5 Messaging allows for the first time "total electronic invoicing " between all companies using image, text, or MIME registered EDI formats (e.g. EDIFACT). Version 1.0 of the G5 messaging specification is now available on www.group5forum.org.

GA

1. Generally Available or General Availability. A vague term manufacturers use to refer to when their new product will be generally available.

2. Abbreviation for "Go Ahead," used in real-time computer communications to indicate that you have finished a sentence and are awaiting a reply.

GAAP

Pronounced gap. Generally Accepted Accounting Principles. American companies traditionally report financials according to GAAP. The problem with GAAP is that it's neither "generally accepted," nor are its principles real principles ” as in the sense of principles (or laws) of physics. How you report financials under GAAP is open to much interpretation and depends on such factors as your accountant , your auditor and/or the rules and regulations of the Internal Revenue Service. See Operating Income.

GAB

Group Access Bridging. A service for bridging of multiple calls to create a conference call.

Gable Mount

See Eave Mount.

Gaff

Equipment worn by telecommunications and power company staff when they climb poles. The official name is linesman's climbers. They consist of a steel shank that can be strapped to a person's leg. The inside of the shank has a spike that can stab the pole. It's the spike that most people mean when they refer to a gaff.

Gain

1. The increase in signaling power that occurs as the signal is boosted by an electronic device. It's measured in decibels (dB).

2. A radio term. Formally, and according to Bell Telephone Laboratories, "gain" is the ratio of the maximum radiation intensity in a given direction to the maximum radiation intensity in the same direction from an isotropic radiator (an antenna radiating equally in all directions). In other words, "gain" is a measure of the relative efficiency of a directional (focused) radio antenna systems, as compared to an omnidirectional (broadcast) system.

Gain Hits

A cause of errors in data transmission over phone lines. Usually the signal surges more than 3dB and lasts for more than four milliseconds . AT&T's standard calls for eight or fewer gain hits in a 15-minute period.

GAIT Phones

Named after its standards body, the GSM ANSI Interoperability Team, GAIT phones operate on both GSM and TDMA networks.

Galileo

Galileo is the proposed European version of the US Global Positioning System (GPS). Galileo, called the European Satellite Navigation System, will have 30 satellites . GPS has 24. Sometimes not all of GPS's 24 are working. Why is Galileo necessary? According to the Europeans, "Galileo will ensure European economies' independence from other states' systems, which could deny access to civil users at any time, and to enhance safety and reliability. The only systems currently in existence are the United States Global Positioning Service (GPS) and the Russian GLONASS system, both military but made available to civil users without any guarantee for continuity." The Europeans also say that "important macroeconomic benefits will be derived from Galileo, in particular through achieving a European share in the equipment market, efficiency savings for industry as well as social benefits e.g. through cheaper transport, reduced congestion and less pollution. Above that, with its open service at least offering the same performances as GPS by the time of Galileo's deployment, Galileo will offer also value added services with integrity provision and, in some cases, service guarantees , based on a certifiable system." Why should I pay for Galileo when GPS is free? Answers the Europeans, "Like GPS, Galileo will be free of charge to basic users (open service). Some applications will have to be paid for ” those requiring a quality of service which GPS is unable to provide. The GPS of the future could perhaps offer such services too, but there is no guarantee that they will be free, least of all if GPS would hold a monopoly. In any case, GPS will remain a system conceived primarily for military applications." Galileo will be fully operational by 2008, according to the Directorate-General for Energy and Transport, European Commission, Belgium, Brussels. See GPS.

Gallium Arsenide

A substance from which microprocessor and memory chips are made. Compared with silicon, GaAs is three to ten times faster or, depending on its speed, uses as little as one-tenth the power; GaAs can detect, emit and convert light into electrical signals, opening the possibility of providing optoelectronic properties on a single chip; GaAs can resist up to 10,000 times the radiation; GaAs can withstand operating temperatures of 200 degrees Centigrade, and GaAs have a higher electron mobility. Gallium arsenide chips run six to seven times faster than those made from silicon. The newer indium phosphide chips will run four times faster still.

Galvanic Isolation

A characteristic of a UPS or transformer in which the output is completely electrically disconnected from the input. Power is coupled from input to output by magnetic fields in a transformer within the UPS. A galvanically isolated output is considered to be a separately derived source according to the US National Electrical Code and is required to be grounded, that is, the output grounding wire must be directly bonded to the input grounding wire. It is commonly but falsely believed that galvanic isolation eliminates ground loops. This definition courtesy American Power Conversion Corp.

Galvanometer

A delicate instrument used for measuring minute currents.

Galvo Man

Telco-talk for Galvanometer Man, a technician who uses a galvanometer to find and repair circuit faults. It's common for the phone company rep to tell you that your new lines can't be installed when promised because the galvo man hasn't finished his work.

Gamer

A gamer is a person who likes to play computer games , but who typically doesn't see them as a "game." He sees them a something far more serious, even a way of life.

Gaming

A euphemism for gambling. In our context, the term most typically is used with respect to gambling over the Internet, which sometimes is known as "cybergambling." A number of companies have set up gaming sites on the World Wide Web (WWW). The companies are headquartered and the Web sites are located in "friendly" countries abroad (e.g., countries in the Bahamas), where they are outside the reach of US federal and state laws against it. Some of the Web sites are run by US Native American (a euphemism for what we used to call Indian) tribes from their reservations , where they largely are outside the reach of state and federal laws. The way that cybergambling works is that you open an account in an offshore bank in the same country where your gaming company is located. You then place bets on the gaming Web site. Your losses automatically are debited to your account. Your winnings, if any, are automatically credited to your account. At least that's the way it's supposed to work. Lots of people have complained that their winnings never were credited. You just need to make sure that you gamble with honorable people. Good Luck! While the specifics are the laws are somewhat unclear, there continue to be legislative efforts to tighten both the laws and the associated regulations against gaming. As the FCC and WTO have declared a multi-year moratorium on regulation of the Internet, it is unlikely that we will see any aggressive moves in the near future to curtail this sort of activity.

GAMMA Distribution

A telephone company term. A particular type of rightskewed probability distribution which closely resembles COE load distribution. GAMMA extends farther to the right which means that "for a given average busy season load" the GAMMA will predict higher peak day loads than will the normal distribution.

Gamma Ray

The highest energy, shortest wavelength electromagnetic radiations. Usually, they are thought of as any photons having energies greater than about 100 keV.

Gammic Ferric Oxide

The type of magnetic particle used in conventional floppy disks.

GAN

Global Area Network. Companies like Global Crossing and Globalstar are considered global area network companies. I hope they're still around by the time you read this.

Gang of Four

The Frame Relay Forum began in 1990 as the Frame Relay Working Group, which was formed by The "Gang of Four," comprising Cisco, Digital Equipment Corporation, Nortel, and Stratacom (since acquired by Cisco). In 1991, the Frame Relay Forum was officially formed, and has grown to over 300 members. See also Frame Relay Forum.

Gap

1. GAP. Generic Access Profile. A wireless term. See Generic Access Profile.

2. Gap. An open space in a circuit through which a condenser discharges for producing electric oscillations.

See Gap Loss.

Gap Loss

That optical power loss caused by a space between axially aligned fibers. For waveguide-to- waveguide coupling, it is commonly called "longitudinal offset loss."

Garage

Silicon Valley, according to contemporary lore, started in a garage in Palo Alto in 1939. In that year Bill Hewlett and Dave Packard started Hewlett Packard with $538. Hewlett was the inventor and Packard the manager. Their first product, an audio oscillator, was an immediate success. Walt Disney used it in making Fantasia. Microsoft also was started by Bill Gates and Paul Allen in a garage. Even more recently, Excite, the Web browser company, was started in a garage. Excite no longer works out of a garage, but there is a conference room in their new headquarters, that looks just like a garage, from the outside. East coast companies are often started in basements. West coast companies are started in garages because there no basements in West coast houses .

Garage Sale

See Yard Sale.

Garbage Band

A pejorative term for the ISM (Industrial Scientific Medical) radio frequency bands, also known as Part 15.247 of FCC regulations. ISM operates in the 902- 928 MHz, 2.4-2.483 GHz, and 5.725-5.875 GHz ranges. Traditionally used for in-building and system applications such as bar code scanners , industrial microwave ovens and wireless monitoring of patient sensors, ISM also is used in many Wireless LANs. As the ISM band is unlicensed, anyone can use it for anything, anywhere in the U.S. Some garage door openers use it-hopefully not the garage door openers at the same hospital that's using it to monitor your pulse rate in the ICU. It's a catch-all, hence the term "garbage band."

Garbage Can

What Australians call a garbage can, Americans call a trash can.

Garbage Collection

A software program or routine that is used to solve "memory leaks." Garbage collection is the process of searching memory for program segments or data that are no longer active, in order to reclaim that memory space for other computer programs. See also Memory Leak.

Garbage In, Garbage Out

GIGO. If the input data is wrong or inaccurate, the output data will be inaccurate or wrong. GIGO is problem with data entered by hand into computer systems. Ask yourself how many times you've received "junk" mail with the wrong spelling of your name? That's called Garbage In, Garbage Out.

Garbitrage

Sending garbage from one city to another, usually organized by garbitrageurs on the phone.

GARP

1. Growth At a Reasonable Price. An investment philosophy that focuses on picking stocks that provide growth, but without taking significant risk. The term means different things to different people.

2. Generic Attribute Registration Protocol. An IEEE standard for a generic method by which various devices (e.g., clients , servers, and bridges) can automatically disseminate attribute information across a bridged LAN. GARP is a Layer 2 (i.e., Data Link Layer) protocol used extensively in VLANs (Virtual LANs). A GARP participant consists of a GARP application software component, and a GARP Information Declaration (GID) component which is associated with each port of the bridge. GARP participants in a given application disseminate their attribute information through the use of the GARP Information Propagation (GIP) component.

Relying on GARP services is GMRP (GARP Multicast Registration Protocol), which provides a mechanism by which bridges and end stations can automatically and dynamically register their membership in a group with the MAC bridges by which a physical LAN segment attaches to the larger logical LAN. Once the bridges receive that registration information, they propagate it to all other bridges that support extended filtering services. The GARP VLAN Registration Protocol (GVRP) is a GARP application that provides registration services in a VLAN context. See also VLAN.

Gas

The word "gas," coined by the chemist J.B. van Helmont, is taken from the word "chaos," which means "unformed" in Greek.

Gas Carbon

Used for lightning protection by phone companies. In the telephone's early days lightning often struck telephone lines, electrocuted people or burned their houses down. Early lightning protectors were made of carbon. When hit they took phone out of action and needed to be replaced by a technician. Newer lightning protectors are made with a gas. When hit by lightning they temporarily short, then re-enable the phone line. This invention has greatly reduced the number of bad lines a phone company has after a storm . Despite their name, there is no carbon in them. Gas carbons are the same size and shape as the older carbon protectors so they fit easily into the old slots.

Gas Pressurization

A method for preventing water from entering openings in splice closures or cable sheaths by keeping the cables under pressure with dry gas.

Gas Tube

A method of protecting phone lines and phone equipment from high voltage caused by lightning strikes. See CARBON BLOCK (another protection technology) for a more detailed explanation. Here is a definition from American Power Conversion Corp. Gas tube is a surge suppression device that clamps a surge voltage to a limited value. Also called a "spark gap", a gas tube is simply two electrodes that are held at a close distance so that high voltages between the electrodes simply arc through the air or other gas within the tube, thereby effectively clamping the voltage. Gas tubes are very slow, but can handle very large surges. The main problem with the use of gas tubes in AC power circuits is that when they clamp the surge they momentarily short out the utility line which usually trips the circuit breaker feeding the circuit which the tube is connected to. In this case the operation of surge clamping leads directly to power interruption. They are well suited to use in data line surge suppression, but have protective clamping voltages that are too high to provide effective protection for most modems or computer ports.

Gaseous Conductors

The gases which, when ionized by an electric field, permit the passage of an electric current.

Gate

1. This term is typically used in Automatic Call Distributors, devices used for handling many incoming telephone calls. Gate refers to a telephone trunk or business transaction grouping that may be handled by one group of telephone answerers (called attendants, operators, agents or telemarketers ). That one group of telephone answerers is called "the gate." All calls coming into that gate can, theoretically, be handled by any of the telephone answerers. A telephone call is homogeneous throughout the gate. An automatic call distributor may have one gate ” all calls coming in can be handled by everyone. Or it may have many gates, each one consisting of the line (or lines) bringing the call in ” e.g. Band 5 WATS, New York City foreign exchange line. Or it may have two gates ” one for orders and one for service. ACDs with multiple gates will establish rules for moving the calls between the gates, should one gate become overloaded.

2. A circuit on a silicon chip. See Gate Array.

Gate Array

A circuit consisting of an array of logic gates aligned on a substrate (a piece of silicon) in a regular pattern.

Gate Assignments

Used in context of ACD (Automatic Call Distribution) equipment. Gates are made up of trunks that require similar agent processing. Individual agents can be reassigned from one gate to another gate by the customer via the supervisory control and display station. Also called splits .

Gate D

Gateway Daemon. A popular routing software package which supports multiple routing protocols. Developed and maintained by the GateDaemon Consortium at Cornell University.

Gate Rape

Frequent random searches of flight crews by airport security. Coined by pilots, who claim they're easy targets because they can be punished for objecting to it.

Gatekeeper

In the classic sense of the word, a gatekeeper is someone who is in charge of a gate. His or her job is to identify, control, count, supervise the traffic or flow through it. A network gatekeeper provides the same functions, including terminal and gateway registration, address resolution, bandwidth control, admission control, etc. A gate- keeper is a fancy name for a network administrator.

Gateway

1. A gateway is what it sounds like. It's an entrance and exit into a communications network. That "communications network" may be huge, for example, at the point where AT&T Communications ends and Comsat begins ” for taking my satellite call overseas. Gateways may be small ” between one LAN and another LAN. Technically, a gateway is an electronic repeater device that intercepts and steers electrical signals from one network to another. Generally, the gateway includes a signal conditioner which filters out unwanted noise and controls characters . In data networks, gateways are typically a node on both two networks that connects two otherwise incompatible networks. For example, PC users on a local area network may need a gateway to gain access to a mainframe computer since the mainframe does not speak the same language (protocols) as the PCs on the LAN. Thus, gateways on data networks often perform code and protocol conversion processes. Gateways also eliminate duplicate wiring by giving all users on the network access to the mainframe without each having a direct, hard-wired connection. Gateways also connect compatible networks owned by different entities, such as X.25 networks linked by X.75 gateways. Gateways are commonly used to connect people on one network, say a token ring network, with those on a long distance network. According to the OSI model, a gateway is a device that provides mapping at all seven layers of the model. A gateway may be used to interface between two incompatible electronic mail systems or for transferring data files from one system to another. Electronic mail systems that sit on local area networks often have gateways into bigger e-mail systems, like Internet or MCI Mail. For example, I might use MCI Mail to send a e-mail to someone's internal LAN e-mail. It might travel from MCI Mail to Internet via a gateway and then from Internet via another gateway to the company's e-mail on its own LAN.

2. A Gateway is an optional element in an H.323 conference. Gateways bridge H.323 conferences to other networks, communications protocols, and multimedia formats. Gateways are not required if connections to other networks or non-H.323 compliant terminals are not needed. Gatekeepers perform two important functions which help maintain the robustness of the network ” address translation and bandwidth management. Gatekeepers map LAN aliases to IP addresses and provide address lookups when needed. Gatekeepers also exercise call control functions to limit the number of H.323 connections, and the total bandwidth used by these connections, in an H.323 "zone." A Gatekeeper is not required in an H.323 system-however, if a Gatekeeper is present, terminals must make use of its services. See TAPI 3.0.

Gateway City

A city where international calls must be routed. New York, Washington, DC, Miami, New Orleans, and San Francisco are the five gateway cities in the United States.

Gateway Protocol Converter

GPC. An application-specific node that connects otherwise incompatible networks or networked devices. Converts data codes and transmission protocols to enable interoperability. Routers are capable of running gateway protocols ” we used to call routers "gateways." Contrast to Bridge.

Gateway Server

A communications server that provides access between networks that use different access protocols.

Gating

1. Enabling or disabling a signal through applied logic. If it's turned on, the signal gets through. If not, the signal doesn't get through.

2. The process of selecting only those portions of a wave between specified time intervals or between specified amplitude limits.

Gatored

To be gatored means that while surfing the Internet, you're bombarded by pop-up ads. The term, according to Wired Magazine, comes from Gator, the ad-feeding app that's increasingly bundled with popular file sharing programs.

Gauge

A term for specifying the thickness (diameter) of cables. Thicker cables have a lower number in the American Wire Gauge (AWG) scale. Thicker gauge cables can carry phone conversations further and more cleanly than thinner gauge cable. But thicker cables cost more and take up more room, especially when you bundle them together and put them in a duct. When buying a phone system it is good to specify the thickness of the cables that will be installed ” especially if some of your extensions will be a great distance from the central telephone switch, if you intend to carry high-speed data on them or you intend to live with your cabling scheme for more than a few months. You should, of course, not only specify the cable's thickness, but also whether it's stranded or solid core, coax, etc. Gauge is but one part of a cable description. See AWG for a fuller explanation.

Gauge, Wire

The method of specifying the thickness and size of wire. The two important American gauges are the American Wire Gauge (AWG), previously known as Brown & Sharpe, and the Steel Wire Gauge. See AWG for a fuller explanation.

Gauss

The unit of magnetic field intensity in terms of the lines of force per square centimeter.

Gaussian Beam

A beam pattern used to approximate the distribution of energy in a fiber core. It can also be used to describe emission patterns from surface-emitting LEDs. Most people would recognize it as the bell curve.

Gaussian Noise

Gaussian noise, more correctly, is "average white Gaussian noise," also known as "white noise" and "thermal noise." It is the natural noise which occurs when electricity is passed through a conductor, and is due to the random vibration of electrons in the conductor. Gaussian noise is uniform across the entire range of frequencies involved. Gaussian noise is named after Karl Friedrich Gauss (1777-1855), the German mathematician who is generally recognized as the father of the mathematical theory of electricity. Gauss also invented the "Gaussian Distribution," or "bell curve," which is the frequency distribution of many natural phenomena. See White Noise for more detail.

Gazillion

An extremely large, indeterminate amount. See Gigabyte.

GB

Gigabyte. See Gigabyte.

GbE

See Gigabit Ethernet.

GBH

Group Busy Hour.

GBIC

Gigabit Interface Connector. The physical connection to Gigabit Ethernet media. A removable optical interface transceiver module designed to carry Gigabit Ethernet or Fibre Channel traffic. Used as a physical-layer transport interface on Gigabit Ethernet and fibre Channel Fabric switches.

Gbps

Gigabits per second. Gig is one thousand million bits per second.

GCAC

An ATM term. Generic Connection Admission Control: This is a process to determine if a link has potentially enough resources to support a connection.

GCCS

Global Common and Control System. Military talk for an umbrella system that tracks every friendly tnak, plane, ship and soldier in real time, plotting their positions as they move on a digital map. It can also show enemy locations gleaned from intelligence. GCCS was used with great succcess in the second Iraq War in 2003.

GCI

A TDM (Time Division Multiplexed) bus technology developed by Siemens.

GCRA

An ATM term. Generic Cell Rate Algorithm: The GCRA is used to define conformance with respect to the traffic contract of the connection. For each cell arrival the GCRA determines whether the cell conforms to the traffic contract. The UPC function may implement the GCRA, or one or more equivalent algorithms to enforce conformance. The GCRA is defined with two parameters: the Increment (l) and the Limit (L).

GCS

Global Communications Service.

GCT

Greenwich Civil Time.

GD

Graceful Discard. A Frame Term. See Committed Information Rate and Graceful Discard.

GDDM

An SNA definition: Graphical Data Display Manager (GDDM) system software used for graphics display and printer devices and performs the same functions as QuickDraw in Macintosh computers.

GDDR-I

A slower version of GDDR-II. See GDDR-II.

GDDR-II

Graphics double data rate. GDDR-II is a new, higher data transfer "bus" between a CPU (central processing and a video card. One version of GDDR-II runs at 500 MHz and transfers data the one gigabit per second rate. That's one thousand million bits second. This incredible speed is allegely necessary for 3D graphics in high-speed gaming.

GDF

Group Distribution Frame.

GDI

Graphics Device Interface. The part of Windows that allows applications to draw on screens, printers, and other output devices. The GDI provides hundreds of convenient functions for drawing lines, circles, and polygons; rendering fonts; querying devices for their output capabilities; and more.

GDMO

Guidelines for the Definition of Managed Objects.

GDOP

See Geometric Dilution of Precision.

GE

Gigabit Ethernet. See Gigabit Ethernet.

GEANT

Gigabit European Academic NeTwork. A high-speed optical fiber network proposed to cover 30 European countries at speeds of 2.5 Gbps in 2001 and 100 Gbps by 2004. GEANT is the European version of Internet2. See also Internet2.

Gearhead

A geek who particularly loves new hardware. See Geek.

GEDCOM

GEnealogical Data COMmunication. GEDCOM is the accepted Genealogical Data Exchange format that allows users of different genealogy programs to exchange data. It was first developed by the Mormon Family History Library in conjunction with the PAF (Personal Ancestry File program). PAF may have been the basis of many of the commercial and shareware programs available today. Genealogy research via the Internet is pursued by millions of people. The major sites are www.ROOTSWEB.com, which supposedly has 50 million hits a month. There is also www.JewishGen.org, which has many special interest groups for various regions (e.g GerSig for Germany). Major commercial sites include www.Ancestry.com, which seems to be buying up many of the earlier programs and companies.

Geek

A computer enthusiast who doesn't have a life beyond computers and the Internet. Also called a Techno-Geek. Coined in the early 1940s, a geek was a carnival performer usually billed as a wild man whose act often consisted of biting the heads off live chickens or snakes . "Geek" has its roots in the Greek "geck," meaning "fool." See also Geek Gab and Geekspeak.