Glossary

5G

This fifth generation cellular standard (5G) allows a data transfer rate of up to 20 Gbit/s. It is a successor of the 4G standard LTE. The data transfer is processed only packet based. The latency (delay between devices) is below 1 ms.

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AliyunOS

Aliyun OS is a chinese Linux based operating system for smartphones which focusses on cloud functions instead of downloadable apps. Is has some Android frameworks which permits some Android apps to be used.

Autofocus

Camera technique where a selected point or area is focussed.

Airplay

Proprietary wireless streaming protocol created by Apple. Herewith the audiovisual output of one device may be shown on another, e.g. a movie on an iPhone on an Apple TV.

AML

Advanced Mobile Location
is a service for locating callers when using an emergency number.

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AMPS

Advanced Mobile Phone Service
was a first-generation analog mobile communications standard developed by Motorola and the American Bell Laboratories and launched in Chicago in 1983. With D-AMPS, the standard was digitized from 1993 to be replaced by GSM from 2002.

Android

Android is an operating system for smartphones and tablet computers which is developed by the Open Handset Alliance and based on Linux and Java.

Android Go

Android Go is an Android variant that offers fast and jerk-free use even with a weak processor and little memory. For this purpose, the operating system was slimmed down and the Google services rewritten, whereby many functions were outsourced to the cloud.

Android AOSP

Android Open Source Project
is the open source part of Android and contains neither proprietary extensions nor the Google services (Play Store, Maps, Chrome, YouTube, usw.).

Android One

Android One is an Android variant, where manufacturers guarantee updates for 2 and security patches for 3 years, a native Android interface with all Google services and a fast, jerk-free interface.

ANT+

With ANT+ devices may be wirelessly connected. It is primarily designed for collection and transfer of sensor data. The main areas of operation are sport, wellness and home health.

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A2DP

Advanced Audio Distribution Profil

This Bluetooth profile supports the transmission of stereo music in good quality to headphones or speakers.

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AVRCP

Advanced Audio Distribution Profile
This Bluetooth profile enables Bluetooth devices to act as a remote control for audio- or video devices.

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BDS

BeiDou Navigation Satellite System
Chinese positioning system which will finally be based on 35 satellites circling around earth sending signals. These are received by receivers which calculate the position and enabling navigation systems to work.

BDS Emergency SOS

BeiDou Navigation Satellite System SOS
Chinese positioning system which will finally be based on 35 satellites circling around earth sending signals. With the launch of the Mate 50 series in 2022, Huawei has integrated a feature that allows users to send an emergency SMS if the mobile network is unavailable, which is technically handled by the BDS satellite network.

Blackberry OS

Blackberry OS is an operating system for smartphones and tablet computers which is developed by Blackberry (formerly Research in Motion). Besides own apps Android apps may be installed since version 10.3 from the Amazon Appstore. Apps for the older Blackberry OS up to version 7.1 are incompatible to the current operating system.

Bluetooth

With Bluetooth devices may be wirelessly connected. The range is normally up to 10 meters. With Bluetooth one may for example connect mobile phones with headsets, stereo headphones, car kits or keyboards.

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Brew

Binary Runtime Environment for Wireless
BREW is an operating system for mobile phones which is developed by Qualcomm.

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CAPTCHA

Completely Automated Public Turing test to tell Computers and Humans Apart
Used to determine whether or not the user is human. Often used to determine who entered form entries as computers are often used for fraud.

CDMA

Code Division Multiple Access 2000
This third generation cellular standard (3G) is used in the US and parts of Asia and Africa. It allows a data transfer rate of up to 3.1 Mbit/s.

CMS

Content Management System
Software which is used to maintain a website. Content can be created or modified. Often a role concept is integrated which gives different rights to different users (e. g. administrator, editor, author).

DCS

Digital Communication System
Worldwide digital cellular standard primary used for speech but also for relative slow data. In Europe 1800 MHz is used and in America 1900 MHz. In Germany e-plus & o2 started with 1800 MHz and Telekom & vodafone with 900 MHz. Meanwhile all German cellular network operators use both frequencies.

DECT

Digital Enhanced Cordless Telecommunications
International standard for telecommunications by means of radio technology, especially for cordless phones, which was introduced in 1993 and replaced the previously widespread analog systems. DECT has a range of 30 to 50 meters indoors and up to 300 meters outdoors. In Europe, transmission takes place in the frequency range 1880-1900 MHz. Since DECT in itself only replaces the data cable, a standard was defined with DECT-GAP (Generic Access Profile) that enables DECT devices from different manufacturers to communicate with each other. This means that a handset from one manufacturer can be registered with the base station of another manufacturer in order to make calls. However, convenience functions such as listening to the answering machine or scrolling through the phonebook are not defined in the standard across manufacturers.

DMB

Digital Media Broadcast
Transmission standard for mobile television.

DMR

Digital Mobile Radio
is a transmission standard for voice and data in radio networks. DMR is used in government radio, professional radio, amateur radio and other services. The standard was approved by the European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI) in 2006. Technically, DMR provides full-duplex transmission and uses time division multiplexing. Typically, Advanced Multi-Band Excitation (AMBE+) is used to encode audio data. During data transmission, a gross data rate of 9.6 kbps is achieved and occupies a bandwidth of 12.5 kHz.

Dual-Camera

Smartphones with two cameras may either use them to offer different focal width or depth information through the second camera. Thus the focus in the picture may be changed afterwards.

DVB-H

Digital Video Broadcast Handheld
Transmission standard for mobile television optimized for movies in low resolution to be used on displays of mobile phones.

DVB-T

Digital Video Broadcast Terrestrial
Transmission standard for digital television optimized for movies in high resolution optimized for movies in high resolution to be used on normal tv sets.

eBus

eBus is an interface protocol used in the field of heating technology, which is based on the serial interface technology RS232 in two wire twisted pair configuration.

Eco Rating

Eco Rating evaluates the environmental impact of the entire life cycle of a cell phone, from production, transport and use to disposal of the devices. The factors longevity, reparability, recyclability, climate friendliness and resource conservation are evaluated and result in an overall score between 1 and 100. The higher the score, the more sustainable the device.

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EDGE

Enhanced Data Rates for GSM Evolution
This data transmission standard is based on GPRS and allows a data transfer rate of up to 236,8 kbit/s downlink and up to 118.4 Kbit/s uplink. EDGE represents the last possible level of extension for existing GSM networks.

EIB

European Installation Bus
also called Instabus, was the former name of the standard now known as KNX, which defined bus technologies for electrical installation and building technology.

EMS

Enhanced Message Service
was developed by Alcatel, Ericsson, Motorola and Siemens based on SMS. An open specification supports the data exchange between mobile phones from different brands also supporting the originally only on Nokia phones known picture and ringtone transfer.

eSE

embedded Secure Element
Confidential and cryptographic data (e.g. pin numbers, passwords) are stored separately in an extra chip.

eSIM

electronic Subscriber Identity Module
A circuit in a cell phone used to identify the user on the network. Mobile communications providers use it to provide their customers with telephone and/or data connections. Unlike the SIM, no additional chip is required. The mobile communications contract is linked digitally with the eSIM of the cell phone.

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EVS

Enhanced Voice Services
With this successor of HD Voice it's possible to place calls in HiFi quality. The transmission supports the full 20 kHz range hearable by the human ear. This technique only works using mobile phones equipped with it while using LTE or Wi-Fi Calling.

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FLIR

Forward Looking InfraRed
is a forward looking infrared camera that visualizes heat.

Firefox OS

Firefox OS is an operating system for smartphones and tablet computers which is developed by the Mozilla Corporation and based on Linux. The aim is to use web techniques (HTML, CSS and JavaScript) for the user interface and apps to provide an open system.

Fire OS

Fire OS is an operating system for smartphones and tablet computers which is developed by Amazon and based Android. Android apps may be installed from the Amazon Appstore.

Force Touch

Force Touch is an extension of multitouch where also the pressure is considered. Thus different actions are possible for soft touch or stronger pressure. Force Touch was first used nearly at the same time by Huawei in the Mate S and Apple in the iPhone 6s. Apple calls it 3D Touch.

FTP

File Transfer Protocol
A network protocol for transferring files over IP networks. It is used to transfer files from client to server (uploading), from server to client (downloading) or client-controlled between two FTP servers (File Exchange Protocol).

GEOS

A software that was used on several processor architectures as an operating system or graphical user interface. PEN/GEOS was used on smartphones based on an MSDOS substructure.

GeoTags

When mobile phones are equiped with camera and GPS they can write the geographical position invisibly into the picture while taking it. This information is called GeoTags.

GPRS

General Packet Radio Service
With this data transmission standard data is split in packages and transferred separately. At the recipient they are rejoined. Simultaneous transfer of data and speech is possible. The data transfer rate is up to 171,2 Kbit/s. The possible top speed is depending on the number of used channels. Here uplink and Downlink channels may differ with 14,4 kbps each. The more channels a phone supports the faster the data transfer.

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Galileo

A European positioning system based on 30 satellites circling around earth in a height of 14,450 miles sending signals. These are received by receivers which calculate the position and enabling Galileo navigation systems to work. The accuracy is 13 feet horizontal and 26 feet vertical. Galileo can be used worldwide by anyone without paying licence fees.

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Globalstar

The worldwide satellite comunication system consists of 48 satellites, orbiting the earth at an altitude of about 1,400 km. Communication with Globalstar is possible from many locations on the Earth's surface when the sky is clear, but not on the high seas, in large parts of Africa, South Asia and the polar ice caps.

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Globalstar SOS

The worldwide satellite comunication system consists of 48 satellites, orbiting the earth at an altitude of about 1,400 km. With the launch of the iPhone 14 series in 2022, Apple integrated a system called "Emergency SOS via Satellite", which allows users to send an emergency text message if the mobile network is unavailable, using the Globalstar satellite network. Communication with Globalstar is possible from many locations on the Earth's surface when the sky is clear, but not on the high seas, in large parts of Africa, South Asia and the polar ice caps.

GPS

Global Positioning System
A positioning system based on 30 satellites circling around earth in a height of 12,500 miles sending signals. These are received by GPS receivers which calculate the position and enabling GPS navigation systems to work. The accuracy is 33 feet horizontal and 115 feet vertical. GPS can be used worldwide by anyone without paying licence fees.

GLONASS

GLObalnaja NAwigazionnaja Sputnikowaja Sistema
A positioning system based on 30 satellites circling around earth in a height of 11,900 miles sending signals. These are received by GLONASS receivers which calculate the position and enabling GLONASS navigation systems to work. GPS can be used worldwide by anyone without paying licence fees.

GrapheneOS

GrapheneOS is a free and open-source Android-based operating system for selected smartphones. It was known as Android Hardening until March 2019 and focuses on privacy and security. It is only ported to devices that support Verified Boot and have an attestation for alternative operating systems, e. g. the Google Pixel smartphones. The operating system does not use Google Play services and includes privacy extensions at various levels of the operating system and in the included apps.

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GSM

Global System for Mobile Communication
Worldwide digital cellular standard primary used for speech but also for relative slow data. In Europe frequencies 900 and 1800 MHz are used and in America 850 and 1900 MHz. In Germany Telekom & Vodafone started with 900 MHz and e-plus & o2 with 1800 MHz. Meanwhile all German cellular network operators use both frequencies.

HarmonyOS

HarmonyOS is an operating system developed by Huawei for smartphones, tablets, smart homes, and IOT devices. It has been under development since 2017 after the US imposed trade restrictions prevented the usage of Android. The ARK compiler can be used to compile Android apps and offer them via the Huawei AppGallery.

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HD Voice

A more common name for the AMR-WB (Adaptive Multirate Wide Band) codec which is based on the transfer standard G.722. Using it one can place calls in better audio quality. After compression the initially 64 kbit/s big data rate is compressed between 6,6 and 23,85 kbit/s. This technique only works using mobile phones equipped with it while using UMTS.

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Hotspot

Hotspots are wireless internet access points. While public hotspots offer their services permanently to everyone commonly against payment some mobile phone also support the possibility to create a temporary hotspot. A notebook or tablet can connect to the internet via wlan by using this hotspot. Mobile phones with Android offer this since version 2.2.

HSCSD

High Speed Circuit Switched Data
This data transmission standard combines several channels and thus allows higher data rates which are dependant from the number of used channels. Standard is 4 timeslots with 14.4 KBit/s each near the transmitter. If the distance gets higher the data rate is reduced to 9.6 KBit/s. The mobile network operator is able to limit the amount of available timeslots per trasmitter. Having a good reception and 4 timeslots allows 57.6 KBit/s. HSCSD is supported in Germany by Vodafone and e-plus.

HSDPA

High Speed Downlink Packet Access
This data transmission standard is based on UMTS and allows a downlink data rate of 3.6 Mbit/s in the beginning and up to 14.4 MBit/s in the final development.

HSPA

High Speed Packet Access
This data transmission standard is based on UMTS. It allows a downlink data rate of up to 14.4 MBit/s and up to 5.8 MBit/s in uplink. It works with multiple antennas.

HSPA+

High Speed Packet Access Plus
This data transmission standard is based on UMTS and is an advanced version of HSPA. It allows a data rate of up to 42 MBit/s and works with multiple antennas. With it a continued transformation of 3rd generation mobile networks to 4th generation with Long Term Evolution (LTE) was possible.

HSUPA

High Speed Uplink Packet Access
This data transmission standard is based on UMTS and allows an uplink data rate of 1.45 Mbit/s in the beginning and up to 5.8 MBit/s in the final development.

i-mode

This technique enables the display of internet content like text, graphics, videos & sound on mobile devices. The language to describe the content is called CHTML and is a reduced variant of HTML. i-mode pages are optimized for the small displays of mobile phones. The Service was developed 1999 in Japan by NTT Docomo and offered in Germany from 2002-2008 by e-plus. Today advanced mobile phones and smartphones have made i-mode more or less irrelevant outside Japan.

Inmarsat

The worldwide satellite comunication system consists of 12 geostationary satellites. Communication is possible from every point on the earth surface with exception of the polar regions.

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iOS

iOS is an operating system which is developed by Apple for their own mobile devices (iPhone, iPad & iPod). It was called iPhone OS prior to version 4 and supports multitasking. It is expandable by hundredthousands of applications ("Apps").

IP52

Ingress Protection 52
The IP protection class indicates, how electrical devices are protected against impurities. The protection class consists of two digits. The first indicates protection against foreign particles and the second protection against water. IP 52 means protection against dust deposit and against dripping water when tilted up to 15°.

IP54

Ingress Protection 54
The IP protection class indicates, how electrical devices are protected against impurities. The protection class consists of two digits. The first indicates protection against foreign particles and the second protection against water. IP 54 means protection against dust deposit and against splash water.

IP55

Ingress Protection 55
The IP protection class indicates, how electrical devices are protected against impurities. The protection class consists of two digits. The first indicates protection against foreign particles and the second protection against water. IP 55 means protection against dust deposit and against water jets.

IP56

Ingress Protection 56
The IP protection class indicates, how electrical devices are protected against impurities. The protection class consists of two digits. The first indicates protection against foreign particles and the second protection against water. IP 56 means protection against dust deposit and against powerful water jets.

IP57

Ingress Protection 57
The IP protection class indicates, how electrical devices are protected against impurities. The protection class consists of two digits. The first indicates protection against foreign particles and the second protection against water. IP 57 means protection against dust deposit and against immersion.

IP58

Ingress Protection 58
The IP protection class indicates, how electrical devices are protected against impurities. The protection class consists of two digits. The first indicates protection against foreign particles and the second protection against water. IP 58 means protection against dust deposit and against permanent immersion.

IP64

Ingress Protection 64
The IP protection class indicates, how electrical devices are protected against impurities. The protection class consists of two digits. The first indicates protection against foreign particles and the second protection against water. IP 64 means dust proof and protection against splash water.

IP65

Ingress Protection 65
The IP protection class indicates, how electrical devices are protected against impurities. The protection class consists of two digits. The first indicates protection against foreign particles and the second protection against water. IP 65 means dust proof and protection against water jets.

IP66

Ingress Protection 66
The IP protection class indicates, how electrical devices are protected against impurities. The protection class consists of two digits. The first indicates protection against foreign particles and the second protection against water. IP 66 means dust proof and protection against powerful water jets.

IP67

Ingress Protection 67
The IP protection class indicates, how electrical devices are protected against impurities. The protection class consists of two digits. The first indicates protection against foreign particles and the second protection against water. IP 67 means dust proof and protection against temporary immersion.

IP68

Ingress Protection 68
The IP protection class indicates, how electrical devices are protected against impurities. The protection class consists of two digits. The first indicates protection against foreign particles and the second protection against water. IP 68 means dust proof and protection against permanent immersion.

IP69

Ingress Protection 69
The IP protection class indicates, how electrical devices are protected against impurities. The protection class consists of two digits. The first indicates protection against foreign particles and the second protection against water. IP 69 means dust proof and protection against close-range high pressure, high temperature spray downs.

IrDA

Infrared Data Association
1993 adopted manufacturer independent protocol for data transmission via infrared. The IrDA bus was built for a long time into mobile phones, PDAs and notebooks.

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Iridium

The worldwide satellite comunication system consists of 66 active satellites on six orbits and some spare satellites. The number of satellites originally projected was 77, the atomic number of iridium. Communication with Iridium is possible from every point on the earth surface if there is clear sight to the sky.

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KaiOS

KaiOS is an operating system for mobile phones which is forked from Firefox OS. The aim is to bring support of LTE, GPS and WiFi with HTML5-based apps and longer battery life onto non-touch devices, less memory and energy consumption. Its users can also download apps from its app store.

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KNX

is the short form of Konnex, i.e. connection. It is a bus technology defined for electrical installation and building technology. It is the successor of EIB and compatible with it.

LAN

Local Area Network
is a local wired network, also called Ethernet. The speed depends on the cables and network components used. Currently, transmission rates of 1, 10, 100 Mbit/s, 1, 2.5, 5, 10 Gbit/s are common and higher ones are specified up to 400 Gbit/s. The cables used are specified by categories. CAT-5 to CAT-7 are used. CAT-7, which supports up to 10 Gbit/s, should currently be selected for new wiring in walls.

LDAP

Lightweight Directory Access Protocol
is a network protocol for performing queries and changes in a distributed directory service which permits to query information of an LDAP directory with a certain syntax.

LiDAR

Light Detection And Ranging
is a method for measuring distances by illuminating the target with laser light and measuring the reflection with a sensor. Differences in laser return times and wavelengths can then be used to make digital 3D representation of the target.

LoRaWAN

Long Range Wide Area Network
is a wireless network protocol that requires very little energy. The specifications are set by the LoRa Alliance. Basic software modules are available as open source. End devices and gateways in the LoRaWAN use a patented transmission method called LoRa. The data transmission rate ranges from 0.3 to 50 kbit/s. In Europe, LoRa uses the 433.05 to 434.79 MHz frequency band (ISM band region 1) and from 863 to 870 MHz (SRD band Europe). In North America, the frequency band from 902 to 928 MHz (ISM band region 2) is used. Ranges extend from 2 km in urban areas to 40 km in rural areas. A major advantage is building penetration, since even basements can be reached. The power consumption in terminals is around 10 mA in operating mode and 100 nA in idle mode. This allows battery lifetimes of up to 15 years.

LTE

Long Term Evolution
This fourth generation cellular standard (4G) allows a data transfer rate of up to 300 Mbit/s. It is a successor of the 3G standard UMTS. The data transfer is processed only packet based. The latency (delay between mobile phone and fixed line network) is below 5ms. LTE is able to transfer existing connections to other wireless technologies like WLAN & UMTS (handover). In Germany the bands 7 (2600 MHz) and 20 (800 MHz) are used while additionally band 3 (1800 MHz) is only used by Telekom in cities.

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LWP

Lone Worker Protection
by programmable 3D movement sensors for inclination, impact and escape alarms as well as immobility in the event of an accident or hazardous situation. In configured alarm situations, an independent personal emergency call is triggered.

Maemo

Maemo is an operating system for mobile devices which is developed by Nokia and based on Linux and Gnome.

MediaTek Non-Terrestrial Network

The service is based on Skylo, an IoT service, which in turn is based on the Inmarsat satellite communications network, which consists of ca. 10 satellites in about 36.000 km altitude. MediaTek introduced the service in 2023, where users can send text messages when the mobile network is not available. These arrive at the recipient as SMS.

MeeGo

MeeGo was a fusion of Nokias operating system Maemo with Intels Moblin project and now residing at the Linux Foundation. It was an open operating system for mobile devices based on Linux. In the year 2011 MeeGoo was canceled in favor of Tizen.

MIL-STD-810F

MILitary STanDard 810F
The US Army subsumes several tests of their own military equipment into this standard.

MIL-STD-810G

MILitary STanDard 810G
The US Army subsumes several tests of their own military equipment into this standard.

MIL-STD-810H

MILitary STanDard 810H
The US Army subsumes several tests of their own military equipment into this standard. This one means resisting vibration, humidity, salt mist, thermal shocks, high temperature differences between -30°C and 75°C for up to 30 minutes, soap water and disinfectants.

Miracast

Open peer-to-peer wireless screencast standard created by the Wi-Fi Alliance. Herewith the audiovisual output of one device may be shown on another, e.g. a movie on a smartphone on a tv set. By using the Wi-Fi-Direct standard an existing network is not necessary.

MMS

Multimedia Message Service
is realised basically with GPRS but the main advantages came with the introduction of UMTS. Messages with multimedia content (music, photos, short movies) may be transferred. MMS is the successor of EMS.

Mocor 5

is an operating system for smartphones. It is based on Android.

MQTT

Message Queuing Telemetry Transport
Open messaging protocol for machine-to-machine (M2M) communication that allows telemetry data to be transmitted in the form of messages between devices, despite high delays or limited networks.

MultiSIM

Mobile phones equiped with multiple receivers and SIM card readers. Thus one can be available with multiple SIM cards at the same time. This can be handy to use private and buisiness SIM cards in one device. Commonly used are DualSIM devices. Very rare are TripleSIM devices.

Multitouch

Multitouch is a method for touchscreens where multiple touches of fingers are processed. For example zooming of a screen portion is possible by touching the display with two fingers and moving them away from each other. Multitouch was first used by Apple for the iPhone.

NAS

Network Attached Storage
In the most simple case a harddrive with network port making it available in the lan. The data can by accessed via protocols like SAMBA.

NFC

Near Field Communication
is a transfer standard for short range contactless exchange of data. The transfer is either without connection with RFID tags or with connection between equal transmitters. The connectionless usage is not safe against attacks. The connected solution may be used for payment transactions. The obligatory security functions are implemented in the mobile devices.

Nano Memory Card

is a proprietary memory card format from Huawei. The memory cards are as small as nanoSIM cards and available up to 256 GB.

Notch-Camera

The front camera is located in a cutout in the display. This allows the space around to be used as a display. The first smartphone with this was the iPhone X.

OCR

Optical Character Recognition
describes the process to convert text which is used within graphic to real text format. This is e. g. useful to make scanned PDF documents searchable.

PalmOS

PalmOS is an operating system for PDAs and mobile phones which was developed by Palm. It is designed to be operated by touching the screen with a stylus. Programs written for PalmOS do not run directly on its successor WebOS (there is an emulator available).

PDA

Personal Digital Assistant
Devices of this kind substitute addressbook, note pad and much more. They are quite small and can always be carried along. Usually additional programs may be installed. They have an operating system like OS X, Android, PalmOS, Windows Mobile or Symbian. If PDA and mobile phone are combined the result is called "smartphone".

PDC

Personal Digital Cellular Communication
Former 2G mobile telecommunications standard used exclusively in Japan.

PDF

Portable Document Format
File format used to present documents independent of application software, hardware, and operating systems which was published by Adobe in 1993. PDF files may always be shown or printed identically. The best known viewer is the Adobe Reader.

PMR

Personal Mobile Radio
is an everyone's radio application in the UHF frequency range 446.000-446.200 MHz. It is the European equivalent of the US Family Radio Service (FRS). Transmission can be analog or digital. Due to the maximum transmission power of 0.5 watts, the compact design of the antennas and the propagation behavior of the frequency range, the practical range in urban areas is 1 km, in forests 3 km and under optimal conditions up to 27 km.

PoE

Power Over Ethernet
This refers to a method of supplying power to network-compatible devices via the eight-wire Ethernet cable. The advantage of PoE is that a power cable can be saved and thus Ethernet-connected devices can be installed. The device gets the power directly from the data network. For this purpose, power is usually fed into the data line at a central point in addition to the data signals. This is done either separately per data line with a so-called PoE injector or via a PoE-capable switch.

Pop-Port

Proprietary hardware interface introduced by Nokia for wired connection of external accessories to mobile phones and for data synchronization with computers. This was used from 2003 to 2007. For data communication with computers, the Pop-Port connects RS232 signal lines on older models and USB on newer devices. In addition, the Pop-Port serves as an interface for Nokia's not publicly documented Accessory Control Interface (ACI) with its own protocol for bidirectional communication with accessory devices, such as multifunctional headsets or external digital cameras.

Popup-Camera

If required, the front camera can be raised from the smartphone by motor. This saves space on the front and allows a frameless display.

PowerMat

Standard of the Power Matters Alliance for wireless charging. Thus equipped devices may be charged inductively with a compatible charger like an electric toothbrush.

PTT

Push To Talk
is a method of talking on half-duplex communication lines, including two-way radio, using a momentary button to switch from voice reception mode to transmit mode.

POC

Push-To-Talk over Cellular
simulates the technology of a walkie talkie on a mobile phone. Predefined participants can be reached at the push of a button, without the classic telephone connection. PoC is a global standard defined by the Open Mobile Alliance.

Punchhole-Camera

The front camera is located behind a hole in the display. This allows the space around the hole to be used as a display. The first smartphone with this was the Honor View 20.

Qi

Standard of the Wireless Power Consortium for wireless charging. Qi stands for energy/life force (Chinese "Chi"). Thus equipped devices may be charged inductively with a compatible charger like an electric toothbrush.

RCS

Rich Communication Services
is a communication standard and designed as a replacement for the Short Message Service (SMS). It enables group chats and file transfers and is therefore an alternative to instant messenger services. RCS is supported by smartphones since Android 5 and iOS 18.

Repairability Index

The French repairability index was introduced on 01.01.2021 and is mandatory for several device categories since then, including smartphones. The manufacturer of the device assigns a score for several criteria according to a defined evaluation scheme. The final score of the repairability index is an average of these criteria on a scale from 0 to 10.

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SAP

SIM Access Profile
This Bluetooth profile enables a car hands free unit to access a mobile phone's SIM card via Bluetooth. The mobile phone is then in standby consuming only little energy. The access data on the SIM card is used by the car hands free unit to route phone calls over itself and use the car antenna.

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Satellite SOS

The service is based on Garmin Response, which in turn is based on the Iridium satellite communications network, which consists of 66 active satellites in six orbits and several reserve satellites. Communication is possible from any location on the Earth any time while having a clear view to the sky. Google first introduced the service in 2024 for its Pixel smartphones, allowing users to send emergency calls if there is no mobile network.

SIM

Subscriber Identity Module
A chip card which is inserted into a mobile device to identify a user within the network. With it mobile operators grant access to their users to telephone- and/or data services. The SIM is a small processor with storage. It may be protected with a changeable PIN. Using the SIM and the IMSI stored on it the mobile device is assigned to a mobile network and authenticated. Additionally it is possible to store address data, notes, last calls, preferred and blocked networks on it.

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SkyyBubbles

Function on Skyynet describing topics by showing an informative speech bubble while doing a mouseover.

SkyyBubbles is based on jQuery Tipped.

Smartphone

These devices combine mobile phones with a pda. They have an operating system like iOS, Android or Windows Phone. They feature an email client, a browser and thousands of applications, called "apps", may be downloaded from an "app store" and used. Most of the times a camera and GPS are built in.

SMS

Short Message Service
This service supports the transmission of 160 character long text messages. Desspite unproportional high costs the networks today earn nearly more money by these than by voice calls.

Tango

was a technology platform from Google which enabled smartphones by the use of cameras to identify their relative position. Thus apps were able to offer indoor-navigation, measurement of real objects and augmented or virtual reality. Tango was discontinued by Google 03/2018.

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Tethering

This describes the connection of a smartphone with a computer to offer the computer an internet connection via a mobile network.

Thuraya

This Satellite communication system of the same named company uses two geosynchrone satellites and can thus only be used in designated regions. The satellites' area of coverage is divided into spotbeams whereas the assignment to the correct spotbeam is done based on the phone's GPS position. On a high transmission powered „Sat-Alert“ channel the phone is alarmed about incoming calls and the user moves to a zone with clear sight to the satellite where the phone logs into the dedicated spotbeam, frequency and timeslot.

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Tiantong

Chinese satellite communication system, which consisted of 3 satellites in 2023 and will be expanded to 4 in 2024. The system allows phone calls to be made anywhere in China, but not worldwide as with other satellite communication systems

Tizen

Tizen is a free operating system for smartphones, tablets, smartwatches and infotainment devices which is based on Linux. Bada apps may also be used on Tizen. The system is supported by Samsung and Intel.

ToF

Time of Flight
Camera systems use a time-of-flight method to determine the distance of the object depicted on each pixel. In cell phones, TOF cameras are used to simulate photographic effects such as a shallow depth of field via software after the picture has been taken.

Touchscreen

Resistive touchscreens have a streched polyester foil with a conductive layer on top of a metal coated glass plate. Small balls keep both layers at distance. If the layers are compressed the controller identifies the coordinates by the voltage drop. Resistive touchscreens do not support multitouch.

Capacitative touchscreens have a glass layer coated with a very thin metal layer over the display. From the corners a low voltage is applied which produces an electrical field. If the user touches the screen this field is grounded. By identifying the current which is discharged by the finger the coordinates are detected by the controller. Thus capacitative screens only respond to conductive objects like metal pens or fingers. Capacitative touchscreens may support multitouch.

Touchstone

Proprietary system of the company Palm for wireless charging. Thus equipped devices may be charged inductively with a compatible charger like an electric toothbrush.

UMTS

Universal Mobile Telecommunications System
This third generation cellular standard (3G) allows a data transfer rate of up to 7.2 Mbit/s. It is the successor of the 2G standard GSM. In October 2000 the UMTS licenses were auctioned in Germany and since 2003 the first German networks are online.

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UWB

Ultra Wide Band
Short-range radio communication that uses extremely large frequency ranges with a bandwidth of at least 500 MHz. This makes it possible, to e.g. integrate a positioning option into devices in a cost- and energy-efficient manner.

VoIP

Voice over IP
Telephony by internet protocol over computer networks built upon internet standards. Typical information for telephony like voice and control information are send via a network also used for data transfer.

VoLTE

Voice over Long Term Evolution
Telephony by internet protocol over cellular networks built upon the LTE standard. Typical information for telephony like voice and control information are send via the LTE network. As this method was not standardized with LTE mobile phones had to revert to UMTS or GSM when placing calls in the beginning which caused delays while connecting. Since 2015 VoLTE may be used in Germany.

VoWiFi

Voice over WiFi
This is the use of a wireless broadband network according to the IEEE 802.11 standards for vocal conversation. In essence, it is voice over IP (VoIP) over a Wi-Fi network. This is also known as Wi-Fi Calling or WLAN Calling.

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VoWLAN

Voice over WLAN
Voice over wireless LAN is the use of a wireless broadband network according to the IEEE 802.11 standards for vocal conversation. In essence, it is voice over IP (VoIP) over a Wi-Fi network. This is also known as Wi-Fi Calling or WLAN Calling.

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VPN

Virtual Private Network
is a network that uses a public telecommunications infrastructure such as the internet and provides individual users with secure access to corporate networks or the private LAN.

watchOS

watchOS is an operating system for smartwatches which is developed by Apple.

WAP

Wireless Application Protocol
This technique enables the display of simple text and graphics on mobile devices. The language to describe the content is called WML (Wireless Markup Language) and is a highly reduced variant of HTML. WAP pages are no graphically impressive websites but short texts. Today advanced mobile phones and smartphones have made WAP irrelevant.

WearOS

WearOS is an operating system for smartphones. Until March 2018 it was called Android Wear.

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WebOS

WebOS is an operating system for mobile phones which was originally developed by Palm. It is the successor of PalmOS. It was sold to LG and is now used in smart tvs.

Wi-Fi

Synonym for WLAN. System for wireless radio connections according to IEEE 802.11. Depending on specification different transmission rates from 11 MBit/s to 10.8 GBit/s are supported. Devices like computers, routers & cellular phones can connect to each other in a range of about 100-300ft.

Wi-Fi 1

Wireless Local Area Network IEEE 802.11b
System for wireless radio connections according to IEEE 802.11b. Supports transmission rates up to 11 MBit/s in the 2.4 GHz spectrum.

Wi-Fi 2

Wireless Local Area Network IEEE 802.11a
System for wireless radio connections according to IEEE 802.11a. Supports transmission rates up to 22 MBit/s in the 5 GHz spectrum.

Wi-Fi 3

Wireless Local Area Network IEEE 802.11g
System for wireless radio connections according to IEEE 802.11g. Supports transmission rates up to 54 MBit/s in the 2.4 GHz spectrum. Supports 802.11b (Wi-Fi 1) as fall-back.

Wi-Fi 4

Wireless Local Area Network IEEE 802.11n
System for wireless radio connections according to IEEE 802.11n. Supports transmission rates up to 600 MBit/s by using multiple input- and output antennas in the 2.4 GHz & 5 GHz spectrum. This is also known as MIMO (Multiple Input Multiple Output).

Wi-Fi 5

Wireless Local Area Network IEEE 802.11ac
System for wireless radio connections according to IEEE 802.11ac. Supports transmission rates up to 1 GBit/s by using multiple input- and output antennas in the 5 GHz spectrum. This is also known as MIMO (Multiple Input Multiple Output).

Wi-Fi 6

Wireless Local Area Network IEEE 802.11ax
System for wireless radio connections according to IEEE 802.11ax. Supports transmission rates up to 11 GBit/s by using multiple input- and output antennas (MIMO) and Orthogonal frequency-division multiple access (OFDMA) in the 2.4 GHz & 5 GHz spectrum.

Wi-Fi 6e

Wireless Local Area Network IEEE 802.11ax
System for wireless radio connections according to IEEE 802.11ax which was extended into the 6 Ghz spectrum. Supports transmission rates up to 10.8 GBit/s by using multiple input- and output antennas (MIMO) and Orthogonal frequency-division multiple access (OFDMA) in the 2.4 GHz, 5 GHz & 6 GHz spectrum.

Wi-Fi 7

Wireless Local Area Network IEEE 802.11be
System for wireless radio connections according to IEEE 802.11be. Supports transmission rates up to 23 GBit/s by using multiple input- and output antennas (MIMO) and Orthogonal frequency-division multiple access (OFDMA) in the 2.4 GHz, 5 GHz & 6 GHz spectrum.

Windows Mobile

Windows Mobile is an operating system for mobile phones which is developed by Microsoft. It is the predecessor of Windows Phone 7. Microsoft calls it Windows Phone Classic by now. It is designed to be operated by touching the screen with a stylus. Programs written for Windows Phone Classic do not run on Windows Phone 7.

Windows Phone

Windows Phone is an operating system for mobile phones which is developed by Microsoft. It is the successor of Windows Phone Classic (formerly known as Windows Mobile). It is operated by touching the screen with one or more fingers (multitouch). Programs written for Windows Phone Classic do not run on Windows Phone.

WiMAX

Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access
This fourth generation cellular standard (4G) allows wideband connections according to IEEE-802.16 with data rates of up to 70 MBit/s at a distance of up to 50 km. It is a successor of the 3G standard UMTS.

WLAN

Wireless Local Area Network
System for wireless radio connections according to IEEE 802.11. Depending on specification different transmission rates from 11-540 MBit/s are supported. Devices like computers, routers & cellular phones can connect to each other in a range of about 100-300ft.

WLAN 802.11a

Wireless Local Area Network IEEE 802.11a
System for wireless radio connections according to IEEE 802.11a. Supports transmission rates up to 22 MBit/s in the 5 GHz spectrum. The new name for this is Wi-Fi 2.

WLAN 802.11b

Wireless Local Area Network IEEE 802.11b
System for wireless radio connections according to IEEE 802.11b. Supports transmission rates up to 11 MBit/s. The new name for this is Wi-Fi 1.

WLAN 802.11g

Wireless Local Area Network IEEE 802.11g
System for wireless radio connections according to IEEE 802.11g. Supports transmission rates up to 54 MBit/s. Supports 802.11b as fall-back. The new name for this is Wi-Fi 3.

WLAN 802.11n

Wireless Local Area Network IEEE 802.11n
System for wireless radio connections according to IEEE 802.11n. Supports transmission rates up to 600 MBit/s by using multiple input- and output antennas. This is also known as MIMO (Multiple Input Multiple Output). The new name for this is Wi-Fi 4.

WLAN 802.11ac

Wireless Local Area Network IEEE 802.11ac
System for wireless radio connections according to IEEE 802.11ac. Supports transmission rates up to 1 GBit/s by using multiple input- and output antennas. This is also known as MIMO (Multiple Input Multiple Output). The new name for this is Wi-Fi 5.

WLAN 802.11ad

Wireless Local Area Network IEEE 802.11ad
System for wireless radio connections according to IEEE 802.11ad. Also called Wireless Gigabit (WiGig) or Multiple Gigabit Wireless System (MGWS). Supports transmission rates of multiple GBit/s in the 60 GHz spectrum but only short range of a few meters. Thus USB 3.0, HDMI or PCI-Express may be wirelessly transferred.

WLAN 802.11ax

WLAN 802.11be

WOFF

Web Open Font Format
This compacted data format for fonts is supported by all modern browsers and supports the use of fonts which are not installed on the user's computer on websites. WOFF supports fonts which are stored in the format OpenType or TrueType.

XML

Extensible Markup Language
is a markup language for representing hierarchically structured data in text file format that is readable by humans and machines. XML is used for the platform- and implementation-independent exchange of data between computer systems, especially over the Internet.

YiOS

YiOS is an Android based chinese operating system for smartphones which was developed by Baidu and doesn't offer Google services.

YunOS

YunOS is a chinese Linux based operating system for smartphones which focusses on cloud functions instead of downloadable apps. Is has some Android frameworks which permits some Android apps to be used.

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