In electricity, alternating current (AC) occurs when charge
Carriers in a conductor or semiconductor periodically reverse their direction of movement. Household utility current in most countries is AC with a
Frequency of 60
Hertz (60 complete cycles per second), although in some countries it is 50 Hz. The radio-frequency (
RF) current in
Antennas and transmission lines is another example of AC.
In networking, an access point is a Bridge. An access point converts RF to Ethernet and allows RF end devices such as handheld, VMUs, and other data collection computers and PC’s, PDAs, etc. to connect to a LAN.
Unlike a Passive Tag, an active tag is an RFID Transponder that contains a battery to power its internal circuitry and to power the generation of a signal to respond to an Interrogator.
Active tags have a longer range, have larger storage capacities and are very expensive when compared to passive tags.
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AES – Advanced Encryption
The Advanced Encryption Standard is an encryption algorithm for securing sensitive but unclassified material by U.S. Government agencies and, as a likely consequence, may eventually become the de facto encryption standard for commercial transactions in the private sector. (Encryption for the US military and other classified communications is handled by separate, secret algorithms.)
A generic term that usually refers to an
RFID Interrogator (reader) that can read
Transponders (tags) operating at different frequencies or using different methods of communication between the tags and readers.
For example, an RFID reader that can read both
900MHz tags and
2.4GHz tags is said to be agile.
AIAG – Automotive Industry Action Group
This organization has many functions in the Automotive industry. The AIAG uses a variation of the Code 39 Symbology called AIAG Code 39.
AIDC – Automatic Identification & Data Capture
The AIDC industry, synonymous with the Automatic Data Collection (ADC) industry utilizes hardware such as handheld, vehicle mounted and stationary data collection computers,
Wireless networks, scanners, and printers, and software such as
ERP,
WMS, etc. to collect data.
This is done by using
RFID,
Touch Memory and
Barcodes. The use of these tools allows us to better perform warehouse management,
Asset Tracking, work in process tracking, route delivery, retail sales, inventory management, and many other tasks.
AIM – Automatic Identification Manufacturer
AIM Inc. is the global trade association for the Automatic Identification and Data Capture (AIDC) industry. Their members are manufacturers or service providers of technologies such as radio Frequency identification (RFID), Barcode, card technologies (magnetic stripe, smart card, contactless card, optical card), biometrics, and electronic article surveillance (EAS).
ANSI – American National Standards Institute
ANSI is the primary organization for fostering the development of technology standards in the United States. ANSI works with industry groups and is the U.S. member of the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) and the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC). Long-established computer standards from ANSI include the American Standard Code for Information Interchange (ASCII) and the Small Computer System Interface(SCSI).
In addition to DEC VT, 3270 and 5250, ANSI is a Terminal Emulation (TE) option on some data collection computers.
An antenna is a specialized transducer that converts radio-frequency (RF) fields into alternating current (AC) or vice-versa.
In the AIDC industry, a variety of antennas are used to modify or focus the gain of signal strength and include omni-directional, directional, high gain, and low or no gain antennas.
Related terms:Isotropic Antenna, Dipole Antenna, dBd, dBi
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In RFID, a general term used to cover methods of preventing radio waves from one device from interfering with radio waves from another is anti-collision. Anti-collision algorithms are also used to read more than one Transponder (tag) in the same Interrogator’s (reader’s) field.
API – Application Program Interface
An application program
Interface (API -and sometimes spelled
application programming interface) is the specific method by which an application program can make requests of the operating system or another application.
An API can be contrasted with a graphical user interface (
GUI) or a
command interface (both of which are direct
user interfaces) as interfaces to an operating system or a program.
An Application Identifier (AI) is a two, three, or four digit code found in a Barcode, typically those encoding GTINs or data structures such as UCC/EAN-128, EAN/UCC-14 and SSCC, that identify the type of data that follows the AI.
The AI is usually enclosed in parenthesis in the human readable part of a barcode.
An Area Symbology is a two dimensional (2d) symbology, but not a Stacked Row Symbology. An area symbology by its very nature requires an imaging scanner to read it.
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Area Symbologies include:
Code 1
Data Matrix
Maxi Code
Aztec Code
Array Tag
3-DI
QR Code
DataGlyph
CP Code
Data Strip
Dot Code
Mini Code
Ultra Code
Post Net
See Symbologies (List) for a list of common symbologies.
The AS/400, formally renamed the "eServer iSeries/400," but still commonly known as AS/400 - is a midrange Server designed for small businesses and departments in large enterprises and now redesigned so that it will work well in distributed networks with Web applications. The AS/400, one of IBM's greatest success stories, is widely installed in large enterprises at the department level, in small corporations, in government agencies, and in almost every industry segment.
ASCII – American Standard Code for Information Interchange
ASCII is the most common format for text files and serial communications in computers and on the Internet. Each alphabetic, numeric, or special character is represented with a 7 or 8 Bit number (a string of seven or eight 0s or 1s). 256 possible characters are defined in the ASCII character set, but the lower 128 are used most often.
ASP – Application Service Provider
An application service provider is a company that offers individuals or enterprises access over the Internet to applications and related services that would otherwise have to be located in their own personal or enterprise computers. Sometimes referred to as "apps-on-tap," ASP services are expected to become an important alternative, not only for smaller companies with low budgets for information technology, but also for larger companies as a form of outsourcing and for many services for individuals as well.
Asset Tracking is an organizational process that tracks the condition and location of mobile and fixed assets in a company, giving Real-Time visibility to plant operations.
It improves asset utilization, depreciation accounting and liquidation.
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In general, asynchronous (pronounced ay-SIHN-kro-nuhs, from Greek
asyn-, meaning "not with," and
chronos, meaning "time") is an adjective describing objects or events that are not coordinated in time. In information technology, the term has several different usages.
In telecommunication signaling within a network or between networks, an asynchronous signal is one that is transmitted at a different clock rate than another signal.
Synchronous signals are those that run at the same clock rate.
ATA – Advanced Technology Attachment
ATA is a type of memory used as mass data storage in data collection computers, PDAs and other consumer electronics. Technically, ATA memory is Flash memory, however ATA cards have a built in controller to which manages image creation and burning.
The end result is that ATA memory, appears to behave like SRAM memory and is as fast or faster.
ATA is available in PC Card, CF and is available capacities from about 16KB to 2GB. ATA memory tends to be more expensive than Flash and SRAM.
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ATM – Asynchronous Transfer Mode.
ATM is a dedicated-connection switching technology that organizes digital data into 53-byte cell units and transmits them over a physical medium using digital signal technology. Individually, a cell is processed asynchronously relative to other related cells and is queued before being multiplexed over the transmission path. Because ATM is designed to be easily implemented by hardware (rather than software), faster processing and Switch speeds are possible. The prespecified Bit rates are either 155.520 Mbps or 622.080 Mbps. Speeds on ATM networks can reach 10 Gbps (Gigabits per second).
Attenuation is a general term that refers to any reduction in the strength of a signal. Attenuation occurs with any type of signal, whether digital or analog. Sometimes called
loss, attenuation is a natural consequence of signal transmission over long distances. The extent of attenuation is usually expressed in units called decibels (
dBs).
Attenuation must be considered when installing an
RF network. Excessive signal loss will occur when the cable length between an
Access Point and
Antenna is too long or additional connectors are used such as with lighting arrestors or signal splitters. Cable type used also affects attenuation, for example, LMR400
Coaxial cable will allow more attenuation than LMR600.
An authentication
Server is a server application that provides authentication services for
Clients attempting to connect to a network.
There are several types of authentication servers available including
RADIUS,
Kerberos and others.
Authentication servers are part of a larger entity of devices, methods and
Protocols that all serve together to provide secure access to networks.
See also:
802.1x,
EAP/
TLS,
LEAP, PEAP
A Server software application from Wavelink that manages Client end devices such as data collection computers, PCs and printers.
A Barcode Symbology. Aztec Code is an Area Symbology.
Aztec Code can encode between 13 numeric or 12 alphabetic characters, and 3832 numeric or 3067 alphabetic characters. Aztec Code is used for small item marking applications using a wide variety of printing and marking technologies.
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See Symbologies (List) for a list of common symbologies.