| MAC |
Medium Access Control |
|
| macro cell |
|
A large cell in a wireless system capable of covering a large physical area. Macrocells are used in rural areas and other areas where subscriber or traffic densities are low. |
| MAHO |
Mobile Assisted Handoff |
A handoff technique involving feedback from the mobile station as part of the handoff process. The feedback is usually in the form of signal level and quality measurements on the downlink and signal level measurements from neighbor cells. |
| MAP |
Mobile Application Part |
|
| MASHO |
Mobile Assisted Soft Handoff |
See MAHO. |
| MC-CDMA |
Multi-Carrier Code Division Multiple Access |
Typically, this means the combination of three IS-95 carriers to form one wideband carrier. It is an evolution of IS-95 for third generation systems. Also called cdma2000. The current nomenclature is temporary, with a formal name for this technology to be determined under 3GPP2. |
| Mcps |
Mega Chips per Second |
A measure of the number of bits (chips) per second in the spreading sequence of direct sequence spreading code. |
| MHz |
Megahertz |
A unit of frequency equal to one million hertz or cycles per second. Wireless communications occur in the 800 MHz, 900 MHz and 1900 MHz bands. |
| micro cell |
|
A base station with a very small coverage area designed to provide service in areas having a very high density of mobile subscribers. Microcells are traditionally used in convention centers, airports and similar areas. |
| MIN |
Mobile Identification Number |
|
| m-law companding |
|
A type of non-linear (logarithmic) quantizing, companding and encoding technique for speech signals based on the m-law. This type of companding uses a m factor of 255 and is optimized to provide a good signal-to-quantizing noise ratio over a wide dynamic range. |
| MM |
Mobility Management |
Functions that track the location of a mobile station as it moves within
a given area. |
| MMM |
Mobile Media Mode |
The WWW:MMM logo is a marketing innovation comprising a unifying industry-wide marketing symbol representing leading edge web-based products and services. |
| MMS |
Multimedia Messaging Service |
MMS is a new standard that is being defined for use in advanced wireless terminals. The service concept is derived from Short Message Service and allows for non-real-time transmission of various kinds of multimedia contents like images, audio, video clips, etc. As a further evolution of the current text mail, for example, electronic postcards, audio/video clips, etc. can be sent. |
| mobile phone network |
|
A network of cells. Each cell is served by a radio base station from where calls are forwarded to and received from your mobile phone by wireless radio signals. |
| MOS |
Mean Opinion Score |
|
| MPE |
multi-pulse excited |
A multi-pulse process for determining the position and amplitude of sample pulses in a speech codec. |
| MPEG |
Moving Picture Experts Group |
The group that has defined the standards for compressed video transmission. Can also refer to the file format itself. |
| MPEG4 |
Moving Picture Experts Group Compression Standard Version 4. |
MPEG4 is a technology for compressing voice, video and related control data and is one of the MPEG (Moving Picture Experts Group) international standards. It is currently a focus of attention due to the fact that it enables high speed and stable video transmission even in heretofore difficult environments such as mobile communication. Incorporation of this leading edge technology will imbue 3G terminals with a rich multimedia capability. |
| MS |
Mobile Station |
The term used to describe the customer terminal in a wireless network. |
| MSA |
Metropolitan Statistical Area |
A geographic area over which a cellular operator is licensed to provide service. MSAs are groups of counties in metropolitan areas having common financial, commercial and economic ties and were first used to license cellular service in the early '80s. MSAs cross state lines in some instances. MSAs were first used by the Dept. of Commerce to collect economic data. |
| MSB |
Most Significant Bit |
In a binary coding scheme, the bit having the greatest numerical value. Analogous to the left-most numeric position in a decimal number. |
| MSC |
Mobile Switching Center |
The location providing the mobile switching function in a second generation network wireless network. The MSC switches all calls between the mobile and the PSTN and other mobiles. |
| MSK |
Minimum Shift Keying |
|
| MTA |
Major Trading Area |
A geographic area over which a PCS operator is licensed to provide service. MTAs are a group of BTAs having common financial, commercial and economic ties and were first used to license PCS service in the middle '90s. MTAs can be many times larger a cellular MSA and can cross multiple state lines in some instances. MTAs are used by the Rand-McNally corporation to summarize economic data. MTAs are one of the largest licensing areas used by the FCC. |
| MTSO |
Mobile Telephone Switching Office |
The location providing the mobile switching function in a first generation wireless network. The MTSO switched all calls between the mobile and the PSTN and other mobiles. |
| multiple access |
|
The process of allowing multiple radio links or users to address the same radio channel on a coordinated basis. Typical multiple access technologies include FDMA, TDMA, CDMA, and FHMA. |
