GlOSSARY OF TERMS
| Downlink | Link from Satellite to earth Station |
|---|---|
| DSL | Digital Subscriber Line. Equivalent of a high quality internet access |
| Equatorial Orbit | An orbit in the same plane as the equator. Orbit time depends onthe distance to earth |
| Fi2 | Fiber 2.0 |
| FSS | Fixed Satellite Services |
| FTTH | Fiber to the home |
| Gbps | Gigabit per second, or 1,000,000,000 binary unit in one second |
| GEO | Geostationary Earth Orbit |
| Gimballed Antenna | The steerable antenna mounted to the satellite and manufactured by MDA for Thales Alenia Space. |
| HSDPA | High-Speed Downlink Packet Access. A third generation mobile telephony data transfer methodology |
| IP | Internet Protocol |
| ISP | Internet Service Provider |
| ITU | International Telecommunications Union |
| Ka band | Frequencies around 17 - 30 GHz with 2,800 MHz of bandwidth available which can be reused many times over by different spot beams |
| Latency | The time delay between data leaving the satellite and reaching the ground network or vice versa. |
| LSC | Launch Services Contract signed between O3b America LLC and Arianespace |
| LTE | Long Term Evolution. Cellular 4th generation technologies |
| Mbps | Mega bits per second |
| MEO | Medium Earth Orbit |
| MHz | Mega Hertz |
| Modem | Modulator and Demodulator taken together |
| Ms | Expression for a unit of time for milliseconds |
| MSA | Master Services Agreement, the agreement between O3b and its customers for take-or-pay leasing of capacity |
| OC-12 | A bandwidth of 622.08 Mbps of capacity. Now available on satellite technology through O3b Networks |
| PCD | Project Completion Date |
| PLCR | Project Life Cover Ratio |
| RF | Radio Frequency – The O3b system operates at Ka band in the RF spectrum. |
| RfP | Request for Proposal |
| SCC | Satellite Control Center |
| SCPC | Single Channel per Carrier |
| TDMA | Time Division Multiple Access - Channel shared by multiple users on a time slot basis |
| TT&C | Tracking, Telemetry and Command |
| TWTA | Traveling Wave Tube Amplifier |
| Uplink | Link from Earth Station to Satellite |
| VPN | Virtual Private Network – system to secure and encrypt private network monitoring and control information for communications over the Internet. |
ARTICLES OF INTEREST
- Year in Review
Worldwide Satellite Magazine
- O3b Networks founder named in the top 50 agenda setters for technology
Silicon.com - O3b Networks: A Far Out Plan to Deliver the Web
Christian Science Monitor - High Speed Internet Coming to Africa
Time Magazine - Africa, Web Access: What Google's Doing Right
ABC News