WAN (wide area network)
A group of computer networks connected over long distances, often by telephone lines and satellite transmission.

WAP (Wireless Application Protocol)
A protocol for transforming Internet information so that it can be displayed on the small screen of a mobile telephone or other portable device.

WARC (World Administrative Radio Conference)
A regular meeting of global authorities to decide on spectrum allocation.

wave form
A curve that shows the shape of a wave at any given time.

waveguide
A transmission path in which a system of boundaries guides electromagnetic energy. The most common of these are hollow metallic conducting tubes (microwave communications) or rods of dielectric material.

wavelength
The distance between two consecutive maxima or minima of the wave form.

wavelength changer
A device that converts an optical signal to an electronic signal and then sends the signal to a laser that produces an optical signal at a different wavelength than the original.

wavelength division switching
Switching in which input information is used to modulate a light source that has a unique wavelength for each input. All the optical energy is combined and then split, so it can be distributed to all the output channels.

WCDMA (Wideband CDMA)
A multiple-access technique that operates over allocations of either 5MHz, 10MHz, or 15MHz. WCDMA can support higher data rates than first-generation CDMA.

WDM (Wavelength Division Multiplexing)
The multiplexing of signals by transmitting them at different wavelengths through the same fiber.

wearables
Smart devices that are small enough to be worn on the human body and are able to be networked.

wideband
Refers to the range of speeds between narrowband and broadband, typically ranging between nx64Kbps up to 45Mbps.

wideband channel
A channel that is wider in bandwidth than a voice-grade channel.

wireless
A generic term for mobile communications services such as cellular, radiopaging, or PCS, that do not use wireline networks for direct access to the subscriber.

wireless local loop
A technology that uses low-power radio transmission, cellular radio and/or cordless telephony, as an alternative to local loops for accessing the switched telephone network.

wiring closet
A location in a building where building wiring terminates and where equipment (e.g., hub electronics) is placed.

WML (Wireless Markup Language )
A markup language that is used in the WAP environment.

workstation
A device that lets you transmit information to or receive information from a computer, or both, as needed to perform a job; for example, a display station or a printer.

world numbering plan
An ITU-T numbering plan, E.164, that divides the world into nine zones. Each zone is allocated a number that forms the first digit of the country code for every country in that zone. The zones are follows: (1) North America (including Hawaii and Caribbean islands, except Cuba), (2) Africa, (3 and 4) Europe, (5) South America and Cuba, (6) South Pacific (Australasia), (7) Russia, (8) North Pacific (Eastern Asia), and (9) Asia and the Middle East. There is also a spare code (0), which is available for future use.

WWW (World Wide Web)
An Internet application that uses hypertext links between remote network servers for accessing and displaying multimedia information.