T

T for Telecom

abbreviation / acronyms term definition
T1

This is a data transfer system that transfers digital signals at 1.544 megabits per second (quite a bit faster than a 56K modem, which maxes out at around 0.056 Mbps).

T2 One of several types of digital voice lines defined in the U.S. T-carrier system. A T2 line has a transmission capacity of up to 6.312 megabits per second.
T2L TRANSISTOR-TRANSISTOR LOGIC A logic gate family that provides higher-speed and higher-power than the obsolete DTL logic family.
T3 A T3 line actually 30 times faster, supporting data transfer rates of 44.736 megabits per second.
T4 A communications line capable of carrying digitized voice signals at up to 274.176 megabits per second, as defined in the T-carrier system
T5 240 T1 lines, which can carry 5760 voice channels or up to 400.352Mbps worth of data.
t-commerce television commerce interactive TV capabilitu, including VOD movie rentals and games
TACACS Terminal Access Controller Access Control System Developed by Cisco Systems, it is standard security protocol used in authenticating the identity of a computer or device seeking remote access to privileged data (such as that behind a firewall).
TAE text analysis engine A software component that is responsible for discovering and representing context and semantic content in text.
TAO Track at Once A method of writing data to a CD-R or CD-RW disc on a track by track basis. Recording can be paused between writing tracks, unlike Disc at Once, which requires an uninterrupted full-disc recording.
TAPI Telephony Application Programming Interface A number of IT companies, led by Microsoft and Intel, have collaborated to design a common Windows graphical user interface for telephony and a Telephony Application Programming Interface (TAPI).
tar Tape ARchive A compression format commonly used in the transfer and storage of files on UNIX computers (.tar).
TAXI Transparent Asynchronous Transmitter/Receiver Interface Encoding scheme used for FDDI LANs as well as for ATM. Supports speeds of up to 100 Mbps over multimode fiber. TAXI is the chipset that generates 4B/5B encoding on multimode fiber.
Tb terabit For processor storage, real and virtual storage, and channel volume, 2 to the power of 40 or 1 099 511 627 776 bits. For disk storage capacity and communications volume, 1 000 000 000 000 bits.
TB TeraByte 1024 gigabytes, 1,099,511,627,776 bytes
Tbps terabits per second A trillion bits per second.
TBR Technology Business Research specializes in providing in-depth and timely insights within the computer, software, telecom, mobility, and professional services industries. http://tbri.com/
TCA Transaction Cost Analysis Methodology that can be used to measure the cost of individual shopper operations such as registering, browsing, searching a catalog, adding an item to a shopping cart, checking out, and so on
TCAP Transaction Capabilities Application Part from ITU-T recommendations Q.771-Q.775 or ANSI T1.114 is a protocol for SS 7 networks.
TCB trusted computing base everything in a computing system that provides a secure environment. This includes the operating system and its provided security mechanisms, hardware, physical locations, network hardware and software, and prescribed procedures.
TCG Trusted Computing Group Group that develops and promotes open, vendor-neutral, industry standard specifications for trusted computing building blocks and software interfaces across multiple platforms. See also https://www.trustedcomputinggroup.org/
tcl Tool Command Language portable interpreted computer language designed to be easy to use.
TCQ Tagged Command Queuing SCSI feature to allow multiple I/O requests
TCO total cost of ownership the complete cost of owning and using a machine during its useful life, including not only the cost of the machine itself, but also maintenance, repairs, and consumable supplies such as ink and paper.
TCS

Tata Consultancy Services

Telecommunications Systems

Inida-based IT services, business solutions, and outsourcing company. www.tcs.com

wireless communications provider in U.S. http://www.telecomsys.com

TCP

Test Coordination Procedure

Transmission Control Protocol

Set of rules to coordinate test process between lower tester and upper tester. Enables lower tester to control operation of upper tester. May, or may not, be specified in abstract test suite.

A connection-oriented protocol that transmits data in byte streams. Data is transmitted in packets called TCP segments, which contain TCP headers and data.

TCP/IP

Transmission Control/Internet Protocol

This is used for communications across interconnected networks and is being increasingly deployed to connect diverse computer architectures and platforms, both between enterprises and within enterprises. TCP operates at Layer 4 (the transport layer) of the OSI stack. IP operates at Layer 3 (the network layer) of the OSI stack.

TCU transmission control unit A communication control unit whose operations are controlled solely by programmed instructions from the computing system to which the unit is attached.
TD-SCDMA Time division-synchronous code division multiple access China's home-grown 3G standard for cellular networks.
TDC A/S Tele-Denmark Communications former telecom monopoly in Denmark. It is now privatized. Thus, it is the biggest company in all aspects of telecommunication in Denmark with landline, mobile, Internet, VHF maritime borderline-radio etc.
TDD/TTY Tone Dialing for the Deaf/Teletype a method by which the hearing impaired can type messages over normal phone lines using special equipment. Many ISPs have a TDD/TTY for technical support.
TDDM target distributed data manager In a distributed data management network, programming support that translates the DDM requests received from a source system into data management or SQL requests on the target (or remote) system.
TDK Tokyo Denki Kagaku English: Tokyo Electric and Chemicals. a Japanese company which manufactures electronic materials, electronic components, and recording and data-storage media http://www.tdk.com/
TDL time differential linking software detecting account takeovers, new account fraud and e-commerce fraud
TDM

time division multiplexing

a data, voice and video communications technique that multiplexes several low-speed signals into one high-speed transmission channel by allocating brief, interleaved time periods to each signal.

TDR Time Domain Reflectometry used to pinpoint flaws and problems in underground and aerial wire, cabling, and fiber optics.
TE Traffic Engineering TE is Cisco MPLS term
TEC

connet Tivoli Enterprise Console

Thermoelectric Cooler

An IBM system and network monitoring product. TEC collects event information from a variety of system and application resources, correlates the information to determine detect problems and performs automated problem resolution.

Thermoelectric Cooler

TED

Technology Entertainment and Design

Tiered Electronic Distribution

Torrent Episode Downloader

Tunnel Endpoint Discovery

TED is a global set of conferences owned by the private non-profit Sapling Foundation, formed to disseminate "ideas worth spreading." http://www.ted.com/

TED is Novell ZENWorks term

TED stands for Torrent Episode Downloader http://www.ted.nu/

TED is Cisco term

TEHO tail end hop off Call in a private network which is carried over flat rate facilities (intermachine trunks or IMTs) to the switching node closest to its destination and is connected into the public network as a local call.
TEI Total Economic Impact
forrester term, a highly customized methodology that helps IT professionals make better, more cost-effective decisions regarding the selection of technology vendors. http://www.forrester.com/TEI
Telco telephone company It generally refers to the local-exchange carrier (LEC)
telematics telecommunications and informatics the broad industry related to using computers in concert with telecommunications systems. This includes dial-up service to the Internet as well as all types of networks that rely on a telecommunications system to transport data.
telephony Telephone technology The conversion of sound into electrical signals, its transmission to another location, and its reconversion to sound, with or without the use of connecting wires.
Telnet telephone network protocol The command and program used to login from one Internet siteto another. The telnet command/program gets you to the login: prompt of another host.
TEM telephone expense management
TEM tools facilitate the control of acquisition, operation and support of corporate telecom assets and network services. The coverage typically includes voice and data communications as well as cell phones.
TERM technology-enabled relationship management The concept of forming one enterprisewide view of the customer across all customer contact channels. It is a complex area, requiring complex solutions to problems of integration, data flow, data access and marketing strategy.
TESS Transaction Events
and Statistics Server
CA APM software
TETRA Terrestrial Trunked Radio a set of standards developed by the ETSI that describes a common mobile radio communications infrastructure throughout Europe.
texel Texture Element The smallest element of a textured 3D surface. Pixels make up 2D surfaces, but texels make up the surfaces that cover textured 3D objects.
TFRC TCP-Friendly Rate Control a congestion control mechanism designed for unicast flows operating in an Internet environment and competing with TCP traffic.
TFS

Team Foundation Server

Three Finger Salute

Productive and effective solution for managing change across organizations of all sizes. It enables you to securely manage all project artifacts and source code in one repository

Refers to the Control-Alt-Delete key combination used to reboot older versions of Windows and DOS or to bring up the task manager in newer versions.

TFT Thin Film Transistor These transistors are used in high-quality flat panel liquid-crystal displays (LCDs). TFT-based displays have a transistor for each pixel on the screen.
TFTP Trivial File Transfer Protocol a set of conventions that transfers files between hosts using minimal protocol.
TGT ticket-granting ticket

A ticket that a principal passes to the ticket-granting server when a service ticket is requested.

A ticket that allows access to the ticket granting service on the key distribution center (KDC).

TiB tebibyte 1,099,511,627,776 bytes. 1024 gibibytes
TI Texas Instruments a manufacturer of semiconductors and computers, headquartered in Dallas, Texas. Jack S. Kilby developed the first working integrated circuit (“silicon chip”) at TI in 1958, making it possible to miniaturize electronic equipment to a degree far beyond earlier expectations
TIES time independent escape sequence provides a means to switch between command mode and data mode on an analog modem. TIES is an alternate method to the Heatherington escape sequence. TIES was developed by a group of modem manufacturers in 1991.
TIFF Tag Image File Format A de facto standard format for bit-mapped image files.
TIP Telepresence Interoperability Protocol Cisco-developed, mechanism to deal with multiscreen environments
TISPAN Telecoms & Internet Converged Services & Protocols for Advanced Networks TISPAN is a standardization body of ETSI, specializing in fixed networks and Internet convergence.
TKIP Temporal Key Integrity Protocol A data encryption technology.
TLB translation lookaside buffer The translation lookaside buffer or address translation cache is small piece of associative memory(1) within a processor which caches part of the translation from virtual addresses to physical addresses.
TLD Top Level Domain The last (right-hand) part of a complete Domain Name. There are a large number of TLD's, e.g. .biz, .com, .edu, .gov, .info, .int, .mil, .net, .org, and a collection of two-letter TLD's corresponding to the standard two-letter country codes, e.g., .us, .ca, .jp, etc.
TLI Transport Layer Interface An interface that is to supersede the socket-based interprocess communications mechanisms as the way to access transport services. Modeled after the industry standard ISO Transport Service Definition
TLL Task Library Language In IBM Tivoli environment, a programming language used to define a task library.
TLM Transportation Lifecycle Management Manhattan Associates' TMS product that is capable of handling many of the needs of users with complex transportation requirements
TLP Transactional Licensing Program Adobe Open Options makes it easy for organizations of all sizes to get the benefits of volume ordering through the TLP
TLS Transport Layer Security A protocol designed to secure the privacy of communications over the Internet. It is defined in request for comment 2246 from the Internet Engineering Task Force.
TOA time of arrival A technique that uses to triangulation to determine the geographic position of mobile devices, such as cell phones. The position is determined by comparing the different times that a signal broadcast by the device arrives at various sites
TMHES Trend Micro Hosted Email Security Trend Micro e-mail security SaaS offering
TMP file temporary file Temporary files are generated by applications and should be deleted automatically by the application that created them when they are no longer required - unfortunately this frequently does not happen so temporary files can tend to build up over time.
TMRS traffic measurement and recording systems A computer-generated report with usage information of telephone systems; usually includes trunk utilization, outages, queuing time and the need for additional common equipment.
TMS

Threat Management System

transportation management system

Symantec™ DeepSight™ TMS provides actionable intelligence covering the complete threat lifecycle, from initial vulnerability to active attack. https://tms.symantec.com/

transportation management system

TNC Trusted Network Connect an open architecture for NAC
TNEF Transport Neutral Encapsulation Format Format for converting a set of MAPI properties into a serial data stream. Primarily used by transport providers that need to encode MAPI message properties for transmission through a messaging system that does not support those properties directly
TNS Transaction Network Services leading global provider of data communications and interoperability solutions. http://www.tnsi.com/
TOD

Tool on Demand

time-of-day

feature of some versions of the AOL software allows us to update portions of the client software on your computer without you having to upgrade to a completely new version.

A timing device that counts units of time based on the starting point of 00 hours, 00 minutes, and 00 seconds on January 1, 1900.

TOE TCP/IP Offload Engine a technology used in NICs to offload processing of the TCP/IP stack to the network controller.
ToS Type Of Service A field within an IP header which can be used by the device originating the packet, or by an intermediate networking device, to signal a request for a specific QoS level
TOSLink Toshiba Link A standard optical connection for digital audio.
TPF Transaction Processing Facility A high-availability IBM system designed to support transaction-driven applications.
TP-MIC Twisted-Pair Media Interface Connector Connector jack at end user or network equipment that receives twisted pair plug.
TPM

Transactions Per Minute

Trusted Platform Module

The amount of database transactions a server can do in a minute’s time. This method of measurement is often used to compare high-powered database servers with multiple processors.

A component on the PC motherboard that is specifically designed to enhance platform security above-and-beyond the capabilities of today’s software.

TPMs transaction processing monitors enterprise application platforms
TPS

transactions per second

Transaction Process System

a measurement used to determine how many transactions have been processed in one second in transaction-oriented systems.

a type of IS that collects, stores, modifies and retrieves transaction of an organization.

TPV Third Party Vendor supplier that provides services to the primary service provider that has signed the large projects management or outsourcing agreement with the client.
TR Terminal Ready This light is illuminated when your computer has turned on the RS-232 (serial) interface. Sometimes this light will not come on until you have loaded your communications software into memory.
tracert traceroute Traceroute is a tool the maps the route a packet takes from the local machine to a remote destination.
Transceiver Transmitter/Receiver A Device that receives and sends signals over a medium. In networks, it is generally used to allow for the connection between two different types of cable connectors, such as AUI and RJ-45.
TRIP

Telephony Routing over Internet Protocol

Token Ring Interface Processor

Discovery and exchange of IP telephony gateway routing tables between providers

High-speed interface processor on the Cisco 7000 series routers. The TRIP provides two or four Token Ring ports for interconnection with IEEE 802.5 and IBM Token Ring media with ports independently set to speeds of either 4 or 16 Mbps.

Triple DES / TDES Triple Data Encryption Standard A variant of Data Encryption Standard (DES). It uses three different DES keys, in sequence, to encrypt a file
TRM Teradata Relationship Manager Teradata MCCM product
TRS Tip, Ring, Sleeve (cable) An analog cable used to connect audio devices. It typically comes in 1/4″ and 1/8″ diameters.
TRUE task-related user exit A user exit program that is associated with specified events in a particular task, rather than with every occurrence of a particular event in CICS processing
TS Terminal Server / Services (Microsoft Windows) Terminal Server.
TS-CAL Terminal Services—Client Access License a license allowing more than the minimum number of users to access a Windows server
through REMOTE DESKTOP.
TSF Text Services Framework Simple and scalable framework that enables advanced text input and natural language technologies for applications
TSIG Transaction Signature a computer networking protocol used by the DNS as a way to authenticate updates to a dynamic DNS database.
TSM

Tivoli Storage Manager

trusted service manager

Protects data from hardware failures and other errors by storing backup and archive copies of data on offline storage

a new role introduced in the value chain to provide a single point of contact for all service providers wanting to put their applications onto NFC phones. The TSM would have a master key to the secure element and would manage the secure downloads.

TSN The Sierra Network also called ImagiNation Network (INN), an early online multiplayer gaming system. Developed by Sierra On-Line in 1989, and first available to the public in 1991.
TSO Time Sharing Option Multitasking system for IBM MVS operating system
TSOP Thin Small Outline Package One of several packaging options for AMD flash devices.
TSR Terminate and Stay Resident program usually loaded automatically on startup, which remains in memory to provide particular functions such as connection to a network or protection against viruses.
TSRM Tivoli Service Request Manager IBM's IT service desk product
TSV Tab Separated Value (file) a plain-text file that includes lines of fields (strings of characters) that are separated from each other by single tab stops.
TTP trusted third party A trusted entity that vouches for the identity of the sender or receiver of information in a security system. In PKI security, the role of trusted third party is played by a certification authority
TTL Time To Live

used when a "ping," or a request for a response, is sent to another computer, such as a server. The TTL represents the number of hops, or servers in different locations, the request can travel to before returning a failed attempt message.

The time interval in seconds that an entry can exist in the cache before the name server discards it.

TTL Transistor Transistor Logic A specific method of wiring a digital circuit using bipolar transistors.
TTS Text-To-Speech A term used in voice processing. The computer "reads" the text out aloud. The technology is used extensively for blind people.
TTY TeleTypewriter This term refers to a means of sending data one character at a time. The TTY interface is often used by dumb terminals to communicate with mainframes.
TUCOWS The Ultimate Collection of Winsock Software well known for its popular website directory of shareware, freeware, and demo software packages available to download. http://www.tucows.com/
TUP Telephone User Part provides conventional PSTN telephony services across the SS7 network. TUP was the first layer 4 protocol defined by the standards bodies and as such did not provision for ISDN services.
TUR trunk utilization report A computer printout detailing the traffic on a trunk.
TVO total value of opportunity A Gartner-developed model that brings a number of factors together to derive the business value of IT investments, thereby providing a basis for IT decision making.
TVT ThinkVantage Technology Lenovo branding for proprietary software.
TWA transaction work area a work area for a given task.
TWAIN technology without an interesting name a protocol for delivering graphical images from a scanning or imaging device to application software. see www.twain.org
TWX Teletypewriter Exchange Service A data communications service provided by the AT&T Corporation using teletypewriter stations connected to phone lines, for access to other TWX stations. TWX supports both ASCII and Baudot coded machines.
TX Transmit / Transmission The act of uploading or sending data.
TXT Trusted eXecution Technology Hardware extension to some of Intel's microprocessors and respective chipsets, intended to provide users and organizations (governments, enterprises, etc.) with a higher level of trust while accessing, modifying or creating sensitive data and code
TXT record Text record A DNS record type that stores a text string for a response to a DNS query.
Tablet PCs Tablet PCs were brought to market to address the low use of laptop computers in meetings and the slowing of laptop adoption in the enterprise. They are designed to be closer to the pad and pencil that are the standard for note taking.
tag In Web pages, tags indicate what should be displayed on the screen when the page loads.
tagged Tagged is a social networking site based in San Francisco, California, United States, founded in 2004. http://www.tagged.com/
Tandems Switches that consolidate traffic, reduce trunk group requirements, and switch interoffice traffic.
Tangible User Interfaces the user controls digital information and processes by
manipulating physical, real-world objects that are meaningful in the context of the interaction.
Telematics Blend of telecommunications and informatics (another term for IT). This area of research studies the interrelationships between different communications engineering fields
term license A type of software agreement wherein the customer pays maintenance fees for use of the software over a specified term and, unless the license is renewed, has no right to use the software after the term expires.
terminal Simple device at which data can be entered or retrieved from a network. Generally, terminals have a monitor and a keyboard, but no processor or local disk drive.
tethering enables your cellular telephone or similar Internet-enabled mobile device to connect other devices such as netbooks, laptops or PDAs to the Internet. Mobile phones that offer tethering typically connect to other devices via Bluetooth or a USB cable in order to provide them with Internet access.
Thick (or fat) client Thick clients, also called heavy clients, are full-featured computers that are connected to a network.
Thin Client A type of client/server computing where applications are run, and data is stored, on the server rather than on the client. Because the applications are executed on the server, they do not require client-resident installation, although the GUI and some application logic may be rendered to the client.
thread In Mach, the unit of CPU utilization. A thread consists of a program counter, a set of registers, and a stack pointer.
Throughput

The volume of work or information flowing through a system.

In data communications, the total traffic between stations over a period of time.

A measure of the amount of information transmitted over a network in a given period of time.

timeout Event that occurs when one network device expects to hear from another network device within a specified period of time, but does not. The resulting timeout usually results in a retransmission of information or the dissolving of the session between the two devices.
token

Frame that contains control information. Possession of the token allows a network device to transmit data onto the network.

The basic syntactic unit of a computing language.

The basic textual units that are indexed by enterprise search.

Torrent A method of making data available for download over the internet, where the recipient of data is expected to make the data available to others for download from their PC, rather than all users downloading from a central server.
traceroute Program available on many systems that traces the path a packet takes to a desti-
nation. It is used mostly to debug routing problems between hosts. A traceroute protocol is also defined in RFC 1393.
traffic The messages or calls that flow through the circuits or equipment on a communications network. The four Switched Access capacity traffic types are originating, terminating, voice data and SwitchNet 56.
tree

A hierarchical collection of nodes that can have an arbitrary number of references to other nodes.

A data structure whose elements are linked in a hierarchical fashion.

Triple Play The combined offering of voice, video, and data over one line.
Trojan Horse A computer program is either hidden inside another program or that masquerades as something it is not in order to trick potential users into running it. The term "Trojan Horse" comes from a possibly mythical ruse of war used by the Greeks sometime between 1500 and 1200 B.C.
TrueType A technology for outline fonts that is built into all Windows and Macintosh operating systems. Outline fonts are scalable enabling a display device to generate a character at any size based on a geometrical description.
trunk

A line which runs between two switches or swiching systems which are generally found in Central Offices and/or PBXs.

Individual channels or circuits that can be grouped. This is the smallest denominator for a network facility.

tunnel / tunneling A communication channel created in a computer network by encapsulating a communication protocol's data packets in (on top of) a second protocol that normally would be carried above, or at the same layer as, the first one.
Tunnel Broker In computer networking terminology, a tunnel broker is the phrase used to describe a service that provides a network tunnel.
Tweak When you modify a certain piece of hardware for better performance, it is often referred to as "tweaking" it.
Twisted Pair Two copper wires twisted to cancel their own radio frequency interference to reduce noise on the circuit.