F
FCC: Federal Communications Commission; (www.fcc.gov)
FDDI: Fiber Distributed Data Interchange
FDM: Frequency Division Multiplexing
FDMA: Frequency Division Multiple-Access;Traditionally, voice channels have been created by dividing the radio spectruminto (ever narrower) frequency RF carriers (channels),with one conversation occupying one (duplex) channel.
ffs: Fast File System (BSDamong others)
field: For an interlaced video signal, a"field" is the assembly of alternate lines of a frame. Therefore, an interlacedframe is composed of two fields, a top field and a bottom field.
FIPS: Federal Information Processing Standards
FireWire: A trademarked name, by AppleComputer, for the IEEE 1394; High Performance SerialBus specification. Current data transfer rates of 400 Mb/s, though thespec. covers up to 1.6 Gb/s.
FPGA: Field Programmable Gate Array
FPLL: Frequency and Phase Locked Loop.
FQDN: Fully Qualified Domain Name, (see DNS)
FRAD: Frame Relay Access Device
FRAM: Ferroelectric Memory; a recently designednonvolatile memory technology; pioneered by Ramtron Int. Corp., ColoradoSprings, Colorado. FRAM has several advantages over 'flash memory'; amongthem are faster reprogramming speeds, less power, and a single 3-V powersupply. But, unlike 'flash cells', reading FRAM cells, is destructive,so that the data must be rewritten into the cell every time it is read.
frame: A frame contains lines of spatialinformation of a video signal. For progressive video, these lines containsamples starting from one time instant and continuing through successivelines to the bottom of the frame. For interlaced video a frame consistsof two fields, a top field and a bottom field. One of these fields willcommence one field later than the other.
Frame Relay: A DTE-DCEinterface specification based on LAPD(Q.921; an ITU-T recommended standard), the IntegratedServices Digital Network (ISDN)version of LAPB(X.25 datalink layer).
Frame Relay is the result of wide area networking requirements for speed;LAN-WANand LAN-LANinternetworking;
"bursty" data communications; multiplicity of protocols and protocoltransparency. These requirements can be met with
technology such as optical fibre lines, allowing higher speeds andfewer transmission errors; intelligent network end devices
(personal computers, workstations, and servers); standardisation andadoption of ISDNprotocols. Frame Relay could connect
dedicated lines and X.25to ATM, SMDS, B-ISDNand other "fast packet" technologies.
FSN: Full Service Network; a service independentplatform for dynamic bandwidth allocation.
FSS: Fixed Satellite Service; medium-poweredsystem that requires dish diameters of 68 cm., a compared to BSS,which is a higher-powered system requiring a dish diameter of only 46 cm.(18 inch.)