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Glossary of Terms

1st Article – See "First Article"

A – See Ampere

Abrasion Resistance – Ability to resist surface wear.

AC – See Alternating Current

ACR – (Attenuation Crosstalk Ratio) The difference between attenuation and crosstalk, measured in dB, at a given frequency . Important characteristic in networking transmission to assure that signal sent down a twisted pair is stronger at the receiving end of the cable than are any interference signals imposed on that same pair by crosstalk from other pairs.

Accelerated Aging – A test that simulates long time environmental conditions in a relatively short time.

Accessories – Mechanical devices, such as cable clamps, added to connectors, and other such attachable hardware that makes up the total connector configuration.

Adapter – An intermediate device that attaches special accessories and provides for special mounting.

AF – See Audio Frequency

Airway Bill – A generic term for Bill of Lading. A receipt listing goods shipped. This receipt usually has a tracking # that can be referenced in the event the shipment doesn’t reach its destination.

Alternating Current – Electric current that continually reverses its direction. It is expressed in cycles per second (hertz or Hz).

AM – Amplitude Modulation

Ambient – Conditions existing at a test or operating location prior to energizing equipment (e.g.: ambient temperature).

American Wire Gauge (AWG) – A standard system for designating wire diameter. Also referred to as the Brown and Sharpe (B&S) wire gauge.

Ampere – A standard unit of current. Defined as the amount of current that flows when one volt of emf is applied across one ohm of resistance. An ampere of current is produced by one coulomb of charge passing a point in one second.

Amplitude – The maximum value of a varying wave form.

Analog Signal – An electrical signal which varies continuously, not having discrete values. For example, certain electrical signals used in telephony are analog representations of voice.

Anneal – To soften and relieve strains in any solid material, such as metal or glass, by heating to just below its melting point and then slowly cooling it. Annealing generally lowers the tensile strength of the material, while improving its flex life and flexibility.

ANSI – American National Standards Institute

Assembly - The combination of two or more components resulting in the finished product, or "cable assembly".

Attenuation – The decrease in magnitude of a signal as it travels through any transmitting medium, such as a cable or circuitry. Attenuation is measured as a ratio or as the logarithm of a ratio (decibel).

Attenuation Constant -- A rating for a cable or other transmitting medium, which is the relative rate of amplitude decrease of voltage or current in the direction of travel. It is measured in decibels per unit of length of cable.

Audio – A term used to describe sounds within the range of human hearing. Also used to describe devices which are designed to operate within this range.

Audio Frequency – That range of frequencies lying within the range of human hearing: approximately 20 to 20,000 Hz.

AWG – American Wire Gauge

AWM – Appliance Wiring Material

Back Mounted – When connector is mounted from the inside of a panel or box with its mounting flanges inside the equipment.

Balanced Line – A cable having two identical conductors which carry voltages opposite in polarity and equal in magnitude with respect to the ground.

Balun – A device for matching an unbalanced coaxial transmission line to a balanced two-wire system. Can also provide impedance transformation, as 30 ohm balanced to 75 ohm unbalanced.

Bandwidth – The difference between the upper and lower limits of a given band of frequencies. Expressed in Hertz.

Barrel – The portion(s) of a terminal or contact that is crimped.

Baud – Unit of data transmission speed meaning bits per second (500 baud - 500 bits per second).

Bel – A unit that represents the logarithm of the ratio of two levels. The number of bels is equal to the logarithm(10) of P(1)/P(2); 2 logarithm(10) E(1)/E(2); and 2 logarithm(10) I(1)/I(2). See dB.

Bend Loss – A form of increased attenuation caused by (a) having an optical fiber curved around a restrictive radius of curvature or (b) microbends caused by minute distortions in the fiber imposed by externally induced perturbations.

Bend Radius – Radius of curvature that a fiber optic or metallic cable can bend without any adverse effects.

Bill of Lading – A receipt listing goods shipped. This receipt usually has a tracking # that can be referenced in the event the shipment does not reach the destination.

Bill of Materials - A list of individual components required to manufacture a complete product.

Binder – A tape or thread used for holding assembled cable components in place.

Bit – One binary digit.

Bonded Cable – Round PVC insulated conductors that are placed side by side and chemically joined in a single plane.

Bonding – The method used to produce good electric contact between metallic parts of any device. Used extensively in automobiles and aircraft to prevent static buildup. Also refers to the connectors and straps used to bond equipment.

Booster – A device or amplifier inserted into a line or cable to increase the voltage. Transformers may be employed to boost ac voltages. The term booster is also applied to antenna preamplifiers.

Boot – 1) A form placed around wire termination of a multiple contact connector to hold the liquid potting compound before it hardens. 2) A protective housing, usually made from a resilient material, that prevents moisture entry into a connector.

Braid – Woven bare metallic or tinned copper wire used as shielding for wires and cables and as ground wire for batteries or heavy industrial equipment. Also a  group of textile or metallic filaments interwoven to form a tubular flexible structure which may be applied over one or more wires, or flattened to form a strap.

Broker – An agent that acts as an intermediary for Asia-Link by handling the customs issues, transporting of goods and storage of International and Domestic shipments.

Buffer – A protective coating over an optical fiber.

Bunch Strand – Conductors twisted together with the same lay and direction without regard to geometric pattern.

Bus-Bar Wire – Uninsulated tinned copper wire used as a common lead.

Byte – A group of adjacent binary digits (8 bits).

C – Symbol designation for capacitance, and Celsius.

Cable – An assembly of one or more conductors or fiber optic strands within a protective sheath.

Cabling – The method by which a group of insulated conductors is mechanically assembled or twisted together.

CAD – Computer Aided Design, a condensed form of the software product known as AutoCAD.

Capacitance – The ability of a dielectric material between conductors to store electricity when a difference of potential exists between the conductors. The unit of measurement is the farad, which is the capacitance value that will store a charge of one coulomb when a one-volt potential difference exists between the conductors. In ac, one farad is the capacitance value which will permit one ampere of current when the voltage across the capacitor changes at a rate of one volt per second.

Capacitance Reactance – The opposition to alternating current due to the capacitance of a capacitor, cable, or circuit. It is measured in ohms and is equal to 1/6.28fC where f is the frequency in Hz and C is the capacitance in farads.

Capacitor – Two conducting surfaces separated by a dielectric material. The capacitance is determined by the area of the surfaces, type of dielectric, and spacing between the conducting surfaces.

CAR– A form completed by the Quality Assurance Dept. which is used to determine if a product or order was manufactured per the customer drawing & A-L CAD.

CATV – Community Antenna Television

CB – Citizens Band

CCTV – Closed-circuit television

Cellular Polyethylene – Expanded or "foam" polyethylene, consists of individual closed cells of inert gas suspended in a polyethylene medium, resulting in a desirable reduction of the dielectric constant.

Centerline Spacing – See Pitch.

Circuit – A system of conducting media designed to pass an electric current.

Circular Mil – A term used to define cross sectional area using an arithmetic short-cut in which the area of a round wire is taken as "diameter in mils (.001")" squared; hence, one circular mil is equal to pi/4 square mils.

Cladding – A low refractive index material that surrounds the core of an optical fiber causing the transmitted light to travel down the core and protects against surface contaminant scattering.

Coaxial Cable – 1) A cable consisting of two cylindrical conductors with a common axis. 2) A cylindrical transmission line comprised of a conductor centered inside a metallic tube of shield, separated by a dielectric material, and usually covered by an insulating jacket.

Coil Effect – The inductive effect exhibited by a spiral-wrapped shield, especially above audio frequencies.

Component – An item sourced domestically that is required to manufacture the final assembly.

Composite Cable – A cable containing more that one gauge size or a variety of circuit types.

Concentric Stranding – A group of uninsulated wires twisted together and containing a center core with subsequent layers spirally wrapped around the core to form a single conductor.

Conductivity – The ability of a material to allow electrons to flow, measured by the current per unit of voltage applied. It is the reciprocal of resistivity.

Conductor – An uninsulated wire or combination of wires suitable for carrying electric current. Or, a material that offers low resistance to the flow of electrical current.

Conforming Product – Product that is built according to the Customer drawing, specifications or approved First Article.

Connector – A coupling device that provides an electrical and mechanical connection or disconnection between two circuits.

Contact – The conducting part of a connector that acts with another such part to complete or break a circuit. Also known as terminals.

Contact Durability – Endurance measured by the number of insertion and withdrawal cycles that a connector withstands while remaining within its specified electrical and mechanical performance levels.

Contact Insertion Force – The amount of force required to insert a contact into the connector housing.

Continuity – A continuous path for the flow of current in an electrical circuit.

Cord – A very flexible insulated cable.

Corona -- The ionization of gasses about a conductor that results when the potential gradient reaches a certain value.

Corrective Action Request (CAR) - Part of Asia-Link's quality testing procedure - this form is used by QA to determine if a product was manufactured according to both the Customer drawing and Asia-Link Auto CAD specifications.

Coupling – The transfer of energy between tow or more cables or components of a circuit.

CPU – Central Processing Unit

Credit - An Accounting entry constituting an addition to revenue, net worth, or liability account.

Credit Memo - A statement issued to the Customer to correct an overcharge for situations such as freight, unit price, or defective materials.

Crosstalk – A type of interference caused by audio frequencies from one pair being coupled into adjacent pairs. The term is loosely used to also include coupling at higher frequencies.

CRT – Cathode Ray Tube

C.S.A. – Abbreviation for Canadian Standards Association, a non-profit, independent organization which operates a listing service for electrical and electronic materials and equipment. The Canadian counterpart of the Underwriters Laboratories.

Current, Alternating (ac) – An electric current that periodically reverses direction of electron flow. That rate at which a full cycle occurs in a given unit of time (generally a second) is called the frequency of the current.

Current, Direct (dc) – Electrical current whose electrons flow in one direction only. It may be constant or pulsating as long as its movement is in the same direction.

Current Loop – A two wire transmit/receive interface.

Customs - Duties, tolls, or taxes imposed by a country on imported or exported goods.

CXC -- Coaxial Cable, CSA (Canadian Standards Association) Cable Designation.