B2B

business-to-business

Business-to-business (B2B or, in some countries, BtoB) refers to a situation where one business makes a commercial transaction with another. This typically occurs when:
 
A business is sourcing materials for their production process (e.g. a food manufacturer purchasing salt).
A business needs the services of another for operational reasons (e.g. a food manufacturer employing an accountancy firm to audit their finances).
A business re-sells goods and services produced by others (e.g. a retailer buying the end product from the food manufacturer).
B2B is often contrasted with business-to-consumer (B2C). In B2B commerce, it is often the case that the parties to the relationship have comparable negotiating power, and even when they do not, each party typically involves professional staff and legal counsel in the negotiation of terms, whereas B2C is shaped to a far greater degree by economic implications of information asymmetry. However, within a B2B context, large companies may have many commercial, resource and information advantages over smaller businesses.

B2C

business-to-consumer

Business to consumer (B2C) refers to the transactions conducted directly between a company and consumers who are the end-users of its products or services. The business to consumer as a business model differs significantly from the business-to-business model, which refers to commerce between two or more businesses. While most companies that sell directly to consumers can be referred to as B2C companies, the term became immensely popular during the dotcom boom of the late 1990s, when it was used mainly to refer to online retailers, as well as other companies that sold products and services to consumers through the internet.
 
Read more: Business To Consumer (B To C) https://www.investopedia.com/terms/b/btoc.asp#ixzz5MjtnxcKz
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Backhaul

In a hierarchical telecommunications network the backhaul portion of the network comprises the intermediate links between the core network, or backbone network, and the small subnetworks at the "edge" of the entire hierarchical network.
 
In contracts pertaining to such networks, backhaul is the obligation to carry packets to and from that global network. A non-technical business definition of backhaul is the commercial wholesale bandwidth provider who offers quality of service (QOS) guarantees to the retailer. It appears most often in telecommunications trade literature in this sense, whereby the backhaul connection is defined not technically but by who operates and manages it, and who takes legal responsibility for the connection or uptime to the Internet or 3G/4G network. See also hotspot contracts below.
 
In both the technical and commercial definitions, backhaul generally refers to the side of the network that communicates with the global Internet, paid for at wholesale commercial access rates to or at an Ethernet Exchange or other core network access location. Sometimes middle mile networks exist between the customer's own LAN and those exchanges. This can be a local WAN or WLAN connection, for instance Network New Hampshire Now and Maine Fiber Company run tariffed public dark fiber networks as a backhaul alternative to encourage local and national carriers to reach areas with broadband and cell phone that they otherwise would not be serving. These serve retail networks which in turn connect buildings and bill customers directly.

Backlog

A backlog is an ordered list of items representing everything that may be needed to deliver a specific outcome. There are different types of backlogs depending on the type of item they contain and the approach being used.

Backlog Grooming

Backlog grooming is when the product owner and some, or all, of the rest of the team refine the backlog on a regular basis to ensure the backlog contains the appropriate items, that they are prioritized, and that the items at the top of the backlog are ready for delivery.

Bandwidth

Bandwidth is the maximum rate of data transfer across a given path. Bandwidth may be characterized as network bandwidth, data bandwidth, or digital bandwidth.
 
This definition of bandwidth is in contrast to the field of signal processing, wireless communications, modem data transmission, digital communications, and electronics[citation needed], in which bandwidth is used to refer to analog signal bandwidth measured in hertz, meaning the frequency range between lowest and highest attainable frequency while meeting a well-defined impairment level in signal power.
 
However, the actual bit rate that can be achieved depends not only on the signal bandwidth, but also on the noise on the channel.

Baseline

The original version of an artifact that serves as the basis for all future development work. Baselined artifacts are normally placed under change control.

Bash

Bash is a Unix shell and command language written by Brian Fox for the GNU Project as a free software replacement for the Bourne shell. First released in 1989, it has been distributed widely as the default login shell for most Linux distributions and Apple's macOS (formerly OS X). A version is also available for Windows 10. It is also the default user shell in Solaris 11.
 
Bash is a command processor that typically runs in a text window where the user types commands that cause actions. Bash can also read and execute commands from a file, called a shell script. Like all Unix shells, it supports filename globbing (wildcard matching), piping, here documents, command substitution, variables, and control structures for condition-testing and iteration. The keywords, syntax and other basic features of the language are all copied from sh. Other features, e.g., history, are copied from csh and ksh. Bash is a POSIX-compliant shell, but with a number of extensions.
 
The shell's name is an acronym for Bourne-again shell, a pun on the name of the Bourne shell that it replaces.

BASIC

BASIC (an acronym for Beginner's All-purpose Symbolic Instruction Code) is a family of general-purpose, high-level programming languages whose design philosophy emphasizes ease of use. In 1964, John G. Kemeny, Thomas E. Kurtz and Sr. Mary Kenneth Keller designed the original BASIC language at Dartmouth College. They wanted to enable students in fields other than science and mathematics to use computers. At the time, nearly all use of computers required writing custom software, which was something only scientists and mathematicians tended to learn.

BAU

Business as Usual

Business as usual (BAU) - the normal execution of standard functional operations within an organization - forms a possible contrast to projects or programmes which might introduce change.[citation needed] BAU may also stand in contradistinction to external events which may have the effect of unsettling or distracting those inside an organisation

BDD

Behavior Driven Development (BDD)

BDD is a practice where members of the team discuss the expected behavior of a system in order to build a shared understanding of expected functionality.

Bench Test

A test that is performed in the development environment and focuses on the part of the system being worked on.

BER

Bit Error Rate

In digital transmission, the number of bit errors is the number of received bits of a data stream over a communication channel that have been altered due to noise, interference, distortion or bit synchronization errors.
 
The bit error rate (BER) is the number of bit errors per unit time. The bit error ratio (also BER) is the number of bit errors divided by the total number of transferred bits during a studied time interval. Bit error ratio is a unitless performance measure, often expressed as a percentage.

BER

Basic Encoding Rules

The format for Basic Encoding Rules specifies a self-describing and self-delimiting format for encoding ASN.1 data structures. Each data element is encoded as a type identifier, a length description, the actual data elements, and, where necessary, an end-of-content marker. These types of encodings are commonly called type-length-value or TLV encodings. This format allows a receiver to decode the ASN.1 information from an incomplete stream, without requiring any pre-knowledge of the size, content, or semantic meaning of the data.

Best Practice

A practice, technique, process, or idiom that has been proven effective and/or efficient for completing a goal or addressing common risks. See CxOne Best Practice material type.

Best Practice Description

CxBest

CxOne best practice material type, see CxOneOverview for description.

BGCF

Breakout Gateway Control Function

A Breakout Gateway Control Function (BGCF) is a SIP proxy which processes requests for routing from an S-CSCF when the S-CSCF has determined that the session cannot be routed using DNS or ENUM/DNS. It includes routing functionality based on telephone numbers.

 

BGP

Border Gateway Protocol

Border Gateway Protocol (BGP) is a standardized exterior gateway protocol designed to exchange routing and reachability information among autonomous systems (AS) on the Internet. The protocol is classified as a path vector protocol. The Border Gateway Protocol makes routing decisions based on paths, network policies, or rule-sets configured by a network administrator and is involved in making core routing decisions.

Bjarne Stroustrup

Bjarne Stroustrup is a Danish computer scientist, who is most notable for the creation and development of the widely used C++ programming language.

Black-Box Testing

Synonym for functional testing.

Bluetooth

Bluetooth is a wireless technology standard for exchanging data over short distances (using short-wavelength UHF radio waves in the ISM band from 2.4 to 2.485 GHz) from fixed and mobile devices, and building personal area networks (PANs). Invented by Dutch electrical engineer Jaap Haartsen, working for telecom vendor Ericsson in 1994, it was originally conceived as a wireless alternative to RS-232 data cables.
 
Bluetooth is managed by the Bluetooth Special Interest Group (SIG), which has more than 30,000 member companies in the areas of telecommunication, computing, networking, and consumer electronics. The IEEE standardized Bluetooth as IEEE 802.15.1, but no longer maintains the standard.

BNF

Backus–Naur form

In computer science, Backus–Naur form or Backus normal form (BNF) is a metasyntax notation for context-free grammars, often used to describe the syntax of languages used in computing, such as computer programming languages, document formats, instruction sets and communication protocols. They are applied wherever exact descriptions of languages are needed: for instance, in official language specifications, in manuals, and in textbooks on programming language theory.

Many extensions and variants of the original Backus–Naur notation are used; some are exactly defined, including extended Backus–Naur form (EBNF) and augmented Backus–Naur form (ABNF).

<postal-address> ::= <name-part> <street-address> <zip-part>
      <name-part> ::= <personal-part> <last-name> <opt-suffix-part> <EOL> | <personal-part> <name-part>
<personal-part> ::= <initial> "." | <first-name>
<street-address> ::= <house-num> <street-name> <opt-apt-num> <EOL>
       <zip-part> ::= <town-name> "," <state-code> <ZIP-code> <EOL>
<opt-suffix-part> ::= "Sr." | "Jr." | <roman-numeral> | ""
    <opt-apt-num> ::= <apt-num> | ""

BNG

Broadband Network Gateway

The Broadband Network Gateway (BNG) allows subscribers to connect to a broadband network through an access portal. It creates and manages subscriber sessions, aggregating traffic from various subscriber sessions from an access network, and routing it to the network of the Internet Service Provider (ISP) or Network Service Provider (NSP).

BOOTP

Dynamic IP Address Allocation – Bootstrap protocol

The Bootstrap Protocol (BOOTP) is a computer networking protocol used in Internet Protocol networks to automatically assign an IP address to network devices from a configuration server. The BOOTP was originally defined in RFC 951.
 
When a computer that is connected to a network is powered up and boots its operating system, the system software broadcasts BOOTP messages onto the network to request an IP address assignment. A BOOTP configuration server assigns an IP address based on the request from a pool of addresses configured by an administrator.
 
BOOTP is implemented using the User Datagram Protocol (UDP) as transport protocol, port number 67 is used by the (DHCP) server to receive client requests and port number 68 is used by the client to receive (DHCP) server responses. BOOTP operates only on IPv4 networks.
 
Historically, BOOTP has also been used for Unix-like diskless workstations to obtain the network location of their boot image, in addition to the IP address assignment. Enterprises used it to roll out a pre-configured client (e.g., Windows) installation to newly installed PCs.

Boston Matrix

The growth–share matrix (aka the product portfolio matrix,[ Boston Box, BCG-matrix, Boston matrix, Boston Consulting Group analysis, portfolio diagram) is a chart that to help corporations to analyze their business units, that is, their product lines. This helps the company allocate resources and is used as an analytical tool in brand marketing, product management, strategic management, and portfolio analysis. Some analysis of market performance by firms using its principles has called its usefulness into question.

Bottom-Up Estimation

Estimating a system by decomposing it and then estimating each decomposed piece individually, rolling up the total to get an entire system estimate.

BPEL

Business Process Execution Language

BPEL (Business Process Execution Language) is an XML-based language that allows Web services in a service-oriented architecture (SOA) to interconnect and share data.
 
 
Programmers use BPEL to define how a business process that involves web services will be executed. BPEL messages are typically used to invoke remote services, orchestrate process execution and manage events and exceptions.
 
BPEL is often associated with Business Process Management Notation (BPMN), a standard for representing business processes graphically. In many organizations, analysts use BPMN to visualize business processes and developers transform the visualizations to BPEL for execution.
 
BPEL was standardized by OASIS in 2004 after collaborative efforts to create the language by Microsoft, IBM and other companies.

BPMN

Business Process Model and Notation

Business Process Model and Notation (BPMN) is a graphical representation for specifying business processes in a business process model.
 
Business Process Management Initiative (BPMI) developed BPMN, which has been maintained by the Object Management Group since the two organizations merged in 2005. Version 2.0 of BPMN was released in January 2011,[1] at which point the name was adapted to Business Process Model and Notation as execution semantics were also introduced alongside the notational and diagramming elements.

BRAS

Broadband Remote Access Server

A broadband remote access server (BRAS, B-RAS or BBRAS) routes traffic to and from broadband remote access devices such as digital subscriber line access multiplexers (DSLAM) on an Internet service provider's (ISP) network
 
BRAS can also be referred to as a Broadband Network Gateway (BNG)
 

 

 

Broadcast

In computer networking, telecommunication and information theory, broadcasting is a method of transferring a message to all recipients simultaneously. Broadcasting can be performed as a high level operation in a program, for example broadcasting Message Passing Interface, or it may be a low level networking operation, for example broadcasting on Ethernet.
 
All-to-all communication is a computer communication method in which each sender transmits messages to all receivers within a group. This contrasts with the point-to-point method in which each sender communicates with one receiver.
 

 

BSC

The base station controller (BSC) provides, classically, the intelligence behind the BTSs. Typically a BSC has tens or even hundreds of BTSs under its control. The BSC handles allocation of radio channels, receives measurements from the mobile phones, and controls handovers from BTS to BTS (except in the case of an inter-BSC handover in which case control is in part the responsibility of the anchor MSC). A key function of the BSC is to act as a concentrator where many different low capacity connections to BTSs (with relatively low utilisation) become reduced to a smaller number of connections towards the mobile switching center (MSC) (with a high level of utilisation). Overall, this means that networks are often structured to have many BSCs distributed into regions near their BTSs which are then connected to large centralised MSC sites.
 
The BSC is undoubtedly the most robust element in the BSS as it is not only a BTS controller but, for some vendors, a full switching center, as well as an SS7 node with connections to the MSC and serving GPRS support node (SGSN) (when using GPRS). It also provides all the required data to the operation support subsystem (OSS) as well as to the performance measuring centers.
 
A BSC is often based on a distributed computing architecture, with redundancy applied to critical functional units to ensure availability in the event of fault conditions. Redundancy often extends beyond the BSC equipment itself and is commonly used in the power supplies and in the transmission equipment providing the A-ter interface to PCU.

 

BSS

Base station subsystem

The base station subsystem (BSS) is the section of a traditional cellular telephone network which is responsible for handling traffic and signaling between a mobile phone and the network switching subsystem. The BSS carries out transcoding of speech channels, allocation of radio channels to mobile phones, paging, transmission and reception over the air interface and many other tasks related to the radio network.
 
BSS interfaces
 

• Um
  

  • The air interface between the mobile station (MS) and the BTS. This interface uses LAPDm protocol for signaling, to conduct call control, measurement reporting, handover, power control, authentication, authorization, location update and so on. Traffic and signaling are sent in bursts of 0.577 ms at intervals of 4.615 ms, to form data blocks each 20 ms.

• Abis
  

  • The interface between the BTS and BSC. Generally carried by a DS-1, ES-1, or E1 TDM circuit. Uses TDM subchannels for traffic (TCH), LAPD protocol for BTS supervision and telecom signaling, and carries synchronization from the BSC to the BTS and MS.

• A
  

  • The interface between the BSC and MSC. It is used for carrying traffic channels and the BSSAP user part of the SS7 stack. Although there are usually transcoding units between BSC and MSC, the signaling communication takes place between these two ending points and the transcoder unit doesn't touch the SS7 information, only the voice or CS data are transcoded or rate adapted.

• Ater
  

  • The interface between the BSC and transcoder. It is a proprietary interface whose name depends on the vendor (for example Ater by Nokia), it carries the A interface information from the BSC leaving it untouched.

• Gb
  

  • Connects the BSS to the SGSN in the GPRS core network.
    
    

    

    
     

BSS

Business support systems

Business support systems (BSS) are the components that a telecommunications service provider (or telco) uses to run its business operations towards customers.
 
Together with operations support systems (OSS), they are used to support various end-to-end telecommunication services (e.g., telephone services). BSS and OSS have their own data and service responsibilities. The two systems together are often abbreviated OSS/BSS, BSS/OSS or simply B/OSS.
 
The acronym BSS is also used in a singular form to refer to all the business support systems viewed as a whole system.

BT 21CN

BT 21st Century Network
 

21CN involves a huge overhaul of the existing 20CN network. Over the next few years BT will gradually be updating the existing equipment and replacing it with a new multi-service network.
 
The PSTN (telephone) services will be provided over the same IP network as broadband. This will involve replacing telephone switching equipment and the adsl broadband DSLAMs with MSANs (Multi-Service Access Nodes) which will terminate telephone and broadband connections.
Note: Plans to also move the telephone network over to IP has been temporary been abandoned by BT.
 
As well as faster speeds the new equipment will also allow BT more configuration options and allow them to offer products with QoS (Quality of Service) availability.
 

 

 

BTNUP

See IUP

BTS

Base Transceiver Station

A base transceiver station (BTS) is a piece of equipment that facilitates wireless communication between user equipment (UE) and a network. UEs are devices like mobile phones (handsets), WLL phones, computers with wireless Internet connectivity. The network can be that of any of the wireless communication technologies like GSM, CDMA, wireless local loop, Wi-Fi, WiMAX or other wide area network (WAN) technology.
 
BTS is also referred to as the node B (in 3G Networks) or, simply, the Base Station (BS). For discussion of the LTE standard the abbreviation eNB for evolved node B is widely used

bug

a coding error in a computer program.

Build

The process of executing a software build, which is normally largely automated. Also refers to the resulting output, which is a built version of a system, ready for testing.

Build Environment

A development environment that is isolated and dedicated to the create of builds. Normally one or more dedicate build machines.

Build Machine

A computer dedicated to the create of software builds.

build tool

a programming utility that is used when building a new version of a program.

Burndown Chart

Burndown charts and burnup charts track the amount of output (in terms of hours, story points, or backlog items) a team has completed across an iteration or a project.

 

Burst

In telecommunication, a burst transmission or data burst is the broadcast of a relatively high-bandwidth transmission over a short period.

Business Agility Ownership

Business agility is the ability of an organization to sense changes internally or externally and respond accordingly in order to deliver value to its customers.

Business Requirement

High level objectives of the organization or customer requesting a system or product. Also known as the Why Requirements.

Business Schedule

High level project schedule containing top level milestones and their associated business goals for the entire project. A business schedule often defines a set of top-down schedule constraints that will be managed to. Compare to detailed schedule.

BYOD

Bring your own device

Bring your own device (BYOD)—also called bring your own technology (BYOT), bring your own phone (BYOP), and bring your own personal computer (BYOPC)—refers to the policy of permitting employees to bring personally owned devices (laptops, tablets, and smart phones) to their workplace, and to use those devices to access privileged company information and applications. The phenomenon is commonly referred to as IT consumerization.
 
BYOD is making significant inroads in the business world, with about 75% of employees in high growth markets such as Brazil and Russia and 44% in developed markets already using their own technology at work. Surveys have indicated that businesses are unable to stop employees from bringing personal devices into the workplace. Research is divided on benefits. One survey shows around 95% of employees stating they use at least one personal device for work.