Numbers

100 Mbps (Fast Ethernet)

Fast Ethernet. Ethernet at 100 Mbit/s, introduced in 1995 as IEEE 802.3u. 100BASE-TX over Cat 5 cable is by far the most common form.

See also: Gigabit Ethernet, Ethernet over twisted pair.

5ESS

A digital telephone switch developed by Western Electric for AT&T, first in service in 1982. It became one of the most widely used local exchanges in the United States.

See also: SystemX, Class 5 Softswitch.

5G

The fifth generation of mobile networks, standardised by 3GPP from Release 15 (2018) to meet the ITU’s IMT-2020 targets. It uses the New Radio (NR) air interface and a service-based core. It offers faster broadband, low-latency services and very large numbers of IoT devices. Speeds depend heavily on the frequency band used.

See also: LTE (4G), OFDMA, MIMO.

802.11

The IEEE family of standards for wireless LANs, first published in 1997, which defines the physical and MAC layers that Wi-Fi products use. Amendments add speed and features, such as 802.11n, ac, ax and be.

See also: Wi-Fi, IEEE.

802.3 Physical Layer

IEEE 802.3. The IEEE working group and family of standards that define wired Ethernet: the physical layers and the MAC. They cover speeds from 10 Mbit/s to hundreds of gigabits per second, over copper and fibre.

See also: Ethernet over twisted pair, MAC, CSMA.