Any device in a network that lets traffic in and out. Gateways are used in data, telephone, satellite and cable networks. The theory: If multiple services can be folded into one mambo box, instead of needing one box for each new service, the mambo box becomes an important control point. The mambo box is the “gateway.”

Consider: Set-top suppliers already added cable modems, routers and hard drives into the hunk of hardened plastic that does its work near the TV set. They want the TV to be the center of the home universe, and they sometimes call that center a gateway. Similarly, cable modem makers are binding in the stuff of voice services, plus routers and bridges, so that the PC becomes the center of the broadband household. They, too, like the word “gateway.”

Usage: Ask a lot of follow up question when someone says gateway– it could mean any of a half dozen different types of devices.

A satellite that circles the earth’s equator plane, from East to West, at the same speed the Earth moves from West to East, such that the satellite appears fixed overhead. The first geosynchronous satellite, Early Bird, made by Hughes Aircraft Co., launched on April 6, 1965. It was capable of carrying 240 telephone calls, or one video channel. The theory of geosynchronous orbits is linked to Arthur C. Clarke, who in 1945 published a paper suggesting that a satellite could orbit the earth in 24 hours at an altitude of 22,000 miles.

Usage: On April 6, 2005, EarlyBird, the first satellite placed into geosynchronous orbit, turned 40.

One billion bits. Generally used in reference to data throughput speed — as in, the number of Gigabits per second.

A physical method for carrying a billion bits per second. Pronounced as a word, “giggy.” In broadband networks, GigE people view the technology as an inexpensive way to outfit plant for the billowing bandwidth needs of on-demand TV, beyond films. The idea: Centralize storage, then switch it out as requested, using GigE.

Tactically, GigE showed up first in backbone and national networks. Slowly but surely, though, it’s moving deeper into the network and closer to homes and businesses.

Usage: It’s just too tempting to not put this usage example in here about GigE: Some people talk about gettin’ jiggy with GigE. I know, I know. 😉

One billion Hertz, or, in more common usage, 1,000 MHz. Some may remember Time Warner Cable’s “Quantum” project, lit up in Brooklyn/Queens, NY in 1991. That was the first time a cable provider expanded its RF spectrum past 750 MHz, leapfrogging from 550-750 MHz. The intent was to provide the first 150 channel, two-way system. (This was before digital video compression came into play — these were 150 analog channels.) At the time, technical challenges involved how to find a 1 GHz tuner and amplifier — none existed at the time. To date, most bandwidth upgrades in cable networks top out at 860 MHz, although some operators, like Cox and Bright House Networks, are building out to 1 GHz. So far, cable providers remain confident that they have sufficient bandwidth to carry all the new services coming — even the bandwidth-hungry ones, like HDTV. But most are privately glad that 1 GHz products are available as a backup.

Usage: The GHz upgrade is one of three popular techniques to conserve or expand bandwidth – the other two being switched digital video (SDV) or analog spectrum reclamation. The techniques are not mutually exclusive, and will likely be used in combination, over time.

Software for digital set-top boxes that “harmonizes” the differences between U.S. and European launch variables. Middleware is software that translates incoming applications (the guide, an interactive element bound into a TV show) to the operating system “below” it. A key benefit is for interactive applications developers to be able to “write once, run anywhere.” GEM is shepherded by the Digital Video Broadcast (DVB) group in Europe, and aims to blend varying inputs from CableLabs, the International Telecommunications Union, and the Advanced Television Systems Committee. The GEM specification covers application program interfaces (APIs), protocols, and content formats. Technically, the “M” in “GEM” stands for “MHP,” or “Multimedia Home Platform,” a DVB group. So in all it’s “Globally Executable MHP.” But since MHP is essentially middleware, you’re safe to not have to remember the nested acronym.

A service locator for consumers of cable services. Developed by CableLabs and CTAM, Go2Broadband is an Internet-based electronic commerce tool that assists computer makers, retailers and content providers in selling cable services. Example: You walk into a retail store (or go to the Web), identify your address to a kiosk (or browser), and ascertain what video, data and voice services are available to you from your cable provider.

An easy to use screen, on the TV, PC or any other display device, which contains information about how to use or gain access to a service. In techno-slang, GUI is pronounced as a word describing spilled molassas: “Gooey.” A GUI can be anything from an order-entry screen used by a customer care representative, to a selectable screen on a set-top box that provides the guide and a set of parental locks. In a sense, the Web browser is the Internets GUI. In today’s lingo, GUI takes a back seat to “navigator” and “digital navigator” — synonymous terms, but “navigator” is seemingly more vogue (as of early 2005, anyway.)

The customization of video lineups after channels come into a signal collection center, like a headend, but before they move over plant toward subscribing homes. Synonymous with “add-drop multiplexing,” “statmuxing,” and “cherry-picking,” the latter of which is a reference to a specific product name of gear originally developed by Terayon Corp. Grooming equipment, in a signal flow sense, sits after the satellite receiver and before encryption/modulation gear. The big element in grooming gear is the statistical multiplexer, which extends to the transport network what digital video compression did in the first place: Efficiency, by eliminating waste bits. Statistical multiplexers find the most efficient way for digital video channels of different traveling bit rates to ride efficiently within the same channel width (6 MHz). Grooming customizes the lineup before it goes through the statmux.
Usage: Grooming, in an applied sense, doesnt involve a comb and a sink, but a network and a multiplexer.

A portion of RF spectrum used as a cushion, not as a transmission method. The guard band provides a safety margin between two RF carriers, or between bands of carriers, so that they don’t interfere with one another. One well-known example of guard-band: Time Warner Cable’s experiments to locate a return path inside a slice of high frequency spectrum, between 900 MHz-1 GHz, in the early 1990s. Sending return signals in that high frequency band necessitated the placement of guard band between 735-900 MHz, using a specially made diplex filter, to assure that signals traveling upstream in the high frequency range didn’t bleed into the neighboring spectrum. The experiment proved the high-end return technically feasible, but economically difficult without scale.

Usage: The guard band between the upper end of the cable return path spectrum and the first analog broadcast channel (channel two) is a 12 MHz slice, between 42 MHz and 54 MHz.