A device, usually a digital or HDTV, that contains a CableCARD host (slot), which can be mated to a CableCard to provide encrypted, premium services. The UDCP is an outgrowth of the one way Plug & Play Agreement, reached by cable and the consumer electronics industries in December, 2002. Makers of UDCP devices can participate in interoperability tests at CableLabs, after which they can “self verify.” The UDCP will evolve into “BDCP” — bi-directional digital cable product– meaning consumer devices that include a two-way path for accessing interactive services, such as on-demand and ETV.

An interactive service that isn’t specifically correlated to the TV program that’s currently on the screen. Generally, unbound apps are invoked by pressing a specifically marked button on the remote control, such as “menu” or “guide.” The opposite of the unbound application is the “bound” app, which inserts an interactive enticement directly into a television show or ad.

Usage: “Discussions about unbound apps tend to hover very closely to conversations about OCAP and tru2way.”

Transmission networks that are trenched into a protected conduit in the ground, such as in new developments, where telephone poles don’t exist. The construction of underground plant is considerably more expensive that aerial plant, because it involves digging into streets and flowerbeds.

Any resource that you can’t seem to get your hands on. Maybe it’s DVR boxes, maybe it’s technical documentation, maybe it’s something more amorphous, like leadership. The point is, you can’t find it, even on eBay, and you find yourself saying, “Geez, what’s it made of — unobtainium?”

The techniques and technologies used to modernize a network, machine or device. In cable parlance, “upgrade” generally means replacing the guts of an amplifier with higher-bandwidth modules, capable of supporting bidirectional (two-way) traffic. That’s contrasted with a “rebuild,” in which old plant is torn away, and new plant/electronics installed, and a “line extension,” which is a new build into, say, a new housing development.

Cable, for the most part, is finished with the “rebuild” part of its life, but continues to have bandwidth expansion options from transmission equipment suppliers. One option is to replace amplifier innards with 1 GHz components, for instance, although that move necessitates tuners that go above 870 MHz.

The physical place and technologies that blast communications and entertainment signals up to a satellite. You’d know an uplink if you saw it: The dishes are gigantic; several times your height. That’s because it takes a lot of oomph to blast signals 23,000 miles up into space.

The home-to-headend signal direction. See “return path.”

A standardized way to plug peripherals into a PC, and the technology that gave rise to the term “plug and play.” A cable modem outfitted with a USB connector, for example, can easily plug into a USB receptacle on the back of a PC, and the PC’s owner doesn’t have to deal with popping the hood, installing a network interface card, and potentially bungling everything up. Technically, USB is an input/output bus technology developed for PC and Macintosh computers, running data at about 12 Mbps.

Usage: The passage of USB-outfitted cable modems through CableLabs certification was a big deal toward self-installation of the devices.