Optical Carrier. This represents a set of physical carrier protocols using fiber optic signal transmission. There are several OC protocols such as OC-3, OC-12, and OC-48. The number in each case represents the nominal bandwidth of the link. The actual bandwidth for each is found by multiplying this number by 51.84Mbps. For example, OC-3 runs at 155Mbps, OC-12 at 622Mbps, OC-48 at 2488Mbps (2.48Gbps), and OC-192 at 9953Mbps (roughly 10Gbps).
An 8-bit byte. Network people tend to use the term octet to avoid possible confusion over the number of bits.
Open System Interconnection. A set of standards, including the OSI model for network layers, defined by the ISO.
Open Shorted Path First. A Link State routing protocol for IP. OSPF is an open standard that is implemented by most network-hardware vendors.
In OSPF, it is necessary to break up the larger Autonomous System into smaller groups called areas. This breakup allows faster and more reliable convergence of the routing protocol.
Organizationally Unique Identifier. In Ethernet MAC addresses, the first three bytes are called the OUI. This code specifies the vendor of the NIC and helps ensure that BIA MAC addresses are globally unique.
Refers to management or control information that is transmitted using a different physical or logical network pathway from that used by application data.