RACE: Research into Advanced Communications in Europe. RACE was a research programme promoted by the European Commission to promote research into advanced communications technologies.

Radio channel. A bandwidth broad enough to carry radio signals.

Radio communications. The use of radio waves for telecommunications.

Radio wave. An electromagnetic wave with a frequency between 100 MHz and 3,000,000 MHz.

RF (Radio Frequency). That part of the electromagnetic spectrum between the audio frequencies and high range frequencies - between 500 KHz and 300 GHz.

Rating. The system used to determine the customer charge for each call. Call charges are normally based on the time of day, the duration of the call, and any conditions specified in the contract between the subscriber and the carrier.

Rating engine. Receives the CDR (call data record) from the mediation device and applies appropriate rates to the each call, producing a 'rated CDR'. The rated CDR is then sent on to the accounting systems so the subscriber can be billed.

RCC (Radio Common Carrier). A communications carrier offering radio paging and cellular telephone services.

Real-time processing. The transmission or processing of data transactions as they occur, instead of waiting for a certain number of transactions to accumulate before they are processed (batch processing). The trend in telecommunications and many other industries is towards real-time processing.

Regeneration. The process of amplifying a digital signal when it has travelled a certain distance from its source in order to maintain signal clarity.

Regenerator. A device used for the process of regeneration.

Registration. Registration informs the network of the status of the MS, that is, whether the MS is attached (switched on) or detached (switched off). The status of the MS is registered through its IMSI being marked as ‘attached’ or ‘detached’ in the HLR.

Remittance. A transfer of funds for the purpose of paying a bill for example.

Reorder signal. A signal used to indicate to the caller that all required switching paths for the connection of a call are in use. The reorder signal repeats faster than the engaged tone.

RLC (Run Length Coding) . A DVB /MPEG-2 digital compression mechanism that assigns shorter codes to commonly occurring combinations.

RNC: Radio Network Controller. The RNC is a network component within the 3G IMT-2000 mobile communications system.

Roaming. A service provided by GSM that allows a subscriber to move between different cells.

Router. A physical device that is capable of forwarding packets based on network layer information and that also participates in running one or more network layer routing protocols.

RST (Running Status Table). An optional DVB SI table that contains data on the current program.

RTT: Radio Transmission Technology. RTT is the name given to the development of the air interface component of IMT-2000 by the ITU.