(from the article `telecommunications media`) ...of radio repeaters, called transponders, that link terrestrial radio transmitters to terrestrial radio receivers through an uplink (a link from ... Found on http://www.britannica.com/eb/a-z/d/71
In the mobile context, the channels from the mobile to the network are the uplink and from the network to the mobile are the downlink. Terminology borrowed from satellite communications.
Found on http://www.encyclo.co.uk/visitor-contributions.php