Phil Storrs PC Hardware book

Computer Acronyms

A	B	C	D	E	F	G	H	I

J	K	L	M	N	O	P	Q	R
	
S	T	U	V	W	X	Y	Z

A
ABT 	Advanced BiCMOS Technology  (a high speed BiCMOS logic family)
ACL 	Advanced CMOS logic (a high speed CMOS logic family)
AGP	Advanced Graphics Port (an enhanced version of the PCI Bus, designed for the Video Interface card)
AI	Artificial Intelligence
AIFF	A format for storing Sound Files, originally used by Apple and Silicon Graphics
ANSI	American National Standards Institute
API	Application Programming Interface
ASCII	American Standard Code for Information Interchange
ASIC	Application Specific Integrated Circuit
ASPI	Advanced SCSI Programming Interface
ATM	Asynchronous Transfer Mode
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B
BIOS	Basic Input/Output Services (System) (the "firmware" in a PC computer)
BMP	BitMaP (the most commonly used image file format in Windows)
BNC	Bayonet Neill-Concekman (a coax. connector often used with network cables)
bps	Bits Per Second
Bps	Bytes Per Second
BTL	Backplane Transceiver Logic (a high speed logic technology used in FutureBus)
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C
CAD	Computer-Aided Design
CAE	Computer-Aided Engineering
CAI	Computer-Aided Instruction
CAM	Common Access Method
CAM	Computer-Aided Manufacturing
CAN	Control Area Network (a two-wire serial bus for use in automobiles)
CASE	Computer-Aided Software Engineering
CBL	Computer-Based Learning
CBT	Computer-Based Training
CCITT	Consultative Committee International Telephone Telegraphic
	(this international body has been replaced by the ITU-T)
CD-I	CD-Interactive
CD-R	CDROM wRitable (Can be written to only once, a WORM device)
CD-RW	CDROM Re-Writable (Can be written and rewritten like a magnetic disk)
CEG	Continuos Edge Graphics (a video enhancement technique)
CGA	Colour Graphics Adaptor (the first PC colour video system)
CGI	Common Gateway Interface (a standard for programs to interface to Internet Servers)
CIS	Card Information Structure (part of PCMCIA standards)
CMOS	Complementary Metal Oxide Semiconductor (also used to describe the area of RAM 
	memory used to store configuration data in PC computers)
CMY	Cyan, Magenta, Yellow (an alternative colour generation system to RGB)
CP/M	Control Program for Microprocessor (Microcomputer) (an ancestor of MsDOS)
CPS	Characters Per Second
CPU	Central Processor Unit (the processor chip in a computer)
CRC	Cyclic Redundancy Check
CRT	Cathode Ray Tube (often used to refer to the monitor in a computer system)
CSMA/CD	Carrier Sense Multiple Access with Collision Detect
CUI	Character Based Interface (DOS is a CUI)
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D
DAC	Digital to Analog Converter
DAT	Digital Audio Tape (used as a data backup media)
DD	Double density (a floppy disk term)
DDE	Dynamic Data Exchange
DIMM	Dual Inline Memory Module (latest RAM technology)
DIP 	Dual Inline Package (an IC package)
DIL	Dual InLine (same as above)
DLT	Digital's Linear Tape (a tape backup standard)
DMA	Direct Memory Access
DNA	Digital Network Architecture (a DEC networking system)
DOS	Disk Operating System
dpi	dots per inch (a way of specifying a printers resolution)
DRam	Dynamic Ram
DTMF 	(TMF) Dual Tone Multi-Frequency generator (used in telephony to provide dial tones)
DVD	Digital Vesatile Disk (the next generation of CDROM technology)
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E
ECMA	European Computer Manufacturer Association
ECC	Error Correction Code
EDO	Extended Data Output (an advanced DRam technology)
EPROM	Erasable Programmable Read Only Memory (erased by exposing chip to UV light)
EEPROM	Electrically Erasable Programmable Read Only Memory
EGA	Extended Graphics Adaptor (Video standard introduced with the AT computer)
EISA	Extended Industry Standard Architecture (a 32 bit BUS standard)
EMM	Extended Memory Management (refers to memory above an address of One Meg.)
EMS	Extended Memory Specification (refers to memory above an address of One Meg.)
EPS	Encapsulate PostScript (a printer communications standard)
ESDI	Enhanced Small Device Interface (a hard drive interface standard)
ExCA	Exchangeable Card Architecture
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F
FAQ	Frequently Asked Questions
FAT	File Allocation Table
FDDI	Fibre Distributed Data Interface
FIFO	First-In, First-Out (refers to a type of data buffer)
FPRam	Fast Page mode Ram
FPU	Floating Point Unit (often called a Maths Co-processor)
FTP	File Transfer Protocol
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G
GAL 	Generic Array Logic (a programmable logic devices that have a hard wired array) 
GIF	Graphic Interchange Format (a high compression image file format)
GIGO	Garbage In, Garbage Out
GUI	Graphical User Interface (Microsoft Windows is an example of a GUI)
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H
HD	High Density (a floppy disk term)
HDLC	High Level Data Link Control
HMA	High Memory Area
HPFS	High Performance File System (use by IBM's OS/2)
HTML	HyperText Markup Language
HTTP	HyperText Transfer Protocol
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I
IC	Integrated Circuit
I2C 	Inter-Integrated Circuit bus (a simple, inexpensive two-wire serial bus used to control
	IC components in a system)
IDE	Inbuilt (Internal) Drive Electronics (a hard drive interface)
IEEE	Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers (a professional body)
IP 	Internet Protocol
IRC	Internet Relay Chat (real-time multi-party conferencing system on Internet)
IRQ	Interrupt ReQuest
ISA	Industry Standard Architecture (the Bus standard first introduced by IBM in the AT
	computer - has sixteen bit data path and 24 bit address)
ISDN	Integrated Services Digital Network
ISO	International Standards Organisation
ISR	Interrupt Service Routine
IVT	Interrupt Vector Table
I/O	Input / Output
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J
JEIDA	Japan Electronics Industry Development Association
JPEG	Joint Photographic Experts Group (refers to a static image compression format)
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K
Kbps	Kilobits per second
KB	KiloBytes
KISS	Keep It Simple, Stupid
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L
LAN	Local Area Network
LCD	Liquid Crystal Display (an alternative display device to the CRT, used in Laptops)
LIM	Lotus Intel Microsoft
LPT	Line PrinTer
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M
Mbps	Meg Bits Per Second
MBps	Meg Bytes Per Second
MCA	Micro Channel Architecture (an advanced BUS standard introduced by IBM)
MDA	Mono Display Adaptor (a video system standard)
MFM	Modified Frequency Modulation (a disk recording method)
MGA	Mono Graphics Adaptor (Hercules video card) (a video system standard)
MIDI	Musical Instrument Digital Interface
MIPS	Millions of Instructions Per Second
MLDP	MuTiMedia laser Disk Player
MMCD	Multi Media CD
MMX	MutiMedia eXtensions (additions to the Pentium processor instruction set)
MPC	Multimedia PC
MPEG 	Motion Picture Experts Group (a defining body of the CCITT)
MTBF	Mean Time Between Failure
MUD	Multi-User Dungeon (a series of games played by users of the Internet)
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N
nn	News Network (a global electronic mail news system)
NLQ	Near Letter Quality
NTFS	NT File System (used by Windows NT)
NTSC	National Television Standard Committee (the television system used in the USA)
NRZ	Non Return to Zero
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O
OCR	Optical Character Recognition
OEM	Original Equipment Manufacturer
OLE	Object Linking and Embedding
OS/2	Operating System 2 (an alternative to MSDos, introduced with the IBM PS/2)
OSI	Open Systems Interconnection
OTP	One Time Programmable
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P
PAL	Phase Alternate Lock (the television system used in Europe and Australia)
PAL	Programmed Array Logic - an alternative name for a PLA  (a trademark of AMD)
PCI	Peripheral Component Interconnect (a local bus standard)
PCMCIA	Personal Computer Memory Card International Association
PDA	Personal Digital Assistants
PGA	Pin Grid Array (an IC packaging used for modern Processor chips)
PIF	Program Information File (files used by MsWindows to run applications)
PLA	Programmable Logic Array
PLC	Programmable Logic Controller
PLCC	Plastic Leaded Chip Carrier (an IC package used for older processor chips)
PLD	Programmable Logic Device
PLL	Phase-Locked Loop
PnP	Plug and Play
POST	Power On Self Test
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Q
QIC	Quarter Inch Cartridge (a tape backup standard)
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R
RAID	Redundant Array of Inexpensive Disks
RAM	Random Access Memory
RGB	Red Green Blue (refers to the video signals required to produce a colour image)
RISC	Reduced Instruction Set Computer (a processor technology, used in the PowerPC)
RLL	Run Length Limited (a disk recording method)
ROM	Read Only Memory
RTFM	Read The "Flaming" Manual
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S
SCSI	Small Computer System Interface
SDLC	Synchronous Data Link Communications (an IBM computer networking protocol)
SDRam	Synchronous D Ram (the latest DRam technology)
SECAM	Sequential Colour and Memory System (television system used in France, Russia)
SEC	Single Edge Contact (the socket used for the Pentium II processor)
SIG	Special Interest Group
SIP	Single Inline Package (package type used for Ram Memory - older technology)
SIMM	Single Inline Memory Module (package type used for Ram Memory - current technology)
SMBUS	System Management Bus
SMD	Surface Mount Device (a method of mounting components on a circuit board)
SMT	Surface Mount Technology
SMTP	Simple Mail Transfer Protocol
SNA	System Network Architecture (an IBM networking standard)
SNTP	Simple Network Management Protocol
SPG	Serial Parallel Games (used to describe an interface card providing these functions)
SSA	Serial SCSI Architecture
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T
TCP/IP	Transmission Control Protocol / Internet Protocol
TIFF	Tagged Image File Format  (a versatile image file format )
TSR	Terminate and Stay Ready (refers to a "memory resident" program)
TTL	Transistor Transistor Logic (a logic device technology)
TTY	Teletype (usually refers to a simple ASCII terminal device)
TWAIN	Toolkit Without An Interesting Name (standard specification for image scanners)
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U
UART	Universal Asynchronous Receiver/Transmitter (chip used in serial I/O ports)
UDP	User Datagram Protocol
UMB	Upper Memory Block
UPS	Un-interrupted Power Supply
URL	Universal Resource Locater
USB	Universal Serial Bus
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V
VDM	Virtual DOS Machine
VDT	Video Display Terminal (another name for a video display monitor)
VDU	Video Display Unit (another name for a video display monitor)
VESA	Video Electronics Standards Association
VGA	Versatile Graphics Array (Adaptor) (a video system standard)
VLSI	Very Large Scale Integration
VRM	Voltage Regulator Module (a socket found on many modern system boards)
VRam	Video Ram (a special Ram technology used for video Ram on video interface cards)
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W
WAIS	Wide Area Information Service (a search service on the Internet)
WAN	Wide Area Network
WORM	Write Once, Read Many times (an example is the CD-R disk)
Wysiwyg	What You See Is What You Get
WRam	Windows Ram (a special Ram technology used for video Ram on video interface cards)
WWW	World Wide Web (part of the "Information Super Highway")
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X
XGA	eXtended Graphics Array (a video system standard)
XIP	eXecute In Place
XMM	eXtended Memory Manager
XMS	eXtended Memory Specification
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Y
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Z
ZIF	Zero Insertion Force socket
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