Toshiba TECRA M5 user manual Glossary-4 User’s Manual

Glossary

bus: An interface for transmission of signals, data or electric power.

byte: The representation of a single character. A sequence of eight bits treated as a single unit; also the smallest addressable unit within the system.

C

cache memory: High speed memory which stores data that increases processor speed and data transfer rate. When the CPU reads data from main memory, it stores a copy of this data in cache memory. The next time the CPU needs that same data, it looks for it in the cache memory rather than the main memory, which saves time. The computer has two cache levels. Level one is incorporated into the processor and level two resides in external memory.

capacity: The amount of data that can be stored on a magnetic storage device such as a floppy disk or hard disk. It is usually described in terms of kilobytes (KB), where one KB = 1024 bytes and megabytes (MB), where one MB = 1024 KB.

card: Synonym for board. See board.

CardBus: An industry standard bus for 32-bit PC cards.

CD-ROM:A Compact Disc-Read Only Memory is a high capacity disc that can be read from but not written to. The CD-ROM drive uses a laser, rather than magnetic heads, to read data from the disc.

CD-R:A Compact Disc-Recordable disc can be written once and read many times. See also CD-ROM.

CD-RW:A Compact Disc-ReWritable disc can be rewritten many times. See also CD-ROM.

character: Any letter, number, punctuation mark, or symbol used by the computer. Also synonymous with byte.

chassis: The frame containing the computer.

chip: A small semiconductor containing computer logic and circuitry for processing, memory, input/output functions and controlling other chips.

CMOS: Complementary Metal-Oxide Semiconductor. An electronic circuit fabricated on a silicon wafer that requires very little power. Integrated circuits implemented in CMOS technology can be tightly packaged and are highly reliable.

cold start: Starting a computer that is currently off (turning on the power).

COM1, COM2, COM3 and COM4: The names assigned to the serial and communication ports.

commands: Instructions you enter at the terminal keyboard that direct the actions of the computer or its peripheral devices.

communications: The means by which a computer transmits and receives data to and from another computer or device. See parallel interface; serial interface.

Glossary-4 User’s Manual