NEC Versa Series Bits per second, Board, Boot, Byte, CardBus, CD audio, CD-ROM drive, Clock

bits per second

(bps) A unit of transmission. Also called baud rate.

board

Printed circuit board (PCB). Board on which computer components are soldered and thin wires are printed to connect the components.

boot

To start up a computer. See cold boot and warm boot.

bus

An electronic circuit within a computer used for transmitting data or electrical power from one device to another.

byte

Group of eight contiguous bits.

C

CardBus

A 32-bit high-performance bus defined by the PC Card Standard and released by the PCMCIA standards body and trade associations. CardBus offers wider and faster 32-bit bus and bus mastering operation for improved adapter performance and can operate at speeds up to 32-MHz.

CD

Compact disc. A polished metal platter capable of storing digital information. The most prevalent types of compact discs or those used by the music industry to store digital recordings and CDs used to store computer data. Both types are read-only, which means that once the data is recorded onto them, they can only be read or played.

CD audio

Also called digital audio, uses the same format as conventional music CDs. CD audio sounds have been digitized at a high sampling rate.

CD-ROM drive

Compact Disc Read-Only Memory. A computer-controlled device that reads high- capacity optical discs and sends the output to the computer.

CD-RW drive

Compact Disc Read/Write. A computer controlled device that reads from and writes to high capacity optical discs.

clock

Electronic timer used to synchronize computer operations.

2 Glossary