Toshiba A30 user manual Glossary

Glossary

Satellite A30 Series

Glossary

The terms in this glossary cover topics related to this manual. Alternate naming is included for reference.

A

adaptor: A device that provides an interface between two dissimilar electronic devices. For example, the AC adaptor modifies the power from a wall outlet for use by the computer. This terms also refers to the add-in circuit cards that control external devices, such as video monitors and magnetic tape devices.

allocate: To assign a space or function for a specific task.

alphanumeric: Keyboard characters including letters, numbers and other symbols, such as punctuation marks or mathematical symbols.

alternating current (AC): Electric current that reverses its direction of flow at regular intervals.

analogue signal: A signal whose characteristics such as amplitude and frequency vary in proportion to (are an analogue of) the value to be transmitted. Voice communications are analogue signals.

ANSI: American National Standards Institute. An organisation established to adopt and define standards for a variety of technical disciplines. For example, ANSI defined the ASCII standard and other information processing requirements.

antistatic: A material used to prevent the build-up of static electricity.

application: A group of programs that together are used for a specific task such as accounting, financial planning, spreadsheets, word processing, and games, etc.

ASCII: American Standard Code for Information Interchange. ASCII code is a set of 256 binary codes that represent the most commonly used letters, numbers, and symbols.

async: Short for asynchronous.

User'sSatelliteManualA30 Series 1