Glossary-2
GLOSSARY
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.
analog signal: A signal whose
characteristics such as amplitude and
frequency vary in proportion to (are an
analog of) the value to be transmitted.
Voice communications are analog
signals.
ANSI: American National Standards
Institute. An organization 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 buildup of static electricity.
application: A group of programs
that together are used for a specific
task such as accounting, financial
planning, spreadsheets, word process-
ing and games.
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.
(Abbreviations continued)
ROM: read only memory
RTC: real time clock
SCSI: small computer system
interface
SIO: serial input/output
SXGA+: super extended graphics
array plus
TFT: thin-film transistor
UART: universal asynchronous
receiver/transmitter
USB: Universal Serial Bus
VESA: Video Electronic Standards
Association
VGA: video graphics array
VRT: voltage reduction technology
XGA: extended graphics array
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 term 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.

adaptor