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organization consisting of some 500 companies that has developed a standard for small
, credit card-sized devices, called PC Cards. Originally designed for adding memory to
portable computers, the PCMCIA standard has been expanded several times and is
now suitable for many types of devices.
PnP (Plug and Play)
A set of specifications that allows a PC to configure itself automatically to work with
peripherals. The user can "plug" in a peripheral device and "play" it without configur-
ing the system manually. To implement this useful feature, both the BIOS that sup-
ports PnP and a PnP expansion card are required.
POST (Power On Self Test)
During booting up your system, the BIOS executes a series of diagnostic tests, include
checking the RAM, the keyboard, the disk drives, etc., to see if they are properly
connected and operating.
PS/2 Port
A type of port developed by IBM for connecting a mouse or keyboard to a PC. The
PS/2 port supports a mini DIN plug containing just 6 pins. Most modern PCs equipped
with PS/2 ports so that the special port can be used by another device, such as a
modem.
SPDIF
Short for Sony/Philips Digital Interface, a standard audio file transfer format. Deverloped
jointly by the Sony and Philips corporations, SPDIF allows the transfer of digital audio
signals from one device to another without having to be converted first to an analog
format.
USB (Universal Serial Bus)
A hardware interface for low-speed peripherals such as the keyboard, mouse, joystick,
etc. USB provides a maximum bandwidth of 12 Mbit/sec (Mbps) for connecting up to
127 peripheral devices to PC. USB features hot swap capability and multiple data
streams, allows external devices to be plugged in and unplugged without turning the
system off.
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