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binary: The base two number system composed of zeros and ones (off or
BIOS: Basic Input Output System. The firmware that controls data flow
bit: Derived from "binary digit," the basic unit of information used by the
Bluetooth: A short-range radio technology designed to simplify wireless
board: A circuit board. An internal card containing electronic
boot: Short for bootstrap. A program that starts or restarts the computer.
bps: Bits per second. Typically used to describe the data transmission
buffer: The portion of the computer's memory where data is temporarily
bus: An interface for transmission of signals, data or electric power.
byte: The representation of a single character. A sequence of eight bits
C
cache memory: High speed memory which stores data that increases
card: Synonym for board. See board.
CardBus: An industry standard bus for 32-bit PC Cards.
capacity: The amount of data that can be stored on a magnetic storage
CD-ROM: A Compact Disk-Read Only Memory is a high capacity disk
TOSHIBA TE2300
on), used by most digital computers. The right most digit of a
binary number has a value of 1, the next a value of 2, then 4, 8, 16,
and so on. For example, the binary number 101 has a value of 5.
See also ASCII.
within the computer. See also firmware.
computer. It is either zero or one. Eight bits is one byte. See also
byte.
communication among computers, communication devices and
the Internet.
components, called chips, which perform a specific function or
increase the capabilities of the system.
The program reads instructions from a storage device into the
computer's memory.
speed of a modem.
stored. Buffers often compensate for differences in the rate of flow
from one device to another.
treated as a single unit; also the smallest addressable unit within
the system.
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.
device such as a diskette (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.
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 disk.
Glossary
4
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