Chapter 6 Vocabulary

Front 1

Access Time

Back 1

The amount of time it takes the processor to read data, instructions, and information from memory and the time required to deliver an item from memory to the processor.

Front 2

adapter card

Back 2

A circuit board that enhances the functions of a component of a desktop or server system unit and/or provides connections to peripheral devices

Front 3

Arithmetic Logic Unit

Back 3

A component of the processor that performs basic arithmetic, comparison, and other operations

Front 4

Binary System

Back 4

A number system that has just two unique digits, called bits

Front 5

Bit

Back 5

The smallest unit of data a computer can process

Front 6

Bus

Back 6

A channel that allows the various devices, both inside and attached to the system unit to communicate with each other

Front 7

Byte

Back 7

Eight bits grouped together as a unit

Front 8

Cache

Back 8

A temporary storage area

Front 9

Central Processing Unit (CPU)

Back 9

Interprets and carries out the basic instructions that operate a computer

Front 10

Chip

Back 10

A small piece of semiconducting material, usually silicon on which integrated circuits are etched

Front 11

clock speed

Back 11

The pace of the system clock

Front 12

Control unit

Back 12

The component of the processor that directs and coordinates most of the operations in the computer

Front 13

Digital

Back 13

Representation of data using only two discrete states: on and off

Front 14

E-cycling

Back 14

Electronics recycling

Front 15

Expansion slot

Back 15

A socket on a desktop or server motherboard that can hold an adapter card

Front 16

Firmware

Back 16

ROM chips that contain permanently written data, instructions or information such as a computer or mobile device's start up instructions

Front 17

Flash Memory

Back 17

A type of nonvolatile memory that can be erased electronically and rewritten

Front 18

Gigahertz (GHz)

Back 18

One billion ticks of the system clock per second

Front 19

memory

Back 19

Electronic components that store instructions waiting to be executed by the processor, data needed by those instructions, and the processed data

Front 20

Memory Cache

Back 20

Helps speed up the computer's processes because it stores frequently used instructions and data

Front 21

Memory slots

Back 21

Slots on the motherboard that hold memory modules.

Front 22

Motherboard

Back 22

The main circuit board of the computer

Front 23

Multi-core processor

Back 23

A single chip with two or more processor cores

Front 24

Plug and play

Back 24

Technology that allows the computer to automatically recognise peripheral devices as you install them

Front 25

Power supply

Back 25

Converts the wall outlet AC power into DC power

Front 26

processor

Back 26

The electronic component of a computer that interprets and carries out the basic instructions that operate a computer.

Front 27

RAM

Back 27

Consists of memory chips that can be tread and written to by the processor and other devices

Front 28

read-only memory (ROM)

Back 28

Memory chips during permanently written data and instructions

Front 29

System clock

Back 29

A small quartz crystal circuit that controls the timing of all the computer's operations

Front 30

USB adapter

Back 30

A dongle that plus into a USB port, enhances functions of a mobile computer and/or provides connections to peripheral devices

Front 31

Word size

Back 31

The number of bits and the processor can interpret and execute at a given time.

Front 32

adapter board

Back 32

a circuit board that enhances the functions of a component of a desktop or server system until and or provides connections to peripheral devices

Front 33

address

Back 33

Unique number that identifies the loction of a byte in memory

Front 34

address bus

Back 34

the part of a bus that transfer information about where data should reside in memory

Front 35

advanced transfer cache (ATC)

Back 35

Type of L2 cache built directly on the processor chip, which increases processor speed.

Front 36

alphanumeric characters

Back 36

letters and numbers

Front 37

ALU

Back 37

--

Front 38

Antistatic wristband

Back 38

----

Front 39

arithmetic operations

Back 39

Operations that involve basic calculations such as addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division.

Front 40

ASCII

Back 40

American standard code for information interchange; The most widely used coding scheme to represent a set of characters

Front 41

backside buss

Back 41

Bus that connects the processor to cache

Front 42

binary digit

Back 42

the smallest unit of data the computer can process

Front 43

bus width

Back 43

the size of a bus, which determines the number of bits that a computer can transmit at one time

Front 44

cellular seizure investigation

Back 44

device used by cyberthieves to download sensitive data from phones and other mobile devices

Front 45

chassis

Back 45

the case that contains and protects the motherboard, hard disk drive, memory, and other electronic components of the computer from damage.

Front 46

clock cycle

Back 46

each tick the system clock

Front 47

CMOS

Back 47

Complementary metal oxide semiconductor; technology used by some ram chips, flash memory chips, and other types of memory chips that provides high speeds and consumes power by using battery power to retain information even when the power to a computer is off

Front 48

comparison operations

Back 48

operations that involve comparing one data item wit another to determine whether the first item is greater than, equal to, or less than the other item

Front 49

cooling pad

Back 49

Pad that rests below a laptop and protects the computer from over heating and also the users lap from excessive heat

Front 50

data as a service

Back 50

cloud computing service that allows users and applications to access a company's data

Front 51

data bus

Back 51

Part of a bus that transfers actual data

Front 52

ddr sdram

Back 52

type of RAM that is even faster then dram because it transfers data twice for each clock cycle, instead of just one

Front 53

ddr2

Back 53

Second generation of DDR: type of ram that is faster then DDR

Front 54

ddr3

Back 54

type of RAM fast than ddr2, designed for computers with multi-core processors.

Front 55

ddr4

Back 55

fourth generation of DDR; type of RAM, faster than DDR3

Front 56

decoding

Back 56

processor operation in the machine cycle that translates the instruction into signals the computer can execute

Front 57

dimm

Back 57

Dual inline memory module; type of memory module that has pins on opposite sides of the circuit board that do not connect, thereby forming two sets of contacts

Front 58

dynamic ram

Back 58

RAM chips that must be reenergized constantly or they lose their contents

Front 59

executing

Back 59

processor operation in the machine cycle that carries out the commands

Front 60

expansion bus

Back 60

bus that allows the processor to communicate with peripheral devices

Front 61

expansion card

Back 61

a circuit board that enhances the functions of a components of a desktop or server system unit and provides connections to peripheral devices

Front 62

express card module

Back 62

a removable device, about 75 mm long with a width of 54 mm, that fits in and express card slot.

Front 63

fetching

Back 63

processor operation in the machine cycle that obtains a program or an application instruction or data item from memory

Front 64

front side bus

Back 64

bus that is part of the motherboard that connects the processor to main memory.

Front 65

gigabyte

Back 65

one billion characters

Front 66

graphics card

Back 66

adapter card that converts computer output into a video signal that travels through a cable to the monitor, which displays an image on the screen

Front 67

heat sink

Back 67

small ceramic or metal component with fins on its surface that absorbs and disperses heat produced by electrical components, such as a processor.

Front 68

hertz

Back 68

one clock cycle per second

Front 69

hot plugging

Back 69

feature that allows you to insert or remove a removable flash memory device and other devices while the computer is running

Front 70

IAAS

Front 71

Integrated circuit

Back 71

circuit that contains many microscopic pathways capable of carrying electrical current

Front 72

intel-compatible processors

Back 72

processors manufactured by AMD that have an internal design similar t o intel processors, perform the same functions, and can be as powerful, but often are less expensive

Front 73

l1 catch

Back 73

cache built directly on the processor chip

Front 74

l2 catch

Back 74

cache that is slightly slower than l1 cache but has a much larger capacity.

Front 75

l3 catch

Back 75

cache on the motherboard that is separate from the processor chip

Front 76

liquid cooling technology

Back 76

processor cooling method that uses a continuous flow of fluids such as water and glycol, in a process that transfers the heated fluid away from the processor to a radiator type grill, which cools the liquid, and then returns the cooled fluid to the processor

Front 77

machine cycle

Back 77

set of four basic operations that a processor repeats for every instruction: fetching decoding executing and if necessary storing

Front 78

main memory

Back 78

memory chips that can be read from and written to by the processor and other devices

Front 79

mashups

Back 79

applications that incorporate data from multiple providers into a new application

Front 80

microprocessor

Back 80

term used by some computer and chip manufacturers to refer to a personal computer processor chip

Front 81

nanosecond

Back 81

one billionth of a second

Front 82

nonvolatile memory

Back 82

memory that does not lose it s contents when power is removed from the computer

Front 83

platform as a service

Back 83

cloud computing service that allows developers to create, test, and run their solutions on a cloud platform without having to purchase and configure the underlying hardware and software

Front 84

random access memory

Back 84

memory chips that can be read from and written to by the processor and other devices

Front 85

RDRAM

Back 85

type of RAM that is much faster than SDRAM

Front 86

real time clock

Back 86

a separate battery backed chip that keeps track of the date and time in a computer

Front 87

registers

Back 87

small high speed storage locations that temporarily hold data and instructions

Front 88

screen protector

Back 88

a

Front 89

SDRAM

Back 89

Synchronous DRAM; type of RAM, much faster than DRAM, that is synchronized to the system clock

Front 90

SIMM

Back 90

single inline memory module; type of memory module that has pins on opposite sides of the circuit board that connects together to form a single set of contacts

Front 91

software as a service

Back 91

cloud computing environment where an internet server hosts and deploys applications

Front 92

sound card

Back 92

adapter card that enhances the sound generating capabilities of a personal computer by allowing sound to be input through a microphone and output through external speakers or head phones

Front 93

static RAM

Back 93

RAM chips that are faster and more reliable than and do not have to be reenergized as often as DRAM chips

Front 94

stored program concept

Back 94

concept of using memory to store both data and programs

Front 95

storing

Back 95

processor operation in the machine cycle that writes the result to memory (not to a storage medium)

Front 96

superscalar

Back 96

processors that can execute more than one instruction per clock cycle

Front 97

system board

Back 97

the main circuit board of the personal computer

Front 98

system bus

Back 98

bus that is party of the motherboard and connects the timing of all computer operations

Front 99

system unit

Back 99

the case that contains and protects the motherboard, hard disk drive, memory, and other electronic components of the computer from damage

Front 100

terabyte

Back 100

approximately 1 trillion bytes

Front 101

transistor

Back 101

element of an integrated circuit that can act as an electronic switch that opens or closes the circuit for electrical charges

Front 102

video card

Back 102

adapter card that converts computer output into a video signal that travels through a cable to the monitor, which displays an image on the screen

Front 103

virtual desktop

Back 103

feature of cloud computing in which the desktop and its applications appear to be installed on the users own computer

Front 104

volatile

Front 105

volatile memory

Back 105

memory that loses its contents when the computers power is turned off