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ABC of electronics terms

(To find chips for distinct functions, see the functional pages.)

A

Adapter

Where	Manufacturer
www.az-com.com/	AZ-Com	They make extenders
www.emulation.com/	Emulation Technology Inc

ADC

Analog to Digital Converter

www.picotech.com/

Pico Technology

PC based test equipment

ADPCM

Adaptive Differential Pulse Code Modulation.

This is a compression technique for PCM* (see there) coded voice data. Adaptive means that both the sender and the receiver calculate what the next sample will probably be based on the fact that the data is assumed to consists of only one human voice at the time or of a slow modem (1200 baud or such). (Both kinds of signals consist of only one frequency at the time). Differential means that only the difference between the real sample and the predicted sample are being transmitted. Typically the sample size of PCM* can be reduced from 8 bits to 4 bits or even 3 bits without any loss of quality. Modern sound cards can normally also code and decode ADPCM*.

See als PCM* and codec.

ADSL

Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Loop

This is one of the new DSL protocols which should allow high bit rates over conventional copper telephone lines from the telephone exchange to the house (the local loop). The speed from the exchange to the house is higher than the other way around, hence 'assymetric'.

www.adsl.com/	DSL Forum
alumni.caltech.edu/~dank/isdn/adsl.html	by Dan Kegel

Some of the major players in the multimedia/modem chipset world include:

• Analog Devices
• Broadcom
• Conexant (formerly Rockwell Semiconductor Systems)
• ESS
• Fujitsu
• Lucent Technologies
• Motorola
• PairGain Technologies (www.pairgain.com/) (T1 granddaddy of companies in the telecomm business). Now called ADC (www.adc.com/).
• ST Microelectronics
• Texas Instruments

AGP

Accelerated Graphics Port (by Intel)

Intel announces accelerated graphics port 1.0 specification

FOLSOM, CALIF. -- August 5, 1996 -- Intel Corporation today announced the Accelerated Graphics Port (A.G.P.) interface 1.0 specification. Available on the world wide web, the A.G.P. 1.0 specification consists of the necessary electrical and signal information that will enable graphics hardware developers and system OEMs to both design and use graphics controllers on the graphics port.

www.intel.com/pressroom/archive/releases/agp1spec.htm	AGP spec's
www.agpforum.org/	Accelerated Graphics Port Implementors Forum
members.hyperlink.net.au/~chart/pci.htm	Lots more AGP (and PCI) info

Amiga

Computer made by Commodore as a successor to the 8 bit line of 6502 based Commodore64's etc.

See also:

• Commodore 64/128

Victor Steve Haaz wanted me to add:

I think it would deserve more info on it, as:

• There are still about one million of active users (forming the 'Amiga Community'), so it's still an active platform.
• Commodore doesn't exists, the owner is Amiga Inc. (subsidiary of Gateway).
• There are new programs/hardware for the newer machines, including 3D-graphics- boards (Voodoo, TNT2), processor boards (PPC G3/G4), a new OS in summer 1999, etc.
• There will be great new machines at the end of 1999.

There are many possible links, but there are just a few:

• www.amiga.com/
• www.amiga.org/news.shtml
• www.cucug.org/amiga.html
• www.uni-hamburg.de/World/Playground/aminet/aminet_homepage.html

Amplifier

Where	Manufacturer
www.amplifonix.com/	Amplifonix

Analog

Analog means that every voltage level is used as separate data whereas in a digital single only the extreme voltage like 0 and 5 volt are considered to be separate data states. Analog systems can carry much more data but their hardware is more expensive and they can suffer from all kinds of noise. To have a digital signal carry the same amount of information as an analog signal a much higher frequency (and thus bandwidth) is needed.

An analog 'GAL' is called a FPAA or a TRAC.

www.e-insite.net/e-insite/verticalmarkets/analog.asp	More at Cahners
www.analog.com/misc/enewsletters_jumppage.html	Subscribe to the Analog and Mixed Signal eNewsletter
www.industrycommunity.com/myforum/john_dunn.html	Analog Circuit Design Forum: circuit designs questions of all kinds are welcomed.

Analyzer

Where	Manufacturer
www.lecroy.com/	Lecroy Corp

ANSI

American National Standards Institute (?)

See also CCITT, CEN, DIN, IEEE, ISO, NEN

Antenna

An antenna is used by a receiver to pick-up the signal from the air. Some devices may use an internal antenna or use one of the other cables connected to the device (of the head phone for example) as the antenna so it seems to be absent.

www.bwantennas.com/ - Barker and Williams

ASA

Advanced SCSI Architecture.

www.seagate.com/support/kb/disc/asa2.html

More by the developers

ASIC design

Where	Manufacturer
www.chipexpress.com/	Chip Express
local	ASIC design houses

Assembler

local

More on this page

ATA

www.t13.org/

T13 Technical Committee home page (ATA and ATAPI)

ATAPI

www.t13.org/	T13 Technical Committee home page (ATA and ATAPI)
www.seagate.com/support/kb/disc/ata_to_ultraata66.html	ATA to Ultra ATA/66

See also:

• Hard Disk Drive
• IDE
• SCSI

ATM

Asynchronous Transfer Mode or Automatic Teller Machine.

See also ISDN.

Audio

ftp.psyber.com/tcj/faqs/proaud.faq	Text FAQ by Gabe M. Wiener
nyquist.ee.ualberta.ca/pub/cookbook/audio/	Circuit examples

An audio chip is like the chips used in business cards or greeting cards. Some sound like a telephone ringing, or doorbell, etc.
One of the manufacuturers in America is Clegg Industries of California.

See also Speech.

Book:

title	order at Amazon USA	price indication
Audio IC* Projects	ISBN: 0750621214	$25

Automotive

Electronics that are meant to be used in automobiles.

www.ednmag.com/ednmag/reg/1999/081999/Volume44-Issue17.asp

EDN issue focussing on it