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Glossary-4 User’s Manual
Glossary
buffer: The portion of the computer’s memory where data is temporarily
stored. Buffers often compensate for differences in the rate of flow
from one device to another.
bus: An interface for transmission of signals, data or electric power.
byte: The representation of a single character. A sequence of eight bits
treated as a single unit; also the smallest addressable unit within the
system.
C
cache memory: High speed memory which stores data that increases
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.
capacity: The amount of data that can be stored on a magnetic storage
device such as a floppy diskette or hard disk drive. It is usually
described in terms of kilobytes (KB), where one KB = 1024 bytes,
megabytes (MB), where one MB = 1024 KB and gigabytes (GB),
where one GB = 1024 MB.
card: Synonym for board. See board.
CardBus: An industry standard bus for 32-bit PC Cards.
CD-ROM: A Compact Disc-Read Only Memory is a high capacity disc 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 disc.
CD-R: A Compact Disc-Recordable disc can be written once and read
many times. See also CD-ROM.
CD-RW: A Compact Disc-ReWritable disc can be rewritten many times.
See also CD-ROM.
character: Any letter, number, punctuation mark, or symbol used by the
computer. Also synonymous with byte.
chassis: The frame containing the computer.
chip: A small semiconductor containing computer logic and circuitry for
processing, memory, input/output functions and controlling other
chips.
CMOS: Complementary Metal-Oxide Semiconductor. An electronic circuit
fabricated on a silicon wafer that requires very little power.
Integrated circuits implemented in CMOS technology can be tightly
packaged and are highly reliable.
cold start: Starting a computer that is currently off (turning on the power).