Glossary 307
I
IC — Industry Canada — The Canadian regulatory body
responsible for regulating emissions from electronic
equipment, much as the FCC does in the United States.
IC — integrated circuit — A semiconductor wafer, or
chip, on which thousands or millions of tiny electronic
components are fabricated for use in computer, audio, and
video equipment.
IDE — integrated device electronics — An interface for
mass storage devices in which the controller is integrated
into the hard drive or CD drive.
INFRARED SENSOR — A port that allows you to transfer
data between the computer and infrared-compatible devices
without using a cable connection.
INTEGRATED — Usually refers to components that are
physically located on the computer’s system board. Also
referred to as built-in.
I/O — input/output — An operation or device that enters
and extracts data from your computer. Keyboards and
printers are I/O devices.
I/O
ADDRESS — An address in RAM that is associated
with a specific device (such as a serial connector, parallel
connector, or expansion slot) and allows the processor to
communicate with that device.
I
RDA — Infrared Data Association — The organization
that creates international standards for infrared
communications.
IRQ — interrupt request — An electronic pathway
assigned to a specific device so that the device can
communicate with the processor. Each device connection
must be assigned an IRQ. Although two devices can share
the same IRQ assignment, you cannot operate both devices
simultaneously.
ISP — Internet service provider — A company that
allows you to access its host server to connect directly to the
Internet, send and receive e-mail, and access websites. The
ISP typically provides you with a software package, user
name, and access phone numbers for a fee.
K
KB — kilobit — (written as Kb) A unit of data that equals
1024 bits. A measurement of the capacity of memory
integrated circuits.
KB — kilobyte — A unit of data that equals 1024 bytes
but is often referred to as 1000 bytes.
KEY COMBINATION — A command requiring you to
press multiple keys at the same time.
KHZ — kilohertz — (written as kHz) A measurement of
frequency that equals 1000 Hz.
L
LAN — local area network — A computer network
covering a small area. A LAN usually is confined to a
building or a few nearby buildings. A LAN can be
connected to another LAN over any distance through
telephone lines and radio waves to form a wide area
network (WAN).
LCD — liquid crystal display — The technology used by
portable computer and flat-panel displays.
LED — light-emitting diode — An electronic component
that emits light to indicate the status of the computer.
LOCAL BUS — A data bus that provides a fast throughput
for devices to the processor.
LPT — line print terminal — The designation for a
parallel connection to a printer or other parallel device.
M
MB — megabit — (written as Mb) A measurement of
memory chip capacity that equals 1024 Kb.
M
BPS — megabits per second — (written as Mbps) One
million bits per second. This measurement is typically used
for transmission speeds for networks and modems.
MB — megabyte — A measurement of data storage that
equals 1,048,576 bytes. 1 MB equals 1024 KB. When used
to refer to hard drive storage, the term is often rounded to
1,000,000 bytes.
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