Glossary
- Page ID
- 14862
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| Words (or words that have the same definition) | The definition is case sensitive | (Optional) Image to display with the definition [Not displayed in Glossary, only in pop-up on pages] | (Optional) Caption for Image | (Optional) External or Internal Link | (Optional) Source for Definition |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| (Eg. "Genetic, Hereditary, DNA ...") | (Eg. "Relating to genes or heredity") |  |
The infamous double helix | https://bio.libretexts.org/ | CC-BY-SA; Delmar Larsen |
|
Word(s) |
Definition |
Image | Caption | Link | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Peripheral devices | Any auxiliary device such as a computer mouse or keyboard that connects to and works with the computer in some way. Other examples of peripherals are image scanners, tape drives, microphones, loudspeakers, webcams, and digital cameras. | ||||
| Sampling | The reduction of a continuous signal to a discrete signal. A common example is the conversion of a sound wave (a continuous signal) to a sequence of samples (a discrete-time signal). | ||||
| Quantization | The process of mapping a large set of input values to a (countable) smaller set. | ||||
| Analog data | Data that is represented in a physical way. | ||||
| Digital data | Discrete, discontinuous representations of information or works, as contrasted with continuous, or analog signals which behave in a continuous manner, or represent information using a continuous function. | ||||
| Polling | refers to actively sampling the status of an external device by a client program as a synchronous activity. Polling is most often used in terms of input/output (I/O), and is also referred to as polled I/O or software-driven I/O. | ||||
| Interrupt | A hardware signal that breaks the flow of program execution and transfers control to a predetermined storage location so that another procedure can be followed or a new operation carried out. | ||||
| Direct memory access, DMA | A method that allows an input/output (I/O) device to send or receive data directly to or from the main memory, bypassing the CPU to speed up memory operations. The process is managed by a chip known as a DMA controller (DMAC). | ||||
| Input / Output | the process of input or output, encompassing the devices, techniques, media, and data used | ||||
| Compiler | Computer program (or a set of programs) that transforms source code written in a programming language (the source language) into another computer language (the target language), with the latter often having a binary form known as object code. | ||||
| Machine Language | Set of instructions executed directly by a computer’s central processing unit (CPU). | ||||
| Assembly Language | Low-level programming language for a computer, or other programmable device, in which there is a very strong (generally one-to-one) correspondence between the language and the architecture’s machine code instructions. | ||||
| Assembler | Computer program which translates assembly language to an object file or machine language format. | ||||
| Amdahls law | a law or argument used to find the maximum expected improvement to an overall system when only part of the system is improved. | ||||
| Multicore | A type of architecture where a single physical processor contains the core logic of two or more processors or packaged into a single integrated circuit | ||||
| Multiprocessor | Refers to the ability of a system to support more than one processor and/or the ability to allocate tasks between them. | ||||
| Computer performance | Characterized by the amount of useful work accomplished by a computer system or computer network compared to the time and resources used. | ||||
| Micro architecture | A description of the electrical circuitry of a computer, central processing unit, or digital signal processor that is sufficient for completely describing the operation of the hardware. | ||||
| Cache memory | Random access memory (RAM) that a computer microprocessor can access more quickly than it can access regular RAM. This memory is typically integrated directly with the CPU chip or placed on a separate chip that has a separate bus interconnect with the CPU |