Toshiba Tecra A4 (PTA40) User Manual

Page 195

User’s Manual

Glossary-9

Glossary

interrupt request: A signal that gives a component access to the

processor.

I/O: Input/output. Refers to acceptance and transfer of data to and from a

computer.

I/O devices: Equipment used to communicate with the computer and

transfer data to and from it.

jumper: A small clip or wire that allows you to change the hardware

characteristics by electrically connecting two points of a circuit.

K: Taken from the Greek word kilo, meaning 1000; often used as

equivalent to 1024, or 2 raised to the 10th power. See also byte and

kilobyte.

KB: See kilobyte.
keyboard: An input device containing switches that are activated by

manually pressing marked keys. Each keystroke activates a switch

that transmits a specific code to the computer. For each key, the

transmitted code is, in turn, representative of the (ASCII) character

marked on the key.

kilobyte (KB): A unit of data storage equal to 1024 bytes. See also byte

and megabit.

level 2 cache: See cache.
Light Emitting Diode (LED): A semiconductor device that emits light when

a current is applied.

Liquid Crystal Display (LCD): Liquid crystal sealed between two sheets

of glass coated with transparent conducting material. The viewing-

side coating is etched into character forming segments with leads

that extend to the edge of the glass. Applying a voltage between the

glass sheets darkens the liquid crystal to provide contrast to lighted

portions of the display.

LSI: Large Scale Integration. 1) A technology that allows the inclusion of up

to 100,000 simple logic gates on a single chip. 2) An integrated

circuit that uses the large scale integration.