Browse Terms Alphabetically

C

A device that controls the transfer of data from a computer to a peripheral device and vice versa. For example, disk drives, display screens, keyboards, and printers all require controllers. Source

D

Data Communication

Electronic transmission of information that has been encoded digitally (as for storage and processing by computers) Source

E

Ethernet

A local-area network (LAN) architecture developed by Xerox Corporation in cooperation with DEC and Intel in 1976. Ethernet uses a bus or star topology and supports data transfer rates of 10 Mbps. The Ethernet specification served as the basis for the IEEE 802.3 standard, which specifies the physical and lower software layers. Ethernet uses the CSMA/CD access method to handle simultaneous demands. It is one of the most widely implemented LAN standards. A newer version of Ethernet, called 100Base-T (or Fast Ethernet), supports data transfer rates of 100 Mbps. And the newest version, Gigabit Ethernet supports data rates of 1 gigabit (1,000 megabits) per second. Source

Ethernet IP

Ethernet/IP (Ethernet Industrial Protocol) is a network communication standard capable of handling large amounts of data at speeds of 10 Mbps or 100 Mbps, and at up to 1500 bytes per packet. The specification uses an open protocol at the Application layer. It is especially popular for control applications. Source

Ethernet Protocols

802.3 is a standard specification for Ethernet, a method of physical communication in a local area network (LAN), which is maintained by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE). Source

G

Gateway

A node on a network that serves as an entrance to another network. In enterprises, the gateway is the computer that routes the traffic from a workstation to the outside network that is serving the Web pages. In homes, the gateway is the ISP that connects the user to the internet. In enterprises, the gateway node often acts as a proxy server and a firewall. The gateway is also associated with both a router, which use headers and forwarding tables to determine where packets are sent, and a switch, which provides the actual path for the packet in and out of the gateway. Source

H

Hub

A common connection point for devices in a network. Hubs are commonly used to connect segments of a LAN. A hub contains multiple ports. When a packet arrives at one port, it is copied to the other ports so that all segments of the LAN can see all packets. Source

I

Integrated

A popular computer buzzword that refers to two or more components merged together into a single system. For example, any software product that performs more than one task can be described as integrated.

Increasingly, the term integrated software is reserved for applications that combine word processing, database management, spreadsheet functions, and communications into a single package. Source

Interface

A boundary across which two independent systems meet and act on or communicate with each other. In computer technology, there are several types of interfaces.

• User interface - the keyboard, mouse, menus of a computer system. The user interface allows the user to communicate with the operating system. Also see GUI.
• Software interface - the languages and codes that the applications use to communicate with each other and with the hardware.
• Hardware interface - the wires, plugs and sockets that hardware devices use to communicate with each other. Source

I/O

Short for input/output. The term I/O is used to describe any program, operation or device that transfers data to or from a computer and to or from a peripheral device. Every transfer is an output from one device and an input into another. Devices such as keyboards and mouses are input-only devices while devices such as printers are output-only. A writable CD-ROM is both an input and an output device. Source

M

M2M

Acronym for Machine-to-Machine, M2M is the ability of machines, assets and devices to exchange data with people or company's management systems in need of the information. M2M is derived from telemetry technology and uses similar, but updated versions of those technologies. Source

Middleware

Software that connects two otherwise separate applications. For example, there are a number of middleware products that link a database system to a Web server. This allows users to request data from the database using forms displayed on a Web browser, and it enables the Web server to return dynamic Web pages based on the user's requests and profile. Source 

O

OPC

Abbreviated as OPC, OLE for Process Control is a series of standards specifications. The current OPC specifications form a set of standard OLE/COM interface protocols based upon the functional requirements of Microsoft's OLE/COM technology. Such technology defines standard objects, methods and properties for servers of real-time information like distributed process systems, programmable logic controllers, smart field devices and analyzers in order to communicate the information that such servers contain to standard OLE/COM compliant technologies enabled devices. The OPC Foundation is the body that maintains the standard. [Adapted from the OPC Foundation Web site] Source

P

Packet

A piece of a message transmitted over a packet-switching network. See under packet switching. One of the key features of a packet is that it contains the destination address in addition to the data. In IP networks, packets are often called datagrams. Source  

Peer to Peer

Often referred to simply as peer-to-peer, or abbreviated P2P, a type of network in which each workstation has equivalent capabilities and responsibilities. This differs from client/server architectures, in which some computers are dedicated to serving the others. Peer-to-peer networks are generally simpler, but they usually do not offer the same performance under heavy loads. Source

PLC Connectivity

Short for power line communications, the use of the existing utility power grid as the medium to send broadband data communications. In theory, plugging a computer device into an existing power outlet would connect the user to the Internet by tapping into already established national and global power grid networks.

Power grids typically transmit electricity in three levels of voltage: low, medium and high. Medium voltage, typically ranging in the tens of thousands of volts, is what a utility substation will bring to a transformer, and the transformer will reduce the voltage into the low range before sending the electricity into a building. It is the low and medium voltages that PLC takes advantage of in order to transmit data at Ethernet-like speeds. Source

Port

An interface on a computer to which you can connect a device. Personal computers have various types of ports. Internally, there are several ports for connecting disk drives, display screens, and keyboards. Externally, personal computers have ports for connecting modems, printers, mice, and other peripheral devices. Source

Protocol

A standard way of communicating across a network. A protocol is the "language" of the network. A method by which two dissimilar systems can communicate. TCP is a protocol which runs over a network. Source

Proxy Server

A server that sits between a client application, such as a Web browser, and a real server. It intercepts all requests to the real server to see if it can fulfill the requests itself. If not, it forwards the request to the real server. Source

R

Real Time

Occurring immediately. The term is used to describe a number of different computer features. For example, real-time operating systems are systems that respond to input immediately. They are used for such tasks as navigation, in which the computer must react to a steady flow of new information without interruption. Most general-purpose operating systems are not real-time because they can take a few seconds, or even minutes, to react. Source

RFID

Short for radio frequency identification, a technology similar in theory to bar code identification. With RFID, the electromagnetic or electrostatic coupling in the RF portion of the electromagnetic spectrum is used to transmit signals. An RFID system consists of an antenna and a transceiver, which read the radio frequency and transfer the information to a processing device, and a transponder, or tag, which is an integrated circuit containing the RF circuitry and information to be transmitted. Source

RoHS

(Reduction Of Hazardous Substances) European Union regulations enforceable on July 1, 2006 that set maximum concentration limits on hazardous materials used in electrical and electronic equipment. The substances are lead, mercury, cadmium, hexavalent chromium, polybrominated biphenyls (PBB) and polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDE).Source

RS-232

In telecommunications, RS-232 (Recommended Standard 232) is a standard for serial binary data signals connecting between a DTE (Data terminal equipment) and a DCE (Data Circuit-terminating Equipment). It is commonly used in computer serial ports. A similar ITU-T standard is V.24. Source

S

Scada Systems

Acronym for supervisory control and data acquisition, a computer system for gathering and analyzing real time data. SCADA systems are used to monitor and control a plant or equipment in industries such as telecommunications, water and waste control, energy, oil and gas refining and transportation. Source

Serial

One by one. Serial data transfer refers to transmitting data one bit at a time. The opposite of serial is parallel, in which several bits are transmitted concurrently. Source

T

TCP/IP

(pronounced as separate letters) Short for Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol, the suite of communications protocols used to connect hosts on the Internet. TCP/IP uses several protocols, the two main ones being TCP and IP. TCP/IP is built into the UNIX operating system and is used by the Internet, making it the de facto standard for transmitting data over networks. Even network operating systems that have their own protocols, such as Netware, also support TCP/IP. Source 

U

UPC 

Short for Universal Product Code, a unique 12-digit number assigned to retail merchandise that identifies both the product and the vendor that sells the product. The UPC on a product typically appears adjacent to its bar code, the machine-readable representation of the UPC. Source