Connectivity Glossary

Browse Terms Alphabetically

C

Controllers

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

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

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

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