Panasonic U500 用户手册
User ’s Manual
Glossary-3
Glossary
alternating current (AC): Electric current that reverses its direction of flow at
regular intervals.
analog signal: A signal whose characteristics such as amplitude and frequency
vary in proportion to (are an analog of) the value to be transmitted. Voice
communications are analog signals.
communications are analog signals.
application: A group of programs that together are used for a specific task such
as accounting, financial planning, spreadsheets, word processing and games.
ASCII: American Standard Code for Information Interchange. ASCII code is a set
of 256 binary codes that represent the most commonly used letters, numbers,
and symbols.
and symbols.
B
backup: A copy of a file, usually on a removable disk, kept in case the original file
is lost or damaged.
binary: The base two number system composed of zeros and ones (off or on),
used by most digital computers. The right-most digit of a binary number has
a value of 1, the next a value of 2, then 4, 8, 16, and so on. For example, the
binary number 101 has a value of 5. See also ASCII.
a value of 1, the next a value of 2, then 4, 8, 16, and so on. For example, the
binary number 101 has a value of 5. See also ASCII.
BIOS: Basic Input/Output System. The firmware that controls data flow within the
computer. See also firmware.
bit: Derived from “binary digit”, the basic unit of information used by the computer.
It is either zero or one. Eight bits is one byte. See also byte.
Bluetooth: A short-range radio technology designed to simplify wireless
communication among computers, communication devices and the Internet.
board: A circuit board. An internal card containing electronic components, called
chips, which perform a specific function or increase the capabilities of the
system.
system.
boot: Short for bootstrap. A program that starts or restarts the computer. The
program reads instructions from a storage device into the computer’s memory.
boot disk: See system disk.
bootable disk: See system disk.
bps: Bits per second. Typically used to describe the data transmission speed of a
bootable disk: See system disk.
bps: Bits per second. Typically used to describe the data transmission speed of a
modem.
buffer: The portion of the computer’s memory where data is temporarily stored.
Buffers often compensate for differences in the rate of flow from one device to
another.
another.