QM.10: Acronyms +-------------+ +-----------------------------------+ | But first, some common-used faces | +-----------------------------------+ :-) Smily face ;-) Smirk/wink 8-) Goggle-eyes B-) Geekoid :-( Sad face :-o WoW! :-| Bored +-) Drunk +-----------------------------------+ | OK, now for the acronyms......... | +-----------------------------------+ +-----+ | A | +-----+ AC Alternating Current (vs DC) ACK Acknowledge (logic signal) ACIA Asynchronous Communication Interface Adapter ACL Advanced CMOS Logic (as in 74ACL245) A/D Analog to Digital AF Audio Frequency AFC Automatic Frequency Control AGC Automatic Gain Control AI Artificial Intelligence ALC Automatic Level Control ALU Arithmetic Logic Unit A/N Alphanumeric ANSI American National Standards Institute ARRL American Radio Relay League AS Advanced Schottky (as in 74AS245) ASIC Application-Specific Integrated Circuit ASK Amplitude-Shift Keying ATC Air Traffic Control AV Audio/Visual AVC Automatic Volume Control +-----+ | B | +-----+ BASIC Beginners' All-purpose Symbolic Instruction Code BBD Bucket Brigade Device BCD Binary Coded Decimal BEV Billion Electron Volts BIFET BIpolar Field-Effect Transistor BNC Baby N Connector BPI Bits Per Inch BPS Bits Per Second BTW By The Way B&W Black & White (TV) BW BandWidth +-----+ | C | +-----+ CAD Computer Assisted Design CADA Computer Assisted Design and Analysis CADD Computer Assisted Design and Development CAE Computer Assisted Engineering CAM Computer Assisted Manufacturing CAN CANcel CAS Column-Address Strobe (logic signal) CATV CAble TeleVision CB Citizens' Band CBI Complementary Binary CC Constant Current CCD Charge Coupled Device (used in cameras) CCITT International Telegraphy and Telephony Consultative Committee CCTV Closed Circuit TeleVision CCW Counter Clock-Wise CD Compact Disk CD-I Compact Disk - Interactive CD-ROM Compact Disk - Read Only Memory CECL Cascode Emitter-Coubled Logic CEMF Counter ElectroMotive Force CerDIP Ceramic Dual Inline Package CES Consumer Electronics Show CF Center Frequency CFM Cubic Feet per Minute CISC Complex Instruction Set Computer (vs RISC) CL Current Loop CMOS Complementary Metal Oxide Semiconductor CP/M Control Program for Microcomputers (operating system) CPI Character Per Inch CPU Central Processing Unit CRC Cyclic Redundancy Check (error detection scheme) CRT Cathode Ray Tube (TV/Monitor display, vs LCD) CS Control Strobe (logic signal) CSA Canadian Standards Association (UL's Canadian counterpart) CTC Counter/Timer Circuit CTS Clear To Send (protocol signal) CV Constant Voltage CVT Constant Voltage Transformer (aka ferroresonant by Sola(tm)) CW ClockWise +-----+ | D | +-----+ D/A Digital to Analog DAC Digital to Analog Converter | Data Acquisition and Control DARPA Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency DAV Data AValiable | DatA Valid (logic signal) dB deciBel DBA DeciBels - Adjusted DBK DeciBels - referred to 1 Kilowatt dBM DeciBels - above or below 1 milliwatt DBV DeciBels - Voltage DBX DeciBels - above reference coupling DC Direct Current (vs AC) DCD Data Carrier Detect (protocol signal) DES Data Encription Standard DIAC Bilateral trigger diode DIL Dual In Line DIN Deutsche Industrie Normenausschuss (aka German Standards Institute :-) DIP Dual Inline Package DLC Dual-Layer Capacitor DMA Direct Memory Access DMM Digital MultiMeter DOD Department of Defense DOS Disk Operating System DOT Department of Transportation DP Data Processing DPDT Dual Pole Dual Throw (as in a switch) DPI Dots Per Inch (as in resolution) DPST Dual Pole Single Throw (as in a switch) DRAM Dynamic Random Access Memory DS Data Strobe (logic signal) DSO Digital Storage Oscilloscope DSP Digital Signal Processing DTL Diode Transistor Logic (predecessor of TTL) DTMF Dual Tone Multi-Frequency (aka Touch Tones(tm)) DTR Data Terminal Ready (protcol signal) DVM Digital Volt-Meter +-----+ | E | +-----+ E2PROM Electricaly Erasable Programmable Read Only Memory EAPROM Electricaly Alterable Read Only Memory EBCDIC Extended Binary Coded Decimal Interchange Code ECC Error Checking and Correction ECL Emitter Coupled Logic EEPROM Electricaly Erasable Programmable Read Only Memory EGA Enhanced Graphics Adapter EIA Electronics Industries Association EL ElectroLuminescent ELF Extremly Low Frequency EMF ElectroMotive Force EMI ElectroMagnetic Interference EMP ElectroMagnetic Pulse ENIAC Electronic Numerical Integrater and Computer (aka first computer) EOT End Of Transmission (protocol signal) EPLD Electricaly Programmable Logic Device EPROM Electricaly Programmable Read Only Memory (UltraViolet erased) EQ EQualizer ESA European Space Agency ESD Electrostatic Sensitive Device (aka CMOS :-) ESR Equivalent Series Resistance EV Electron Volt +-----+ | F | +-----+ F Farad (measure of capacitance) FAA Federal Aviation Administration FAST Fairchild Advanced Schottky TTL (as in 74F245) FAX Facsimile FCC Federal Communications Commision FDC Floppy Disk Controller FET Field Effect Transistor FF Flip Flop FFT Fast Fourier Transform FIFO First In First Out FILO First In Last Out FM Frequency Modulation FORTRAN FORmula TRANslation FP Floating Point FPLA Field Programmable Logic Array FPU Floating Point Unit FSK Frequency-Shift Keying FTP File Transfer Protocol FUBAR Fouled/F***ed Up Beyond Any Recognition/Repair FVC Frequency to Voltage Converter +-----+ | G | +-----+ GA Gate Array GAL Generic Array Logic GCS Gate Controller Switch GFCI Ground Fault Circuit Interrupter GFI Ground Fault Interrupter GFLOPS Billions of FLOating Point operations per Second GIGO Garbage In Garbage Out GND GrouND GPIB General Purpose Interface Bus GPS Global Positioning System +-----+ | H | +-----+ HAL Hardwired Array Logic HC High speed Cmos (as in 74HC245) HCT High speed Cmos with Ttl thersholds (as in 74HCT245) HD High Density HDC Hard Disk Controller HDTV High Definition TeleVision HDX Half DupleX HER High Efficiency Red (as in a LED) HET Hetetodyne HF High Frequency HFS Hierarchical File System HIC Hybrid Integrated Circuit HP Hewlett Packard (company) | Horse Power HPIB Hewlett Packard Interface Bus HPIL Hewlett Packard Interface Loop (as in HP41CX calculator) HTL High Threshold Logic HVDC High Volatage Direct Current HVPS High Volatage Power Supply Hz Hertz (cycles per second) +-----+ | I | +-----+ I2ICE Integrated Instrumentation and InCircuit Emulation IA Instrumentation Amplifier IC Integrated Circuit ICE InCircuit Emulation IEEE Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers IF Intermediate Frequency IGFET Insulated Gate Field Effect Transistor IMHO In My Humble Opinion IMNHO In My Not so Humble Opinion IOB Input/Output processor IP Interface Processor IR Current/Resistance | InfraRed IRED InfraRed Emitting Diode ISA Instrument Society of America ISN Information Systems Network ISO In Search Of +-----+ | J | +-----+ JEDEC Joint Electron Device Engineering Council JFET Junction Field Effect Transistor JIS Japanese Industrial Standard JPL Jet Propulsion Laboratory JUG Joint Users Group +-----+ | K | +-----+ K Kilo (1000 units) KA KiloAmpere (1000A) KBPS KiloBits Per Second KEV Kilo Electron Volts KHz Kilo Hertz (1000 cycles per second) KVA Kilo Volt Amperes KWH Kilo Watt Hours +-----+ | L | +-----+ L Inductance L2FET Logic Level Field Effect Transistor LAN Local Area Network LASCR Light Activated Silicon Controlled Rectifier LASER Light Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation LC Inductance and Capacitance LCD Liquid Crystal Display LCM Least/Lowest Common Multiple LD Line Driver LED Light Emitting Diode LF Low Frequency LIFO Last In First Out LISP LISt Processing (language) LO Local Oscillator LORAN LOng RAnge Navigation LP Low Pass LPC Linear Predictive Coding LPM Lines Per Minute LPT Line PrinTer (port - aka parallel port - of IBM PC fame) LSB Least Significant Bit LSD Least Significant Digit LSI Large Scale Integration LUT Look Up Table LW Long Wave +-----+ | M | +-----+ MB MegaBytes (1024 * 1024 bytes) MBPS Million Bytes Per Second MCA Micro Channel Architecture (IBM PS/2's bus MCU MicroComputer Unit MDAC Multiplying Digital to Analog Converter MECL Motorola Emitter Coupled Logic MFLOPS Millions of FLOating Point operations per Second MFM Modified Frequency Modulation MHz MegaHertz MIDI Music Instrument Digital Interface MIL MILitary MIPS Millions of Instructions Per Second MMU Memory Management Unit MO Master Oscillator MOS Metal Oxide Semiconductor MOSFET Metal Oxide Semiconductor Field Effect Transistor MOV Metal Oxide Varistor MPU Main Processing Unit MR Magnetic Resonance MS-DOS MicroSoft Disk Operating System MSB Most Significant Bit MSD Most Significant Digit MSI Medium Scale Intergration MTBF Mean Time Between Failures MTS Multichannel Television Sound (aka Stereo TV) MUX Multiplexer +-----+ | N | +-----+ NASA National Aeronautics and Space Administration NC Not Connected (pin) | Normally Closed (switch/relay) NEDA National Electronics Distributors Association NEMA National Electrical Manufacturers Association NF NanoFarad (measure of capacitance) NFS Network File Server NiCad Nickel Cadmium (rechargable battery) TM of Saft America NMOS N-channel Metal Oxide Semiconductor NMR Nuclear Magnetic Resonance NO Normally Open (switch/relay) NOAA National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration NORAD NORth American Defense NPN Negative Positive Negative (as in 2N2222 transistor) NPO Negative Positive 0 temperature coefficient (cermaic capacitors) NPR Nations Public Radio NRZ Non Return to Zero NRZI Non Return to Zero Invert NSB National Science Board NSF National Science Foundation NSPE National Society of Professional Engineers NT Network Terminator NTC Negative Temperature Coefficient NTSC National Television Systems Committee (Never The Same Color twice :-) +-----+ | O | +-----+ OC Open Collector OCR Optical Character Recognition OEM Original Equipment Manufacturer OS Operating System OSCAR Orbiting Satellite Carrying Amateur Radio OSHA Occupational Safety and Health Administration OTDR Optical Time Domain Reflectrometry OTOH On The Other Hand OTP One Time Programmable (as in PROM or plastic EPROM) OVP Over Voltage Protection +-----+ | P | +-----+ PA Power Amplifier | Public Address PAL Programmable Array Logic (TM of Monolithic Memories) PBX Perivate Branch eXchange PC Personal Computer | Printed Circuit | Program Counter PCB Printed Circuit Board PCC Plastic Chip Carrier PCM Pulse Code Modulation PEC PhotoElectric Cell PF Power Factor PG Power Gain PGA Pin Grid Array PIA Peripheral Interface Adapter PIC Priority Interrupt Controller | Prallax'es microcontroller name PIV Peak Inverse Voltage PLA Programmable Logic Array PLCC Plastic Leaded Chip Carrier PLD Programmable Logic Device PLL Phase Locked Loop PM Phase Modulation | Pulse Modulation PNP Positive Negative Positive (transistor) POS Point Of Sale POV Peak Operating Voltage PPM Parts Per Million PPS Pulses Per Second PRN Pseudo Random Noise PROM Programmable Read Only Memory PSG Programmable Sound Generator PSI Pounds per Square Inch (pressure) PSK Phase Shift Keying PTT Push To Talk (microphone) PUT Programmable Unijunction Transistor PV PhotoVoltaic PWM Pulse Width Modulation PWR PoWeR +-----+ | Q | +-----+ QA Quality Assurance QC Quality Control QIC Quarter Inch Cartridge QIP Quad Inline Package QSM Quad Surface Mount +-----+ | R | +-----+ R&D Research and Development RAD Radiation Absorbed Dose RADAR RAdio Detection And Ranging RAM Random Access Memory RAS Row Address Strobe (logic signal) RC Radio Control | Resistance and Capacitance RCV ReCeiVe RD Receive Data | ReaD (logic signal) RDA Deceive Data RDY ReaDY REM Roentgen equivalent man REP Roentgen equivalent Physical RET RETurn RF Radio Frequency RFI Radio Frequency Interference RGB Red Green Blue RH Relative Humidity RHDP Right Hand Decimal Point RISC Reduced Instruction Set Computer (vs CISC) RLC Resistance Inductance Capacitance RLG Ring Laser Gyroscope RMI Radio Magnetic Interference RMS Root Mean Square ROM Read Only Memory RPM Revolutions Per Minute RPN Reverse Polish Notation (as in HP calculators) RPS Revolutions Per Second RS Reed Solomon (error correction) RT Real Time | Rise Time RTD Resistance Temperature Detector RTI Real Time Interrupt RTL Resistor Transistor Logic RTOS Real Time Operating System RTS Request To Send (protocol signal) +-----+ | S | +-----+ S/H Sample and Hold S/N Signal to Noise (ratio) SAW Surface Acoustic Wave SBC Single Board Computer SCA SubCarrier Adapter SCI Serial Communication Interface SCL Serial CLock SCR Silicon Controller Rectifier SCS Silicon Controller Switch SCSI Small Computer System Interface SDI Strategic Defense Initiative SEM Scanning Electron Microscope SEMI Semiconductor Equipment and Materials Institute SFC polyStyrene Film Capacitor SG Signal Ground SI Syste^me International (international system of units) SIMM Single Inline Memory Module SIO Serial Input and Output SIPO Serial In Parallel Out SLC Sigle Layer Ceramic (capacitor) SM Surface Mount SMD Surface Mount Device SNR Signal to Noise Ratio SO Serial Output | Small Outline | Significant Other (aka mate) SOIC Small Outline Integrated Circuit SOJ Small Outline J-leaded (chip package) SOLV SOLenoid Valve SONAR SOund NAvigation and Ranging SOP Small Outline Package SP Signal Processor | Stack Pointer SPDT Single Pole Double Throw (switch) SPI Serial to Parallel Interface SPICE Simulation Program with Integrated Circuit Emphasis SPL Sound Pressure Level SPST Single Pole Single Throw (switch) SQL Structured Query Language (for databases) SR Shift Register SRAM Static Random Access Memory SSB Single SideBand SSI Small Scale Integration SSR Solid State Relay SSTV Slow Scan TeleVision SW Short Wave +-----+ | T | +-----+ T/H Track and Hold TC Temperature Coefficient TCP/IP Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol TD Tunnel Diode TDD Telecomunication Devices for the Deaf TEM Transverse Electromagnetic (wave) TF Transfer Function TFD Thin Film Detector TFEL Thin Film ElectroLuminescent TFT Thin Film Transistor THD Total Harmonic Distortion THz TetraHertz TIG Tungsten Inert Gas TM Transverse Magnetic (wave) TR Transient Response TS Time Sharing TTL Transistor Transistor Logic TV TeleVision TWT Traveling Wave Tube +-----+ | U | +-----+ UART Universal Asynchronous Receiver/Transmitter uF micro Farad (measure of capacitance) UHF Ultra High Frequency UHV Ultra High Vacuum UJT UniJunction Transistor UL Underwriters Laboratories ULSI Ultra Large Scale Integration UPC Universal Product Code UPS Uninterruptible Power Supply USART Universal Synchronous/Asynchronous Receiver/Transmitter UTC Universal Time Code UV UltraViolet UVA UltraViolet Alpha UVB UltraViolet Beta +-----+ | V | +-----+ VA Volt Ampere VAC Volts Alternating Current VAR VARiable VCC Supply Voltage - positive VCD Variable Capacitance Diode VCO Voltage Controlled Oscillator VCR Video Cassette Recorder VDC Volts Direct Current VDD Supply Voltage - negative VF Vacuum Fluorecent VFC Voltage to Frequency Converter VFO Variable Frequency Oscillator (vs a crystal oscillator) VHF Very High Frequency VLF Very Low Frequency VLSI Very Large Scale Integration VLT Video Look up Table VOL VOLume VOM Volt OhmMeter VOX Voice Operated transmit ("trans" = X as in "Xmitter") VR Voltage Regulator VRAM Video Random Access Memory (aka Very fast RAM) VS Vertical Sync VSS Supply Voltage - Negative VT Virtual Terminal VTM Voltage Tunable Magnetron VTVM Vacuum Tube Volt Meter VXO Variable crystal Oscilator +-----+ | W | +-----+ WACK Wait before ACKowledge WDT Watch Dog Timer WHR Watt HouR WP Word Processor WPM Words Per Minute WR WRite (logic signal) WV Working Voltage WW Wire Wound | Wire Wrap +-----+ | X | +-----+ XMT TransMiT XTAL crysTAL +-----+ | Y | +-----+ YAG Yttrium Aluminum Garnet (laser) YIG Yttrium Iron Garnet +-----+ | Z | +-----+ ZD Zero Defects ZIF Zero Insertion Force ZIP Zigzag Inline Package | Compression scheme