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