GLOSSARY OF TERMS

Abbreviation for ampere. Measurement of the flow rate of electric current.

a mechanism in which data is represented
A mechanism in which data is represented by continuously variable physical quantities.

American National Standards Institute – Founded in 1918, ANSI is a voluntary organization composed of companies large and small that create standards for the computer industry.

Not all elements of a device or system operate at the same time, nor in a predetermined sequence.

Transmission in which time intervals between transmitted bits may be of unequal length. Transmission is controlled by start and stop bits which frame each character.

Supports one or two hard drives, a 16-bit interface and PIO modes 0, 1 and 2. Also known as IDE.

Abbreviation for AT Attachment, a protocol written for computer systems. See IDE.

Supports faster PIO modes 3 and 4 and multiword DMA modes 1 and 2. ATA-2 is also marketed as Fast ATA and Enhanced IDE (EIDE).

Minor revision to ATA-2.

CA trademark name short for ATA Socket, a 40-pin grounded connector designed to accept 80-conductor cable.

A reduction in power. Occurs naturally during wave travel through lines, waveguides, space or medium such as water. Attenuation may be produced intentionally by placing an attenuator in a circuit. Amount of attenuation is generally expressed in decibels.

American Wire Gauge – System of numerical designations for wire size. The higher the number, the smaller the wire.

Communication line to which individual components of an electronic system are connected. It can be as simple as a series of wires on the back of a panel or as complex as a microprocessor driven circuit board. A PC motherboard is a backplane.

Spring members which are attached to the connector flanges and are used to hold mated connectors together.

Measurement of the amount of data that can be transmitted over a medium. Bandwidth for analog devices is measured in Hertz (Hz) and is the difference between the highest and lowest frequencies. Digital devices are measured in “Bits per Second.”

Abbreviation for beryllium copper, a contact material.

A spring contact that has been split lengthwise to provide two independent contact surfaces. This redundancy assures two points of contact with the mating element.

The smallest element of information in binary data types.

The act of mating two connectors without being able to see the actual connection. Blind mateable connectors have design features such as guides that assure their proper mating.

In a connector, the main or largest portion of the housing.

A weave of metal fibers used as a shield covering for an insulated conductor or group of conductors.

1) Wire – Uninsulated conductor. 2) Circuits – One or more conductor paths used to transmit information from any of several sources to any of several sources.

A group of 8 Bits.

A completed cable and its associated hardware consisting of cable, connector(s), and attached accessories.

Abbreviation for Computer-Aided Design. Specially designed software used in engineering design.

The property of dielectric material that permits the storage of electromagnetic energy when voltage is applied across the dielectric material.

An imaginary line drawn from the center of one object to the center of another.

Contacts are not visible on the “point of entry” surface of a socket.

A selective color sequence for the conductors of cable to aid in its identification when terminating.

In cable, the individual wire (solid or stranded bundle) used to carry electricity from the contact of one connector to the contact of another connector.

The number and specific arrangement of the contacts in a given connector.

The area the of the contact surfaces that are touching during mating of one connector to another.

A continuous path for the flow of current in an electrical circuit.

A device that controls the transfer of data to and from a computer to another device. Monitors, keyboards, printers are examples of devices that need a controller. Do not confuse controllers with drivers.

A magnetic or electrostatic coupling which causes the unwanted transfer of energy from one conductor of cable to another (resulting in unwanted noise or interference).

A computer terminal monitor with a cathode-ray tube.

Abbreviation for Canadian Standards Association. The Canadian counterpart of the Underwriters Laboratories.

A hardware configuration in which devices are linked in a series. Data is transferred from the first device then to the second and so on.

A smaller PC board that is inserted into a connector which is mounted onto the larger motherboard.

Alternate terminology for D-sub connector. DB9 is a 9 pin D-sub connector.

Abbreviation for Digital Display Working Group, a group of companies writing the standards for DVI technology.

Abbreviation for Digital Flat Panel referring to very thin digital computer monitors and television screens.

Dual Inline Package – Two rows of symmetrical pins in a plastic housing.

The process of making electrical connections, usually to a PCB, by means of dipping one side of the board in molten solder, thus soldering the projecting connector leads to the circuitry printed on the board.

Direct Memory Access – A data transfer technique where data transmission between devices are not routed through the CPU. This allows for faster data transfers.

Connectors which have 2 rows of parallel contacts on the 2 longer sides of the housing.

Dual beam socket contact that mates with both sides of the mating pin.

A connector accessory used to provide protection against dust and foreign debris. CA manufactures a dust cover for the MDP & NFDP connectors.

Abbreviation for Digital Visual Interface

A connector into which the edge of a printed circuit board is inserted.

Abbreviation for Enhanced Intelligent Drive Electronics or Enhanced Integrated Drive Electronics. See IDE.

Abbreviation for Electromagnetic Interference. Unwanted electrical or electromagnetic energy causing noise or malfunction.

The dimensions of the plastic are precise enough to stack them end-to-end and maintain the same pin to pin spacing from connector to connector.

A material used to form a chemical bond when applied over wires soldered to connector contacts, such as CA’s DIP plugs.

The interface of a connector. See mating face.

Abbreviation for Fibre Channel

Abbreviation for Fluorinated Ethylene Propylene, a Teflon insulation for cable.

Cable used for high-speed data transfer that uses pulses of light instead of electric current. Fiber Optic cable contains a bundle of flexible glass thread inside a plastic sheath.

A projection extending from a connector with holes for mounting the connector to a panel, or to a mating connector. Also referred to as mounting ears.

An electrical connection of sufficient pressure to prevent the intrusion of a corrosive atmosphere into the contact area.

When used as a rate of measuring data transfer rates, a gigabit equals 1,000,000,000 bits.

A very thin plating, usually 3 to 5 micro inches, only enough metal to uniformly cover the surface of the base metal.

A connection between an electrical circuit and some conducting body, such as a cable wire ground to the metal housing of a connector.

Generic term usually referring to a male connector or plug.

A connector designed with materials that can withstand extremely high temperatures.

A connector design that incorporates a larger number of contacts in a smaller housing by decreasing the spacing between contacts.

Referring to the ability of a cable assembly to be plugged into a computer system or device without turning off the computer or rebooting.

The ability to disconnect and reconnect device in a system without turning it off.

The part of a connector that holds the contacts. Also referred to as the connector insulator.

High Speed Serial Digital Connector

Abbreviation for Input/Output

Integrated Circuit – The combination of passive and active components to make a complete function.

Abbreviation for Insulation Displacement Connector or Insulation Displacement Contact.

Abbreviation of either Intelligent Drive Electronics or Integrated Drive Electronics. An interface technology for mass storage devices in which the controller is integrated into the disk or CD-ROM drive.

Insulation Displacement Termination – A method of cable termination where by the wire is pressed on to the connector.

Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers – Organization that develops networking and communication standards, including standards for cabling, access, schemes and physical topologies.

Measure of resistance in a wire to electrical current flow. The less impedance, the better.

The property of a wire or circuit that opposes changes in the current flow.

A method of molding plastics by first heating granular plastic to its molten state and injecting it into the mold cavity where the plastic solidifies and is then ejected from the cavity.

A measurement of the required pressure to engage mating connectors.

In cable, a material used to cover wires to prevent contact of adjacent conductors which would result in a short circuit.

The part of a connector that holds the contacts. Also referred to as the connector housing.

Mating connectors or cable assembly used to make connection from one connector or board to another connector or board.

The surfaces of two connectors which face each other when mated.

When a connector manufactured by one company will mate directly with a competitor’s connector.

International Organization for Standardization – Organization comprised of standards groups from around the world that develop international and national standards for a variety of fields including data communication.

Time dependent. Processes where data must be delivered within certain time constraints.

A connector accessory (one or two per connector) used to draw mating connectors together and to separate them. Includes a threaded screw on one connector which screws into the threads on the mating connector.

A metal bridge that closes an electrical circuit. Typically, a jumper consists of a plastic plug that fits over a pair of protruding pins, like CA’s 2-pin shorting jumper (02SJO-A).

A projection, usually made of the same material as the connector housing, designed to provide additional polarization for mating connectors. Edge card keys fit into slots between the contact cavities.

Abbreviation for Local Area Network. A privately owned network system interconnecting electronic equipment locally, as in an office building.

Abbreviation for Liquid Crystal Display.

Another name for pins or terminals of a connector.

Abbreviation for Light-Emitting Diode.

Abbreviation for Low Insertion Force when referring to connector contacts.

Height of the actual visible plastic height above the PC board.

Abbreviation for Low Voltage Differential, a SCSI standard that uses a 32-bit bus and supports data rates of 160MBps.

A means of terminating multiple conductors of cable to all of the IDT contacts of a connector in one pressing process. Special application tooling is required.

To plug two connectors together.