Personal computer (PC) ✔✔A computer designed for use by an individual, usually incorporating
a graphics display, a keyboard, and a mouse.
Server
... [Show More] ✔✔A computer used for running larger programs for multiple users, often simultaneously,
and typically accessed only via a network.
Supercomputer: ✔✔A class of computers with the highest performance and cost; they are
configured as servers and typically cost tens to hundreds of millions of dollars.
Embedded computer: ✔✔A computer inside another device used for running one predetermined
application or collection of software.
Personal mobile devices (PMDs) ✔✔are small wireless devices to connect to the Internet; they
rely on batteries for power, and software is installed by downloading apps. Conventional examples
are smart phones and tablets.
Cloud computing ✔✔refers to large collections of servers that provide services over the Internet;
some providers rent dynamically varying numbers of servers as a utility.
Software as a Service (SaaS) ✔✔delivers software and data as a service over the Internet, usually
via a thin program such as a browser that runs on local client devices, instead of binary code that
must be installed, and runs wholly on that device. Examples include web search and social
networking.
Multicore microprocessor ✔✔A microprocessor containing multiple processors ("cores") in a
single integrated circuit.
Acronym ✔✔A word constructed by taking the initial letters of a string of words. For example:
RAM is an acronym for Random Access Memory, and CPU is an acronym for Central Processing
Unit.
Terabyte (TB): ✔✔Originally 1,099,511,627,776 (240) bytes, although communications and
secondary storage systems developers started using the term to mean 1,000,000,000,000 (1012)
bytes. To reduce confusion, we now use the term tebibyte (TiB) for 240 bytes, defining terabyte
(TB) to mean 1012 bytes. The figure below shows the full range of decimal and binary values and
names.
Systems software: ✔✔Software that provides services that are commonly useful, including
operating systems, compilers, loaders, and assemblers.
Operating system ✔✔Supervising program that manages the resources of a computer for the
benefit of the programs that run on that computer.
Compiler ✔✔A program that translates high-level language statements into assembly language
statements.
Binary digit ✔✔Also called a bit. One of the two numbers in base 2 (0 or 1) that are the components
of information.
Instruction ✔✔A command that computer hardware understands and obeys
Assembler ✔✔A program that translates a symbolic version of instructions into the binary version.
Assembly language ✔✔A symbolic representation of machine instructions.
Machine language ✔✔A binary representation of machine instructions
High-level programming language ✔✔A portable language such as C, C++, Java, or Visual Basic
that is composed of words and algebraic notation that can be translated by a compiler into assembly
language.
Input device ✔✔A mechanism through which the computer is fed information, such as a keyboard.
Output device ✔✔A mechanism that conveys the result of a computation to a user, such as a
display, or to another computer
Liquid crystal display: ✔✔A display technology using a thin layer of liquid polymers that can be
used to transmit or block light according to whether a charge is applied.
Active matrix display ✔✔A liquid crystal display using a transistor to control the transmission of
light at each individual pixel.
Pixel ✔✔The smallest individual picture element. Screens are composed of hundreds of thousands
to millions of pixels, organized in a matrix.
Integrated circuit ✔✔Also called a chip. A device combining dozens to millions of transistors.
Central processor unit (CPU) ✔✔Also called processor. The active part of the computer, which
contains the datapath and control and which adds numbers, tests numbers, signals I/O devices to
activate, and so on.
Datapath ✔✔The component of the processor that performs arithmetic operations.
Control ✔✔The component of the processor that commands the datapath, memory, and I/O
devices according to the instructions of the program.
Memory ✔✔The storage area in which programs are kept when they are running and that contains
the data needed by the running programs.
Dynamic random access memory (DRAM) ✔✔Memory built as an integrated circuit; it provides
random access to any location. Access times are 50 nanoseconds and cost per gigabyte in 2012
was $5 to $10.
Cache memory ✔✔A small, fast memory that acts as a buffer for a slower, larger memory.
Static random access memory (SRAM): ✔✔Also memory built as an integrated circuit, but faster
and less dense than DRAM.
Instruction set architecture ✔✔Also called architecture. An abstract interface between the
hardware and the lowest-level software that encompasses all the information necessary to write a
machine language program that will run correctly, including instructions, registers, memory
access, I/O, and so on.
Application binary interface (ABI) ✔✔The user portion of the instruction set plus the operating
system interfaces used by application programmers. It defines a standard for binary portability
across computers.
Implementation ✔✔Hardware that obeys the architecture abstraction
Volatile memory ✔✔Storage, such as DRAM, that retains data only if it is receiving power.
Nonvolatile memory ✔✔A form of memory that retains data even in the absence of a power source
and that is used to store programs between runs. A DVD disk is nonvolatile.
Main memory ✔✔Also called primary memory. Memory used to hold programs while they are
running; typically consists of DRAM in today's computers.
Secondary memory ✔✔Nonvolatile memory used to store programs and data between runs;
typically consists of flash memory in PMDs and magnetic disks in servers.
Magnetic disk ✔✔Also called hard disk. A form of nonvolatile secondary memory composed of
rotating platters coated with a magnetic recording material. Because they are rotating mechanical
devices, access times are about 5 to 20 milliseconds and cost per gigabyte in 2012 was $0.05 to
$0.10.
Flash memory ✔✔A nonvolatile semiconductor memory. It is cheaper and slower than DRAM
but more expensive per bit and faster than magnetic disks. Access times are about 5 to 50
microseconds and cost per gigabyte in 2012 was $0.75 to $1.00.
Local area network (LAN) ✔✔A network designed to carry data within a geographically confined
area, typically within a single building
Wide area network (WAN) ✔✔A network extended over hundreds of kilometers that can span a
continent
Transistor ✔✔An on/off switch controlled by an electric signal.
Very large-scale integrated (VLSI) circuit: ✔✔A device containing hundreds of thousands to
millions of transistors
Silicon ✔✔A natural element that is a semiconductor
Semiconductor ✔✔A substance that does not conduct electricity well.
Silicon crystal ingot ✔✔A rod composed of a silicon crystal that is between 8 and 12 inches in
diameter and about 12 to 24 inches long.
Wafer ✔✔A slice from a silicon ingot no more than 0.1 inches thick, used to create chips
Defect ✔✔A microscopic flaw in a wafer or in patterning steps that can result in the failure of the
die containing that defect.
Die: ✔✔The individual rectangular sections that are cut from a wafer, more informally known as
chips.
Yield ✔✔The percentage of good dies from the total number of dies on the wafer.
Response time ✔✔Also called execution time. The total time required for the computer to
complete a task, including disk accesses, memory accesses, I/O activities, operating system
overhead, CPU execution time, and so on. [Show Less]