cartridge ejector
A mechanism to eject a cartridge from its housing or cartridge drive, often operating on a simple mechanical principle.
Industrial electronics
590 entries in this trade.
CAS
Initialism of channel-associated signalling.
Cat 5
A twisted pair cable for carrying signals, particularly for Ethernet-based computer networks.
cat's whisker
The wire that touches the crystal in a crystal radio.
cathode ray tube
A vacuum tube that displays still or moving images (such as for a television), by controlling the direction of a cathode ray emitted towards the front of the tube. The front is coated by a layer of fluorescent material, so that it emits light when struck by the beam.
cavity magnetron
A high-power vacuum tube used in early radar systems and subsequently in microwave ovens and in linear particle accelerators.
CCD
Initialism of charge-coupled device (digital camera cell technology).
CCN
Initialism of controlled-controlled not gate.
CD drive
An optical drive used for reading data from and possibly writing data on a compact disc.
CD3
an 80-mm (3-inch) CD (compact disc)
CD5
a 120-mm (5-inch) CD (compact disc)
CDC
Initialism of clock domain crossing.
center tap
A contact made to a point halfway along a winding of a transformer or inductor.
central processing unit
The part of a computer that fetches, decodes and executes instructions from memory, possibly through a cache.
CES
Initialism of Consumer Electronics Show
charactron
A form of cathode ray tube used to display letters and other characters
chicken bit
A bit on a chip that can be used to disable one of the features of the chip if it proves faulty or negatively impacts performance.
chip
A hybrid device mounted in a substrate, containing electronic circuitry and miniaturised mechanical, chemical or biochemical devices.
circulator
A passive electronic component with three or more ports, in which the ports can be accessed in such a way that when a signal is fed into any port it is transferred to the next port only
clock
An electrical signal that synchronizes timing among digital circuits of semiconductor chips or modules.
clock generator
a circuit that produces a timing signal for use in synchronizing a circuit's operation.
clock rate
The rate of clock pulses in an electronic circuit.
clock skew
A phenomenon in synchronous digital circuit systems in which the same sourced clock signal arrives at different components at different times due to gate or wire signal propagation delay.
clock speed
The rate, measured in hertz, at which a processor performs its fundamental operations.
clocked
adjectiveIndustrial electronics
Electronically running at a particular rate; governed by a repetitive time signal.
CMFB
Initialism of common mode feedback.
CMOS
Initialism of complementary metal, oxide, semiconductor.
COB
Initialism of chip on board (an LED module or integrated circuit bonded to a circuit board)
coil
A coil of electrically conductive wire through which electricity can flow.
cold cathode
A type of cathode that does not use a heating element to produce emission of cathode rays (electrons), beyond base thermionic emission (usually by field electron emission, secondary emission, or photoelectric emission).
collector
The amplified terminal on a bipolar junction transistor.
combinational circuit
A switching circuit whose output is determined solely by some combination of its concurrent inputs.
commutate
To reverse the direction of (a current).
commutation
The reversal of an electric current.
composite video, blanking, and sync
Standardised format of an analog picture-only television signal.
computer architecture
The conceptual structure around which a given computer is designed.
connect time
The amount of time that a circuit is in use, usually in a circuit-switched environment.
control bus
A part of the system bus that is used by CPUs for communicating with other devices within the computer.
control key
A key on a personal computer or terminal keyboard used in combination to modify the function of other keys.
conventional memory
The first 640 kilobytes of RAM in an IBM-compatible PC.
coprocessor
An additional microprocessor used to supplement the functionality of the central processing unit, performing tasks such as floating-point arithmetic (floating-point unit) or graphics calculations (graphics processing unit).
coupling
A connection between two electronic circuits such that a signal can pass between them.
CPLD
Initialism of complex programmable logic device.
CPU
Initialism of central processing unit.
crossatron
A high-power pulsed modulator device, a cold cathode gas-filled tube that combines useful features of thyratrons, vacuum tubes, and power semiconductor switches.
crosstalk
Undesirable signals from a neighbouring transmission circuit; undesired coupling between circuits.
crowbarred
adjectiveIndustrial electronics
Equipped with a crowbar circuit.
current divider
A simple electronic circuit which reduces an input current by a fixed factor using sources of impedance (such as resistors) connected in parallel.
CVC
Initialism of Compact Video Cassette.
D-sub
an electrical connector with two or more rows of pins or sockets surrounded by a D-shaped metal shield
DAC
Acronym of digital-to-analog converter.
daisy-chain
Especially of a computer device, peripheral, or other component: to be capable of being connected with other components in sequence.
daisywheel printer
A printer that operates by striking the page with moulded characters from a rotating circular arrangement, obsolete since the late 1980s.
Darlington
Ellipsis of Darlington pair.
data terminal equipment
an end instrument that converts user information into signals or reconverts received signals.
DCE
Initialism of data circuit-terminating equipment.
DDR
Initialism of double data rate.
DDS
Initialism of direct digital synthesis.
debounce
To remove the small ripple of current that forms when a mechanical switch is pushed in an electrical circuit and makes a series of short contacts.
debug
To remove a hidden electronic surveillance device from (somewhere).