System information

Glossary
g-3
Glossary
alternating current AC. Electric current that reverses direction at regular sinusoidal
intervals (D). Contrast with
direct current. See volts alternating
current. See also alternating current/direct current converter.
alternating
current/direct current
converter
AC/DC converter. A type of electronic equipment that changes AC
energy into DC energy. Used as power sources in all modern
electronic equipment.
American National
Standard Code for
Information
Interchange
ASCII. A standard character set consisting of 7-bit coded characters
(8-bit including parity check) used for information exchange between
systems and equipment (D).
American National
Standards Institute
ANSI. A national organization consisting of producers, consumers,
and general interest groups that establishes procedures by which
accredited organizations create and maintain industry standards in
the United States (A, D).
ANSI See American National Standards Institute.
API See application program interface.
application (1) The use to which a data processing system is put, for example, a
payroll application, an airline reservation application, or a network
application. (2) A collection of software components used to perform
specific types of work on a computer (D).
application client The source object of the small computer system interface (SCSI)
commands and destination for the command responses.
application program (1) A program that is specific to the solution of an application
problem. Synonymous with application software. (2) A program
written for or by a user that applies to the user's work, such as a
program that does inventory control or payroll. (3) A program used
to connect and communicate with stations in a network, enabling
users to perform application-oriented activities (I).
application program
interface
API. A set of programming functions and routines that provides
access between protocol layers, such as between an application and
network services.
application-specific
integrated circuit
ASIC. An asynchronous transfer mode (ATM) local area network/
wide area network (LAN/WAN) circuit using cell relay transport
technology. ASICs are designed for a specific application or purpose,