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Conventions and Abbreviations
This developer note uses the following typographical conventions and abbreviations.
Typographical Conventions
Abbreviations
When unusual abbreviations appear in this developer note, the corresponding terms are also spelled out. Standard units of measure and other widely used abbreviations are not spelled out.
Here are the standard units of measure used in developer notes:
A | amperes | mA | milliamperes |
dB | decibels | A | microamperes |
GB | gigabytes | MB | megabytes |
Hz | hertz | MHz | megahertz |
in. | inches | mm | millimeters |
k | 1000 | ms | milliseconds |
K | 1024 | s | microseconds |
KB | kilobytes | ns | nanoseconds |
kg | kilograms | ohms | |
kHz | kilohertz | sec. | seconds |
k | kilohms | V | volts |
lb. | pounds | W | watts |
Other abbreviations used in developer notes include these:
ADC | Apple Display Connector |
AGP | accelerated graphics port |
ATA | advanced technology attachment |
ATAPI | advanced technology attachment, packet interface |
AV | audio visual |
CAS | column address strobe |
CAV | constant angular velocity |
CD-ROM | compact disc read-only memory |
CLV | constant linear velocity |
DB-DMA | descriptor-based direct memory access |
DDC | display data channel |
DDR | double data rate, a type of SDRAM where data is clocked on rising and falling clock edges |
DIMM | dual inline memory module |
DIN | Deutsche Industrie Norm |
DMA | direct memory access |
DRAM | dynamic random-access memory |
DVD | 12 cm optical storage system with 4 GB capacity |
DVD-ROM | DVD read-only memory |
DVD-RAM | DVD that is both readable and writable |
DVI | Digital Visual Interface |
EDO | extended data out DRAM device type |
EIDE | extended IDE |
EMI | electromagnetic interference |
G4 | Generation 4, the fourth generation of PowerPC microprocessors, incorporating AltiVec technology |
HID | human interface device, a class of USB devices |
I2C | same as IIC |
I2S | same as IIS |
IC | integrated circuit |
IDE | integrated device electronics |
IEEE | Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers |
IEEE 1275 | the official specification for Open Firmware |
IEEE 1394a | the official specification for FireWire 400 (400 Mbps) |
IEEE 1394b | the official specification for FireWire 800 (800 Mbps) |
IIC | inter-IC (an internal control bus) |
IIS | inter-IC sound bus |
I/O | input/output |
ISO | International Organization for Standardization |
JEDEC | Joint Electronics Devices Engineering Council |
L2 | level 2 (refers to level of cache) |
L3 | level 3 (refers to level of cache) |
LAN | local area network |
MAC | media access controller |
Mac OS | Macintosh Operating System |
OFDM | orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing |
PCI | Peripheral Component Interconnect |
PHY | physical layer |
PIO | polled input/output |
RADIUS | Remote Authentication Dial-In User Service |
RAM | random-access memory |
RAS | row address strobe |
RBC | reduced block commands |
RGB | a video signal format with separate red, green, and blue components |
RISC | reduced instruction set computing |
rms | root mean square |
ROM | read-only memory |
SBP | Serial Bus Protocol |
SPD | Serial Presence Detect |
SCSI | Small Computer System Interface |
SCC | serial communications controller |
SDR | single data rate |
SDRAM | synchronous dynamic random access memory |
SO-DIMM | small outline - dual inline memory module |
SRAM | static random access memory |
USB | Universal Serial Bus |
TMDS | transition minimized differential signaling |
VESA | Video Electronics Standards Association |
VRAM | video RAM; used for display buffers |
Wi-Fi | Used by the Wireless Ethernet Compatibility Alliance for certification of interoperability of 802.11 products |
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