Unit 1 key terms:
TERM
DEFINITION
ANALOG
A WAY OF REPRESENTING SOME PHYSICAL QUANTITY, SUCH AS TEMPERATURE OR VELOCITY, BY A PROPORTIONAL CONTINUOUS VOLTAGE OR CURRENT. AN ANALOG VOLTAGE OR CURRENT CAN HAVE ANY VALUE WITHIN A DEFINED RANGE.
AND GATE
DIGITAL CIRCUIT THAT IMPLEMENTS THE AND OPERATION. THE OUTPUT OF THIS CIRCUIT IS HIGH ONLY IF ALL OF ITS INPUTS ARE HIGH.
BREADBOARD
A CIRCUIT BOARD FOR WIRING TEMPORARY CIRCUITS, USUALLY USED FOR PROTOTYPES OR LABORATORY WORK.
CAPACITOR
AN ELECTRICAL DEVICE USED TO STORE ELECTRICAL CHARGE.
CLOCK
DIGITAL SIGNAL IN THE FORM OF A RECTANGULAR PULSE TRAIN OR A SQUARE WAVE.
COMBINATIONAL LOGIC
DIGITAL CIRCUITRY IN WHICH AN OUTPUT IS DERIVED FROM THE COMBINATION OF INPUTS, INDEPENDENT OF THE ORDER IN WHICH THEY ARE APPLIED.
CONVENTIONAL CURRENT
THE DIRECTION OF CURRENT FLOW ASSOCIATED WITH POSITIVE CHARGE IN MOTION. THE CURRENT FLOW DIRECTION IS FROM A POSITIVE TO NEGATIVE POTENTIAL, WHICH IS IN THE OPPOSITE DIRECTION OF ELECTRON FLOW.
CURRENT
A MOVEMENT OF ELECTRICAL CHARGES AROUND A CLOSED PATH OR CIRCUIT.
CYCLE
A SERIES OF EVENTS THAT ARE REGULARLY REPEATED IN THE SAME ORDER.
DATASHEET
A PRINTED SPECIFICATION GIVING DETAILS OF THE PIN CONFIGURATION, ELECTRICAL PROPERTIES, AND MECHANICAL PROFILE OF AN ELECTRONIC DEVICE.
DIGITAL
A WAY OF REPRESENTING A PHYSICAL QUANTITY BY A SERIES OF BINARY NUMBERS. A DIGITAL REPRESENTATION CAN HAVE ONLY SPECIFIC DISCRETE VALUES.
DIGITAL WAVEFORM
A SERIES OF LOGIC 1S AND 0S PLOTTED AS A FUNCTION OF TIME.
DIGITAL MULTI-METER(DMM)
A PIECE OF TEST EQUIPMENT USED TO MEASURE VOLTAGE, CURRENT, AND RESISTANCE IN AN ELECTRONIC CIRCUIT.
DUAL IN-LINE PACKAGE (DIP)
A VERY COMMON IC PACKAGE WITH TWO PARALLEL ROWS OF PINS INTENDED TO BE INSERTED INTO A SOCKET OF THROUGH HOLES DRILLED IN A PRINTED CIRCUIT BOARD.
ENGINEERING NOTATION
A FLOATING POINT SYSTEM IN WHICH NUMBERS ARE EXPRESSED AS PRODUCTS CONSISTING OF A NUMBER GREATER THAN ONE MULTIPLIED BY AN APPROPRIATE POWER OF TEN THAT IS SOME MULTIPLE OF THREE.
FUSE
A PROTECTIVE DEVICE IN THE CURRENT PATH THAT MELTS OR BREAKS WHEN CURRENT EXCEEDS A PREDETERMINED MAXIMUM VALUE.
KIRCHHOFF’S CURRENT LAW (KCL)
THE ALGEBRAIC SUM OF ALL CURRENTS INTO AND OUT OF ANY BRANCH POINT IN A CIRCUIT MUST EQUAL ZERO.
KIRCHHOFF’S VOLTAGE LAW (KVL)
THE ALGEBRAIC SUM OF ALL VOLTAGES AROUND ANY CLOSED PATH MUST EQUAL ZERO.
LARGE SCALE INTEGRATION (LSI)
AN IC THAT CONTAINS CIRCUITRY EQUIVALENT TO 100 GATES OR MORE.
LED
LIGHT-EMITTING DIODE. AN ELECTRONIC DEVICE THAT CONDUCTS CURRENT IN ONE DIRECTION ONLY AND ILLUMINATES WHEN IT IS CONDUCTING.
LOGIC GATE
AN ELECTRONIC CIRCUIT THAT PERFORMS A BOOLEAN ALGEBRAIC FUNCTION.
LOGIC HIGH
THE HIGHER OF TWO VOLTAGES IN A DIGITAL SYSTEM WITH TWO LOGIC LEVELS.
LOGIC LOW
THE LOWER OF TWO VOLTAGES IN A DIGITAL SYSTEM WITH TWO LOGIC LEVELS.
MEDIUM SCALE INTEGRATION (MSI)
AN IC THAT CONTAINS CIRCUITRY EQUIVALENT TO MORE THAN 11 AND LESS THAN 100 GATES.
NOT GATE
ALSO CALLED AN INVERTER GATE OR AN INVERTING BUFFER. A LOGIC GATE THAT CHANGES ITS INPUT LOGIC LEVEL TO THE OPPOSITE STATE.
OHM
UNIT OF RESISTANCE. VALUE OF ONE OHM ALLOW CURRENT OF ONE AMPERE WITH POTENTIAL DIFFERENCE OF ONE VOLT.
OHM’S LAW
IN ELECTRIC CIRCUITS, I=V/R.
OR GATE
DIGITAL CIRCUIT THAT IMPLEMENTS THE OR OPERATION. THE OUTPUT OF THIS CIRCUIT IS HIGH (LOGIC LEVEL 1) IF ANY OR ALL OF ITS INPUTS ARE HIGH.
PARALLEL CIRCUIT
ONE THAT HAS TWO OR MORE BRANCHES FOR SEPARATE CURRENT FROM ONE VOLTAGE SOURCE.
PLASTIC LEADED CHIP CARRIER (PLCC)
A SQUARE IC PACKAGE WITH LEADS ON ALL FOUR SIDES DESIGNED FOR SURFACE MOUNTING ON A CIRCUIT BOARD.
PRINTED CIRCUIT BOARD
INSULATING BOARD CONTAINING CONDUCTIVE TRACKS FOR CIRCUIT CONNECTIONS.
RESISTANCE
OPPOSITION TO CURRENT. UNIT IS THE OHM.
RESISTOR COLOR CODE
CODING SYSTEM OF COLORED STRIPES ON A RESISTOR TO INDICATE THE RESISTOR'S VALUE AND TOLERANCE.
SCIENTIFIC NOTATION
NUMBERS ENTERED AS A NUMBER FROM ONE TO TEN MULTIPLIED BY A POWER OF TEN.
SCHOTTKY TTL
TTL SUBFAMILY THAT USES THE BASIC TTL STANDARD CIRCUIT EXCEPT THAT IT USES A SCHOTTKY BARRIER CODE (SBD) CONNECTED BETWEEN THE BASE AND THE COLLECTOR OF EACH TRANSISTOR FOR FASTER SWITCHING.
SERIES CIRCUIT
ONE THAT HAS ONLY ONE PATH CURRENT.
SEVEN-SEGMENT DISPLAY
AN ARRAY OF SEVEN INDEPENDENTLY CONTROLLED LIGHT-EMITTING DIODES (LED) OR LIQUID CRYSTAL DISPLAY (LCD) ELEMENTS, SHAPED LIKE A FIGURE-8, WHICH CAN BE USED TO DISPLAY DECIMAL DIGITS AND OTHER CHARACTERS BY TURNING ON THE APPROPRIATE ELEMENTS.
SEQUENTIAL LOGIC
DIGITAL CIRCUITRY IN WHICH THE OUTPUT STATE OF THE CIRCUIT DEPENDS NOT ONLY ON THE STATES OF THE INPUTS, BUT ALSO ON THE SEQUENCE IN WHICH THEY REACHED THEIR PRESENT STATES.
SIMULATION
TESTING DESIGN FUNCTION BY SPECIFYING A SET OF INPUTS AND OBSERVING THE RESULTANT OUTPUTS. SIMULATION IS GENERALLY SHOWN AS A SERIES OF INPUT AND OUTPUT WAVEFORMS.
SI NOTATION
ABBREVIATION OF SYSTEM INTERNATIONAL, A SYSTEM OF PRACTICAL UNITS BASED ON THE METER, KILOGRAM, SECOND, AMPERE, KELVIN, MOLE, AND CANDELA.
SMALL OUTLINE IC (SOIC)
AN IC PACKAGE SIMILAR TO A DIP, BUT SMALLER, WHICH IS DESIGNED FOR AUTOMATIC PLACEMENT AND SOLDERING ON THE SURFACE OF A CIRCUIT BOARD.
SMALL-SCALE INTEGRATION (SSI)
AN INTEGRATED CIRCUIT HAVING 12 OR FEWER GATES IN ONE PACKAGE.
SOLDER
METALLIC ALLOY OF TIN AND LEAD THAT IS USED TO JOIN TWO METAL SURFACES.
SOLDERBRIDGE
THE UNWANTED FORMATION OF A CONDUCTIVE PATH OF SOLDER BETWEEN CONDUCTORS.
SOLDERING
PROCESS OF JOINING TWO METALLIC SURFACES TO MAKE AN ELECTRICAL CONTACT BY MELTING SOLDER (USUALLY TIN AND LEAD) ACROSS THEM.
SOLDERING IRON
TOOL WITH AN INTERNAL HEATING ELEMENT USED TO HEAT SURFACES BEING SOLDERED TO THE POINT WHERE THE SOLDER BECOMES MOLTEN.
TINNING
THE PROCESS OF APPLYING A THIN COAT OF SOLDER TO MATERIALS PRIOR TO THEIR BEING SOLDERED; FOR EXAMPLE, APPLICATION OF A LIGHT COAT OF SOLDER TO THE FILAMENTS OF A CONDUCTOR TO HOLD THE FILAMENTS IN PLACE PRIOR TO SOLDERING THE CONDUCTOR.
TOGGLE
TO SWITCH FROM ONE EFFECT, FEATURE, OR STATE TO ANOTHER.
TRANSISTOR
TERM DERIVED FROM "TRANSFER RESISTOR." SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICE THAT CAN BE USED AS AN AMPLIFIER OR AS AN ELECTRONIC SWITCH.
TRANSISTOR-TRANSISTOR (TTL)
A FAMILY OF DIGITAL LOGIC DEVICES WHOSE BASIC ELEMENT IS THE BIPOLAR JUNCTION TRANSISTOR.
TRUTH TABLE
A LIST OF ALL POSSIBLE INPUT VALUES TO A DIGITAL CIRCUIT, LISTED IN ASCENDING BINARY ORDER, AND THE OUTPUT RESPONSE FOR EACH INPUT COMBINATION.
DEFINITION
ANALOG
A WAY OF REPRESENTING SOME PHYSICAL QUANTITY, SUCH AS TEMPERATURE OR VELOCITY, BY A PROPORTIONAL CONTINUOUS VOLTAGE OR CURRENT. AN ANALOG VOLTAGE OR CURRENT CAN HAVE ANY VALUE WITHIN A DEFINED RANGE.
AND GATE
DIGITAL CIRCUIT THAT IMPLEMENTS THE AND OPERATION. THE OUTPUT OF THIS CIRCUIT IS HIGH ONLY IF ALL OF ITS INPUTS ARE HIGH.
BREADBOARD
A CIRCUIT BOARD FOR WIRING TEMPORARY CIRCUITS, USUALLY USED FOR PROTOTYPES OR LABORATORY WORK.
CAPACITOR
AN ELECTRICAL DEVICE USED TO STORE ELECTRICAL CHARGE.
CLOCK
DIGITAL SIGNAL IN THE FORM OF A RECTANGULAR PULSE TRAIN OR A SQUARE WAVE.
COMBINATIONAL LOGIC
DIGITAL CIRCUITRY IN WHICH AN OUTPUT IS DERIVED FROM THE COMBINATION OF INPUTS, INDEPENDENT OF THE ORDER IN WHICH THEY ARE APPLIED.
CONVENTIONAL CURRENT
THE DIRECTION OF CURRENT FLOW ASSOCIATED WITH POSITIVE CHARGE IN MOTION. THE CURRENT FLOW DIRECTION IS FROM A POSITIVE TO NEGATIVE POTENTIAL, WHICH IS IN THE OPPOSITE DIRECTION OF ELECTRON FLOW.
CURRENT
A MOVEMENT OF ELECTRICAL CHARGES AROUND A CLOSED PATH OR CIRCUIT.
CYCLE
A SERIES OF EVENTS THAT ARE REGULARLY REPEATED IN THE SAME ORDER.
DATASHEET
A PRINTED SPECIFICATION GIVING DETAILS OF THE PIN CONFIGURATION, ELECTRICAL PROPERTIES, AND MECHANICAL PROFILE OF AN ELECTRONIC DEVICE.
DIGITAL
A WAY OF REPRESENTING A PHYSICAL QUANTITY BY A SERIES OF BINARY NUMBERS. A DIGITAL REPRESENTATION CAN HAVE ONLY SPECIFIC DISCRETE VALUES.
DIGITAL WAVEFORM
A SERIES OF LOGIC 1S AND 0S PLOTTED AS A FUNCTION OF TIME.
DIGITAL MULTI-METER(DMM)
A PIECE OF TEST EQUIPMENT USED TO MEASURE VOLTAGE, CURRENT, AND RESISTANCE IN AN ELECTRONIC CIRCUIT.
DUAL IN-LINE PACKAGE (DIP)
A VERY COMMON IC PACKAGE WITH TWO PARALLEL ROWS OF PINS INTENDED TO BE INSERTED INTO A SOCKET OF THROUGH HOLES DRILLED IN A PRINTED CIRCUIT BOARD.
ENGINEERING NOTATION
A FLOATING POINT SYSTEM IN WHICH NUMBERS ARE EXPRESSED AS PRODUCTS CONSISTING OF A NUMBER GREATER THAN ONE MULTIPLIED BY AN APPROPRIATE POWER OF TEN THAT IS SOME MULTIPLE OF THREE.
FUSE
A PROTECTIVE DEVICE IN THE CURRENT PATH THAT MELTS OR BREAKS WHEN CURRENT EXCEEDS A PREDETERMINED MAXIMUM VALUE.
KIRCHHOFF’S CURRENT LAW (KCL)
THE ALGEBRAIC SUM OF ALL CURRENTS INTO AND OUT OF ANY BRANCH POINT IN A CIRCUIT MUST EQUAL ZERO.
KIRCHHOFF’S VOLTAGE LAW (KVL)
THE ALGEBRAIC SUM OF ALL VOLTAGES AROUND ANY CLOSED PATH MUST EQUAL ZERO.
LARGE SCALE INTEGRATION (LSI)
AN IC THAT CONTAINS CIRCUITRY EQUIVALENT TO 100 GATES OR MORE.
LED
LIGHT-EMITTING DIODE. AN ELECTRONIC DEVICE THAT CONDUCTS CURRENT IN ONE DIRECTION ONLY AND ILLUMINATES WHEN IT IS CONDUCTING.
LOGIC GATE
AN ELECTRONIC CIRCUIT THAT PERFORMS A BOOLEAN ALGEBRAIC FUNCTION.
LOGIC HIGH
THE HIGHER OF TWO VOLTAGES IN A DIGITAL SYSTEM WITH TWO LOGIC LEVELS.
LOGIC LOW
THE LOWER OF TWO VOLTAGES IN A DIGITAL SYSTEM WITH TWO LOGIC LEVELS.
MEDIUM SCALE INTEGRATION (MSI)
AN IC THAT CONTAINS CIRCUITRY EQUIVALENT TO MORE THAN 11 AND LESS THAN 100 GATES.
NOT GATE
ALSO CALLED AN INVERTER GATE OR AN INVERTING BUFFER. A LOGIC GATE THAT CHANGES ITS INPUT LOGIC LEVEL TO THE OPPOSITE STATE.
OHM
UNIT OF RESISTANCE. VALUE OF ONE OHM ALLOW CURRENT OF ONE AMPERE WITH POTENTIAL DIFFERENCE OF ONE VOLT.
OHM’S LAW
IN ELECTRIC CIRCUITS, I=V/R.
OR GATE
DIGITAL CIRCUIT THAT IMPLEMENTS THE OR OPERATION. THE OUTPUT OF THIS CIRCUIT IS HIGH (LOGIC LEVEL 1) IF ANY OR ALL OF ITS INPUTS ARE HIGH.
PARALLEL CIRCUIT
ONE THAT HAS TWO OR MORE BRANCHES FOR SEPARATE CURRENT FROM ONE VOLTAGE SOURCE.
PLASTIC LEADED CHIP CARRIER (PLCC)
A SQUARE IC PACKAGE WITH LEADS ON ALL FOUR SIDES DESIGNED FOR SURFACE MOUNTING ON A CIRCUIT BOARD.
PRINTED CIRCUIT BOARD
INSULATING BOARD CONTAINING CONDUCTIVE TRACKS FOR CIRCUIT CONNECTIONS.
RESISTANCE
OPPOSITION TO CURRENT. UNIT IS THE OHM.
RESISTOR COLOR CODE
CODING SYSTEM OF COLORED STRIPES ON A RESISTOR TO INDICATE THE RESISTOR'S VALUE AND TOLERANCE.
SCIENTIFIC NOTATION
NUMBERS ENTERED AS A NUMBER FROM ONE TO TEN MULTIPLIED BY A POWER OF TEN.
SCHOTTKY TTL
TTL SUBFAMILY THAT USES THE BASIC TTL STANDARD CIRCUIT EXCEPT THAT IT USES A SCHOTTKY BARRIER CODE (SBD) CONNECTED BETWEEN THE BASE AND THE COLLECTOR OF EACH TRANSISTOR FOR FASTER SWITCHING.
SERIES CIRCUIT
ONE THAT HAS ONLY ONE PATH CURRENT.
SEVEN-SEGMENT DISPLAY
AN ARRAY OF SEVEN INDEPENDENTLY CONTROLLED LIGHT-EMITTING DIODES (LED) OR LIQUID CRYSTAL DISPLAY (LCD) ELEMENTS, SHAPED LIKE A FIGURE-8, WHICH CAN BE USED TO DISPLAY DECIMAL DIGITS AND OTHER CHARACTERS BY TURNING ON THE APPROPRIATE ELEMENTS.
SEQUENTIAL LOGIC
DIGITAL CIRCUITRY IN WHICH THE OUTPUT STATE OF THE CIRCUIT DEPENDS NOT ONLY ON THE STATES OF THE INPUTS, BUT ALSO ON THE SEQUENCE IN WHICH THEY REACHED THEIR PRESENT STATES.
SIMULATION
TESTING DESIGN FUNCTION BY SPECIFYING A SET OF INPUTS AND OBSERVING THE RESULTANT OUTPUTS. SIMULATION IS GENERALLY SHOWN AS A SERIES OF INPUT AND OUTPUT WAVEFORMS.
SI NOTATION
ABBREVIATION OF SYSTEM INTERNATIONAL, A SYSTEM OF PRACTICAL UNITS BASED ON THE METER, KILOGRAM, SECOND, AMPERE, KELVIN, MOLE, AND CANDELA.
SMALL OUTLINE IC (SOIC)
AN IC PACKAGE SIMILAR TO A DIP, BUT SMALLER, WHICH IS DESIGNED FOR AUTOMATIC PLACEMENT AND SOLDERING ON THE SURFACE OF A CIRCUIT BOARD.
SMALL-SCALE INTEGRATION (SSI)
AN INTEGRATED CIRCUIT HAVING 12 OR FEWER GATES IN ONE PACKAGE.
SOLDER
METALLIC ALLOY OF TIN AND LEAD THAT IS USED TO JOIN TWO METAL SURFACES.
SOLDERBRIDGE
THE UNWANTED FORMATION OF A CONDUCTIVE PATH OF SOLDER BETWEEN CONDUCTORS.
SOLDERING
PROCESS OF JOINING TWO METALLIC SURFACES TO MAKE AN ELECTRICAL CONTACT BY MELTING SOLDER (USUALLY TIN AND LEAD) ACROSS THEM.
SOLDERING IRON
TOOL WITH AN INTERNAL HEATING ELEMENT USED TO HEAT SURFACES BEING SOLDERED TO THE POINT WHERE THE SOLDER BECOMES MOLTEN.
TINNING
THE PROCESS OF APPLYING A THIN COAT OF SOLDER TO MATERIALS PRIOR TO THEIR BEING SOLDERED; FOR EXAMPLE, APPLICATION OF A LIGHT COAT OF SOLDER TO THE FILAMENTS OF A CONDUCTOR TO HOLD THE FILAMENTS IN PLACE PRIOR TO SOLDERING THE CONDUCTOR.
TOGGLE
TO SWITCH FROM ONE EFFECT, FEATURE, OR STATE TO ANOTHER.
TRANSISTOR
TERM DERIVED FROM "TRANSFER RESISTOR." SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICE THAT CAN BE USED AS AN AMPLIFIER OR AS AN ELECTRONIC SWITCH.
TRANSISTOR-TRANSISTOR (TTL)
A FAMILY OF DIGITAL LOGIC DEVICES WHOSE BASIC ELEMENT IS THE BIPOLAR JUNCTION TRANSISTOR.
TRUTH TABLE
A LIST OF ALL POSSIBLE INPUT VALUES TO A DIGITAL CIRCUIT, LISTED IN ASCENDING BINARY ORDER, AND THE OUTPUT RESPONSE FOR EACH INPUT COMBINATION.