Acronyms

Question 1

*.*

Answer 1

Star- dot- star.

Any file . any filename extension .

Used in some operating systems for the global copy. move or delete file operations under the
specified directory. Also used in two other possible file combinations: any file with a particular file extension (for instance, *.doc), or a particular filename with any filename extension (dict. *).

Question 2

1-2-3

Answer 2

The name of the first publicly available spreadsheet program developed for personal computers by Lotus Corporation in 1982. The unusual name stands for the three basic functions of 1-2-3: graphics. spreadsheets and data management.

Question 3

10-100

Answer 3

Common name for a Ethernet/Fast Ethernet designation that has rates of both 10 and 100 Mbps, but not on the same port.

Question 4

10Base2

Answer 4

10 Mbps Baseband 200 m.

A kind of Ethernet LAN that uses 50-Ohm thin coaxial cable with a maximum length of 200 m per segment.

Question 5

10Base5

Answer 5

10 Mbps Baseband 500 m.

A kind of Ethernet LAN that uses a thick coaxial cable (full specification) with up to 500-m-long segments. For longer distance LANs. It is necessary to build in an appropriate number of repeaters.

Question 6

10BaseF

Answer 6

10 Mbps Baseband Fiber.

An IEEE Ethernet specification for fiberoptic cabling .

Question 7

10BaseFB

Answer 7

10 Mbps Baseband Fiber Backbone.

A part of the IEEE 10BaseF specification that provides a synchronous signaling backbone. A maximum of 2000 m long. That allows extra network segments and repeaters to be connected to the network.

Question 8

10BaseF

Answer 8

10 Mbps Baseband Fiber Link.

A part of the IEEE 10BaseF specification that provides an inter-repeater link. a maximum of 2000 m long.

Question 9

10BaseFP

Answer 9

10 Mbps Baseband Fiber Passive.

A part of the IEEE 10BaseF specification that allows a number of computers to be organized in a star topology without repeaters. Segments can be up to 500 m long.

Question 10

10BaseT

Answer 10

10 Mbps Baseband Twisted Pair.

An Ethernet that allows twisted pair cable as a backbone. The maximum speed of this kind of Ethernet is limited to 10 Mbps.

Question 11

10BaseX

Answer 11

10 Mbps Baseband any (X) Ethernet.

A standard root for several baseband Ethernet specifications that operate at 10 Mbps or slower speeds. See 10Base2, 10BaseS, 10BaseF and 10BaseT.

Question 12

10Broad36

Answer 12

10 Mbps Broadband 36 MHz. An Ethernet network that uses a 7S-0hm coaxial cable based on the IEEE802.3 bus or a tree topology. It can operate at up to 10 Mbps. The distance supported is limited to 1800 m. Each of the two channels operates at 18 MHz, so the number 36 in the network
name refers to twice 18 MHz.

Question 13

100BaseFX

Answer 13

100 Mbps Baseband Fast Ethernet.

The IEEE standard for Fast Ethernet (100 Mbps) over multimode fiber optic cabling . Segments can be up to 400 m long. See also 100BaseX.

Question 14

100BaseT

Answer 14

100 Mbps Baseband Twisted Pair. A series of IEEE802.3 standards for fast (100 Mbps) Ethernet using unshielded twisted pair cables.

Question 15

100BaseT4

Answer 15

100 Mbps Baseband Twisted Pair (4) . A series of IEEE802.3 standards for fast (100 Mbps) Ethernet using unshielded twisted pair cables with 4 wires.

Question 16

100BaseTX

Answer 16

100 Mbps Baseband Twisted Pair X. A Fast Ethernet specification based on twisted pair cables, either unshielded or shielded, with a segment length up to 100 m. The first pair of wires is used to receive data and the second pair is used to transmit data.

Question 17

100BaseVG

Answer 17

100 Mbps Baseband Voice Grade. An extension of 10BaseT Ethernet developed by HP and AT&T (IEEE802.12) based on voice grade (category 3) twisted pair cables (see UTP). Instead of CSMAlCD, used for ordinary Ethernet, 100BaseVG uses demand priority as the media access
method. Furthermore, it requires 4-wire pairs and uses 5B/6B NRZ signal encoding. 100BaseVG/AnyLAN appears as an extension of 100BaseVG that can be used in either Ethernet or Token Ring in separated networks. It also supports isochronous data (e .g. voice or video). Compare with 10BaseT.

Question 18

100BaseX

Answer 18

100 Mbps Baseband any (X) Ethernet. The IEEE standard (IEEE-802.3u) for Fast Ethernet (100 Mbps based on Carrier Sense Multiple Access, see CSMAlCD). It appears in three variants (see 100BaseFX, 100BaseT4, and 100BaseTX).

Question 19

1000BaseCX

Answer 19

1000 Mbps Baseband Copper any (X) Ethernet. The IEEE standard (IEEE802.3z) for Fast Ethernet over copper cables.

Question 20

1284

Answer 20

The IEEE1284 parallel interface standard. See Enhanced Capability Port (ECP) and Enhanced Parallel Port (EPP).

Question 21

1394

Answer 21

A specification for a very fast external bus that supports data transfer rates of up to 400 Mbps. Also known as FireWire, which is a trademark of Apple for the original 1394 bus.

Question 22

1G

Answer 22

First (1st)-Generation Wireless. A common name for an early wireless technology (from the late 1970s up to the late 1980s) based on radiotelephony and analog voice encoding. Compare with 2G and 3G.

Question 23

1 GL

Answer 23

First (1 st)-Generation Language.

A common name for a machine language that consists of a set of instructions and data in the form of a string of Os and 1 s. Before the second, third , etc. (see 2GL, 3GL, 4GL and 5GL)
generations of languages appeared, 1GL was the only way to program computers.

Question 24

1 NF

Answer 24

First (1 st) Normal Form.

Normal forms commonly representing an approach to structuring information in a relational database (1NF, 2NF, 3NF, etc.) or metalanguages that allow the description of other languages (see BNF). 1 NF represents groups of records organized as a table in which each column (information field) contains a unique indivisible piece of information. The other normal forms of relational databases extend 1 NF by additional relationships between the information fields (see 2NF, 3NF, 4NF, 5NF. BCNF and DKNF).

Question 25

1 ST

Answer 25

1 st (First) . Filename extension for Microsoft Windows Readme (first) files . Such files are used, for example, as installation guidelines, descriptions of system requirements, etc.

Question 26

2B+D

Answer 26

Two (2) Base channels + 0 channel. A term associated with the Basic Rate Interface in ISDN communications. See BRI and ISDN. Compare with PRI.

Question 27

2D

Answer 27

Two (2)-Dimensional.

An umbrella term from the field of computer graphics that refers to a common attribute (two-dimensional, width and depth) of drawings, pictures, graphic systems, workstations, etc. 2D pictures can be native images such as cartographic maps, schemes, or projections of 3D objects onto a particular plane.

Question 28

2G

Answer 28

Second (2nd)-Generation Wireless.

A common name for mobile wireless technology (first used in the 1990s) based on digital voice encoding. Examples are COMA, TOM A and GSM. The technology is still under development in order to improve its bandwidth and routing. and include multimedia as well . With such capabilities the technology looks like something between 2G and 3G, so the term 2.5G is often used instead of 2G. Compare with 1G and 3G

Question 29

2GL

Answer 29

Second (2nd)-Generation Language.

A common name for any assembly language (also known as an assembler) that uses particular processor based commands and instructions at a higher level than that used by a 1 GL.
Such instructions are then translated into the machine-level code. For example, in GCOS6 (see GCOS) assembly language programming the instruction STORE $R1 , LOC tells the computer to store the contents of register $R 1 into a memory location with the symbolic name LOC. Compare with 1 GL and 3GL.

Question 30

2NF

Answer 30

Second (2nd) Normal Form.

An approach to database design similar to 1 NF but which introduces a primary key. More specifically, a relation R is in 2NF if it is in 1 NF and also if every nonprime attribute is fully dependent on the primary key.

Question 31

2PC

Answer 31

2 (Two)-Phase Commit protocol.

A protocol executed in distributed transactions to ensure atomicity (see ACID). It works as follows. When a transaction , initiated at a site, completes its execution, and all the sites at which the transaction has been executed inform the transaction coordinator that the transaction is completed, the transaction coordinator starts the 2PC protocol. During the first phase, 2PC asks transaction managers on sites where the transaction has been executed whether they are willing to commit their portion of the transaction . If the answer is “yes” from all the transaction managers called , 2PC commits the transaction in the second phase. If only one transaction manager answers “no”, 2PC does not commit the transaction at all. See also TM (Transaction Manager). Compare with 3PC.

Question 32

3Com

Answer 32

Computer, Communication and Compatibility. One of the world’s leading manufacturers of internetworking equipment founded in 1979 by Robert Metcalfe (http://www.3com.com).

Question 33

3D

Answer 33

3 (Three)-Dimensional.

A kind of computer graphics that allows object presentation in three dimensions, width, height and depth. Unlike 20 graphics, in addition to dimensions and colors, 3D graphics uses perspective, viewpoints, light sources etc. (see GKS-3D, VRC) to illustrate the real image of
the object (scene). There are two techniques used, solid and wireframe.

Question 34

3G

Answer 34

Third (3rd)-Generation Wireless.

A common name for the next-generation wireless technology intended for fixed , mobile and portable communications. 3G systems should be able to operate from any location on Earth or over the Earth’s surface, with rates greater than 2 Mbps and with routing using repeaters, satellites and LANs. All existing services are expected to be supported by 3G (paging, cellular phones, e-mail , web browsing, fax , videoconferencing, etc.). Enhanced multimedia capabilities are also required. It is expected that 3G will achieve full operability by the year 2005 in North America, Europe and Japan. The first attempt to offer 3G services happened on 1 st October 2001 , when NIT DoCoMo (http://www.docomo.com) launched its FOMA (Freedom of Mobile
Multimedia Access), featuring plenty of bugs at that time. An article in “The Wall
Street Journal” compared it with a powerful car which has bad styling, bad
brakes, uses a lot of gas, etc. However, the technology pioneer didn’t give up.
“Mobile Media Japan” (http://mobilemediajapan.com) sent a message about
DoCoMo. That part of NIT is expected to have 150,000 subscribers by the end
of March 2002. Compare with 2G.

Question 35

3GL

Answer 35

Third (3rd)-Generation Languages.

A set of high-level language families that originated in the early 1960s. Typical examples are FORTRAN, COBOL and ALGOL. They introduced much improved programming possibilities
compared to the low-level languages (assembly languages). They are more likely to be self-documented, they hide from programmers the low-level details of the target executing machine, the structure of the program follows the structure of the original problem under development rather than the structure of the processor design, architecture, etc. Due to their usefulness, legacy issues, and continuous standardization efforts, they have survived down through the years. Figure #-4 illustrates the roots of famous 3GL families and their development tree from the 1960s up to today.

Question 36

3NF

Answer 36

Third (3rd) Normal Form.

In addition to 2NF features, 3NF requires that a relation has no transitive dependencies on nonprime key attributes .

Question 37

3PC

Answer 37

3 (Three)-Phase Commit protocol.

A protocol executed in distributed transactions to ensure atomicity (see ACID). It is designed to avoid the possibility of blocking in a restricted case of possible failures. The first phase is identical to phase 1 of 2PC. In the second phase, in the case of a negative answer from any transaction manager, the transaction is aborted. If all transaction managers are ready to accept the committed transaction , 3PC precommits the phase, i.e. the transaction can still be aborted. Then , the transaction managers at the sites are informed that the transaction is in the precommit state. In the third phase, 3PC investigates whether a site has failed in the meantime and is waiting for an appropriate number of acknowledgments before making the final decision: commit transaction or abort transaction . See also 2PC.

Question 38

3w

Answer 38

where, what and when.

Term suggested (Ojordjevic-Kajan et aI. , 1997) for agent navigation in cyberspace when an agent requires some kind of interaction with other agents. Figure #-5 shows a typical example, where a mobile agent, in order to accomplish the delegated task, has to decide what to do, where to go, and when (3w space). To do that, communication with other agents on possibly different platforms may be required (see UM). See also KIF and KQML.

Question 39

404

Answer 39

Not found .

A status code returned by HTTP to a Web user when she/he tries to access a nonexistent site. Generally, there are two possible reasons for code 404, either the site no longer exists (also known as 404 limbo) or the wrong address was entered due to user typing errors. See also PURL.

Question 40

4B/5B

Answer 40

4-BiV5-Bit local fiber.

A fiber channel physical media and encoding scheme used for ATM and FDDI that allows speeds of up to 100 Mbps. In 4B/5B, every group of 4 bits is represented by a 5-bit symbol (explaining where the name comes from). This symbol is associated with a bit pattern that is then encoded using NRZI or another standard signal-encoding method. Sometimes abbreviated as TAXI (Transparent Asynchronous Transceiver/Receiver Interface). See also NRZI. Compare with 5B/6B and 8B/10B.

Question 41

4GL

Answer 41

Fourth (4th)-Generation Languages.

A common term related to programming languages that are oriented to end-users rather than to programming professionals. 4GLs speed up the application building process, minimize debugging problems, make user-friendly environments, reduce software maintenance costs, etc. They include application generators, report generators, query languages, etc. Some examples of such languages, also explained in this book, or in the references (e.g. Martin, 1986), are ADS, ADF, ADRSII, APl, AS, CSP, OBE, OMF, SOL, etc.

Question 42

4NF

Answer 42

Fourth (4th) Normal Form.

A term from database design theory. A relation R is in 4NF if every nontrivial multivalued dependency is due to the keys. See 1 NF, 2NF, 3NF and SNF.

Question 43

50X

Answer 43

50 times X. The measurement term for the maximum data transfer rate in CD and DVD technologies. The term is expressed using a base of 150 KBps, which refers to the time required to read data from a compact disk in its origina l version (1X). later improvements brought 2X, 4X, 8X, 12X, 24X, 32X, 40X and 50X.

Question 44

5B/6B

Answer 44

5-Bit/6-Bit encoding.

An encoding scheme in 100BaseVG networks. In 5B/6B, every group of 5 bits is represented by a 6-bit symbol (explaining where the name comes from) . This symbol is associated with a bit pattern that is then encoded using NRZI or another standard signal-encoding method. See also NRZI. Compare with 4B/5B and 8B/10B.

Question 45

5GL

Answer 45

Fifth (5th)-Generation languages.

This term is used for programming languages having additional features compared with 4GLs. They originated in the field of artificial intelligence (see AI) , especially in knowledge-based systems (see KBS), expert systems, speech recognition , decision support systems (see DSS), command, control , communication and intelligence systems (see C3I), active technologies such as mobile agents or active DBMS (see ADBMS), etc. The pioneering language in this field was PROLOG. The common underlying language is LISP and its variations .