Terms 5 Definitions and Questions

ISA The original 8- and 16-bit expansion card standard used in PCs. ISA cards run at a bus speed of 8MHz. You can plug ISA expansion cards into an ISA slot. Modems and sound cards were the last ISA cards due to their low bandwidth requirements. ISA is rarely found on new motherboards nowadays, as it has been replaced by PCI.

PCI PCI (Peripheral Component Interconnect) is an interconnection system between a microprocessor and attached devices in which expansion slots are spaced closely for high speed operation. PCI transmits 32 bits at a time in a 124-pin connection (the extra pins are for power supply and grounding) and 64 bits in a 188-pin connection in an expanded implementation.

AGP Accelerated Graphics Port (AGP) is an interface specification that enables 3-D graphics to display quickly on ordinary personal computers. AGP is designed to convey 3-D images (for example, from Web sites or CD-ROMs) much more quickly and smoothly than is possible today on any computer other than an expensive graphics workstation. It is especially useful in conjunction with gaming, three-dimensional (3D) video, and sophisticated scientific/engineering graphics programs.

AGP AGP Slot

PCI Express PCI Express - A high-speed peripheral interconnect from Intel introduced in Intending to eventually replace the PCI and AGP buses entirely, PCI Express was designed to match the higher speeds of today's CPUs. It can accommodate Gigabit and 10 Gigabit Ethernet and even support chip-to-chip transfers.

PCI Express PCI Express Slot

PCI, AGP, PCI Express Q/A Q: Please identify 3 of the following 4 pieces of hardware according to their card type

ISA, PCI, AGP Q/A

PCI AGP ISA PCI Express

IDE IDE: Intelligent Drive Electronics or Integrated Drive Electronics depending on who you ask. It is an interface for mass storage devices, the controller is integrated into the disk or the CD ROM drive. IDE is the standard hard drive interface for PCs. You can connect a maximum of two hard drives to an IDE connection or channel. IDE hard drives are cheaper than SCSI drives, but IDE is generally slower than SCSI and does not support sector re-mapping.

SCSI Pronounced “skuzzy” SCSI: Small Computer Systems Interface is an interface consisting of a standard port between a computer and its peripherals that is used in some computers. SCSI ports allows data to be transmitted in a “daisy chain” to up to seven devices at speeds (32 bits at a time) higher than those possible with serial and parallel ports.

IRQ Interrupted Request Line is hardware lines over which drives can send interrupt signals to the microprocessor. When you add a new device to a PC you sometimes need to set its IRQ number by setting a DIP switch. This specifies which interrupt line the device may use. IRQ conflicts used to be a common problem when adding expansions boreds but Plug-and-Play has solved most of these.

ATAPI Attachment Packet Interface is an extension to EIDE that enables the interface to support CD-ROM players and tape drivers.

IDE / SCSI/ IRQ Q/A Q: What is this?  A: A SCSI Terminator

USB USB ia an acronym for Universal Serial Bus. It is a port on a computer that allows external devices to be connected simply and easily. It is a protocol for transferring data to and from digital devices. It is known as a plug and play interface between a computer and a low-speed peripheral, such as a mouse, keyboard, digital camera, printer or scanner. Unlike devices connected via SCSI ports, USB devices can be added to and removed from the computer without having to reboot the computer.

Fire Wire Firewire is the former name for High Performance Serial Bus. It is a form of connection standard for connecting external devices to home computers. It is a type of cabling technology for transferring data to and from digital devices at high speed. Firewire card readers are typically faster than those that connect via USB. It allows for faster data transmission speed than SCSI and is currently replacing SCSI connectivity. It is well suited to applications that move large amounts of data. It is a fast and versatile interface used to connect DV cameras to computers. It was invented by Apple Computer but is now commonly used with Windows-based PCs as well. It is also known as IEEE 1394.

iLink Sony's name for the IEEE 1394, or FireWire, interface. For some reason Sony decided to pick its own name for the IEEE 1394 interface when it is used on Sony's devices. There are no differences between "i-Link" and IEEE iLink is a high-speed serial digital interface standard enabling data communication between the digital STB and DVD Players or D-VHS recorders.

USB, FireWire, iLink Q/A Q: Please identify these two ports: A: The one on the left is FireWire, the one on the right is USB.

USB

USB

Parallel Port The parallel port on your computer is a commonly used interface for printers. Before USB ports became so widely used, printers were connected through this port, as well as scanners, external CD burners, external hard drives, Zip drives, and network adapters. Each byte (8 bits) of data must be sent separately to the computer. Instead of sending each bit individually as well, the 8 bits are all sent at the same time, which saves a lot of time. They are sent in parallel, which is where the name comes from.

Serial Port The serial port is related to the parallel port. It, too, is being eclipsed in use by USB ports, but is still in use for some modems, printers, PDAs, and digital cameras. Serial ports have been around for decades. They are slower than parallel ports. Just as the parallel port transmits data “parallel” to itself – all 8 bits at a time, the serial port transmits data in order, one bit at a time. The advantage to serial ports is that they only need one wire (instead of 8), but they take 8 times as long to send data. Serial ports are bi-directional, which means that data can travel in both directions on the wire.

PS/2 PS2 ports are most often used for mouse and keyboard connections. They are electronically similar, but the computer will not recognize them if they aren’t on the right sockets. They function especially well for pointer devices, like the mouse. Mouse and keyboard devices, too, are migrating over to USB ports. These are bi-directional ports. They free serial ports up for use for modems and other such devices.

Parallel, Serial, PS/2 Port Q/A Q: Please identify these connectors:

Parallel, Serial, PS/2 Port Q/A Serial Parallel PS/2

PCMCIA PCMCIA stands for Personal Computer Memory Card International Association, which is an organization that consists of about 500 companies that develop a standard for PC cards. They set standards for adding memory to portable computers, and with the expanded standards the cards are capable to use for many other types of devices. There are three types of cards and slots: Type I cards are about 3.3 mm thick and are used for adding ROM or RAM to a computer. Type I slots can only hold Type I cards. Type II cards about up to 5.5 mm thick and are used for modem and fax modem cards. Type II slots can hold Type I or Type II cards. Type III cards are up to 10.5mm thick and is used for portable disk drives. Type III slots can hold Type III cards or two Type I or Type II cards (two of one or one of each). Generally, you can switch PC cards without having to restart your computer.

PCMCIA

Express Card The Express Card was developed using PCMCIA. Some of the rewards of using Express Cards are the cards are smaller and faster PC Cards, it’s suitable for mobile and desktop systems, it supports USB 2.0 and PCI Express applications, and there is a lower system and card complexity. There are two sizes of cards and both are smaller than a CardBus PC Card. All Express Cards have a standard thickness of at least 5.5 mm. The larger card (Express Card/54) supports things such as smartcard readers, CompactFlash adapters, and 1.8 inch hard drives. The smaller card (Express Card/34) is appropriate for applications such as communication, media, and general add-ins. These cards are inserted into a universal Express Card slot.

PC Card, Express Card

PCMCIA / PC Card / Express Card Q/A Q: Please identify this PCMCIA slot:

PCMCIA / PC Card / Express Card Q/A A: It’s a PCMCIA Type II slot, since it can take 2 cards.