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28-letter words containing m, a, n

  • dos protected mode interface — (DPMI) The method which Microsoft prescribes for a DOS program to access extended memory under a multitasking environment, e.g. Microsoft Windows. This service is provided by the HIMEM.SYS driver on IBM PCs. The DPMI specification was finalized in 1990. The specification itself is available from Intel Literature Sales. VCPI (Virtual Control Program Interface), which was an alternative, and incompatible method for doing the same thing.
  • drive someone to distraction — If you say that something or someone drives you to distraction, you are emphasizing that they annoy you a great deal.
  • dynamic random-access memory — (storage)   (DRAM) A type of semiconductor memory in which the information is stored in capacitors on a MOS integrated circuit. Typically each bit is stored as an amount of electrical charge in a storage cell consisting of a capacitor and a transistor. Due to leakage the capacitor discharges gradually and the memory cell loses the information. Therefore, to preserve the information, the memory has to be refreshed periodically. Despite this inconvenience, the DRAM is a very popular memory technology because of its high density and consequent low price. The first commercially available DRAM chip was the Intel 1103, introduced in 1970. Early DRAM chips, containing up to a 16k x 1 (16384 locations of one bit each), needed 3 supply voltages (+5V, -5V and +12V). Beginning with the 64 kilobit chips, charge pumps were included on-chip to create the necessary supply voltages out of a single +5V supply. This was necessary to fit the device into a 16-pin DIL package, which was the preferred package at the time, and also made them easier to use. To reduce the pin count, thereby helping miniaturisation, DRAMs generally had a single data line which meant that a computer with an N bit wide data bus needed a "bank" of (at least) N DRAM chips. In a bank, the address and control signals of all chips were common and the data line of each chip was connected to one of the data bus lines. Beginning with the 256 kilobit DRAM, a tendency toward surface mount packaging arose and DRAMs with more than one data line appeared (e.g. 64k x 4), reducing the number of chips per bank. This trend has continued and DRAM chips with up to 36 data lines are available today. Furthermore, together with surface mount packages, memory manufacturers began to offer memory modules, where a bank of memory chips was preassembled on a little printed circuit board (SIP = Single Inline Pin Module, SIMM = Single Inline Memory Module, DIMM = Dual Inline Memory Module). Today, this is the preferred way to buy memory for workstations and personal computers. DRAM bit cells are arranged on a chip in a grid of rows and columns where the number of rows and columns are usually a power of two. Often, but not always, the number of rows and columns is the same. A one megabit device would then have 1024 x 1024 memory cells. A single memory cell can be selected by a 10-bit row address and a 10-bit column address. To access a memory cell, one entire row of cells is selected and its contents are transferred into an on-chip buffer. This discharges the storage capacitors in the bit cells. The desired bits are then read or written in the buffer. The (possibly altered) information is finally written back into the selected row, thereby refreshing all bits (recharging the capacitors) in the row. To prevent data loss, all bit cells in the memory need to be refreshed periodically. This can be done by reading all rows in regular intervals. Most DRAMs since 1970 have been specified such that one of the rows needs to be refreshed at least every 15.625 microseconds. For a device with 1024 rows, a complete refresh of all rows would then take up to 16 ms; in other words, each cell is guaranteed to hold the data for 16 ms without refresh. Devices with more rows have accordingly longer retention times. Many varieties of DRAM exist today. They differ in the way they are interfaced to the system - the structure of the memory cell itself is essentially the same. "Traditional" DRAMs have multiplexed address lines and separate data inputs and outputs. There are three control signals: RAS\ (row address strobe), CAS\ (column address strobe), and WE\ (write enable) (the backslash indicates an active low signal). Memory access procedes as follows: 1. The control signals initially all being inactive (high), a memory cycle is started with the row address applied to the address inputs and a falling edge of RAS\ . This latches the row address and "opens" the row, transferring the data in the row to the buffer. The row address can then be removed from the address inputs since it is latched on-chip. 2. With RAS\ still active, the column address is applied to the address pins and CAS\ is made active as well. This selects the desired bit or bits in the row which subsequently appear at the data output(s). By additionally activating WE\ the data applied to the data inputs can be written into the selected location in the buffer. 3. Deactivating CAS\ disables the data input and output again. 4. Deactivating RAS\ causes the data in the buffer to be written back into the memory array. Certain timing rules must be obeyed to guarantee reliable operation. 1. RAS\ must remain inactivate for a while before the next memory cycle is started to provide sufficient time for the storage capacitors to charge (Precharge Time). 2. It takes some time from the falling edge of the RAS\ or CAS\ signals until the data appears at the data output. This is specified as the Row Access Time and the Column Access Time. Current DRAM's have Row Access Times of 50-100 ns and Column Access Times of 15-40 ns. Speed grades usually refer to the former, more important figure. Note that the Memory Cycle Time, which is the minimum time from the beginning of one access to the beginning of the next, is longer than the Row Access Time (because of the Precharge Time). Multiplexing the address pins saves pins on the chip, but usually requires additional logic in the system to properly generate the address and control signals, not to mention further logic for refresh. Therefore, DRAM chips are usually preferred when (because of the required memory size) the additional cost for the control logic is outweighed by the lower price. Based on these principles, chip designers have developed many varieties to improve performance or ease system integration of DRAMs: PSRAMs (Pseudo Static Random Access Memory) are essentially DRAMs with a built-in address multiplexor and refresh controller. This saves some system logic and makes the device look like a normal SRAM. This has been popular as a lower cost alternative for SRAM in embedded systems. It is not a complete SRAM substitute because it is sometimes busy when doing self-refresh, which can be tedious. Static Column DRAM is similar to Page Mode DRAM, but to access different bits in the open row, only the column address needs to be changed while the CAS\ signal stays active. The row buffer essentially behaves like SRAM. DRAM used for Video RAM (VRAM) has an additional long shift register that can be loaded from the row buffer. The shift register can be regarded as a second interface to the memory that can be operated in parallel to the normal interface. This is especially useful in frame buffers for CRT displays. These frame buffers generate a serial data stream that is sent to the CRT to modulate the electron beam. By using the shift register in the VRAM to generate this stream, the memory is available to the computer through the normal interface most of the time for updating the display data, thereby speeding up display data manipulations. SDRAM (Synchronous DRAM) adds a separate clock signal to the control signals. It allows more complex state machines on the chip and high speed "burst" accesses that clock a series of successive bits out (similar to the nibble mode). CDRAM (Cached DRAM) adds a separate static RAM array used for caching. It essentially combines main memory and cache memory in a single chip. The cache memory controller needs to be added externally. RDRAM (Rambus DRAM) changes the system interface of DRAM completely. A byte-wide bus is used for address, data and command transfers. The bus operates at very high speed: 500 million transfers per second. The chip operates synchronously with a 250MHz clock. Data is transferred at both rising and falling edges of the clock. A system with signals at such frequencies must be very carefully designed, and the signals on the Rambus Channel use nonstandard signal levels, making it incompatible with standard system logic. These disadvantages are compensated by a very fast data transfer, especially for burst accesses to a block of successive locations. A number of different refresh modes can be included in some of the above device varieties: RAS\ only refresh: a row is refreshed by an ordinary read access without asserting CAS\. The data output remains disabled. CAS\ before RAS\ refresh: the device has a built-in counter for the refresh row address. By activating CAS\ before activating RAS\, this counter is selected to supply the row address instead of the address inputs. Self-Refresh: The device is able to generate refresh cycles internally. No external control signal transitions other than those for bringing the device into self-refresh mode are needed to maintain data integrity.
  • eastern european summer time — a summer time used by some countries in Eastern Europe, such as Finland, Romania, etc and also some countries of the Middle East and North Africa
  • eat sb out of house and home — If you eat someone out of house and home, you eat a lot of their food, especially when you are living with them.
  • ecclesiastical commissioners — the administrators of the properties of the Church of England from 1836 to 1948, when they were combined with Queen Anne's Bounty to form the Church Commissioners
  • electromagnetic interference — Electromagnetic interference is unwanted noise or other effects from electromagnetic radiation.
  • electron probe microanalysis — a technique for the analysis of a very small amount of material by bombarding it with a narrow beam of electrons and examining the resulting X-ray emission spectrum
  • electronic design automation — (application)   (EDA) Software tools for the development of integrated circuits and systems. Companies selling EDA tools include Cadence, Intergraph, Mentor, Synopsys, Viewlogic. Zuken-Redac Dazix has been acquired by Intergraph.
  • electronic report management — (storage)   (ERM, Enterprise Report Management) The capture, archiving and publishing, in digital form, of (typically mainframe generated) documents such as accounting and financial reports. ERM often replaces systems based on paper or microfilm. ERM usually captures data from print streams and stores it on hard drives, storage area networks or optical disk drives. The data is indexed and can be retreived at the desktop with a web browser or a fat client. ERM systems are part of enterprise content management or electronic document management. An example application is PearlDoc QuickFile Information Management System (IMS). An early replacement for greenbar printed reports was Computer Output on Microfilm (COM, not to be confused with Microsoft's Component Object Model). This was superseded by Computer Output to Laser Disk (or Disc - COLD) which used optical media. In 1999 the AIIM renamed COLD to ERM/COLD to reflect the variety of media in use. This was promoted, in 2002, by Mason Grigsby - widely reputed as "The Father of COLD" for his seminal work with INSCI in the late 1980s. Judging from their website, AIIM don't seem too sure whether ERM is "Electronic", "Enterprise" or both.
  • emergency medical technician — paramedic
  • enterprise report management — Electronic Report Management
  • environmental health officer — (in Britain) an employee of the Environmental Health Service
  • environmental health service — (in Britain) a service provided by a local authority, which deals with prevention of the spread of communicable diseases, food safety and hygiene, control of infestation by insects or rodents, etc
  • equal opportunities employer — An equal opportunities employer is an employer who gives people the same opportunities for employment, pay, and promotion, without discrimination against anyone.
  • federal information exchange — (networking)   (FIX) One of the connection points between the American governmental internets and the Internet.
  • federal republic of cameroon — official name of Cameroon.
  • follicle-stimulating hormone — FSH.
  • food and drug administration — a division of the Department of Health and Human Services that protects the public against impure and unsafe foods, drugs, and cosmetics. Abbreviation: FDA.
  • formal description technique — (specification, protocol)   (FDT) A formal method for developing telecomunications services and protocols. FDTs range from abstract to implementation-oriented descriptions. All FDTs offer the means for producing unambiguous descriptions of OSI services and protocols in a more precise and comprehensive way than natural language descriptions. They provide a foundation for analysis and verification of a description. The target of analysis and verification may vary from abstract properties to concrete properties. Natural language descriptions remain an essential adjunct to formal description, enabling an unfarmiliar reader to gain rapid insight into the structure and function of services and protocols. Examples of FDTs are LOTOS, Z, SDL, and Estelle.
  • frame technology corporation — (company)   The company which developed FrameMaker, taken over by Adobe Systems, Inc. in late 1995/early 1996.
  • general power of appointment — authority to appoint persons selected by the donee of the power to take an estate or interest in property
  • get no change out of someone — not to be successful in attempts to exploit or extract information from someone
  • have something going for one — to have something working to one's advantage
  • high performance file system — (file system)   (HPFS) The native file system for IBM's OS/2.
  • human chorionic gonadotropin — chorionic gonadotropin (def 1). Abbreviation: hCG.
  • human immunodeficiency virus — See under AIDS virus. Abbreviation: HIV.
  • imperial software technology — (company)   A software engineering company which emerged from Imperial College in about 1982. It enjoys a world-wide reputation for technical excellence as a software product and technology provider in the Open Systems market. Its flagship product is X-Designer, the award-winning graphical user interface builder. It also has considerable expertise in the Z language and Formal Methods.
  • industrial programming, inc. — The company which developed MTOS. E-mail: <[email protected]>. Telephone: +1 (516) 938 6600. Address: 100 Jericho Quadrangle, Jericho, NY 11753, USA.
  • information retrieval system — a system for recovering specific information from stored data
  • java servlet development kit — (web)   (JSDK) A suite of software for easing the development of Java servlets.
  • jpeg file interchange format — (graphics, file format)   (JFIF) The technical name for the file format better known as JPEG. This term is used only when the difference between the JPEG file format and the JPEG image compression algorithm is crucial.
  • karelian autonomous republic — an autonomous republic in the NW Russian Federation in Europe. 66,500 sq. mi. (172,240 sq. km). Capital: Petrozavodsk.
  • knowledge systems laboratory — (KSL) An artificial intelligence research laboratory within the Department of Computer Science at Stanford University. Current work focuses on knowledge representation for sharable engineering knowledge bases and systems, computational environments for modelling physical devices, architectures for adaptive intelligent systems, and expert systems for science and engineering.
  • lambert conformal projection — a conformal projection in which meridians are represented as straight lines converging toward the nearest pole and parallels as arc segments of concentric circles.
  • level premium term insurance — Level premium term insurance is term insurance with premiums that remain the same throughout the life of the contract.
  • local mail transfer protocol — (messaging, protocol)   (LMTP) A protocol designed as an alternative to ESMTP for cases where the mail receiver does not manage a queue. LMTP is an application level protocol that runs on top of TCP/IP. It was initially defined in RFC 2033, and uses (with a few changes) the syntax and semantics of ESMTP. It should be used only by specific prior arrangement and configuration, and it must not be used on TCP port 25 (the SMTP port).
  • logic replacement technology — (LRT) Reading, BERKS. Tel: (0734) 751087. Marketing Director Bob Barrett. Manufacturers of the Ethernet hardware including the Filtabyte Ethernet controller card and EtherGate open access gateway.
  • lotus notes formula language — (language)   A macro language for Lotus Notes that uses commands starting with @, e.g. @If, @Left, @Right, @Username. Many Notes applications are built with just this language.
  • machine-assisted translation — translation done by a human translator who uses computer software to assist with the translation
  • magnetic particle inspection — a method of testing for cracks and other defects in a magnetic material, such as steel, by covering it with a magnetic powder and magnetizing it: any variation in the concentration of the powder indicates a flaw in the material
  • make a run for it/run for it — If you make a run for it or if you run for it, you run away in order to escape from someone or something.
  • make one's hair stand on end — any of the numerous fine, usually cylindrical, keratinous filaments growing from the skin of humans and animals; a pilus.
  • manpower services commission — (in Britain, formerly) an organization providing training for adult workers
  • marriage guidance counsellor — a person whose job is to give advice given to couples who have problems in their married life
  • maxwell-boltzmann statistics — statistics for classical physics, based on the assumption that in a given physical system consisting of indistinguishable particles and regions, all possible arrangements of the particles in the various regions have equal probability.
  • meter-kilogram-second-ampere — of or relating to the system of units in which the meter, kilogram, second, and ampere are the principal units of length, mass, time, and electric current. Abbreviation: mksa, MKSA.
  • methylphenylcarbinyl acetate — a colorless, synthetic liquid, C 1 0 H 1 2 O 2 , having a strong floral odor and occurring in oil of gardenia: used chiefly in gardenia and lily perfumes.
  • microsoft foundation classes — (programming)   (MFC) Software structures in C++, the Windows base classes which can respond to messages, make windows, and from which application specific classes can be derived.
  • mount mckinley national park — a national park in S central Alaska, including Denali (mountain). 3030 sq. mi. (7850 sq. km).
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