B&R Industries Provit 5000, User Manual

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366 Provit 5000 User’s Manual
Technical Appendix • Glossary
8. Glossary
BIOS
An abbreviation for »Basic Input/Output System«. On computers conforming to the PC standard,
a set of important software routines, which carry out a hardware test after start up, load the
operating system and provide routines for data transfer between hardware components. BIOS
is stored in ROM, so that the contents are not lost after the PC is switched off. Although BIOS is
used to configure a system's performance, the user does not usually come into contact with it.
Bus Unit
Provit bus units consist of the housing, interface board slots and the power supply for the system
units.
CAN
An abbreviation for »Controller Area Network« (serial bus system) CAN was developed by
Bosch and was originally designed for use in motor vehicles. CAN is used in numerous
applications.
CD-ROM
An abbreviation for »Compact Disc Read-Only Memory« A data carrier which is distinguished by
its high capacity (approx 650 megabytes) and its use of laser optics instead of magnetic
scanning for reading data. Although CD-ROM drives can read and not write, they still have much
in common with CD-R drives and optical WORM drives (which can write to a disk once). They
are also similar to optical drives, which can write to a disk several times.
CMOS
»CMOS« is a battery powered memory area where fundamental parameters of an IBM (or
compatible) personal computer are stored. Information such as the type of hard drive, size of the
working memory and the current date and time are required when booting the computer. As the
name suggests, the memory is based on CMOS technology standards.
COM
A device name used to access serial ports in MS-DOS. The first serial port can be accessed
under COM1, the second under COM2 etc. Typically, a modem, mouse or serial printer is
connected to a serial port.