CD-ROM User's Guide
17
Glossary of Terms
DAC (Digital Analog Converter)
A special in-
terface circuit that transforms digital signals of com-
puter circuits into analog VGA and SVGA signals.
DACK (DMA ACKnowledge)
Indicates that a
request has been received by the DMA controller,
and provides the rest of the system with an
acknowledgement of the DMA request. There is a
DACK available for each of the DMA channels avail-
able on the bus.
DMA (Direct Memory Access)
A method of
transporting data between memory and peripherals.
I/O (Input/Output)
Refers to the transfer of data
in and out of the system.
IRQ (Interrupt)
The signal a device gives the CPU
(Central Processing Unit) to let it know that it re-
quires attention. Interrupts suspend activity of the
CPU for various lengths of time, then returns control
to the CPU when attention has been given.
Glossary