Absolute Accuracy
Definition: Ampere(s) is the unit of the agreement between the result of a measurement and its true value or accepted standards value. Applied to instrument accuracy that is directly traceable to the primary standard - NIST.
Actuation Time
Definition: the time between application of the nominal relay coiled voltage and the final closure of the relay contact after contact.
Ampere
Definition: Ampere(s) is the unit of electrical current. Current is defined as the amount of charge that flows through a given point per unit of time. The symbol I is used for current in equations and (A) is the abbreviation for ampere.
A to D / AD Converter
Definition: Analog to digital. Involves a circuit that converts analog signals into a stream of raw digital data.
Ampere-Hour
Definition: A measure of charge or current flow over time. One ampere-hour is a current of one ampere flowing for one hour. The amount of charge transferred in that hour is 3,600 coulombs (ampere-seconds).
A-Weighting
Definition: A-weighting is a standard weighting curve applied to audio measurements, designed to reflect the response of the human ear.
AC
Definition: Alternating current - A signal or power source that varies with time, switching polarities. Typically, sinusodial and constant frequency.
Accelerometer
Definition: A sensor or transducer for measuring acceleration.
ACPI
Definition: Advanced Configuration and Power Interface: An industry-standard specification (co-developed by Hewlett-Packard, Intel, Microsoft, Phoenix, and Toshiba) for operating-system-directed power management for laptop, desktop, and server computers. A replacement for APM.
ACPR
Definition: Adjacent (alternate)-channel power ratio
ADM
Definition: Add/Drop Multiplexer: A synchronous transmission network (SDH or Sonet) can carry multiple channels. An Add/Drop Multiplexer is a device that adds (inserts) or drops (removes) lower-data-rate channel traffic from the higher-rate aggregated channel.
ADPCM
Definition: Analog design system
ADSL
Definition: Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line: A method for moving data over regular phone lines. An ADSL circuit carries much more data than a modem can encode on a regular phone connection. ADSL rides on the regular phone wires coming into the subscriber's premises (twisted pair copper).
AEC-Q100
Definition: A qualification test sequence for integrated circuits developed by the AIAG automotive organization.
AFE
Definition: Analog Front End: The analog portion of a circuit which precedes A/D conversion.
AGC
Definition: Automatic Gain Control: A circuit that modulates an amplifier's gain, in response to the relative strength of the input signal, in order to maintain the output power.
ADS
Definition: Alternating current - A signal or power source that varies with time, switching polarities. Typically, sinusodial and constant frequency.
Air Discharge
Definition: Alarm indication system
AISG
Definition: The Antenna Interface Standards Group (AISG) creates open specifications for antenna-line control and monitoring for 3G systems.
Aliasing
Definition: In A/D conversion, the Nyquist principle states that the sampling rate must be at least twice the maximum bandwidth of the analog signal. If the sampling rate is insufficient, then higher-frequency components are "undersampled" and appear shifted to lower-frequencies. These frequency-shifted components are called aliases.
Alternator
Definition: An electromechanical device that converts mechanical power into AC electrical power.
AM
Definition: Amplitude Modulation: A modulation method in which the carrier amplitude changes with the input signal amplitude.
Ambient Temperature Sensor
Definition: Temperature sensor used to measure the temperature of the air that surrounds a component (the ambient temperature).
ANSI
Definition: American National Standards Institute
Analog Switch
Definition: A switching device capable of switching or routing analog signals based on the level of a digital control signal. Commonly implemented using CMOS technology integrated circuits.
Anti-Aliasing
Definition: A lowpass filter that removes signal components above the Nyquist frequency. Removes the sampled replicas (aliases) in the baseband.
ASCII
Definition: Automatic test equipment; automated test equipment
Automatic Cold Junction Compensation
Definition: Ampere(s) is the unit ofsystem for multi-channel thermocouple measurements where the temperature at each thermocouple/switch card junction is sensed and compensated automatically.
AWG
Definition: 1. Arbitrary waveform generator. 2. American Wire Gauge: A measure of wire thickness (which also dictates cross-sectional area, and for a given material, ampacity).
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