Terminal
(1) A device that enables you to communicate with a computer. Generally, a terminal is a combination of keyboard and display screen. Terminals are sometimes divided into three classes based on how much processing power they contain:
intelligent terminal: a stand-alone device that contains main memory and a CPU.
smart terminal: contains some processing power, but not as much as an intelligent terminal.
dumb terminal: has no processing capabilities. It relies entirely on the computer’s processor.
(2) In networking, a terminal is a personal computer or workstation connected to a mainframe. The personal computer usually runs terminal emulation software that makes the mainframe think it is like any other mainframe terminal.
(3) In VoIP terminology, a network endpoint which may provide audio only, audio and video, audio and data, or audio, video, and data communications with another H.323 terminal. The most common VoIP terminal is a phone.
Read Also:
- terminal adapter
A device that connects a computer to an external digital communications line, such as an ISDN line. A terminal adapter is a bit like a modem, but whereas a modem needs to convert between analog and digital signals, a terminal adapter only needs to pass along digital signals. As ISDN becomes more common, future computers […]
- terminal emulation
Refers to making a computer respond like a particular type of terminal. Terminal emulation programs allow you to access a mainframe computer or bulletin board service with a personal computer.
- terminator
(1) A device attached to the end-points of a bus network or daisy-chain. The purpose of the terminator is to absorb signals so that they do not reflect back down the line. Ethernet networks require a terminator at both ends of the bus, and SCSI chains require a single terminator at the end of the […]
- ternary operator
A ternary operator is some operation operating on 3 inputs. It’s a shortcut for an if-else statement, and is also known as a conditional operator. In Perl/PHP it works as: “boolean_condition?true_value:false_value” In C/C++ it works as: logical expression? action for true : action for false
- terrestrial
(adj.) Of or relating to the earth. The term is used in reference to satellite technologies to distinguish between what is out in space and what is located on the earth��s surface.