Computer Glossary I
IDE integrated drive electronics. Also known as ATA, this is the
most common interface for connecting hard disks and other
storage devices to a PC. As all the controller electronics are
built into the device, it can be connected directly to the
motherboard so you don’t need a separate adapter card (as
you do with SCSI).
i-mode A service currently enjoying widespread popularity in
Japan. It is provided by Japanese ISP NTT DoCoMo and is
based on packet switched overlay over circuit-switched digital
communications. Unlike most European or US WAP services,
it is based on TCP/IP and is always on.
Intranet A network maintained by a company that is only
available to its staff or authorised users. Like the internet,
it uses HTML pages and web browsers.
Invalid Page Fault This is caused when a page of data or program code
in the swap file cannot, for various reasons, be loaded into the
main memory.
IRQ Interrupt request signals used by devices to ‘interrupt’ the
processor in order to gain its attention. For example, every key
pressed on a keyboard generates an interrupt signal indicating
that an event has occurred that requires an action. PCs support 15 hardware interrupts. Each device must have its own IRQ or
conflicts will occur that can cause a PC to hang or crash,
although plug and play devices have alleviated this problem.
ISDN integrated services digital network. A service that allows
digital communications over standard phone lines and offers two
64Kbps (kilobits per second) bearer, or B-channels.
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