AC: Abbreviation for Alternating Current.
AMBIENT TEMPERATURE. The surrounding temperature such as the temperature of air surrounding a conductor in a compartment or within a piece of equipment.
AMERICAN WIRE GAUGE (AWG). The standards adopted in the United States for the measurement of wire sizes.
ASSEMBLY. A number of parts or subassemblies, or any combination thereof, joined together to perform a specific function.
ATR. Air Transport Rack. A chassis designed to comply to the military standard: MIL_PRF_85726B; Specification for Enclosure, Standard Avionics, Forced Air-Cooled.
BUS. One or more conductors or optical fibers that
serve as a common connection for a group of related
devices.
BUS BAR. A heavy copper strap or bar used to connect several circuits together when a large current carrying capacity is required.
CABLE. An assembly of one or more insulated conductors, or
optical fibers, or a combination of both, within an enveloping jacket. Either a stranded conductor (single-conductor cable) or a combination of conductors insulated
from one another (multiple conductor cable). Small sizes are commonly referred to as stranded wire or
as cords. Wire and Cable Manufacturers
CABLE ASSEMBLY. A cable that is ready for installation
in specific applications and usually terminated with connectors.
CABLE HARNESS. A group of wires or ribbons of wiring used to interconnect electronic systems and
subsystems.
CAMAC. Computer Automated Measurement And Control. Another board/backplane interface bus system
CompactPCI. Compact Peripheral Component Interface. An industrial version of the PCI standard [Peripheral Component Interface]. CompactPCI uses the Euro board format/size, but uses the same electrical standard as the consumer PCI interface bus.
COTS. Commercial-Off-The-Shelf equipment that can be purchased through commercial retail or wholesale distributors as is (i.e., equipment that is available as a cataloged item) or with only minor modifications that does not alter its form, fit or functional characteristics.
cPCI. See CompactPCI.
CRATE. Another term for a chassis. Term used to describe a VXI chassis or crate.
CURRENT RATING. The safe current-carrying capacity of a wire or cable on a continuous basis. See AWG
Next page of Equipment Chassis Terms
How To Specify a Equipment Chassis; Index page
Additional Dictionary Pages
Electronic Engineering Glossary Terms
Protocol Definitions, and Terms
Antenna Terms, and Definitions
Radar Terms, and Definitions
