The following sections of this BookRags Literature Study Guide is offprint from Gale's For Students Series: Presenting Analysis, Context, and Criticism on Commonly Studied Works: Introduction, Author Biography, Plot Summary, Characters, Themes, Style, Historical Context, Critical Overview, Criticism and Critical Essays, Media Adaptations, Topics for Further Study, Compare & Contrast, What Do I Read Next?, For Further Study, and Sources.
(c)1998-2002; (c)2002 by Gale. Gale is an imprint of The Gale Group, Inc., a division of Thomson Learning, Inc. Gale and Design and Thomson Learning are trademarks used herein under license.
The following sections, if they exist, are offprint from Beacham's Encyclopedia of Popular Fiction: "Social Concerns", "Thematic Overview", "Techniques", "Literary Precedents", "Key Questions", "Related Titles", "Adaptations", "Related Web Sites". (c)1994-2005, by Walton Beacham.
The following sections, if they exist, are offprint from Beacham's Guide to Literature for Young Adults: "About the Author", "Overview", "Setting", "Literary Qualities", "Social Sensitivity", "Topics for Discussion", "Ideas for Reports and Papers". (c)1994-2005, by Walton Beacham.
All other sections in this Literature Study Guide are owned and copyrighted by BookRags, Inc.
Cable connectors make possible the connection of peripheral devices to a computer. A variety of connectors exist, depending upon the device or function.
Computers that are part of an ethernet local area network are linked via a J45 connector. Audio connection utilizes another type of cable called a RCA. The RCA cable consists of a central conductor surrounded by a shield, typically constructed of braided or twisted copper. This design allows for clear transmission of an audio signal while preventing extraneous noise from entering the audio signal stream.
The RS232 data interface is a widely used connector for serial ports—a general purpose interface that can be used for almost any type of device, where information is transmitted at one bit at a time. Serial ports also accommodate RS-422 cable connectors. These serial connectors consist of a number of pins--9 or 22, depending on the type of connector-- that fit into corresponding holes in the port. The pins enable various signals to be transmitted, such as data transmission and received, request to send, ring indicator, and more.
Devices such as printers are generally connected to another type of port, the parallel port. On personal computers, the connection is via a type DB-25 25-pin connector. On the Macintosh, the equivalent is called the SCSI (small computer system interface) port. Both types of connector are necessary for devices that need a relatively high bandwidth to operate.
Still another set of cable connectors is designed for a port called the USB (universal serial bus). A single USB connection can connect up to 127 peripheral devices. High information transfer rates are possible (up to 12 million bits per second). Over time, USB peripheral connections will likely replace both serial and parallel port connections.