U

UART (communications, computer)
Universal Asynchronous Receiver Transmitter - an electronic circuit that transmits and receives data on the serial port. It converts parallel bits into serial bits for transmission, and vice versa, and generates and strips the start and stop bits appended to each character.

Ultrasonic Bond (computer/microelectronics)
In microelectronics fabrication, the contact area where two materials are joined by means of ultrasonic energy and pressure.

Ultraviolet (communications)
Band of invisible radiation within the light spectrum, but just before visible light. It takes about 10 minutes of ultraviolet light to erase an EPROM chip.

Unbalanced Cable Signal (communications)
Transmission of a signal over a two-conductor cable with one signal and one ground (earth, return) conductor. The ground/return conductor is generally comprised of a braided wire or metallic foil (or both) shield surrounding a plastic or foam (dielectric) insulated signal conductor (solid copper or copper-cladded steel). Unbalanced signals are sometimes referred to as "single ended". (Contrast with Balanced or Balanced Cable).

Unbundling (computer)
Taking apart a system and/or software program that originally was sold and acquired as a composite package, and selling graduated pieces of the system or software program. The types of programs that are now unbundled include very large applications packages whose cost of development is substantial (i.e., linear programming packages).

Unicode (computer)
Term used to describe a 16-bit coding scheme to provide enough character interpretations to represent all of the languages known to mankind.

Unidirectional (A/V)
In audio/video production, the type of pickup pattern whereby the microphone can pick up sounds better from the front than from the sides or back of the microphone.

Uninterruptible Power Supply: UPS (communications, computer)
System for protection against power failure and variations in voltage and frequency. UPS have a wide variety of applications where unpredictable changes in commercial power will adversely affect equipment. This equipment may include computers, telephone systems, communications networks, motor and sequencing controls, electronic cash registers, hospital intensive care units, and a host of other systems. UPS may be used on-line between the commercial power and the sensitive load to provide transient free, well-regulated power, or offline & switched, only when the commercial power fails (see UPS).

UNIVAC (history / computer)
Universal Automatic Computer: stated to be the world's first commercially available computer, with the original construction begun by the Eckert-Mauchly Computer Corporation in 1948, and completed and delivered to the U.S. Bureau of Census in 1951.

Universal Communications Outlet: UCO © ® (communications)
Outlet within an office, on a floor, or within a building that provides universal communications access both physically and logically to any other outlet, anywhere on the network, at any time, for any application. As part of the universal communications system, it supports coaxial, fiber optic, and twisted pair cabling. It supports or enhances all local area network configurations, both physically, and logically. It also physically, and logically, supports/enhances all national and international communications standards.

Universal Communications System: UCS © ® (communications)
Building communications system that embodies four fundamental principals:
Modularity of all elements, all components, all active and passive equipment and cabling;
Universal access, applications, outlets, space, support, for all users at all locations;
Vendor Independence for any component, element, hardware, protocol, software, system;
End-To-End Connectivity from any location or outlet, to any other location or outlet.

Universality (communications, computer)
Term used to describe one of the four fundamental principles of the Universal Communications System; defining the capability of the system to provide: universal access (at any location, for any user); universal support (for any application, at any time); universal space (for any support at any location in a building, at any universal outlet).

Universal Product Code (computer)
Term used to define the symbols (vertical black lines of differing thickness) that appear on a wide variety of grocery and consumer products for automated check-out purposes, as well as for "bar-code" identification for pricing, inventory, and stock control.

UNIX (computer)
Multiuser, multitasking operating system developed by AT&T (1969-74) that runs on a wide variety of computer systems, from micro to mainframe, written in C language. There are now, as at 1999, over 400 versions (sometimes called flavors) of UNIX.

UPC (computer)
Universal Product Code - the standard bar code that is printed on retail merchandise. It contains the vendor's identification number and the product number, which is read by passing the bar code over a scanner.

Update (A/V, computer)
To make information more current by adding/changing/deleting data in a computer file. In audio/visual production, new information about a previously reported story.

Uplink (A/V, communications)
Earth station transmitter used to send television signals from the earth to a satellite.

UPS (computer)
Uninterruptible Power Supply - backup power for a computer system when the electrical power fails or drops to an unacceptable voltage level. Small UPS systems provide battery power for only a few minutes, enough to power down the computer in an orderly manner. Sophisticated systems are tied to electrical generators and can provide power for days.

User (communications, computer)
Term used to describe an individual who has contact with a computer (also, end-user).

User Account (computer/Windows)
Function consisting of all the information that defines a user to Windows Networking. This includes such information as the user name and password required for the user to log on, the groups in which the user account has membership, and the rights and permissions the user has for using the system and accessing the resources.

User Default Profile (computer/Windows)

For Windows Networking Advanced Server, the user profile that is loaded by a server when a user's assigned profile cannot be accessed for any reason, when a user without an assigned profile logs on to the computer for the first time, or when a user logs on to the Guest account (see system default profile, user profile).

User Defined (computer)
Data type, also called a record (or in C, a structure), which may be defined in source code. The elements of the user-defined record type can be any data type valid for the language and may include other user-defined data types.

User Friendly (computer)
Term used to describe products that were said to be easy to use. Windows is referred to as user friendly (objects or icons rather than DOS commands to launch applications).

User Interface (computer)
Term used to describe the method of interaction with a computer that occurs between the system and the end-user: the way in which a user works together with the computer.

User Involvement (computer)
From the beginning of a process, the involvement of end-users in a system's development life-cycle, especially with regards to end-user application requirements.

User Manager (computer/Windows)
Windows Networking workstation tool used to manage the security for a workstation: administers user accounts, groups, and security policies.

User Manager for Domains (computer/Windows)
Windows Networking Advanced Server tool used to manage security for a domain or individual computer: administers user accounts, groups and security policies.

User Name (computer/Windows)
Unique name identifying a user account to Windows Networking. An account's user name cannot be identical to any other group name or user name of its own domain or workstation.

User Profile Editor (computer/Windows)
For Windows Networking Advanced Server, a tool used to create, edit, and save personal user profiles, mandatory user profiles, the user default profile, and the system default profile.

User Right (computer/Windows)
Authorizes a user to perform certain actions on the system. Rights apply to the system as a whole, and are different from permissions, which apply to specific objects.

User Rights Policy (computer/Windows)
Manages the assignment of rights to groups and user accounts.

USRT (communications, computer)
Universal Synchronous Receiver Transmitter - an electronic circuit that transmits and receives data on the serial port. It converts bytes into serial bits for transmission and vice versa, and generates the necessary signals for synchronous transmission.

Utility Program (computer)
Specialized programs for personal computers that help end-users to perform utilities:
(disk formatting, disk recovery, disk optimization, etc.).

UV Curing (computer/microelectronics)
Polymerizing, hardening, or cross linking a low molecular weight resinous material in a wet coating or ink, using ultraviolet light as an energy system.