A

ACK

An acknowledgment signal.

Advanced Power Management (APM)

(1) A software interface (defined by Microsoft and Intel) between hardware-specific power management software (such as that located in a system BIOS) and an operating system power management driver. (2) An abridgment of the Advanced Power Management (APM) BIOS Interface Specification title.

Advanced System Configuration and Power Interface (ACPI)

A specification that defines the power management, Plug and Play, and system BIOS interfaces for the system board and operating system.

API

Acronym for application programming interface. This is a set of routines that an applications program uses to request and carry out lower-level services performed by the operating system.

APM

See Advanced Power Management.

Arbitrator

A software module in Windows that handles the allocation of hardware resources among devices.

ASIC

Acronym for application-specific integrated circuit.

ATA

Acronym for AT Attachment. Used interchangeably with Integrated Drive Electronics (IDE).

ATAPI

See AT Attachment Packet Interface.

AT Attachment (ATA)

An integrated bus generally used between host processors and disk drives.

AT Attachment Packet Interface (ATAPI)

A hardware and software specification that documents the interface between a host computer and CD-ROM drives using the ATA bus.