Electronics
Acronyms
Some acronyms and abbreviations common in electronics. This list doesn't aim for completeness; there are other sites for that. Some list so many acronyms that any given acronym has dozens of descriptions, and then it doesn't help either. I don't want to fall in the trap this site has fallen into and provide an acronym for “Vertically Mounted Battery” (indeed, VMB), but fail to mention RAM in the electronics category. That's why I stick to the most used ones. If you think that an important acronym is missing here, please let me know.
| A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y | |
| AC | Alternating Current |
| ADC | Analog-to-Digital Converter |
| AES | Advanced Encryption Standard |
| AF | Audio Frequency |
| AGC | Automatic Gain Control |
| AHB | Advanced High-performance Bus |
| ALU | Arithmetic and Logic Unit |
| ALVT | Advanced Low Voltage Technology |
| AM | Amplitude Modulation |
| AMV | Astable MultiVibrator |
| APB | Advanced Peripheral Bus |
| APF | All-Pass Filter |
| ASIC | Application-Specific IC |
| ASK | Amplitude Shift Keying |
| ATE | Automatic Test Equipment |
| AWG | American Wire Gauge |
| AWG | Arbitrary Waveform Generator |
| A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y | |
| BBM | Break Before Make |
| BCD | Binary Coded Decimal |
| BFO | Beat Frequency Oscillator |
| BGA | Ball Grid Array |
| BIST | Built-In Self Test |
| BJT | Bipolar Junction Transistor |
| BNC | Bayonet Neill-Concelman Connector |
| BOD | BrownOut Detection |
| BOM | Bill Of Materials |
| BPF | Band-Pass Filter |
| BTL | Bridge-Tied Load |
| BW | BandWidth |
| A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y | |
| CA | Common Anode |
| CAD | Computer Aided Design |
| CAE | Computer Aided Engineering |
| CAM | Computer Aided Manufaturing |
| CAN | Controller Area Network |
| CC | Common Cathode |
| CCCS | Current-Controlled Current Source |
| CCVS | Current-Controlled Voltage Source |
| CCD | Charge-Coupled Device |
| CCFL | Cold-Cathode Fluorescent Lamp |
| CCW | Counter-ClockWise |
| CD | Card Detect |
| CFB | Current Feedback |
| CMRR | Common-Mode Rejection Ratio |
| CMOS | Complementary Metal Oxide Semiconductor |
| COB | Chip On Board |
| CODEC | COder-DECoder |
| COG | Chip On Glass |
| CPLD | Complex Programmable Logic Device |
| CPU | Central Processing Unit |
| CSMA/CA | Carrier Sense Multiple Access/Collision Avoid |
| CSMA/CD | Carrier Sense Multiple Access/Collosion Detect |
| CSP | Chip Scale Package |
| CT | Center Tap |
| CW | ClockWise |
| CW | Continuous Wave |
| A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y | |
| DAB | Digital Audio Broadcast |
| DAC | Digital-to-Analog Converter |
| DC | Direct Current |
| DCO | Digitally Controlled Oscillator |
| DCT | Discrete Cosine Transform |
| DES | Data Encryption Standard |
| DMA | Direct Memory Access |
| DDS | Direct Digital Synthesis |
| DFM | Design For Manufacturability |
| DFN | Dual Flat No-Lead |
| DFR | Design For Repair |
| DFT | Design For Test |
| DIL | Dual-In-Line |
| DIN | Deutsche Industie Norm |
| DIP | Dual-In-Line Package |
| DMM | Digital MultiMeter |
| DNP | Do Not Populate |
| DPDT | Double Pole Double Throw |
| DPST | Double Pole Single Throw |
| DRAM | Dynamic Random Access Memory |
| DRC | Design Rule Check |
| DSO | Digital Storage Oscilliscope |
| DSP | Digital Signal Processing |
| DSSS | Direct Sequence Spread Spectrum |
| DTL | Diode-Transistor Logic |
| DTMF | Dual Tone Multi-Frequency |
| DUT | Device Under Test |
| DVM | Digital VoltMeter |
| A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y | |
| ECC | Error Correction Code |
| ECL | Emitter-Coupled Logic |
| ECN | Engineering Change Notice |
| ECO | Engineering Change Order |
| EDA | Electronic Design Automation |
| EEPROM | Electrically Eraseable Programmable Read-Only Memory |
| ELSI | Extra Large Scale Integration |
| ELV | Extra-Low Voltage |
| EMC | ElectroMagnetic Compatibility |
| EMF | ElectroMotive Force |
| EMI | ElectroMagnetic Interference |
| ENIG | Electroless Nickel Immersion Gold |
| EOL | End Of Life |
| EOP | End Of Packet |
| EPLD | Electrically Programmable Logic Device |
| EPROM | Eraseable Programmable Read-Only Memory |
| ESD | ElectroStatic Discharge |
| ESR | Equivalent Series Resistance |
| A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y | |
| FAE | Field Application Engineer |
| FAMOS | Floating-Gate Avalanche-Injection MOS |
| FDM | Frequency Division Multiplex |
| FEC | Forward Error Correction |
| FELV | Functional Extra-Low Voltage |
| FET | Field Effect Transistor |
| FF | Flip-Flop |
| FFT | Fast Fourier Transform |
| FHSS | Frequency-Hopping Spread Spectrum |
| FIFO | First In, First Out |
| FIR | Finite Impulse Response |
| FLL | Frequency-Locked Loop |
| FM | Frequency Modulation |
| FMEA | Failure Mode and Effect Analysis |
| FPGA | Field-Programmable Logic Array |
| FPU | Floating-Point Unit |
| FRAM | Ferroelectric Random Access Memory |
| FSK | Frequency Shift Keying |
| FSM | Finite State Machine |
| FSR | Force Sensing Resistor |
| FTTH | Fiber To The Home |
| FVC | Frequency-to-Voltage Converter |
| A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y | |
| GBW | Gain-BandWidth Product |
| GFSK | Gaussian Frequency Shift Keying |
| GPIO | General-Purpose Input/Output |
| GTO | Gate Turn Off Thyristor |
| A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y | |
| HAL | Hot Air Leveling |
| HBM | Human Body Model |
| HDL | Hardware Description Language |
| HCMOS | High-Speed CMOS |
| HPF | High-Pass Filter |
| HV | High Voltage |
| HVAC | Heating Ventilation Air-Conditioning |
| HVAC | High-Voltage AC |
| A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y | |
| I2C | Inter IC |
| IC | Integrated Circuit |
| ICP | In-Circuit Programming |
| ICSP | In-Circuit Serial Programming |
| IDE | Integrated Development Environment |
| IDE | Integrated Drive Electronics |
| IEC | International Electrotechnical Commission |
| IEEE | Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers |
| IF | Intermediate Frequency |
| IGBT | Insulated Gate Bipolar Transistor |
| IIC | Inter IC |
| IIR | Infinite Impulse Response |
| IMD | InterModulation Distortion |
| INL | Integral NonLinearity |
| IR | InfraRed |
| IrDA | Infrared Data Association |
| ISM | Industrial, Scientific and Medical |
| ISO | International Organization for Standardization |
| ISP | In-System Programming |
| ISP | Internet Service Provider |
| ISR | Interrupt Service Routine |
| A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y | |
| JEDEC | Joint Electron Device Engineering Council |
| JFET | Junction Field Effect Transistor |
| JTAG | Joint Test Action Group |
| A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y | |
| KCL | Kirchhoff's Current Law |
| KGD | Known Good Die |
| KVL | Kirchhoff's Voltage Law |
| A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y | |
| LAN | Local Area Network |
| LASER | Light Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation |
| LCC | Leadless Chip Carrier |
| LCCC | Leadless Ceramic Chip Carrier |
| LCD | Liquid Crystal Display |
| LCG | Linear Congruential Generator |
| LD | Laser Diode |
| LDO | Low DropOut |
| LDR | Light-Dependent Resistor |
| LED | Light Emitting Diode |
| LF | Low Frequency |
| LFSR | Linear Feedback Shift Register |
| LIF | Low Insertion Force |
| LIFO | Last In, First Out |
| LNA | Low Noise Amplifier |
| LNB | Low Noise Block |
| LO | Local Oscillator |
| LOS | Line Of Sight |
| LPF | Low-Pass Filter |
| LQFP | Low-Profile Quad Flat Package |
| LSB | Least Significant Bit |
| LSI | Large Scale Integration |
| LV | Low Voltage |
| LVDS | Low-Voltage Differential Signaling |
| A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y | |
| MAC | Media Access Control |
| MAN | Metropolitan Area Network |
| MASER | Microwave Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation |
| MBB | Make Before Break |
| MCM | Multi-Chip Module |
| MEMS | Micro-Electro-Mechanical System |
| MIDI | Musical Instrument Digital Interface |
| MIPS | Million Instructions Per Second |
| MLCC | Multi-Layer Ceramic Capacitor |
| MM | Machine Model |
| MMC | Multi Media Card |
| MMF | Multi-Mode Fiber |
| MMU | Memory Management Unit |
| MMV | Monostable MultiVibrator |
| MODEM | MOdulator-DEModulator |
| MOS | Metal Oxide Semiconductor |
| MOSFET | Metal Oxide Semiconductor Field Effect Transistor |
| MOV | Metal Oxide Varistor |
| MRI | Magnetic Resonance Imaging |
| MSB | Most Significant Bit |
| MSI | Medium Scale Integration |
| MSL | Moisture Sensitivity Level |
| MTBF | Mean Time Between Failures |
| MTTF | Mean Time To Failure |
| MTTR | Mean Time To Repair |
| MUX | Multiplexer |
| A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y | |
| NA | Numerical Aperture |
| NC | No Connection |
| NC | Normally Closed |
| NFC | Near-Field Communication |
| NIR | Near InfraRed |
| NIST | National Institute of Standards and Technology (USA) |
| NMR | Nucleo-Magnetic Resonance |
| NO | Normally Open |
| NPN | Negative-Positive-Negative Transistor |
| NRZ | Non-Return To Zero |
| NRZI | Non-Return To Zero Inverted |
| NTC | Negative Temperature Coefficient |
| NTSC | National Television System Committee |
| A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y | |
| OC | Open Collector |
| OD | Open Drain |
| OEM | Original Equipment Manufaturer |
| OLED | Organic Light Emitting Diode |
| OOK | On-Off Keying |
| OS | Open Source |
| OS | Operating System |
| OSD | On-Screen Display |
| OSI | Open Systems Interconnect |
| OSI/RM | Open Systems Interconnect/Reference Model |
| OTA | Operational Transconductance Amplifier |
| OTDR | Optical Time Domain Reflectometer |
| OTG | On-The-Go |
| OTP | One-Time Programmable |
| OTP | Over-Temperature Protection |
| A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y | |
| PAL | Phase Alternation On Line |
| PAL | Programmable Array Logic |
| PCA | Printed Circuit Assembly |
| PCB | Printed Circuit Board |
| PELV | Protected Extra-Low Voltage |
| PGA | Pin Grid Array |
| PGA | Programmable Gain Amplifier |
| PHY | Physical Layer |
| PISO | Parallel-In Serial-Out |
| PLA | Programmable Logic Array |
| PLC | Programmable Logic Controller |
| PLCC | Plastic Leadless Chip Carrier |
| PLD | Programmable Logic Device |
| PLL | Phase-Locked Loop |
| PM | Phase Modulation |
| PMIC | Power Management IC |
| PNP | Positive-Negative-Positive Transistor |
| PoE | Power Over Ethernet |
| POST | Power-On Self Test |
| PP | Peak-to-Peak |
| PPM | Parts Per Million |
| PPM | Pulses Per Minute |
| PPM | Pulse Position Modulation |
| PPS | Pulses Per Second |
| PRNG | Pseudo-Random Number Generator |
| PROM | Programmable Read-Only Memory |
| PS | Power Supply |
| PSK | Phase-Shift Keying |
| PSRR | Power Supply Rejection Ratio |
| PSU | Power Supply Unit |
| PTC | Positive Temperature Coefficient |
| PTH | Pin Through Hole |
| PTH | Plated Through Hole |
| PUT | Programmable Unijunction Transistor |
| PV | Photo-Voltaic |
| PWM | Pulse Width Modulation |
| A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y | |
| QAM | Quadrature Amplitude Modulation |
| QFN | Quad Flat No leads |
| QFP | Quad Flat Package |
| QPSK | Quadrature Phase-Shift Keying |
| A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y | |
| RADAR | RAdio Detection and Ranging |
| RAM | Random Access Memory |
| RC | Resistor-Capacitor |
| RC | Remote Control |
| RF | Radio Frequency |
| RFI | Radio Frequency Interference |
| RFID | Radio Frequency IDentification |
| RLL | Run Length Limited |
| RMS | Root Mean Square |
| RNG | Random Number Generator |
| RoHS | Reduction Of Hazardous Substances |
| ROM | Read-Only Memory |
| RTC | Real-Time Clock |
| RTCC | Real-Time Clock/Calendar |
| RTL | Register-Transfer Level |
| RTL | Resistor-Transistor Logic |
| RTM | Release To Manufacturing |
| RTOS | Real-Time Operating System |
| RZ | Return to Zero |
| A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y | |
| SAR | Successive Approximation Register |
| SAW | Surface-Acoustic Wave |
| SCF | Switched-Capacitor Filter |
| SCM | Single-Chip Module |
| SD | Secure Digital |
| SDIO | Secure Digital Input/Output |
| SDIP | Shrink Dual-In-line Package |
| SDM | Space Division Multiplex |
| SDR | Software-Defined Radio |
| SDRAM | Synchronous Dynamic Random Access Memory |
| SELV | Safety Extra-Low Voltage |
| SEPIC | Single-Ended Primary Inductor Converter |
| SHA | Sample-and-Hold Amplifier |
| SINAD | SIgnal, Noise And Distortion |
| SIPO | Serial-In Parallel Out |
| SMBus | System Management Bus |
| SMD | Surface Mount Device |
| SMF | Single Mode Fiber |
| SMPS | Switch-Mode Power Supply |
| SMT | Self-Monitored Testing |
| SMT | Surface Mount Technology |
| SNR | Signal-to-Noise Ratio |
| SOC | System On A Chip |
| SONAR | SOund NAvigation and Ranging |
| SOS | Silicon On Sapphire |
| SPI | Serial Peripheral Interface |
| SPICE | Simulation Program for Integrated Circuit Emulation |
| SPDT | Single Pole Double Throw |
| SPL | Sound Pressure Level |
| SPST | Single Pole Single Throw |
| SRAM | Static Random Access Memory |
| SS | Small Signal |
| SSI | Serial Synchronous Interface |
| SSI | Small Scale Integration |
| SSN | Silicon Serial Number |
| SSP | Synchronous Serial Port |
| SSR | Solid State Relay |
| STP | Shielded Twisted Pair |
| SWR | Standing Wave Ratio |
| A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y | |
| TCO | Temperature-Controlled Oscillator |
| TCXO | Temperature-Controlled Crystal Oscillator |
| TDM | Time Division Multiplex |
| TDR | Time Domain Reflectometer |
| TED | Thermo-Electric Device |
| TEM | Transverse ElectroMagnetic |
| TFT | Thin Film Transistor |
| THD | Total Harmonic Distortion |
| THT | Through Hole Technology |
| TIM | Transient InterModulation Distortion |
| TNC | Threaded Neill-Concelman Connector |
| TP | Twisted Pair |
| TQFN | Thin Quad Flat No leads |
| TQFP | Thin Quad Flat Package |
| TTL | Transistor-Transistor Logic |
| TWI | Two Wire Interface |
| A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y | |
| UART | Universal Asynchronous Receiver/Transmitter |
| uC | Microcontroller |
| UHF | Ultra High Frequency |
| UJT | Uni-Junction Transistor |
| UL | Underwriters Laboratories |
| ULN | Ultra-Low Noise |
| USART | Universal Synchronous/Asynchronous Receiver/Transmitter |
| USB | Universal Serial Bus |
| UTP | Unshielded Twisted Pair |
| UV | UltraViolet |
| UVA | Ultraviolet A |
| UVB | Ultraviolet B |
| A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y | |
| VCCS | Voltage-Controlled Current Source |
| VCO | Voltage-Controlled Oscillator |
| VCVS | Voltage-Controlled Voltage Source |
| VCXO | Voltage-Controlled Crystal Oscillator |
| VDR | Voltage Dependent Resistor |
| VFB | Voltage FeedBack |
| VFC | Voltage-to-Frequency Converter |
| VFD | Vacuum Fluorescent Display |
| VGA | Variable Gain Amplifier |
| VHDL | VHSIC (Very High Speed Integrated Circuit) Hardware Description Language |
| VHF | Very High Frequency |
| VLF | Very Low Frequency |
| VLIW | Variable-Length Instruction Word |
| VLIW | Very Long Instruction Word |
| VLSI | Very Large Scale Integration |
| VM | Virtual Machine |
| VMOS | Vertical Metal-Oxide Semiconductor |
| VNA | Vector Network Analyzer |
| VOX | Voice-Operated Switch |
| VSW | Voltage Standing Wave |
| VSWR | Voltage Standing Wave Ratio |
| VT | Vacuum Tube |
| A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y | |
| WAN | Wide Area Network |
| WDT | Watchdog Timer |
| WGN | White Gaussian Noise |
| WLAN | Wireless Local Area Network |
| WLCSP | Wafer Level Chip Scale Package |
| WP | Write-Protect |
| WSP | Wafer-Scale Package |
| WV | Working Voltage |
| WWDT | Windowed Watchdog Timer |
| A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y | |
| Xc | Capacitive Reactance |
| Xi | Inductive Reactance |
| XLR | Cannon X Series, Latch, Rubber (Audio connector) |
| A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y | |
| YAG | Yttrium Aluminium Garnet |