Glossary

Machine-to-machine or machine-to-mobile communications, via wireless technologies such as cell phone network technologies, WLAN, Bluetooth, and RFID (radio frequency identification). Applications include automatic meter reading, fleet management, vending,

Milliampere, or milliamp: 1/1000 of an Ampere. Ampere is the basic unit for measuring electrical current.

Media Access Control Address (maca, MAC): A hardware address that uniquely identifies each node of a network, as in IEEE-802 (Ethernet) networks. The MAC layer interfaces directly with the network medium.

An electromagnet is a type of magnet in which the magnetic fieldis produced by an electric current. 

Manchester encoding is a form of binary phase-shift keying (BPSK) that has gained wide acceptance as a modulation scheme for low-cost radio-frequency (RF) transmission of digital data. Its key characteristic is that it encodes data in a way that insures t

Manifold absolute pressure

Margining is a test procedure that determines the "safety margin." A parameter is varied to determine the device's sensitivity or ability to perform given a range of inputs. A large number of parts can be characterized to determine a safe range for the sp

Maximum differential nonlinearly expressed in least significant bit(s).

When switching between sample mode and hold mode, charge injection from stray capacitance causes the maximum voltage of the hold capacitor to change.

"Max. INL (±%FSR)" is the maximum integral nonlinearity, expressed as a percentage of full-scale range.

Maximum time-on

Make-before-break: In a switching device, a configuration in which the new connection path is established before the previous contacts are opened. This prevents the switched path from ever seeing an open circuit.

Main booster converter

Multicommunicator

1. Multi-Chip Module (MCM): An integrated circuit package that contains two or more interconnected chips.

1. Megacycles per second (obsolete): Megahertz

Multiplying digital-to-analog converter

A parallel digital bus used for 10Mbps and 100Mbps Ethernet.

RS-232 logic-level compatible data rates that are 1Mbps or higher.

Acronym for "Micro Electronic Mechanical Systems," or microelectromechanical systems: Systems that combine mechanical and electrical components and are fabricated using semiconductor fabrication techniques. Common examples are pressure and acceleration se

A Metal-Semiconductor Field-Effect-Transistor uses a metal-semiconductor (Schottky) junction to create the conductive channel, rather than using a p-n junction as a JFET does; or a metal-oxide-semiconductor layer as a MOSFET uses.

A Metal Oxide Varistor (MOV, or surge-suppressor) is a discrete electronic component that diverts excessive voltage to the ground and/or neutral lines.

Multiple frequency-shift keying

Megahertz (MHz): Measurement of frequency -- million cycles per second.

A Micro Energy Cell (MEC) is a small, rechargeable, very long life, energy storage device used in energy harvesting applications.

A small computer on a single integrated circuit. In modern terminology, it is similar to, but less sophisticated than, a system on a chip or SoC.

A 1-Wire network. A low-cost network in which PCs or microcontrollers communicate digitally over twisted-pair cable using 1-Wire components.

A device that monitors three conditions vital to processor-controlled systems: power supply, software execution, and external override.

A device that monitors a host microprocessor or microcontroller's supply voltage and, in some cases, its activity. It monitors for a fault condition and takes appropriate action, usually issuing a reset to the microprocessor.

A Multiple Input, Multiple Output (MIMO) system has multiple antennas and multiple radios. It takes advantage of multipath effects, where a transmitted signal arrives at the receiver through a number of different paths. Each path can have a different time

The minimum sensitivity attainable with a programmable loss-of-signal feature.

The minimum closed-loop gain for which the amplifier is stable.

Master-in, slave-out isolated input

Master-in, slave-out isolated output

A mixed-signal integrated circuit is any integrated circuit that has both analogcircuits and digital circuits on a single semiconductor die.

Millimeter(s)

A sequence increases monotonically if for every n, Pn + 1 is greater than or equal to Pn. Similarly, a sequence decreases monotonically if for every n, Pn + 1 is less than or equal to Pn.

Metal-oxide semiconductor field-effect transistor; metal-oxide silicon field-effect transmitter.

Master Out Slave In: One of the four Serial Peripheral Interface (SPI) pins.

Microprocessing unit

Multiproject wafer

Metric quad flat pack

Milliradian(s)

Millisecond(s)

Measurement Systems Analysis is a method for ensuring product test measurements are reliable, robust, and of good statistical merit.

Most-significant bit. In a binary number, the MSB is the most weighted bit in the number. Typically, binary numbers are written with the MSB in the left-most position; the LSB is the furthest-right bit.

Megasamples per second: A measure of speed in digitizing systems, samples per second dictates the maximum frequencies that can be accurately captured.

Multitone intermodulation distortion

Multitone power ratio

In radio transmission, multipath refers to the simultaneous reception of two copies of the signal, that arrive via separate paths with different delays.

1. Combining two signals (which can be analog or a digital stream) into one in such a way that they can later be separated. Examples are OFDM; standard FM stereo broadcast (in which left and right are multiplexed onto one baseband signal); standard televi

A millivolt (mV) is 1/1000 of a volt.

Milliwatt(s)

Megawatt(s)