Electronic Glossary

The electrical testing of an assembled electronic device with simulated function generated by the test hardware and software after PCB assembly. Refer to Functional Testing.

What is a Fuse?   Fuses are basic safety devices widely deployed in electrical circuits for excess current or overcurrent protection. If a stronger than expected current surges through, the fuse will blow and break the circuit, minimizing heat damage …

Material designation, G-10, comes from a National Electrical Manufacturers Association (NEMA) standard. G stands for Glass Fiber, and 10 usually refers to the percentage of glass fiber in the G10 sheet, which was initially 10%. It was first used as …

Metric prefix for 1 billion.

Glass Epoxy is a composite material that consists of glass fabric and epoxy resin. The sheet of composite material is cladded with 1/3oz, 1/2oz, 1oz, 2oz or 3oz of copper on single-side or double-sides. The laminate most commonly used in …

A blob of non-conductive plastic, often black in color, which protects the chip and wire bonds on a packaged IC and also on a chip on board . This specialized plastic has a low coefficient of thermal expansion so that …

Gold Fingers are the gold-plated conductors that located along the connecting edges of printed circuit boards (PCBs). The purpose of gold fingers is to connect a secondary PCB to the motherboard. PCB gold fingers are also used in various other …

A component or assembly already tested as functional to spec and used, via comparisons, to test similar units. Also referred to as a ‘known good board’.

The Global Positioning System (GPS) is a satellite-based radio navigation system owned by the United States government and operated by the United States Space Force. It is one of the global navigation satellite systems (GNSS) that provides geolocation and time …

Graphics Processing Unit (GPU) is a programmable processor specialized for rendering all images on the computer’s screen. A GPU provides the fastest graphics processing, and for gamers, the GPU is a stand-alone card plugged into the PCI Express (PCIe) bus. …