TRN Glossary I

Image Processing: Sorting and analyzing digitized images via specialized software. Image processing tasks range from compressing image files to sorting images by color to recognizing shapes within images.

Integrated Circuit: A wafer of semiconducting material filled with tiny, densely packed pathways and electronic devices, including transistors and diodes, created via photolithography. Also known as computer chip.

Internet: The global network of computer networks that allows any two or more computers connected to it to transfer files and exchange electronic mail and real-time messages. The Internet is the foundation of the World Wide Web.

Internet Protocol (IP): The protocol responsible for routing data through many networks, including the Internet. IP adds source and destination addresses to small "packets" of data and sends them out on the network. IP is a connectionless protocol, which means that sending computers do not have to establish connections with receiving computers in the manner of telephone calls. This allows routers to change paths in the middle of forwarding a set of packets if the original path becomes blocked, because the packets do not have to arrive in order or at the same time.

IP: See Internet Protocol.