Glossary

Watt (W) is the unit for measuring power. In physics terms, one watt is one Joule of energy transferred or dissipated in one second. Electrical power is calculated as:  Watts = Volts x Amps x Power Factor

Watchdog output flag

Semiconductor manufacturing begins with a thin disk of semiconductor material, called a "wafer." A series of processes defines transistors and other structures, interconnected by conductors to build the desired circuit.

Semiconductor processing facility which turns wafers into integrated circuits. A typical wafer fab employs a series of complex steps to define conductors, transistors, resistors, and other electronic components on the the semiconductor wafer. Imaging step

Wide Area Network: Any Internet or network that covers an area larger than a single building.

A feature of a microprocessor supervisory circuit that monitors software execution in a microprocessor or microcontroller. It takes appropriate action (assert a reset or nonmaskable interrupt) if the processor gets stuck in an infinite execution loop.

Weber: A measure of magnetic flux.

Wideband Code Division Multiple Access, a standard derived from the original CDMA. WB-CDMA is the third-generation (3G) mobile wireless technology capable of supporting voice, video, and data communications up to 2Mbps.

Watchdog input

Watchdog pulse output

Write enable

Wearable technology, wearables, fashionable technology, wearable devices, tech togs, ... It appears prominently in consumer electronics with the popularization of the smartwatch and activity tracker.

WHDI (Wireless Home Digital Interface) is a standard that enables wireless delivery of uncompressed HDTV throughout the home with video rates of up to 1080p in the 5GHz unlicensed band. 

Semiconductor materials like Silicon Carbide (SiC) and Gallium Nitride (GaN) that improve the voltage and frequency performance of devices

A classification of the information capacity or bandwidth of a communication channel. Wideband is generally understood to mean a bandwidth between 64kbits/s and 2Mbit/s.

WiMax (Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access) is a "last mile," broadband, wireless access mechanism which can potentially replace DSL and Cable Modem. Defined by the IEEE 802.16 standards.

A device, usually consisting of a pair of voltage comparators, in which output indicates whether the measured signal is within the voltage range bounded by two different thresholds (an "upper" threshold and a "lower" threshold).

A special subset of the watchdog timer feature found on microprocessor supervisory circuits. It is used to monitor software execution and assert a reset or an NMI if the processor gets stuck in a loop. This feature not only looks for periodic transitions

When multiple high-impedance (open-collector or open-drain) output pins are connected to a signal line (e.g. a bus) and the system is designed so no more than one is on, a wired-and signal is achieved. This achieves the equivalent of a logical AND functio

Radio-frequency devices, circuits, or communications methods.

Wireless power transfer (WPT), wireless power transmission, wireless energy transmission, or electromagnetic power transfer is the transmission of electrical energy without wires as a physical link.

Wireless Sensor Network, or WSN, is a network of RF transceivers, sensors, machine controllers, microcontrollers, and user interface devices with at least two nodes communicating by means of wireless transmissions.

Wireless Local Area Network

Wireless Local Loop: Any method of using wireless communication in place of a wired connection to provide subscribers with standard telephone service.

Write-read

Any method that keeps data from being over-written. It may be a physical obstacle or a file attribute choice that prevents overwriting.

Wireless Telephony Application: A collection of telephony-specific extensions for call- and feature-control mechanisms that make advanced mobile network services available to end users. WTA essentially merges the features and services of data networks wit