PC Cards (PCMCIA) Related Terms and Definitions (136708)
The information in this article applies to:
- Microsoft Windows NT Server 3.1
- Microsoft Windows NT Workstation 3.1
- Microsoft Windows NT Advanced Server 3.1
- Microsoft Windows NT Workstation 3.5
- Microsoft Windows NT Workstation 3.51
- Microsoft Windows NT Workstation 4.0
- Microsoft Windows NT Server 3.5
- Microsoft Windows NT Server 3.51
- Microsoft Windows NT Server 4.0
This article was previously published under Q136708 SUMMARY
This article describes terms related to PCMCIA cards (also known as
PC Cards).
MORE INFORMATION
Host Bus Adapter (HBA):
A chip that protects the PCMCIA bus from dependence on a given hardware
Architecture by translating between PCMCIA and that architecture.
Socket Services:
The BIOS layer of the PCMCIA software architecture. It handles
communication with host bus adapters and provides a core API for client
drivers.
Card Services:
The layer of the PCMCIA software architecture that sits between Socket
Services and client drivers. It provides API commands for client drivers
and arbitrates client-driver access to system resources.
Card Information Structure (CIS):
A data structure within non-volatile memory in each PC Card that contains
key identification and configuration information. Card and Socket Services
examines the CIS to determine what resources a given card needs.
Driver Stack:
The Card Services, Socket Services, and various client drivers necessary
to support PC Card devices.
Point Enabler:
A utility that configures a PC Card and HBA to be available to the system
at a particular IRQ and I/O port address combination. If your PC Card comes
with a point enabler, you can use this utility rather than full Card and
Socket Services, though at some cost in convenience. If your computer does
not have Card and Socket Service (CSS), the PC card can use the point
enabler to manage system resources. When you are using the point enabler
instead of CSS, you may experience conflicts with the memory manager
installed in your computer. To avoid memory manager conflicts, you need to
exclude the memory range that the PC card is to use. For example, edit the
line in CONFIG.SYS file:
DEVICE = C:\DOS\EMM386.EXE X=DF00H-DFFFH
Tuple:
Tuple is the configuration information built into PCMCIA devices. This
configuration information consists of items such as the device name, device
type, default I/O address, voltage requirements, function id and other
information based on the type of PCMCIA device.
Reference
"Windows Sources," March 1995, "The Primer (Getting Along with PCMCIA),"
page 148.
| Modification Type: | Major | Last Reviewed: | 5/7/2003 |
|---|
| Keywords: | KB136708 |
|---|
|