An adapter in regard to

computing Computing is any goal-oriented activity requiring, benefiting from, or creating computer, computing machinery. It includes the study and experimentation of algorithmic processes, and the development of both computer hardware, hardware and softw ...

can be either a hardware component (device) or

software Software consists of computer programs that instruct the Execution (computing), execution of a computer. Software also includes design documents and specifications. The history of software is closely tied to the development of digital comput ...

that allows two or more incompatible devices to be linked together for the purpose of transmitting and receiving

data Data ( , ) are a collection of discrete or continuous values that convey information, describing the quantity, quality, fact, statistics, other basic units of meaning, or simply sequences of symbols that may be further interpreted for ...

. Given an input, an adapter alters it in order to provide a compatible connection between the components of a system. Both software and hardware adapters are used in many different devices such as

mobile phone A mobile phone or cell phone is a portable telephone that allows users to make and receive calls over a radio frequency link while moving within a designated telephone service area, unlike fixed-location phones ( landline phones). This rad ...

personal computer A personal computer, commonly referred to as PC or computer, is a computer designed for individual use. It is typically used for tasks such as Word processor, word processing, web browser, internet browsing, email, multimedia playback, and PC ...

s, servers and

telecommunication Telecommunication, often used in its plural form or abbreviated as telecom, is the transmission of information over a distance using electronic means, typically through cables, radio waves, or other communication technologies. These means of ...

s networks for a wide range of purposes. Some adapters are built into devices, while the others can be installed on a computer's motherboard or connected as external devices. QLA 2200F

software component A software component is a modular unit of software that encapsulates specific functionality. The desired characteristics of a component are reusability and maintainability. Value Components allow software development to assemble software ...

adapter is a type of software that is logically located between two software components and reconciles the differences between them.

Function

Telecommunication

Like many industries, the

industry needs electrical devices such as adapters to transfer data across long distances. For example, analog telephone adapters (ATA) are used by telephone and cable companies. This device connects an analog

telephone A telephone, colloquially referred to as a phone, is a telecommunications device that enables two or more users to conduct a conversation when they are too far apart to be easily heard directly. A telephone converts sound, typically and most ...

to a computer or network by connecting them to digital communication lines, which enables users to make a call via the

Internet The Internet (or internet) is the Global network, global system of interconnected computer networks that uses the Internet protocol suite (TCP/IP) to communicate between networks and devices. It is a internetworking, network of networks ...

Personal computers

In modern

s, almost every

peripheral device A peripheral device, or simply peripheral, is an auxiliary hardware device that a computer uses to transfer information externally. A peripheral is a hardware component that is accessible to and controlled by a computer but is not a core compo ...

uses an adapter to communicate with a

system bus A system bus is a single computer bus that connects the major components of a computer system, combining the functions of a data bus to carry information, an address bus to determine where it should be sent or read from, and a control bus to det ...

, for example: *

Display adapter A graphics card (also called a video card, display card, graphics accelerator, graphics adapter, VGA card/VGA, video adapter, display adapter, or colloquially GPU) is a computer expansion card that generates a feed of graphics output to a displa ...

s used to transmit signals to a

display device A display device is an output device for presentation of information in visual or tactile form (the latter used for example in tactile electronic displays for blind people). When the input information that is supplied has an electrical signa ...

Universal Serial Bus Universal Serial Bus (USB) is an industry standard, developed by USB Implementers Forum (USB-IF), for digital data transmission and power delivery between many types of electronics. It specifies the architecture, in particular the physical ...

(USB) adapters for printers, keyboards and

mice A mouse (: mice) is a small rodent. Characteristically, mice are known to have a pointed snout, small rounded ears, a body-length scaly tail, and a high breeding rate. The best known mouse species is the common house mouse (''Mus musculus' ...

, among others *

Network adapter A network interface controller (NIC, also known as a network interface card, network adapter, LAN adapter and physical network interface) is a computer hardware component that connects a computer to a computer network. Early network interface ...

s used to connect a computer to a network * Host bus adapters used to connect

hard disk A hard disk drive (HDD), hard disk, hard drive, or fixed disk is an electro-mechanical data storage device that stores and retrieves digital data using magnetic storage with one or more rigid rapidly rotating hard disk drive platter, pla ...

s or other storage

Analog and digital signals

Some hardware adapters convert between analog and

digital Digital usually refers to something using discrete digits, often binary digits. Businesses *Digital bank, a form of financial institution *Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC) or Digital, a computer company *Digital Research (DR or DRI), a software ...

signals with A/D or D/A converters. This allows adapters to interface with a broader range of devices. One common example of signal conversion is the

sound card A sound card (also known as an audio card) is an internal expansion card that provides input and output of audio signals to and from a computer under the control of computer programs. The term ''sound card'' is also applied to external audio ...

, which converts

digital audio Digital audio is a representation of sound recorded in, or converted into, digital signal (signal processing), digital form. In digital audio, the sound wave of the audio signal is typically encoded as numerical sampling (signal processing), ...

signals from a computer to analog signals for input to an

amplifier An amplifier, electronic amplifier or (informally) amp is an electronic device that can increase the magnitude of a signal (a time-varying voltage or current). It is a two-port electronic circuit that uses electric power from a power su ...

Types

Host adapter

A host adapter, host controller or host bus adapter (HBA) is a circuit board or device which allows peripheral devices (usually internal) to interface with a computer. Host bus adapters are used to connect hard drives, networks, and USB peripherals. They are commonly integrated into

motherboard A motherboard, also called a mainboard, a system board, a logic board, and informally a mobo (see #Nomenclature, "Nomenclature" section), is the main printed circuit board (PCB) in general-purpose computers and other expandable systems. It ho ...

s but can also take the form of an

expansion card In computing, an expansion card (also called an expansion board, adapter card, peripheral card or accessory card) is a printed circuit board that can be inserted into an electrical connector, or expansion slot (also referred to as a bus sl ...

Adapter card

An adapter card or expansion card is a circuit board which is plugged into the expansion bus in a computer to add function or resources, in much the same way as a host bus adapter . Common adapter cards include

video card A graphics card (also called a video card, display card, graphics accelerator, graphics adapter, VGA card/VGA, video adapter, display adapter, or colloquially GPU) is a computer expansion card that generates a feed of graphics output to a displa ...

network card A network interface controller (NIC, also known as a network interface card, network adapter, LAN adapter and physical network interface) is a computer hardware component that connects a computer to a computer network. Early network interface ...

s, and other I/O cards.

Video adapter

A video adapter (also known as ''graphics adapter'', ''display adapter'', ''graphics card'', or ''video card'') is a type of

for computers which converts data and generates the electrical signal to display text and graphics on a

Bus master adapter

Bus master adapters fit in EISA or MCA expansion slots in computers, and use bus mastering to quickly transfer data by bypassing the CPU and interfacing directly with other devices.

General purpose interface adapter

A general purpose interface adapter or GPIA is usually used as an interface between a processing unit and a GPIB (

IEEE 488 Glycoprotein Ib (GPIb), also known as CD42, is a component of the Glycoprotein Ib-IX-V Receptor Complex, GPIb-V-IX complex on platelets. The GPIb-V-IX complex binds von Willebrand factor, allowing platelet adhesion and platelet plug formation at ...

) bus.

Fax adapter

A fax adapter, also called a ''fax card'' or ''fax board'', is an internal fax modem which allows a computer to transmit and receive fax data.

Network adapter

Network adapters connect a device to a network and enable it to exchange data with other devices on the network. These devices may be computers, servers, or any other networking device. ''Network adapter'' usually refers to a piece of computer hardware typically in the form of an

Ethernet Ethernet ( ) is a family of wired computer networking technologies commonly used in local area networks (LAN), metropolitan area networks (MAN) and wide area networks (WAN). It was commercially introduced in 1980 and first standardized in 198 ...

card, wireless network card, USB network adapter, or wireless game adapter. Hardware network adapters which are either wired or wireless can be installed on a motherboard, connecting the computer to a network.. The term can also refer to a ''virtual'' network adapter which exists only in software, either for the purposes of

virtualization In computing, virtualization (abbreviated v12n) is a series of technologies that allows dividing of physical computing resources into a series of virtual machines, operating systems, processes or containers. Virtualization began in the 1960s wit ...

, or to interface with some other physical adapter

Terminal adapter

s, a terminal adapter or TA acts as an interface between a terminal device, such as a computer or telephone, and a communications network (typically an

integrated services digital network Integrated Services Digital Network (ISDN) is a set of communication standards for simultaneous digital transmission of voice, video, data, and other network services over the digitalised circuits of the public switched telephone network. ...

Channel-to-channel adapter

A channel-to-channel adapter (CTCA) connects two input/output channels in

IBM mainframe IBM mainframes are large computer systems produced by IBM since 1952. During the 1960s and 1970s, IBM dominated the computer market with the 7000 series and the later System/360, followed by the System/370. Current mainframe computers in IBM' ...

Resource adapters

Resource adapters are used to retrieve and route data. They provide access to databases, files, messaging systems, enterprise applications and other data sources and targets. Each adapter includes a set of adapter commands that can be used to customize its operation. Adapter commands specify different queues and queue managers, specific messages by message ID, specific sets of messages with the same message ID, message descriptors in the data, and more. The resource adapters provided with many integration products enable data transformation and adapter-specific behavior recognition on different systems and data structures.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Adapter (Computing) Computer peripherals