polling

(′pōl·iŋ)

(communications) A process that involves interrogating in succession every terminal on a shared communications line to determine which of the terminals require service.

---

(1) A communications technique that determines when a terminal is ready to send data. The computer continually interrogates its connected terminals in a round robin sequence. If a terminal has data to send, it sends back an acknowledgment and the transmission begins. Contrast with an interrupt-driven system, in which the terminal generates a signal when it has data to send.

(2) A technique that continually interrogates a peripheral device to see if it has data to transfer. For example, if a mouse button was pressed or if data are available at a communications port. Contrast with event-driven or interrupt-driven techniques, in which the operating system generates a signal and interrupts the system.

Download Computer Desktop Encyclopedia to your iPhone/iTouch

Dansk (Danish)
n. - stemmeafgivning, afholdelse af opinionsundersøgelse

Français (French)
n. - vote, élections, participation électorale, (Comput) interrogation

Deutsch (German)
n. - Wahl

Ελληνική (Greek)
n. - ψηφοφορία, δημοσκόπηση, σφυγμομέτρηση της κοινής γνώμης

Italiano (Italian)
votazione elettorale

Português (Portuguese)
n. - votação (f)

Русский (Russian)
голосование

Español (Spanish)
n. - votación

Svenska (Swedish)
n. - undersökning

中文（简体）(Chinese (Simplified))
投票, 民意测验

中文（繁體）(Chinese (Traditional))
n. - 投票, 民意測驗

한국어 (Korean)
n. - 투표, [컴퓨터] 폴링

日本語 (Japanese)
n. - 投票

עברית (Hebrew)
n. - ‮בחירות, הצבעה‬

If you are unable to view some languages clearly, click here.

To select your translation preferences click here.