asynchronous

Adjective

WordNet 3.0

Adjective (2)

(digital communication) pertaining to a transmission technique that does not require a common clock between the communicating devices; timing signals are derived from special characters in the data stream itself
not synchronous; not occurring or existing at the same time or having the same period or phase

Webster's Dictionary (GCIDE)

Asynchronous \A*syn"chro*nous\, a. [Gr. ? not + synchronous.] Not simultaneous; not concurrent in time; -- opposed to synchronous.

Syn: nonsynchronous, unsynchronized, unsynchronous. [Webster 1913 Suppl.]

2.(Paleontology) occurring in different geologic times; -- of taxa/ synchronous

Syn: allochronic [WordNet 1.5 +PJC]

3.chronologically misplaced; belonging to a different time or era

Syn: anachronic, anachronous, anachronistic [WordNet 1.5 +PJC]

4.(Computers) occurring at different speeds in different computers connected by a data transmission link; -- said of methods data of transmission between computers. Opposite of synchronous. [PJC]

Free On-line Dictionary of Computing

asynchronous

<architecture> Not synchronised by a shared signal such as clock or semaphore, proceeding independently.

Opposite: synchronous.

1.<operating system> A process in a multitasking system whose execution can proceed independently, "in the background". Other processes may be started before the asynchronous process has finished.

2.<communications> A communications system in which data transmission may start at any time and is indicated by a start bit, e.g. EIA-232. A data byte (or other element defined by the protocol) ends with a stop bit. A continuous marking condition (identical to stop bits but not quantized in time), is then maintained until data resumes.

(1995-12-08)