Burst mode (computing)

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For other uses, see Burst mode.

Burst mode (alternatively burst-mode, with a hyphen) is a generic computing term referring to any situation in which a device is transmitting data repeatedly without waiting for input from another device or waiting for an internal process to terminate before continuing the transfer of data.

The actual manner in which burst modes work varies from one type of device to another; however, devices which have some sort of standard burst mode include:

Random access memory (RAM), including EDO, SDRAM, DDR SDRAM, and RDRAM (only the last three are required to send data in burst mode, according to industry standards)
Hard disk drive (HDD) interfaces such as SCSI and IDE
Accelerated Graphics Port (AGP) processors (debatable, write-combining is similar in purpose and meaning)