feedback : Dictionary / Wörterbuch (BEOLINGUS, TU Chemnitz)

English Dictionary: feedback	by the DICT Development Group
2 results for feedback
From WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006) [wn]:
feedback n the process in which part of the output of a system is returned to its input in order to regulate its further output response to an inquiry or experiment
From The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing (15Feb98) [foldoc]:
feedback Part of a system output presented at its input. Feedback may be unintended. When used as a design feature, the output is usually transformed by passive components which attenuate it in some manner; the result is then presented at the system input. Feedback is positive or negative, depending on the sign with which a positive change in the original input reappears after transformation. Negative feedback was invented by Black to stabilise {vacuum tube} amplifiers. The behaviour becomes largely a function of the feedback transformation and only minimally a function of factors such as transistor gain which are imperfectly known. Positive feedback can lead to instability; it finds wide application in the construction of oscillators. Feedback can be used to control a system, as in {feedback control}. (1996-01-02)