<s>
In	O
computer	B-General_Concept
science	I-General_Concept
,	O
a	O
data	B-General_Concept
buffer	I-General_Concept
(	O
or	O
just	O
buffer	B-General_Concept
)	O
is	O
a	O
region	O
of	O
a	O
memory	O
used	O
to	O
temporarily	O
store	O
data	O
while	O
it	O
is	O
being	O
moved	O
from	O
one	O
place	O
to	O
another	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Typically	O
,	O
the	O
data	O
is	O
stored	O
in	O
a	O
buffer	B-General_Concept
as	O
it	O
is	O
retrieved	O
from	O
an	O
input	B-Device
device	I-Device
(	O
such	O
as	O
a	O
microphone	O
)	O
or	O
just	O
before	O
it	O
is	O
sent	O
to	O
an	O
output	O
device	O
(	O
such	O
as	O
speakers	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
However	O
,	O
a	O
buffer	B-General_Concept
may	O
be	O
used	O
when	O
moving	O
data	O
between	O
processes	B-Operating_System
within	O
a	O
computer	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
This	O
is	O
comparable	O
to	O
buffers	B-Device
in	O
telecommunication	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Buffers	B-Device
can	O
be	O
implemented	O
in	O
a	O
fixed	O
memory	O
location	O
in	O
hardware	B-Architecture
—	O
or	O
by	O
using	O
a	O
virtual	O
data	B-General_Concept
buffer	I-General_Concept
in	O
software	O
,	O
pointing	O
at	O
a	O
location	O
in	O
the	O
physical	O
memory	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
all	O
cases	O
,	O
the	O
data	O
stored	O
in	O
a	O
data	B-General_Concept
buffer	I-General_Concept
are	O
stored	O
on	O
a	O
physical	B-General_Concept
storage	I-General_Concept
medium	I-General_Concept
.	O
</s>
<s>
A	O
majority	O
of	O
buffers	B-Device
are	O
implemented	O
in	O
software	O
,	O
which	O
typically	O
use	O
the	O
faster	O
RAM	B-Architecture
to	O
store	O
temporary	O
data	O
,	O
due	O
to	O
the	O
much	O
faster	O
access	O
time	O
compared	O
with	O
hard	B-Device
disk	I-Device
drives	I-Device
.	O
</s>
<s>
Buffers	B-Device
are	O
typically	O
used	O
when	O
there	O
is	O
a	O
difference	O
between	O
the	O
rate	O
at	O
which	O
data	O
is	O
received	O
and	O
the	O
rate	O
at	O
which	O
it	O
can	O
be	O
processed	O
,	O
or	O
in	O
the	O
case	O
that	O
these	O
rates	O
are	O
variable	O
,	O
for	O
example	O
in	O
a	O
printer	O
spooler	O
or	O
in	O
online	O
video	O
streaming	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
the	O
distributed	B-Architecture
computing	I-Architecture
environment	O
,	O
data	B-General_Concept
buffer	I-General_Concept
is	O
often	O
implemented	O
in	O
the	O
form	O
of	O
burst	B-Operating_System
buffer	I-Operating_System
that	O
provides	O
distributed	O
buffering	O
service	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
A	O
buffer	B-General_Concept
often	O
adjusts	O
timing	O
by	O
implementing	O
a	O
queue	B-Application
(	O
or	O
FIFO	B-Operating_System
)	O
algorithm	O
in	O
memory	O
,	O
simultaneously	O
writing	O
data	O
into	O
the	O
queue	B-Application
at	O
one	O
rate	O
and	O
reading	O
it	O
at	O
another	O
rate	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Buffers	B-Device
are	O
often	O
used	O
in	O
conjunction	O
with	O
I/O	B-General_Concept
to	O
hardware	B-Architecture
,	O
such	O
as	O
disk	B-General_Concept
drives	I-General_Concept
,	O
sending	O
or	O
receiving	O
data	O
to	O
or	O
from	O
a	O
network	B-Architecture
,	O
or	O
playing	O
sound	O
on	O
a	O
speaker	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
queue	B-Application
area	O
acts	O
as	O
a	O
buffer	B-General_Concept
—	O
a	O
temporary	O
space	O
where	O
those	O
wishing	O
to	O
ride	O
wait	O
until	O
the	O
ride	O
is	O
available	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Buffers	B-Device
are	O
usually	O
used	O
in	O
a	O
FIFO	B-Operating_System
(	O
first	B-Operating_System
in	I-Operating_System
,	I-Operating_System
first	I-Operating_System
out	I-Operating_System
)	O
method	O
,	O
outputting	O
data	O
in	O
the	O
order	O
it	O
arrived	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Buffers	B-Device
can	O
increase	O
application	O
performance	O
by	O
allowing	O
synchronous	O
operations	O
such	O
as	O
file	O
reads	O
or	O
writes	O
to	O
complete	O
quickly	O
instead	O
of	O
blocking	O
while	O
waiting	O
for	O
hardware	B-Architecture
interrupts	O
to	O
access	O
a	O
physical	O
disk	B-Device
subsystem	I-Device
;	O
instead	O
,	O
an	O
operating	O
system	O
can	O
immediately	O
return	O
a	O
successful	O
result	O
from	O
an	O
API	O
call	O
,	O
allowing	O
an	O
application	O
to	O
continue	O
processing	O
while	O
the	O
kernel	O
completes	O
the	O
disk	B-Device
operation	O
in	O
the	O
background	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Further	O
benefits	O
can	O
be	O
achieved	O
if	O
the	O
application	O
is	O
reading	O
or	O
writing	O
small	O
blocks	O
of	O
data	O
that	O
do	O
not	O
correspond	O
to	O
the	O
block	O
size	O
of	O
the	O
disk	B-Device
subsystem	I-Device
,	O
allowing	O
a	O
buffer	B-General_Concept
to	O
be	O
used	O
to	O
aggregate	O
many	O
smaller	O
read	O
or	O
write	O
operations	O
into	O
block	O
sizes	O
that	O
are	O
more	O
efficient	O
for	O
the	O
disk	B-Device
subsystem	I-Device
,	O
or	O
in	O
the	O
case	O
of	O
a	O
read	O
,	O
sometimes	O
to	O
completely	O
avoid	O
having	O
to	O
physically	O
access	O
a	O
disk	B-Device
.	O
</s>
<s>
A	O
buffer	B-General_Concept
routine	O
or	O
storage	B-General_Concept
medium	I-General_Concept
used	O
in	O
telecommunications	O
compensates	O
for	O
a	O
difference	O
in	O
rate	O
of	O
flow	O
of	O
data	O
,	O
or	O
time	O
of	O
occurrence	O
of	O
events	O
,	O
when	O
transferring	O
data	O
from	O
one	O
device	O
to	O
another	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Buffers	B-Device
are	O
used	O
for	O
many	O
purposes	O
,	O
including	O
:	O
</s>
<s>
Interconnecting	O
two	O
digital	B-General_Concept
circuits	O
operating	O
at	O
different	O
rates	O
,	O
</s>
<s>
Allowing	O
timing	O
corrections	O
to	O
be	O
made	O
on	O
a	O
data	B-General_Concept
stream	I-General_Concept
,	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
BUFFERS	B-Device
command/statement	O
in	O
CONFIG.SYS	B-Device
of	O
DOS	B-Device
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
buffer	B-General_Concept
between	O
a	O
serial	O
port	O
(	O
UART	O
)	O
and	O
a	O
modem	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
COM	B-Architecture
port	I-Architecture
speed	O
may	O
be	O
38400	O
bit/s	O
while	O
the	O
modem	B-Application
may	O
have	O
only	O
a	O
14400	O
bit/s	O
carrier	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
integrated	O
buffer	B-General_Concept
on	O
a	O
hard	B-Device
disk	I-Device
drive	I-Device
,	O
printer	O
,	O
BD/DVD/CD	O
drive	O
or	O
other	O
piece	O
of	O
hardware	B-Architecture
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
framebuffer	B-Algorithm
on	O
a	O
video	O
card	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
An	O
early	O
mention	O
of	O
a	O
print	O
buffer	B-General_Concept
is	O
the	O
"	O
Outscriber	O
"	O
devised	O
by	O
image	O
processing	O
pioneer	O
Russel	O
A	O
.	O
Kirsch	O
for	O
the	O
SEAC	B-Device
computer	I-Device
in	O
1952	O
:	O
</s>
<s>
problems	O
in	O
the	O
design	O
of	O
automatic	O
digital	B-General_Concept
computers	O
is	O
that	O
of	O
getting	O
the	O
calculated	O
results	O
out	O
of	O
the	O
machine	O
rapidly	O
enough	O
to	O
avoid	O
delaying	O
the	O
further	O
progress	O
of	O
the	O
calculations	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
This	O
difficulty	O
has	O
been	O
solved	O
in	O
the	O
SEAC	B-Device
by	O
providing	O
magnetic	O
recording	O
devices	O
as	O
output	O
units	O
.	O
</s>
