(1) By means of, by way of. From Latin for "way" or "path."
(2) (
Virtual
Interface
Architecture) See
VI.
(3) (
Vertical
Interconnect
Access) In a printed circuit board, a conducting pathway between two or more substrates (layers). The via is created by drilling through the board at the appropriate place where two or more layers will interconnect and allowing copper to run through the hole. The copper may coat only the sides of the hole or fill the entire hole. See
printed circuit board.
(4) (
Vertical
Interconnect
Access) In a chip, a conducting pathway between two or more layers. In a 3D chip, two or more stacked dice are connected via "through-silicon vias" (TSVs) which are pathways that pass completely through the die.
Creating Vias
In the antifuse programmable chip technology, a circuit is closed by turning non-conductive silicon into a conductive via. See
antifuse.