Types of

Data Acquisition
Hardware
Data acquisition systems (DAQ) hardware is
what usually interfaces between the signal
and a PC. It could be in the form of modules
that can be connected to the computers
ports (parallel! serial! etc.) or cards
connected to slots in the motherboard.
Hardware

CAMAC

Computer Automated
"easurement Control is
a standard bus and modular crate
electronics standard for Data
acquisition and control used
in nuclear and particle physics
e#periment and in industry.

$he bus allows data e#change

between plug%in modules (up to &'
in a singlecrate) and a crate
controller! which then interfaces to
PC or to a (")%CA"AC interface.
Hardware
Industrial )thernet
*efers to the use of
standard )thernet protocols with
rugged connectors and e#tended
temperature switches in
an industrial en+ironment!
for automation or process control.
Components used in plant process
areas must be designed to wor, in
harsh en+ironments of temperature
e#tremes! humidity! and +ibration
that e#ceed the ranges
for information
technology equipment intended for
installation in controlled
en+ironments.
Hardware
Industrial USB
the name gi+en to the use of the -./ protocol in
an industrial en+ironment! for data acquisition! automation!
and production machine control.
-ntil recently! -./ has been thought of strictly as a
consumer communication bus! commonly used
for PC peripherals. 0owe+er! its popularity has caused
increasing interest for -./ in the industrial space. $he
introduction of -./ &.1! with a transfer rate of '21 "bit3s!
pro+ides a solution for implementing a portable high speed
diagnostic system.
.ome of the ad+antages are4
0igh%speed transfer rates with -./ &.1 at '21 "bit3s
)asy setup due to Plug%and%Play
Portability
$he difficulties of Industrial -./ include4
Connector strain relief
"a#imum cable length of 5m (with commercially a+ailable -./ hubs and
e#tenders! it is possible to e#tend -./ up to 61 m or 511 m!
respecti+ely)
Hardware

LAN eXtensions for

Instrumentation (LXI)
% is a standard de+eloped by the 78I
Consortium! an industry consortium
that maintains the 78I specification!
promotes the 78I .tandard! and
ensures interoperability. $he 78I
standard defines the communication
protocols for instrumentation and data
acquisition systems using )thernet.
Hardware

Nuclear Instrumentation Module (NIM)

%defines mechanical and electrical specifications
for electronics modules used in e#perimental
particle and nuclear physics. $he concept of
modules in electronic systems offers enormous
ad+antages in fle#ibility! interchange of
instruments! reduced design effort! ease in
updating and maintaining the instruments.
$he 9I" standard also specifies cabling!
connectors!impedances and le+els forlogic
signals.
Hardware

PowerLab
% is a data acquisition system de+eloped by
ADInstruments comprising hardware and software
and designed for use in life science research and
teaching applications. It is commonly used in
physiology! pharmacology! biomedical engineering!
sports3e#ercise studies and psychophysiology
laboratories to record and analyse physiological
signals from human or animal sub:ects or from
isolated organs. $he system consists of an input
de+ice connected to a "icrosoft ;indows or "ac <.
computer using a -./ cable and 7abChart software
which is supplied with the Power7ab and pro+ides the
recording! display and analysis functions.
Hardware

PCI eXtensions for

Instrumentation (PIX)
% is one of se+eral modular
electronic instrumentation
platforms in current use. $hese
platforms are used as a basis for
building electronic test equipment!
automation systems! modular
laboratory instruments in science!
and the li,e. P8I is based on
industry%standard computer buses
and permits fle#ibility in building
equipment. <ften modules are
fitted with custom software to
manage the system.
Hardware

VMbus ((ersa "odule )uropa bus)

%is a computer bus standard! originally
de+eloped for the "otorola
=2111 line of CP-s! but later widely
used for many applications and
standardi>ed by
the I)C as A9.I3I))) ?1?'%?@2A. It
is physically based on )urocard si>es!
mechanicals and connectors (DI9
'?=?&)! but uses its own signalling
system! which )urocard does not
define. It was first de+eloped in ?@2?
and continues to see widespread use
today
Hardware
VM eXtensions for Instrumentation
- $heVXI bus architecture is an open standard platform
for automated test based upon (")bus. (8I stands
forV") eXtensions forInstrumentation! defining
additional bus lines for timing and triggering as well as
mechanical requirements and standard protocols for
configuration! message%based communication! multi%
chassis e#tension! and other features.
- $he basic building bloc, of a (8I system is the mainframe
or chassis. $his contains up to ?6 slots into which
+arious modules (instruments) can be added. $he
mainframe also contains all the power supply
requirements for the rac, and the instruments it contains
Software
Software
!uic"#A!
B allows you toac$uire and dis%la& from all Data
$ranslation -./ and )thernet data acquisition de+ices
that support analo' in%ut streamin'. Combine Quic,DAQ
with Data $ranslation hardware to acquire data! record
data to dis,! display the results in both a plot and digital
display! and read a recorded data file. Data can be
e#ported to other applications li,e "icrosoft )#celC and
$he "athwor,s "A$7A/C for more ad+anced analysis.
Software
VIB%oint (ramewor"
B $his application supports the D$@26A .eries!
D$@262! D$@26@! D$@26@)! D$@2'A! and
D$226A modules. Disco+er and select a+ailable
hardware! configure and load3sa+e configurations!
acquire and display data! perform single channel
and two%channel DD$ operations! sa+e data to
dis,! file! or open in )#cel.
Software
Si'nal Processin' Com%onent
Librar& for )N*
B is a comprehensi+e library
of .9)$ componentsideal for
de+elo%in' si'nal %rocessin'
a%%lications.)ach component
contains properties and methods
that can be used to perform
single%channel and
two%channel DD$ operations! and
to calculate signal metrics on
time%domain data.
$he open design architecture
allows,ardware-inde%endent
su%%ort.
Software
#A! Ada%tor for MA*LAB
"A$7A/C from $he "ath;or,s is a software en+ironment and
programming language used for data acquisition! data analysis!
measurement automation! and application de+elopment. -se "A$7A/
with theData Acquisition $oolbo# and the DAQ Adaptor for "A$7A/ to
interface "A$7A/ with Data $ranslation hardware to access analog and
digital I3< data.
;ith these tools! a Data $ranslation module can be configured within
"A$7A/ to access all the built%in features of the hardware de+ice. All
Data $ranslations -./ and PCI boards can be accessed for a full range
of performance capabilities. Analysis and +isuali>ation features of
"A$7A/ can be incorporated into the design to analy>e data! sa+e it for
post%processing! and ma,e changes based on analysis results.
Software
LV-Lin" .)/
B 7(%7in,E is a library of (Is ((irtual Instruments) that enable
7ab(I);C programmers to access the data acquisition
features of D$%<pen 7ayers%compliant -./ and PCI de+ices.
$his library is consistent with the design and layout of the
7ab(I); DAQm# (Is to speed de+elopment time and minimi>e
learning cur+e issues.
7(%7in, pro+ides the ability to measure and control analog I3<!
digital I3<! quadrature decoders! and counter3timer signals!
and stream data at full%speed. $o get up and running quic,ly!
numerous e#ample programs are pro+ided with the software.
Software
#*-0%en La&ers for )N*
B D$%<pen 7ayersC for .9)$ is a simple! yet powerful
nati+e .9)$ class library for de+eloping test and
measurement applications in "icrosoft (isual .tudioC.
$he library pro+ides a standard en+ironment for
de+eloping test and measurement applications and is
compatible with all Data $ranslation -./ and PCI data
acquisition boards. $his intuiti+e software library enables
users to create fle#ible programs in (isual CFC. and
(isual /asic.9)$C! while protecting their hardware
in+estment with complete compatibility to other Data
$ranslation data acquisition boards.
Device
Drivers
DAQ de+ice dri+ers are needed in order for the DAQ hardware to wor,
with a PC. $he de+ice dri+er performs low%le+el register writes and
reads on the hardware! while e#posing a standard API for de+eloping
user applications in a +ariety of programming en+ironments.
Device Drivers
Device Drivers
Data Gathering
Techniques
Data Gathering Techniques
Sampling Nyquist Theorem
B $ransforming a signal from the time domain to the
frequency domain requires the application of the 9yquist
theorem. $he 9yquist sampling theorem states that if a signal
only contains frequencies less than cutoff frequency! fc! all
the information in the signal can be captured by sampling it at
a minimum frequency of &fc. $his means that capturing a
signal with a ma#imum frequency component of fma# requires
that it must be sampled at &fma# or higher. 0owe+er!
common practice dictates that while wor,ing in the frequency
domain! the sampling rate must be set more than twice and
preferably between fi+e and ten times the signalGs highest
frequency component. ;a+eforms +iewed in the time domain
are usually sampled ?1 times the frequency being measured
to faithfully reproduce the original signal and retain accuracy
of the signalGs highest frequency components.
Data Gathering Techniques
Aliasing and Fourier Transforms
B ;hen input signals are sampled at
less than the 9yquist rate! ambiguous
signals that are much lower in
frequency than the signal being
sampled can appear in the time
domain. $his phenomenon is called
aliasing.
Data Gathering Techniques
Discrete Fourier Transform
B ;hen ac signals pass through a time%in+ariant! linear
system! their amplitude and phase components can
change but their frequencies remain intact. $his is the
process that occurs when the continuous time domain
ac signal passes through the ADC to the discrete time
domain. .ometimes! more useful information can be
obtained from the sampled data by analy>ing them in
the discrete time domain with a Dourier .eries rather
than reconstructing the original signal in the time
domain. $he sampled data pass through a Dourier
transform function to cull out the fundamental and
harmonic frequency information. $he amplitude of the
signal is displayed in the +ertical a#is! and the
frequencies measured are plotted on the hori>ontal a#is.
Data Gathering Techniques
Fast Fourier Transforms
B $he Dast Dourier $ransform (DD$) is so
common today that DD$ has become an
imprecise synonym for Dourier
transforms in general. $he DD$ is a
digital algorithm for computing Dourier
transforms of data discretely sampled at
a constant inter+al. $he DD$Gs simplest
implementation requires &n samples.
<ther implementations accept other
special numbers of samples. If the data
set to be transformed has a different
number of samples than required by the
DD$ algorithm! it is often padded with
>eros to meet the required number.
.ometimes the results are inaccurate!
but most often they are tolerable.
Data Gathering Techniques
Standard Fourier Transforms
B A .tandard Dourier $ransform (.D$) can be used
in applications where the number of samples
cannot be arranged to fall on one of the special
numbers required by an DD$! or where it cannot
tolerate the inaccuracies introduced by padding with
>eros. $he .D$ is also suitable where the data are
not sampled at e+enly spaced inter+als or where
sample points are missing. Dinally! the .D$ can be
used to pro+ide more closely spaced points in the
frequency domain than can be obtained with an DD$.
In an DD$! ad:acent points are separated by ?3$! the
in+erse of the time inter+al o+er which the
measurement was made.