Glossary
DIO 6533 User Manual G-8
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National Instruments Corporation
PCMCIA an expansion bus architecture that has found widespread acceptance as
a de facto standard in notebook-size computers. It originated as a
specification for add-on memory cards written by the Personal
Computer Memory Card International Association.
peripheral device an external device that a board controls, monitors, tests, or
communicates with
Plug and Play devices devices that do not require dip switches or jumpers to configure
resources on the devices
Plug and Play ISA a specification prepared by Microsoft, Intel, and other PC-related
companies that will result in PCs with plug-in boards that can be fully
configured in software, without jumpers or switches on the boards
port (1) a communications connection on a computer or a remote controller
(2) a digital port, consisting of four or eight lines of digital input and/or
output
posttrigger acquisition the technique used on a DAQ board to acquire a programmed number
of samples after trigger conditions are met
PPI programmable peripheral interface
ppm parts per million
pretrigger acquisition the technique used on a DAQ board to keep a continuous buffer filled
with data, so that when the trigger conditions are met, the sample
includes the data leading up to the trigger condition
programmed I/O the standard method a CPU uses to access an I/O device each byte of
data is read or written by the CPU
protocol the exact sequence of bits, characters, and control codes used to transfer
data between computers and peripherals through a communications
channel, such as the GPIB
R
RAM random-access memory
REQ request signal
ribbon cable a flat cable in which the conductors are side by side