Glossary
G-2
ni.com
D
DAQ
Data acquisition. (1) Collecting and measuring electrical signals from
sensors, transducers, and test probes or fixtures and inputting them to a
computer for processing. (2) Collecting and measuring the same kinds of
electrical signals with A/D or DIO boards plugged into a computer, and
possibly generating control signals with D/A and/or DIO boards in the
same computer.
DMA
Direct memory access. A method by which data can be transferred to and
from computer memory from and to a device or memory on the bus while
the processor does something else; DMA is the fastest method of
transferring data to/from computer memory.
drivers
Software that controls a specific hardware device, such as an image
acquisition board.
F
FIFO
First-in first-out memory buffer. The first data stored is the first data sent
to the acceptor; FIFOs are used on image acquisition devices to temporarily
store incoming data until that data can be retrieved.
I
I/O
Input/output. The transfer of data to/from a computer system involving
communications channels, operator interface devices, and/or data
acquisition and control interfaces.
L
LUT
Look-up table. Table containing values used to transform the gray-level
values of an image. For each gray-level value in the image, the
corresponding new value is obtained from the look-up table.
LVDS
Low Voltage Differential Signaling (EIA-644).
N
NI-IMAQ
Driver software for National Instruments image acquisition hardware.
