Glossary
©
National Instruments Corporation
G-5
VXI/VMEpc 600 Series User Manual
I/O
input/output; the techniques, media, and devices used to achieve
communication between machines and users
instrument driver
a set of routines designed to control a specific instrument or family of
instruments, and any necessary related files for LabWindows/CVI or
LabVIEW
interrupt
a means for a device to request service from another device; a computer
signal indicating that the CPU should suspend its current task to service a
designated activity
interrupt handler
a VMEbus functional module that detects interrupt requests generated by
interrupters and responds to those requests by requesting status and identify
information
interrupt level
the relative priority at which a device can interrupt
IRQ*
interrupt signal
ISA
Industry Standard Architecture; denotes a common expansion bus used
in PCs
K
K
kilo—(1) the standard metric prefix for 1,000, or 10
3
, used with units of
measure such as volts, hertz, and meters; (2) the prefix for 1,024, or 2
10
,
used with B (byte) in quantifying data or computer memory
L
LED
light-emitting diode
M
m
meters
M
mega—(1) the standard metric prefix for 1 million or 10
6
, when used with
units of measure such as volts and hertz; (2) the prefix for 1,048,576, or 2
20
,
when used with B (byte) to quantify data or computer memory
MANTIS
a National Instruments custom ASIC that performs VXIbus arbitration and
manages interrupts and triggers
