Glossary
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National Instruments Corporation
G-3
bipolar
a signal range that includes both positive and negative values (for example,
–5 V to +5 V)
breakdown voltage
the voltage high enough to cause breakdown of optical isolation,
semiconductors, or dielectric materials. See also working voltage.
bus
the group of conductors that interconnect individual circuitry in a computer.
Typically, a bus is the expansion vehicle to which I/O or other devices are
connected. Examples of PC buses are the ISA and PCI bus.
bus master
a type of a plug-in device or controller with the ability to read and write
devices on the computer bus
C
C
Celsius
CalDAC
calibration DAC
CH
channel—pin or wire lead to which you apply or from which you read the
analog or digital signal. Analog signals can be single-ended or differential.
For digital signals, you group channels to form ports. Ports usually consist
of either four or eight digital channels.
channel clock
the clock controlling the time interval between individual channel sampling
within a scan. Devices with simultaneous sampling do not have this clock.
CMRR
common-mode rejection ratio—a measure of an instrument’s ability to
reject interference from a common-mode signal, usually expressed in
decibels (dB)
cold-junction
compensation
a method of compensating for inaccuracies in thermocouple circuits
common-mode range
the input range over which a circuit can handle a common-mode signal
common-mode signal
any voltage present at the instrumentation amplifier inputs with respect to
amplifier ground
conversion time
the time required, in an analog input or output system, from the moment a
channel is interrogated (such as with a read instruction) to the moment that
accurate data is available
CONVERT*
convert signal
