Glossary
G-2
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ADC
analog-to-digital converter—an electronic device, often an integrated
circuit, that converts an analog voltage to a digital number
ADC resolution
the size of the discrete steps in the ADCs input-to-output transfer function;
therefore, the smallest voltage difference an ADC can discriminate with a
single measurement
ADE
application development environment—an application designed to make it
easier for you to develop software. Usually, ADEs have a graphical user
interface and programming tools to help with development. Examples of
ADEs are LabVIEW, LabWindows/CVI, Visual Basic, and Visual C++.
alias
a false lower frequency component that appears in sampled data acquired
at too low a sampling rate
amplification
a type of signal conditioning that improves accuracy in the resulting
digitized signal and reduces noise
amplitude flatness
a measure of how close to constant the gain of a circuit remains over a
range of frequencies
API
application program interface
asynchronous
(1) hardware—a property of an event that occurs at an arbitrary time,
without synchronization to a reference clock; (2) software—a property of
a function that begins an operation and returns prior to the completion or
termination of the operation
attenuate
to decrease the amplitude of a signal
B
bandwidth
the range of frequencies present in a signal, or the range of frequencies to
which a measuring device can respond
bipolar
a signal range that includes both positive and negative values
(for example, –5 V to +5 V)
buffer
temporary storage for acquired or generated data (software)
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.