DAAAC 4.0
Standalone
System
Training
v1.3
DAAAC 4.0
Data Acquisition System Training
July 2007
Chris Jerome, Ed Johnson
Voss Scientific Inc.
Albuquerque NM
505.256.1500
www.vosssci.com
July 2007
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What Is DAAAC?
• Data Archival Analysis Acquisition and Control
• Turn-key data acquisition system for single-shot and
repetitive single-shot events
• MS Windows based application with familiar
graphical user interfaces
• Provides software control of acquisition hardware
• Integrated data analysis and automated data reduction
• Integrated database to support complete test
documentation and history
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DAAAC Design Goals
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Replace the lab notebook
Single, integrated application
Automate data acquisition and processing
Provide common instrument interfaces
Support “high value” tests – protect the data
Do not require users to write code
Customer driven design
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History
1990 - Developed for LANL under the Small
Business Innovative Research (SBIR) program
1992 – Phase II & III SBIRs for Air Force (HEML &
Mobile System)
1994 –Voss Scientific, Inc. formed
1996 – DAAAC 4.0 Networked system for Win NT
2000 – Support for image acquisition and analysis
200? – DAAAC 5.0 development begins
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Supported Platforms
• Windows 2000 SP4, Windows XP-Pro SP2
• Windows Server 2000, 2003
• Initial testing underway for Windows Vista –
expect support in 2008
• No longer supported
– Windows NT
– Windows 98
– Windows ME
• No version for
– MAC
– Linux (not yet!!)
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Basic Architecture - Modules
• System consist of 5 executable modules:
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Acquire – instrumentation
Analyze – data display and processing
CalMan – signal line documentation
Archive – user’s database interface
NetCom – other module’s database interface
• Uses various forms of inter-process
communication (IPC) to work together as a
single application
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Acquire Module
• Manages instrumentation – maintains
inventory and documents layout
• Controls the sequence of operations during
the acquisition phase
• Controls instruments
• Collects data from instruments
• Sends data to database, CalMan, & Analyze
• Automatically exports acquired data
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Analyze Module
• Displays and prints data (waveforms,
images, tables)
• Searches for and retrieves archived data
• Supports data examination and manual data
processing
• Supports custom retrieval and processing
operations
• Supports manual data import and export
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Archive Module
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Selects the active database
Creates new databases
Exports waveform data from the database
Imports data into the database
Transfers data between databases
Controls startup/shutdown of other modules
Configures database options
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CalMan Module
• Maintains the inventory of signal line
components
• Documents the signal paths via a graphical
interface
• Uses the component characterization data to
automatically process data
• Performs automatic, user specified signal
processing
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NetCom Module
• Provides an interface to the database for the
other DAAAC modules
• Provides diagnostic indications of database
health
• Console application - only DAAAC module
without a graphical user interface
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Operational Modes
• 2 Modes : Standalone, Networked
• Standalone
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Runs on a single computer
Uses Microsoft Access (Jet engine) for database
Databases are easily portable, but size limited
Data only available on the local machine at
acquisition time
– Easy to set up and maintain
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Standalone Architecture
MS Windows
DAAAC
NetCom
Archive
Database
Analyze
CalMan
MS Access
Acquire
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Operational Modes
• Networked
– Runs on many machines, many acquisition stations, up
to 1000’s of instruments, controlled centrally
– Many analyst stations see data simultaneously as it is
acquired
– Database centrally located on a server
– Uses Microsoft SQL Server or MySQL
• No real size limit on databases
• Databases not portable
– Highly scalable
– Harder to set up and maintain
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Network Architecture
Database
CalMan
Netcom
Analyze
CalMan
...
Analyze
CalMan
...
Test Director
Acquire
Acquire
Test Director Station
Acquisition Station 1
Acquisition Station n
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About Box
• Every module has a
“Help About” dialog
box with:
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Version info
Build date
Operating mode
Current database
Copyright notice
Contact information
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Help!
• On-line help is available from each module,
except NetCom
• Context sensitive help available from most
interfaces (F1)
• Modules use separate help files
• A brief DAAAC tutorial also available from
the Help menu
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Database
• The database holds all DAAAC data
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Instrument settings
User settings such as descriptions, comments
Digitizer (raw) data
Processed data
Component characterization data
Inventory data
User data
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Database Architecture
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Registry
• User interface settings are stored in the
registry, not the database
– window locations
– recent dialog box settings
– display settings
• Settings stored in the registry are not needed
to reconstruct an acquisition event.
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Database
• DAAAC uses a 3rd party database engine
• Database can be hosted by:
– Microsoft Access (Jet engine)
– MySQL
– Microsoft SQL Server
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Standalone Database
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Standalone database is Access format only
Microsoft Access not required
Single .mdb file
Easy to copy / move
Can reside on a removable drive
Only 1GB of data in a single database
2 GB if Office 2000 or newer installed
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NetCom
• NetCom exposes a specialized interface to
the database which is data object / task
oriented.
• Allows other modules to avoid “knowing”
the details of the database structure
• Allows user code and external applications
to connect to database
• Handles networking transparently
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Archive
• Selection of the active database – use Change
Database on the toolbar
• Viewing database contents
– Database window – one for each open database
– Active database has a * in the title
• Database window views
– Database view – stations & tests
– Configuration view – named configurations
– Waveform view - calendar control
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Archive
• Creation of new databases – two methods
– File | New
– Change Database
• Transferring data between databases – two
methods
– Drag and Drop
– Dialog based
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Archive
• External data
– Import & Export of waveform data
– Both support a variety of formats including standard
ASCII and many custom
• Managing stored “Named Configurations”
– Right-click to restore
• Tests and Stations
– Click select and delete key (Network Only)
– Right-click a test to rename
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Acquire
• Communicates with instruments (mostly)
via industry standard interfaces such as
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GPIB (IEEE 488 .1,.2, VISA)
Serial (RS-232)
VXI/MXI-2 (National Instruments)
cPCI (Acqiris), PXI (National Instruments)
Proprietary
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Acquire
• Communication with instruments is in several
layers
– Instrument Driver .dll file supplied with DAAAC
– Manufacturer communication library such as
gpib32.dll, niVXI.dll, AcqDrv4.dll
– For all but serial (RS-232) instruments, special
hardware is required; this hardware includes
accompanying software supplied by the manufacturer
– ONLY National Instruments GPIB cards, VXI/MXI-2
interfaces
– ONLY Acqiris cPCI
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Acquire - Instrument Interface
Computer
Interface
Card / Port
Device Driver*
Physical Connection
(May be proprietary)
Instrument
*manufacturer of interface card
supplies Windows device driver
Instrument
Driver
DAAAC
MS Windows
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Acquire - Stations
• Each DAAAC computer is referred to as a
“Station”
• Stations consist of a group of
– Racks which contain
• Crates of instruments
• Instruments
– No longer universally representative, but used
for historic reasons
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Acquire - Inventory
• Instruments are added from inventory
– If inventory control is enabled each instrument
in the rack must be unique
– Otherwise a single instance of each instrument
type is all that’s required
• Once added, instruments are configured
through a standardized interface
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Acquire – Instrument Interfaces
Standard interfaces help
to reduce operator
confusion with multiple
manufacturers &
vintages, and shorten the
learning curve
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Acquire
• Adding an instrument
– 1. Select an empty rack position or empty slot in a crate
– 2. Right click and select Add
– 3. Select the manufacturer from the left most list (e.g.
Tektronix)
– 4. Select a model from the center list
– 5. If nothing appears in the serial number list (right list)
then all the instruments of that model are in use or none
have been added
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Acquire
• Adding and instrument cont.’d
– 6. If no serial numbers are displayed in the right hand
list then a serial number must be added to inventory.
– 7. Type an alpha-numeric serial number in the serial
number edit field below the center list, or automatically
generate one by clicking the generate button. For a
given model and manufacturer, serial numbers MUST
be unique.
– 8. Click the Add button
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Acquire
• Adding and instrument cont.’d
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9. Select a serial number from the serial number list
10. Click Next
11. If there is a Setup button displayed click it
12. Select any special setup options and click OK
13. Optionally name your instrument and set other
parameters
– 14 Click Finish
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Acquire - Instruments
• Supported instruments include the following
Acqiris – DC110, DC211, DC240, DC241, DC440, DC265, DC270, DC271, DC282
Agilent (Hewlett Packard) - 16500, 3458, 4396B, 5335, 5370, 54111, 54112, 81110,
8753C, 8753ES, 8765A, E1428, E1437, E1441
LeCroy - 2249, 4208, 4222, 6810, 6840, 6841, 6880, 8828, LC9374, LC9450, WavePro
950, WaveRunner LT264
Tektronix - 2430, 2440, DPO4104, DSA602, RTD710, RTD720, SCD1000, SCD5000,
TDS220, TDS224, TDS310, TDS320, TDS350, TDS3032, TDS3052, TDS3054,
TDS460, TDS540, TDS544, TDS5104, TDS640, TDS644, TDS680, TDS684, TDS694,
TDS744, TDS754, TDS784, TDS7054, TDS7104, TDS7154, TDS7254, TDS7404,
TDS820, TDS8000, TVS625, TVS641, TVS645
Berkeley Nucleonics - 555, 6040
Highland Technology - M680, V951, V980
Stanford Research Systems - DG535, PS3xx, SR620
Cameras, spectrometers, positioners, etc. from multiple vendors
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Acquire – Active / Idle
• Only active instruments participate in
acquisitions
• Right Click Idle/Active
– Changes instrument state non persistently
– Useful to temporarily idle and instrument
– If state should be permanent then instrument
interface must be invoked by double clicking
and saved by clicking OK
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Acquire - Polling
• Can “poll” for the presence of instruments
on GPIB, VXI and other buses.
• Prevents spurious errors arising from
powered off equipment
• Polling can be disabled
• Presence/Absence and current state are
indicated by color code
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Acquire – Global Settings
• System level and acquisition settings are
accessed by clicking the Go
button or
the Global
settings button
• Tests, acquisition descriptions, exports,
timeouts and more are configured via this
interface
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Acquire - Export
• Auto export, as the name implies, allows selected
channels to be exported as soon as the data is
available in a variety of formats.
• There are two global controls which allow the
same data to be placed in two different locations
or exported in two different formats.
• If the global enable is on, each selected channel is
exported to the indicated path
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Acquire – Named Configs
• Once a system is set up, its configuration
can be saved with a user supplied name
• Convenient for saving standard test setups
• Records system setup independently of data
• May be restored at will in standalone mode
• May be edited and deleted
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Acquire – Data Grouping
• Data can be organized to make it easier to
find later
– A Test is a logical group of shots such as warmup, pulse power, injector
– An acquisition description BRIEFLY describes
the conditions during the test e.g. 400 kV, 40
PSI, 5 shots
– Shot number is the universal identifier, and may
be supplied by an external source
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Acquire - Logging
• DAAAC has extensive logging capabilities
• Errors of all kinds are logged in the error log
• All I/O on the GPIB, Serial, VXI and some other buses can
be logged (Use ONLY for diagnosing faults)
• System state transitions and their timings can be recorded
• A performance monitoring database can be created which
records system performance metrics
• All informational messages from NetCom are logged in the
NetCom log
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Acquisition Sequence
1. Initiate and acquisition by clicking Go or Arm
2. Change test, acquisition description, other
settings
3. Click OK
4. The system will initialize all instrumentation
5. The system will arm all instrumentation
6. The system will wait for triggers
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Acquisition Sequence
• If initiated by Arm the system will remain in this
state indefinitely, waiting for user action
• If initiated by GO then
– When any instrument has triggered start a timer
– When all instruments trigger or timer expires then
• Read out all instrument data
– Export selected channels
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Acquisition Sequence
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Spool data to local disk
Transmit data to Database, analyst(s)
Initiate Auto-reduction if selected
Wait for reduction to complete
Restore instruments to initialized state
Save system state
Done!
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Analyze
• Displays acquisition data, reduction data,
processed data, or data retrieved from the database
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Waveforms
Tables
Images
Contour plots
Overlays
• Automatic and manual printing
• Manual and semi-automatic processing
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Analyze - Data Display
• Waveform background code
Blue – raw
Grey – auto-processed
Green – manually processed
Yellow/Orange/Red – bad data
• Preferences selectable for
– Waveforms
– Overlays
– Images
• Two types of preferences are supported
– New object defaults
– Global settings
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Analyze - Properties
• Once an object has been created, modify its
display settings using the Properties dialog
• On right-click menu or File | Properties
• Specifics depend on data type – may include
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General – acquisition related information
Titles – main and axis titles and units
Statistics – relevant stats and FOMs
Display – data rendering options
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Analyze – Data retrieval
• Waveform data grouped by raw or
processed status
• Retrieval dialog is a mini-application
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Tree control for classification
Searching using multiple criteria
Viewing associated settings
Deletion, recovery
Retrieval of associated data
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Analyze – Saving Data
• Several items under the File menu support
saving displayed data to the database and
exporting to an external file
• Save and export options also on the rightclick menu
• All data stored from Analyze is considered
processed
• Storing a retrieved waveform always makes
a new copy in the database
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Analyze - Processing
• Process dialog accessed in the same manner
for all data types, but functions will vary
• Uses calculator style interface with multiple
tabs for function groups
• Operations apply only to active window
• All operations applied can be undone by
selecting Cancel or Ctrl-Z
• Lists of operations (macros) can be created
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Analyze - Combining
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Allows simple arithmetic to be applied with
waveform operands
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4.
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Select first operand
Press combine button
Select operation
Combine dialog will disappear – select second
operand (repeat for Average)
Result can replace first operand or create a new
window
First operand determines domain of output
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Analyze - Overlays
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Display multiple waveforms on a single plot
Support processing and cursors
Can be stored in the database
Several display settings available – beware
thick lines on some systems!
• Create by pressing overlay button and
clicking on waveforms to overlay
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Analyze - Cursors
• Used to examine individual data points and
waveform details
• Supports some editing functions
• Supports waveforms, images, overlays,
contours
• Printing with cursors on includes tag and
other cursor data
• Toggles on and off
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Analyze – Advance Processing
• Processing – New function generation feature
• Processing – FFTs create two waveforms in a
single window (F9 to toggle view)
• Processing – Macros
– Analyze, Acquire & CalMan use the same interface and
macro definition
• Floating Macro List
• Custom Processing – includes operations with
specific applications
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Analyze – Advanced Processing
• Combine – correlation as a preprocessing
operation
• Overlays – dual vertical axis scaling and
horizontal offset
• Overlays – processing can affect one or all
waveforms
• Overlays – delete active and extract
• Cursors – editing point data
• Cursors – making measurements
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Analyze – Image Processing
• Data representations – color, grayscale,
floating point
• Y axis origin at top, unlike waveforms
• Import / Export
• False coloring – color and grayscale
• Processing – auto-conversion between data
types
• Cursor operations
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Analyze – Acquisition Config
• Analyze has very little control during the
acquisition sequence
• Acquisition Configuration settings
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Channel list from Acquire
Display options
Automatic overlays
Display buffer
Reduction selection
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Figures Of Merit
• FOMs are metrics computed for waveform
and image data
• Acquire, Analyze, and CalMan each have
interfaces for selecting FOMs
• Selected FOMs are automatically
recalculated when the data is processed
• FOMs are stored in the database
• FOM parameters are not stored
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CalMan
• Signal line – all items from the sensor / detector to
the digitizer
• Maintains the inventory of signal line components
(cable, attenuator, sensor, etc.), including electrical
characterizations
• Uses those components to build a graphical
representation of the signal line
• Uses the signal line representation to convert from
digitizer counts to physical units
• Signal lines can also include user processing
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CalMan - Inventory
• Inventory items are commonly referred to as “calitems”
• Several classes of items are supported
– Waveform reduction – items used to process waveforms
– Image reduction – items used to process images
– No reduction – items that are for documentation purposes
only
• Waveform and Image items are further divided
– Physical – cables, attenuators, switches, etc
– Processing – user process, combine, overlay
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CalMan – Creating an Item
1. Select Inventory | Inventory List from the
main menu
2. Select the appropriate item type and press
the Create button
3. If inventory control is enabled, fill in the
inventory data
4. Fill in the item specific information,
including characterization curves
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CalMan – Inventory Control
• Inventory control versions
of CalMan include
additional fields for
tracking individual parts
• Upon creation, items are
referred to by their
barcode
• Inventory control applies
to both physical and
processing items
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CalMan – Graph
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Node – the building blocks of the graph
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Most nodes represent cal items
Station, instruments, channels also have nodes
Station node is left-most, followed by
instruments, then channels, then cal items
One graph per station. Each station’s graph is
drawn in a separate window
Graph layout is automatic – minimal user
control
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CalMan – Creating a Graph
1.
2.
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4.
5.
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Create desired cal items
Right-click on station node, select Insert a new cal-line
from the menu
Select the channel from the list of available instruments
(instrument and channel nodes will be created)
Select Inventory | Drag & Drop Inventory list from the
main menu
Select items from the inventory list and drop them on the
node left of the new nodes position
Inventory controlled items cannot be added to the graph
if already in the graph
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CalMan - Reduction
• Reduction is the process of compensating for signal line
components and applying user specified processes
• Each node has a Reduction tab that tells the system what to
do with the output at that node during reduction
• Reduction of an entire cal-line (channel) can be enabled /
disabled
• The Global Selection Map shows all settings
• Automatic reduction is enabled in Acquire
• Off-line reduction is performed from CalMan or Analyze
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Advanced Architecture
Inter Process Communication
• RPC/LPC – Remote (Local) Procedure Calls
– Behaves like local function call, passes through the
network
– Standards based - uses TCP/IP protocol.
– Used by the operating system for Inter-process
Communication in the Kernel
– Very Efficient
– Underlies COM, CORBA
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Advanced Architecture
Inter Process Communication
• UDP Multicast (RFC1112,1584)
– User datagram protocol –lacks the multiple, redundant
error correction/detection found in TCP
– We explicitly supply error detection/correction to
produce a “Reliable Multicast”
– Handshaking in “Master Receiver”
• Also uses UDP socket for speed
– Certain types of network hardware faults can cause
system to hang, or loose data.
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Advanced Architecture
Inter Process Communication
• Direct Windows Messages (e.g. Hot keys)
• Dispatcher – (e.g. kill process)
• Named Pipes
– Used for change database notification
– Requires special user/service account
– Requires compatible security environment in
networked mode
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Training
v1.3
Advanced Architecture
The registry
• Most settings you will ever adjust are in
– Hkey_Local_Machine\Software\VSI
• Settings likely to remain the same for all
users, or settings which are needed by many
modules are here
• These include the location of logs, network
settings, polling settings, and others
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Advanced Architecture
The registry
• Settings pertaining to user preferences are
generally stored in
– Hkey_Local_User\Software\VSI
• These include window size and position, startup
and shutdown of modules, macro and other
settings
• The registry is going, going,...gone in Windows
Vista!
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Advanced Architecture
Capkeys
• Enable module capabilities such as “Live
Video”, “Network mode”, etc
• Enable specific instrument drivers
• Enable specific cal items
• Daaac4_(x).ovl(.xp)
– Encrypted with 64 bit RSA-4
• Integrated with CrypKey licensing system
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Advanced Architecture
CrypKey
• Supplied by CrypKey (Canada) Inc.
– Anti-piracy keying software
• License keys can be transferred through license
manager ONLY – this includes installing in
another directory on the same machine!
• Special “trusted” site keys bypass this sub-system
– Trusted site keys are NOT to be distributed outside
installed facilities!
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Advanced Acquire
• Channel specific settings
–
–
–
–
–
–
Export type (2 per channel) for waveforms only
Auto-export enable
Auto-zero baseline (waveforms only)
X and Y axis scale limits
Channel enable
Pre-processing (DEPRICATED)
• Redundant with user process node in CalMan
• Has several limitations
• To be removed starting in 2006
July 2007
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DAAAC 4.0
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Training
v1.3
Advanced Acquire
• Raw FOMs (Figure Of Merit)
– Not stored if not selected
• Cannot be searched on if not stored!
– Global setting applies to ALL enabled
waveform channels, No raw image FOMs are
supported at this time.
– Off scale CANNOT be disabled
– FOM order on waveform display user
selectable
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Training
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Advanced Acquire
• Reports
– Timing and waveform channel reports
– Print or export to CSV for Excel
– Tailored to waveform devices, little or no
meaningful output for other devices such as
cameras
– Timing channels show delay summaries and
channel name only – tailored to DG and V951
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Training
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Advanced Acquire
• Named Configurations
– Capture entire system state including CalMan
and networked configurations such as test
director.
– Can be updated and deleted
– Can be restored at any time in Standalone mode
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Advanced Acquire
• Logs
– Most logging controlled by last tab of global settings
dialog
– Only error logging is on by default
– Logs can be emptied at any time and are automatically
emptied if they reach 10 MB.
– Performance monitoring is mostly used for Networked
systems to monitor overall system and database health
– Other logs are mainly for trouble shooting
– Have logs available if you call to report a problem!
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Advanced Acquire
• Calibration
– Gang calibrate functions runs internal
calibrations on user selected digitizer types in
parallel to the maximum extent possible.
– Calibrations should be performed at least daily
on
• High value data collection systems
• Older equipment
• Any situation with traceability requirements
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Advanced Acquire
• Miscellaneous
– Flush spool eliminates any stale spooled data
such as running single point spools, or spools
from abnormally terminated shots
– Check Addrs. Function checks for, primarily,
GPIB address conflicts in current configuration
– User security – DEPRICATED
• Now fully bypassed, all users have all privileges
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Advanced Acquire
• Instrument Common Settings Grid
– Allows viewing and changing many parameters
of waveform instruments all at once
– Most useful in large and very large
configurations
– Non-grid settings can be accessed through
regular interface from grid
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Advanced Acquire
• Timing Grid
– Allows viewing/changing all system timing
channel delays at once.
– Does NOT allow non grid functions to be
accessed through grid
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Training
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Advanced Acquire
• Station level settings
– Right Click outside of any rack but in a station window
Number of racks can be increased
– Rack heights can be increased
– Station name/description can be changed
– Rack names can be changed
– Decreases can ONLY be accomplished by restoring a
named or historic configuration!
– Rack vertical display order changed by double clicking
row number
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Advanced Acquire
• Readout Order
– Allows control over the order in which raw data is read
out and displayed
– Order within stations, order stations, order instruments
– CANNOT bounce around between stations, re-order
channels within an instrument
– If corrupted some channels may not be read out at all –
this can happen when adding crates
– Corruptions can be fixed: press clear, cancel, then open
global settings and press ok.
– Corruption evident by duplicate or missing
channel/instrument names
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DAAAC 4.0
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Training
v1.3
Advanced Acquire
• Crated Instruments
– First add a crate
– Crated instruments can ONLY be added to the
appropriate crate type (e.g. No cPCI devices in
CAMAC crates!)
– Crated instruments can be added, moved,
deleted, copied just as rack based instruments
can, by right clicking.
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Advanced Acquire
• Saving / Copying Instrument settings
– Settings (excluding names, address info) can be copied into a
buffer and pasted to another instrument of the same type
– Settings can be saved as default – in this case any new instrument
of the same type which is added to the SAME system will have
these settings (i.e. time base, vertical, resolution, etc).
– Settings can be saved as named object in file. Named settings
INCLUDE channel, instrument names, address info. Can be used
on other machines freely.
– Named settings can also be stored for a whole crate and restored to
any crate of the same type containing the same types of
instruments in the same positions.
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Advanced Acquire
• Acquisition modes
– Single shot
• As the name implies arm once, collect data, return to default
ready state
– Repetitive single shot
• Acquire the specified number of shots and stop
– Burst
• Acquire the specified number of shots IN the instrumentations
local storage – read shot data only after all shots acquired.
– Repetitive Burst
• Acquire the specified number of bursts
– Any repetitive mode can repeat until aborted.
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Advanced Acquire
• Acquisition modes cont’d
– Live Video
• Show video frames from enabled channels and
waveforms from fast enabled digitizer channels
(Acqiris only at present) in separate windows as fast
as possible.
• No data is stored
• If initiated through F3 hot key this mode is not
persistent
• Does NOT work through network
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Advanced Acquire
• Hot Keys
– F1 – help
– F2 – Fast Arm : same function as go but does
not show global settings dialog first. Uses last
configured acquisition settings
– F3 – Live : non persistent live video. Restores
previous mode when stopped
– S – Fast Stop : same as pressing Stop button
• Only effective when acquisition is in progress
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Training
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Advanced Acquire
• System Resources
– Heavily Multithreaded
– Uses a Lot of I/O bandwidth
– Can use a lot of memory transiently, but much less than
analyze or calman
– Uses a lot of disk space transiently
– Uses all available network bandwidth transiently for
multicasting data
– Fully symmetric - any station can be test director
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Advanced Acquire
Computer
Interface
Card / Port
Device Driver*
Physical Connection
(May be proprietary)
Instrument
*manufacturer of interface card
supplies Windows device driver
Instrument
Driver
DAAAC
MS Windows
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• Instrument Control Architecture
– Hardware communicates through an interface
• E.g. RS-232, GPIB, MXI, TAXI,
– Interfaces have an “Interface Controller Card”
in computer
• E.g. GPIB card, Camera interface, mother board
serial port
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Advanced Acquire
• Instrument Control Architecture Cont’d
– Interface Controller Cards – to function must
obtain certain resources from the operating
system such as memory, interrupts, DMA
channels, etc. This requires a “Device Driver”
– Device Drivers are software supplied by the
HARDWARE MANUFACTURER which
allow the particular device to be used with a
given operating system. They are NOT
portable!
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• Instrument Control Architecture Cont’d
– Device Drivers allow an interface or specific device to
be controlled but do not require it.
– Device drivers are controlled by interface objects;
usually 1 or more Dynamic Link Libraries (Dlls).
These are also supplied by the hardware manufacturer.
– Interface Dlls allow programs supplied by either the
hardware manufacturer or a third party to operate the
hardware.
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Advanced Acquire
• Instrument Control Architecture Cont’d
– Acquire (and other modules) control instruments
through a very general interface which is the same for
ALL instruments in the system.
– This interface is specifically embodied by “DAAAC
Instrument Drivers” supplied with the system.
– DAAAC Instrument Drivers embody all the
characteristics, and capabilities of a given instrument
for DAAAC in a known way.
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Advanced Acquire
• Instrument Control Architecture Cont’d
– DAAAC Instrument Drivers communicate with
and control instruments through Interface Dlls
supplied by the manufacturer of the interface or
instrument in question.
– Hence some third party software is ALWAYS
required for acquire to function usefully
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Advanced Acquire
• Instrument Control Architecture Cont’d
– Some very specialized manufacturer software is
distributed with DAAAC. These distributions
are for the convenience of our customers and
are NOT officially supported by the hardware
manufacturers.
• These include : Acqiris, Bitflow, BNS, Epix, Ocean
Optics, Roper Scientific, and others
• National Instruments software is NOT distributed
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• Get Waveforms
– Retrieve data directly from instruments
• Allows data to be read from instruments NOT set up
by DAAAC.
– Recover from a system crash
– Read data from spool files
• Primarily useful after a system crash
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Advanced Acquire
• Arm Mode
– Arm system, report when system triggered but
take no action
• Useful for situations where some channels have high
probability of early or spurious trigger
• Can be used to arm instruments with non-volatile
memory away from acquisition site
• DOES NOT automatically retrieve or reduce data
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Advanced Acquire
• Force Triggers
– Used mainly with Arm Mode
– Sets status of all armed instruments to triggered
regardless of actual status
– Required to read out a system in arm mode in
which some channels have not triggered
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Advanced Acquire
• System Trigger
– Special mode which issues soft trigger to pulse
generators in “Computer/Manual” mode
– Only 1 trigger issued
– Supported by DG-535, BNC-555, V951
– Any number of P.D.G.s may be set to this mode
– Inter instrument synchronization is NOT
guaranteed!
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Advanced Acquire
• Global Acquisition Settings
– Instrument initialization group determines
behavior of instruments with front panels. If
“Lock Out Front Panels” is disabled, then
“Initialize on Go” must be selected to insure a
consistent instrument state
– Single Point Data group has controls to allow
single point channels (such as voltmeters) to be
accumulated across multiple shots
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Advanced Acquire
• Global Acquisition Settings
– Device Polling group allows polling the GPIB
(and VXI and cPCI) buses for instruments to be
enabled and disabled. For some particularly
slow instruments, or if active polling is used
due to the presence of GPIB bus extenders, then
the poll period might have to be increased from
the default of 4 sec.
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• Global Acquisition Settings
– Auto Reduction of data can be globally enabled
or disabled here. If un-checked then no
automatic data reduction will be performed.
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• Administrative settings
– Location and name of log files
– Enable/disable logging
– Enable/disable showing Global settings dialog
when Go pressed
• DO NOT disable with novice users!
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Advanced NetCom
• Netcom – connects ODBC (Open Database
Connectivity) data source to other
applications such as Analyze, Archive,
CalMan, Acquire
• ODBC makes it easy to support other
database engines without lots of new code
July 2007
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Training
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Advanced Archive
• Drag n’ drop data transfer
– Change to the database to transfer from
– Use File | Open or File New to open the
destination database
– Drag the appropriate data from the source
database window
• Can drag Database View, Named Configurations,
Waveform Calendar, or individual waveforms
– Drop in the left pane of the destination window
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Advanced Image Processing
• Data representations
– 8 bit images include palette
– > 8 bit camera data is auto-converted to 16 bit
– 2-D floating point array representation used
• Storage in database – not in standard image
formats; uses internal waveform structures
• Import – Open vs Import
• Export - False coloring will affect export output
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Training
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Advanced Image Processing
• Processing – auto-conversion between int & float
data types will occur for some operations
– log z will convert int to float
– sharpen will remove any float data
• Image combining – arithmetic, filtering, and
contour overlays
• Support for x & y (unevenly spaced) axis data
• Brightness, Contrast, Gamma as display settings
• Kernel convolution – supports float data
July 2007
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Training
v1.3
Advanced CalMan
• Cal-items often use characterization curves to represent
response vs. frequency
• Curves can be entered as waveforms or polynomials
– Waveforms support magnitude/phase data from
network analyzers
– Waveform data can be imported from external files,
or selected from the DAAAC database
• Curves are in dB – negative value means loss, positive
means gain
• Waveform curves usually dB vs. Hz, Polynomials are dB
vs. GHz. Curve dialog will indicate expected units
July 2007
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Advanced CalMan
• Reduction supports several signal line classes:
wideband, narrowband, image
• Wideband reduction can perform frequency
domain compensation
– Time domain signal converted to freq domain
– Component characterization curves are used to
compensate for magnitude and phase
– Freq domain signal converted back to time
– Component time offsets are applied
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Training
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Advanced CalMan
• Narrowband reduction uses mixers and crystal
detectors
– Mixer channel data is used to create freq vs. time
lookup tables
– Freq vs. Time table used to find the correct attenuation
at each time in the input waveform
– Component time offsets are accounted for in look ups
– Data type (Voltage, Power, DC, IF, RF) tracked
• Image reduction uses specialized processing nodes
(image process, combine, branch, image to
waveform)
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Notebook
• Used to store general comments and notes
• Entries are organized by author, title,
creation date
• All users can view an existing entry, but
only the author can edit
• Notebook entries are stored in the database,
but not linked to any other object (yet)
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Log Files
• Individual text files – not stored in the
database (usually in \Daaac40\Logs)
– Error – system-wide errors, warnings, and
informational messages
– Netcom – NetCom’s console messages
– State – sequencing and timing information
– I/O – detailed instrument communications
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Installation – System Requirements
•
•
•
•
•
•
MS Windows 2000 SP4 or XP SP2
Pentium 4 class computer
512 MB RAM (more is always better!)
30 MB disk space (multiple GBytes for databases)
CD drive (write capability desirable for backup)
Motherboard that is compatible with recorder
(digitizer, camera, etc) interface cards – this can be
a moving target for camera, cPCI interfaces
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Installation
• Installation only available via CD
• Uses InstallShield application that auto-installs
DAAAC when CD is inserted
• If auto-run is disabled, run \Setup\setup.exe from
the CD drive
• Demo CDs launch demo program when inserted –
follow instructions to install DAAAC from within
the demo program
• All CDs contain the complete DAAAC system
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Installation
• First time installation will install DAAAC, CrypKey driver, DAO,
ODBC, and will configure the registry
• Subsequent installations only update
the DAAAC components, unless “No”
is selected from the update prompt
• The previous installation can be automatically backed up - always a
good idea if the update contains more that minor enhancements
– Backups are stored in a subdirectory under the DAAAC directory
– Subdirectory name is the backup date
• Full install CDs include keys for a particular license. Update CDs do
not have keys
– CDs with keys will be labeled with a DAAAC serial number
– Update CDs will have no serial number
– Demo CDs use serial number “1000”
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Installation - Licensing
•
New installations will not run
until they are licensed
1. Run License.exe from the
DAAAC directory
2. Enter the serial number (written
on the CD)
3. Send the site code to Voss
Scientific
4. We will use the code to generate
a site key
5. Enter the key and press the
License button
•
•
Licenses are machine and install
directory specific
Updates do not require re-license
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Glossary
•
•
•
•
•
•
ACK - Acknowledge character. Indicates successful reception of data.
Checksum - a common method to verify data integrity. All data bytes are added together
modulo 255. The embedded checksum in a data block is compared to the computed
value. A mismatch indicates that the data is corrupted.
COM - Component Object Model. A Microsoft language-independent, platform
independent protocol for sharing binary objects.
CORBA - Common Object Request Broker Architecture. An open standard to share
binary objects over a network.
CPU - Central Processing Unit. A chip that is the primary functional computing device
in a computer.
CRC - Cyclic redundancy check. A number derived from, and stored or transmitted with,
a block of data in order to detect corruption. By recalculating the CRC and comparing it
to the value originally transmitted, the receiver can detect some types of transmission
errors
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Glossary
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Checkpoint - a database function which is used to trigger a specific action such as
purging the log files.
cPCI - Compact Peripheral Component Interface. An industry standard specification for
the interconnection of computer peripherals in a small crate using a passive backplane.
DB - Database
DCE RPC - Distributed Computing Environment Remote Procedure Call. A standard
method to allow services to be shared between machines.
Digitizer – Any device that produces digital data based on an analog input. Typically
refers to digital oscilloscopes that produce waveforms, but can also refer to cameras,
scanners, meters, etc.
DLL - Dynamic Linked Library. A way to share common pieces of software.
FOM - Figure of Merit. A single numeric value computed from a multi-valued object
such as a waveform or image.
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Glossary
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
FQDN – Fully Qualified Domain Name. Typically a file name including a network path
FQFN - Fully Qualified File Name. A file name which includes a full path specification
FQ Path - Fully Qualified Path - a path specification which includes the root device and
terminal back slash.
GPIB - General Purpose Interface Bus. A standard communication bus (IEEE 488)
GUI - Graphical User Interface
HKCU - Handle Key Current User - standard reference to the registry hive “Current
User”
HKLM - Handle Key Local Machine - standard reference to registry hive “Local
Machine”
I/O - Input/Output
IP - Internet Protocol
IPC – Inter-Process Communication. Any of various methods for sharing data between
software processes.
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Glossary
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Key – may refer to encrypted key files (*.ovl, *.ovl.xp) that specify the capabilities of a
particular DAAAC license, or a site key (26 digit hex number) that is used to activate a
license.
LPC - Local Procedure Call. An abbreviated RPC that bypasses the network. Used for
inter-process communication in the operating system and in applications.
Marshall - the process of assembling many data blocks that form an object into that
object.
Multicast - a mechanism to send network packets from one originator to many receivers.
Unlike broadcast, many multicast groups can co-exist simultaneously and a receiver can
obtain packets from them individually.
NACK - Not Acknowledge. Indicates that a data block was NOT received properly.
ODBC - Open Database Connectivity. A standard method for connecting to and
exchanging data with an arbitrary database.
O/S - Operating System. The software that allows the computer to provide common
services for applications such as disk based file systems, network connections, memory
management, and others.
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Glossary
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Packet - A block of data of defined size and structure. Packets exist at many levels in all
network communications, and in most other serial data communication schemes.
PCI - Peripheral Component Interface.. An industry standard bus specification for
attaching devices to a computer.
Port - a numeric specification of the connection number at a given IP address which will
be used for a given communication session. Some ports are well know e.g. Telnet, FTP
Pure Virtual - a reference to a class which cannot itself be instantiated. It can only be
used as a base class for a class which will exist. It is a mechanism for enforcing
adherence to an interface specification.
Reduction – the process by which recorded data is converted to physical quantities of
interest, by undoing the effects of signal path components and by directly applying user
specified conversion operations.
RFC - Request For Comments. Reference documents which contain the specifications
which define the internet, many common network protocols, and definitions used in
common in many other specifications.
RPC - Remote Procedure Call. A mechanism for sharing services among computers
over a network.
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Glossary
•
•
•
Socket - a method of establishing a network connection. Originated in UNIX, and
widely used in all TCP/IP networks.
SQL - Structured Query Language. A common language for interfacing with and
manipulating databases.
TCP/IP - Transmission Control Protocol / Internet Protocol. The network
communication standard pioneered by ARPA in the 1960’s. Forms the basis for the
internet and most modern data communication networks, excluding the telephone
network. This protocol is based on routing individual packets of data, adaptively, from
from a specified source to one or many destinations.
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