Data Acquisition and Signal Processing for Smart Sensors

GLOSSARY OF SMART SENSOR TERMS

Absolute pressure sensor — A sensor that measures the input pressure in relation to zero pressure (a total vacuum on one side of the diaphragm).

Accuracy — (1) The degree of conformity of a measured or calculated value to its definition or with respect to a standard reference (see uncertainty). (2) The maximum error of a measured value with respect to its true theoretical value.

Acceleration — The rate of change of velocity. Acceleration has two characteristics: magnitude and direction.

Acquisition time — The time required for the front end of a DAQ board to capture an input signal and hold it to within a specified error band after a sample command is received.

A/D — Analog-to-digital

ADC — Analog-to-digital converter–An electronic device, often an integrated circuit that converts an analog voltage to a digital number.

Analog-to-digital (A/D) conversion — The process of converting a continuous analog signal to a digital value that represents that signal at the instant at which it was sampled.

Algorithm — A well-defined procedure that transforms one or more given input variables into one or more output variables in finite numbers of steps.

ASIC — Application-Specific Integrated Circuit–A proprietary semiconductor component designed and manufactured to perform a set of specific functions for a specific customer.

Asynchronous — (1) Hardware–A property of an event that occurs at an arbitrary time, without synchronization to a reference clock. (2) Software–A ...