Standalone System Training v1.3 DAAAC 4.0 July 20071 DAAAC 4.0 Data Acquisition System Training July 2007 Chris Jerome, Ed Johnson Voss Scientific Inc

July 2007 1

Standalone System Training

v1.3DAAAC DAAAC 4.04.0DAAAC 4.0

Data Acquisition System Training

July 2007

Chris Jerome, Ed JohnsonVoss Scientific Inc.Albuquerque NM

505.256.1500www.vosssci.com

July 2007 2


v1.3DAAAC DAAAC 4.04.0What 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

July 2007 3


v1.3DAAAC DAAAC 4.04.0DAAAC Design Goals

• 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

July 2007 4


v1.3DAAAC DAAAC 4.04.0History

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

July 2007 5


v1.3DAAAC DAAAC 4.04.0Supported 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!!)

July 2007 6


v1.3DAAAC DAAAC 4.04.0Basic Architecture - Modules

• System consist of 5 executable modules: – 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

July 2007 7


v1.3DAAAC DAAAC 4.04.0Acquire 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

July 2007 8


v1.3DAAAC DAAAC 4.04.0Analyze 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

July 2007 9


v1.3DAAAC DAAAC 4.04.0Archive Module

• 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

July 2007 10


v1.3DAAAC DAAAC 4.04.0CalMan 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

July 2007 11


v1.3DAAAC DAAAC 4.04.0NetCom 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

July 2007 12


v1.3DAAAC DAAAC 4.04.0Operational Modes

• 2 Modes : Standalone, Networked

• Standalone– 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

July 2007 13


v1.3DAAAC DAAAC 4.04.0Standalone Architecture

MS Windows

DAAAC

Database

NetCom Archive

Analyze

CalMan

Acquire

MS Access

July 2007 14


v1.3DAAAC DAAAC 4.04.0Operational 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

July 2007 15


v1.3DAAAC DAAAC 4.04.0Network Architecture

Test Director Station Acquisition Station 1 Acquisition Station n

DatabaseNetcom

Analyze Analyze

...

...

CalMan

Test Director

CalMan

Acquire

CalMan

Acquire

July 2007 16


v1.3DAAAC DAAAC 4.04.0About Box

• Every module has a “Help About” dialog box with:– Version info

– Build date

– Operating mode

– Current database

– Copyright notice

– Contact information

July 2007 17


v1.3DAAAC DAAAC 4.04.0Help!

• 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

July 2007 18


v1.3DAAAC DAAAC 4.04.0Database

• The database holds all DAAAC data– Instrument settings– User settings such as descriptions, comments– Digitizer (raw) data– Processed data– Component characterization data– Inventory data– User data

July 2007 19


v1.3DAAAC DAAAC 4.04.0Database Architecture

July 2007 20


v1.3DAAAC DAAAC 4.04.0Registry

• 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.

July 2007 21


v1.3DAAAC DAAAC 4.04.0Database

• DAAAC uses a 3rd party database engine

• Database can be hosted by: – Microsoft Access (Jet engine)– MySQL– Microsoft SQL Server

July 2007 22


v1.3DAAAC DAAAC 4.04.0Standalone Database

• 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

July 2007 23


v1.3DAAAC DAAAC 4.04.0NetCom

• 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

July 2007 24


v1.3DAAAC DAAAC 4.04.0Archive

• 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

July 2007 25



• Creation of new databases – two methods– File | New– Change Database

• Transferring data between databases – two methods– Drag and Drop– Dialog based

July 2007 26



• 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

July 2007 27


v1.3DAAAC DAAAC 4.04.0Acquire

• Communicates with instruments (mostly) via industry standard interfaces such as– GPIB (IEEE 488 .1,.2, VISA)– Serial (RS-232)– VXI/MXI-2 (National Instruments)– cPCI (Acqiris), PXI (National Instruments)– Proprietary

July 2007 28



• 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

July 2007 29


v1.3DAAAC DAAAC 4.04.0Acquire - Instrument Interface

MS Windows

Instrument

Interface Card / Port

DAAAC

Physical Connection(May be

proprietary)

*manufacturer of interface card supplies Windows device driver

Computer

Device Driver*

Instrument Driver

July 2007 30


v1.3DAAAC DAAAC 4.04.0Acquire - 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

July 2007 31


v1.3DAAAC DAAAC 4.04.0Acquire - 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

July 2007 32


v1.3DAAAC DAAAC 4.04.0Acquire – Instrument Interfaces

Standard interfaces help to reduce operator confusion with multiple manufacturers & vintages, and shorten the learning curve

July 2007 33



• 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

July 2007 34



• 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

July 2007 35



• Adding and instrument cont.’d– 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

July 2007 36


v1.3DAAAC DAAAC 4.04.0Acquire - Instruments

• Supported instruments include the followingAcqiris – 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

July 2007 37


v1.3DAAAC DAAAC 4.04.0Acquire – 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

July 2007 38


v1.3DAAAC DAAAC 4.04.0Acquire - 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

July 2007 39


v1.3DAAAC DAAAC 4.04.0Acquire – 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

July 2007 40


v1.3DAAAC DAAAC 4.04.0Acquire - 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

July 2007 41


v1.3DAAAC DAAAC 4.04.0Acquire – 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

July 2007 42


v1.3DAAAC DAAAC 4.04.0Acquire – Data Grouping

• Data can be organized to make it easier to find later– A Test is a logical group of shots such as

warm-up, 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

July 2007 43


v1.3DAAAC DAAAC 4.04.0Acquire - 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

July 2007 44


v1.3DAAAC DAAAC 4.04.0Acquisition 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

July 2007 45



• 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

July 2007 46



• 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!

July 2007 47


v1.3DAAAC DAAAC 4.04.0Analyze

• Displays acquisition data, reduction data, processed data, or data retrieved from the database– Waveforms

– Tables

– Images

– Contour plots

– Overlays

• Automatic and manual printing• Manual and semi-automatic processing

July 2007 48


v1.3DAAAC DAAAC 4.04.0Analyze - Data Display

• Waveform background codeBlue – raw Green – manually processedGrey – auto-processed Yellow/Orange/Red – bad data

• Preferences selectable for– Waveforms– Overlays– Images

• Two types of preferences are supported– New object defaults– Global settings

July 2007 49


v1.3DAAAC DAAAC 4.04.0Analyze - 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

– General – acquisition related information

– Titles – main and axis titles and units

– Statistics – relevant stats and FOMs

– Display – data rendering options

July 2007 50


v1.3DAAAC DAAAC 4.04.0Analyze – Data retrieval

• Waveform data grouped by raw or processed status

• Retrieval dialog is a mini-application– Tree control for classification– Searching using multiple criteria– Viewing associated settings– Deletion, recovery– Retrieval of associated data

July 2007 51


v1.3DAAAC DAAAC 4.04.0Analyze – 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 right-click menu

• All data stored from Analyze is considered processed

• Storing a retrieved waveform always makes a new copy in the database

July 2007 52


v1.3DAAAC DAAAC 4.04.0Analyze - 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

July 2007 53


v1.3DAAAC DAAAC 4.04.0Analyze - Combining

• Allows simple arithmetic to be applied with waveform operands

1. Select first operand2. Press combine button3. Select operation4. 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

July 2007 54


v1.3DAAAC DAAAC 4.04.0Analyze - Overlays

• 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

July 2007 55


v1.3DAAAC DAAAC 4.04.0Analyze - 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

July 2007 56


v1.3DAAAC DAAAC 4.04.0Analyze – 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

July 2007 57


v1.3DAAAC DAAAC 4.04.0Analyze – 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

July 2007 58


v1.3DAAAC DAAAC 4.04.0Analyze – 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

July 2007 59


v1.3DAAAC DAAAC 4.04.0Analyze – Acquisition Config

• Analyze has very little control during the acquisition sequence

• Acquisition Configuration settings– Channel list from Acquire– Display options– Automatic overlays– Display buffer– Reduction selection

July 2007 60


v1.3DAAAC DAAAC 4.04.0Figures 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

July 2007 61


v1.3DAAAC DAAAC 4.04.0CalMan

• 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

July 2007 62


v1.3DAAAC DAAAC 4.04.0CalMan - Inventory

• Inventory items are commonly referred to as “cal-items”

• 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

July 2007 63


v1.3DAAAC DAAAC 4.04.0CalMan – 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

July 2007 64


v1.3DAAAC DAAAC 4.04.0CalMan – 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

July 2007 65


v1.3DAAAC DAAAC 4.04.0CalMan – Graph

• Node – the building blocks of the graph– 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

July 2007 66


v1.3DAAAC DAAAC 4.04.0CalMan – Creating a Graph

1. Create desired cal items2. Right-click on station node, select Insert a new cal-line

from the menu3. Select the channel from the list of available instruments

(instrument and channel nodes will be created)4. Select Inventory | Drag & Drop Inventory list from the

main menu5. 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

July 2007 67


v1.3DAAAC DAAAC 4.04.0CalMan - 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

July 2007 68


v1.3DAAAC DAAAC 4.04.0Advanced 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

July 2007 69



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.

July 2007 70



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

July 2007 71



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

July 2007 72



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!

July 2007 73



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

July 2007 74



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!

July 2007 75


v1.3DAAAC DAAAC 4.04.0Advanced 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 76



• 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

July 2007 77



• 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

July 2007 78



• 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

July 2007 79



• 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!

July 2007 80



• 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

July 2007 81



• 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

July 2007 82



• 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

July 2007 83



• Timing Grid– Allows viewing/changing all system timing

channel delays at once.– Does NOT allow non grid functions to be

accessed through grid

July 2007 84



• 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

July 2007 85



• 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

July 2007 86



• 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.

July 2007 87



• 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.

July 2007 88



• 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.

July 2007 89



• 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

July 2007 90



• 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

July 2007 91



• 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

July 2007 92



MS Windows

Instrument

Interface Card / Port

DAAAC

Physical Connection(May be

proprietary)

*manufacturer of interface card supplies Windows device driver

Computer

Device Driver*

Instrument Driver

July 2007 93



• 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

July 2007 94



• 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!

July 2007 95



• 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.

July 2007 96



• 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.

July 2007 97



• 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

July 2007 98



• 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

July 2007 99



• 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

July 2007 100



• 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

July 2007 101



• 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

July 2007 102



• 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!

July 2007 103



• 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

July 2007 104



• 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.

July 2007 105



• 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.

July 2007 106



• 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!

July 2007 107


v1.3DAAAC DAAAC 4.04.0Advanced 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 108


v1.3DAAAC DAAAC 4.04.0Advanced 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

July 2007 109


v1.3DAAAC DAAAC 4.04.0Advanced 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

July 2007 110


v1.3DAAAC DAAAC 4.04.0Advanced 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 111


v1.3DAAAC DAAAC 4.04.0Advanced 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 112



• 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

July 2007 113



• 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)

July 2007 114


v1.3DAAAC DAAAC 4.04.0Notebook

• 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)

July 2007 115


v1.3DAAAC DAAAC 4.04.0Log 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

July 2007 116


v1.3DAAAC DAAAC 4.04.0Installation – 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

July 2007 117


v1.3DAAAC DAAAC 4.04.0Installation

• 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

July 2007 118


v1.3DAAAC DAAAC 4.04.0Installation

• 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”

July 2007 119


v1.3DAAAC DAAAC 4.04.0Installation - Licensing

• New installations will not run until they are licensed1. Run License.exe from the

DAAAC directory2. Enter the serial number (written

on the CD)3. Send the site code to Voss

Scientific4. We will use the code to generate

a site key5. Enter the key and press the

License button• Licenses are machine and install

directory specific• Updates do not require re-license

July 2007 120


v1.3DAAAC DAAAC 4.04.0Glossary

• 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

July 2007 121



• 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.

July 2007 122



• 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.

July 2007 123



• 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.

July 2007 124



• 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.

July 2007 125


v1.3DAAAC DAAAC 4.04.0

• 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.

Glossary