Featured Products
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Follow the links to more information about these featured products
16-Bit Data Acquisition
Data Acquisition Processor PC boards are intelligent. Each DAP board has its own onboard intelligence implemented as DAPL, a multitasking real-time operating system -- optimized for high-performance real-time data acquisition (DAQ) and control applications -- that runs on its own dedicated processor and takes care of all the details. The DAP 5216a/626 model adds 16-bit resolution to real-time data acquisition and control capabilities. Real-time processing functions include smoothing, filtering, FFT, PID control, and responding to alarm conditions; the DAP 5216a also can scan high-speed data for trigger events in real time to capture pre-trigger as well as post-trigger data.
FGen Software Generates FIR Filter Vectors
The DAPL operating system has built-in data acquisition commands to perform filtering. These DAPL filtering commands implement Finite Impulse Response (FIR) filters by applying vectors of coefficients, called filter vectors, to acquired data. The DAPL FIRFILTER command, in addition to WORD, supports LONG, FLOAT, and DOUBLE data types, so if your data acquisition application demands the high precision of one of these types, use FGen for Windows, version 2.1 to design your filters. It includes support for Kaiser windowing, an option for automatic DC normalization for low-pass filters, live view of filter coefficient changes, and cut/paste of filter designs.
High-Density Analog Anti-Alias Filters
To give meaningful results, most data acquisition applications require analog anti-alias filters. The Microstar Laboratories Filtered Analog Input Expansion Board, MSXB 048, addresses this need with a high-density solution at a moderate cost.
MSXB 048 provides 16 four-pole Butterworth anti-alias filters on a 100 mm x 220 mm (3.9" x 8.7") board. DAPL FIR and IIR Filtering Commands can be used after analog anti-alias filtering to implement a wide variety of filter characteristics.
MSXB 048 is compatible with Microstar Laboratories Channel Architecture products. Up to 16 MSXB 048 boards can be connected to a single DAP (Data Acquisition Processor) board system, providing up to 256 channels of filtering and input expansion.
DAPstudio Data Acquisition Application and Development Software
You now can develop and run complete PC-based data acquisition (DAQ) systems quickly and easily. DAP Measurement Studio (DAPstudio), a PC application, provides user interface features without requiring any Windows programming. DAPstudio also offers a rich development environment to create elegant and powerful data acquisition systems quickly and well: it presents you with each software tool you need at the very moment you need it, at every stage in the development process. DAPstudio lets you develop DAQ applications quickly and easily, using the full DAPL command set.
Features include...
- Graphically configure input and output hardware.
- Select and number sub-ranges of channels for rapid channel configuration.
- Use DAPstudio to design advanced applications using onboard processing.
- Interactively design filters that run on your DAP board.
- Advanced paste/increment/copy command for rapidly generating DAPL processing for large numbers of channels. Try out the auto-increment feature.
Start your test and measurement application quickly and increase productivity!
Real-Time Data Acquisition Processor Board
The DAP 5200a/626 model is a top-of-the-line PCI Data Acquisition Processor board optimized for real-time data acquisition (DAQ) and control. Real-time processing functions include smoothing, filtering, FFT, PID control, and responding to alarm conditions; the DAP 5200a also can scan high-speed data for trigger events in real time to capture pre-trigger as well as post-trigger data.
The 14-bit resolution DAP 5200a/626 has an onboard processor that the user controls from any Windows system that contains the board. A user also can exercise control remotely from any other Windows system on the same network.
DAPL IIR Filter Module
Microstar Laboratories, Inc. offers an IIR filter module: an onboard digital implementation of the five classic filter types: Bessel, Butterworth, Chebyshev, Inverse Chebyshev, and Elliptic. The product, DAPL IFM (IIR Filter Module), forms an optional additional command module to DAPL 2000: a 32-bit multitasking real-time operating system that runs on every Data Acquisition Processor (DAP) board. DAPL is optimized for data acquisition (DAQ) and control applications. The DAPL IFM command module extends the range of DAPL 2000 by giving a user a simple means to specify onboard IIR filters that run in real time and continuously filter the sampled data stream.
Complete Signal Conditioning System for Data Acquisition – the SCS
Microstar Laboratories offers a sensor signal-conditioning system, the SCS, that complements the iDSC 1816 board -- a data acquisition board with built-in anti-aliasing filters -- to provide a continuous path in a single package: starting with raw measurements at the sensor and ending with conditioned anti-aliased data logged to disk on a PC. This solution combines high-performance data acquisition (DAQ), anti-aliasing, and signal conditioning in a single convenient package at low cost per channel. The 32-channel option is shown at right.
DAPL - A Multitasking Real-Time Operating System for Data Acquisition
Every Data Acquisition Processor (DAP) board has its own processor and memory, and every DAP has onboard intelligence implemented as DAPL, a multitasking real-time operating system that runs right on the board. DAPL is optimized for data acquisition and control applications. The DAPL system supports a broad range of hardware, timing, and processing configurations, and provides a library of built-in processing functions for data selection, conversion, and online analysis tasks. A data acquisition (DAQ) system can have a user interface configured in industry-standard software, or it can have a custom interface developed in any Windows application that supports DLL calls.
Ask us what DAPL can do for you.
DAP 840 - Onboard Intelligence for Real-Time Processing
The DAP 840 has all of the features needed for an entry-level data acquisition or control application with light real-time processing, and provides all of the benefits of onboard intelligence. Contact us to find out how real-time processing can benefit your application.
DAPcell Software
Microstar Laboratories DAPcell software provides high-speed network access for data acquisition and control, plus an integrated high-speed disk logging service. A DAPcell server controls one or more Data Acquisition Processor (DAP) boards on a PC and provides easily accessed data acquisition services to other PC software. This other software can run on the same PC or on a networked PC that has DAPcell client software installed. Benchmarks of the integrated service show that a single server can acquire and log data to disk at a sustained rate of 4.9M samples/sec. A client PC anywhere on the network can request this service from several (optionally synchronized) servers for aggregate logging rates of more than 50M samples/sec.
DAP 5400a/627 - Simultaneous Sampling at 2M Samples per Second per Channel
The DAP 5400a/627 offers up to 16 channels per board and can acquire 14-bit data at
- 2M samples per second on each of 4 channels
- 1.25M samples per second on each of 8 channels
- 625k samples per second on each of 16 channels
Multiple synchronized DAP 5400a boards support applications that require more than four simultaneous channels at 2M samples per second per channel, or more than eight at 1.25M samples per second, and so on.
Filter Application Requires No Programming
DSCview for Linux, a ready-to-run application, allows immediate and easy access to the iDSC 1816 -- a specialized DAP board with onboard first-stage analog filters followed by user-configured digital filtering. DSCview for Linux requires no programming. It provides a graphical interface that lets you
- design and configure filters
- perform signal conditioning
- view a graph of acquired data
- log data to a text or binary file
A Windows version is also available.
DAPserver PC-Based Test Products
The DAPserver 200 combines a 5-slot PCI backplane and a 10-slot card cage for 3U-format Eurocards in an industrial-grade chassis. With Linux or Windows and DAPcell Network Server software preloaded to run on an SBC in one of the PCI slots, a DAPserver can hold up to four DAP boards and up to 10 Microstar Laboratories Eurocards, and then can provide data acquisition and control services to one or more client computers on the network. Users with computers on the network running DAPcell client software and industry-standard or custom data acquisition software can select any DAP board as easily as they select a printer.
Simultaneous Sampling
Simultaneous Sampling Boards are used in multichannel spectral analysis and other applications that require simultaneous acquisition of several channels. The MSXB 028 usually is used for applications that require interchannel phase measurements such as applications that perform transfer function computations. This board eliminates phase error introduced by sequential sampling.
If you need 16-bit simultaneous sampling, take a look at the iDSC 1816.
Data Acquisition with Anti-Aliasing
The iDSC 1816 is a specialized PCI DAP board with 16-bit resolution and 1.2M samples/sec throughput for Windows systems. The board applies 8 onboard first-stage analog filters to its 8 simultaneous inputs, followed by digital filtering on two DSP chips, and this provides 96dB (sixteenth bit) stopband rejection within one quarter-octave. Performance like this really matters in sonar and in other spectral analysis applications: monitoring vibrating and rotating assemblies in the automotive, aerospace, and power generation industries, for example.
For an example of one application using the iDSC 1816, see Acoustic Imaging.
Counter/Timer Board
The MSXB 036 Counter/Timer board is used for frequency counting, rotational speed (tachometer) measurement, and closed loop process control based on frequency criteria. Engine performance monitoring is a typical application.
The Counter/Timer board provides 16 digital input lines and 16 digital output lines, counts up to 6 MHz on 10 channels, and has two 100 MHz frequency prescalers.
Intelligent Data Acquisition
Data Acquisition Processor PC boards are intelligent. Each DAP board has its own onboard intelligence implemented as DAPL, a multitasking real-time operating system -- optimized for high-performance real-time data acquisition and control applications -- that runs on its own dedicated processor and takes care of all the details.
Use the DAP 4000a series boards in applications that require light-to-moderate real-time processing. These boards sample analog inputs at up to 800k samples per second and sample or update the digital section at up to 800k values per second. For high-channel count applications, choose the DAP 4000a/212 option.
Measure Quadrature-Encoded Signals
The MSXB 050 Quadrature Decoder Board allows a Data Acquisition Processor to read quadrature-encoded signals through its digital port. Quadrature-encoded signals are often used to measure the angular velocity and angular position of wheels, gears, and motors.
The Quadrature Decoder Board has four input channels. Each channel can measure quadrature-encoded signals with frequencies up to 1 MHz. The board has a counter resolution of 16 bits, and can be extended to 32 bits with software. Up to six Quadrature Decoder Boards can be used in a system for a total of 24 channels.