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   Dynamic Measurements, Inc.

                                   MATLAB® based Data Acquisition Software for VXI Hardware
 

Acq_Mat1564 GUI

 

Acq-Mat1564 is a user-friendly application software package that controls VTI Instruments' VT1564A (ADC's) VXI hardware modules as well as existing HP & Agilent  E1564A VXI modules.  Acq_Mat is built on top of Mathwork's MATLAB® so further data processing and custom graphics can be readily accomplished. 

To provide some insight into the Acq_Mat1564 measurement solution, the following will briefly introduce parts of the user interface.  The Acq_Mat main Graphical User Interface (GUI) provides a home base to control all aspects of the measurement system.

Acq_Mat1564 GUI 1

 

Hardware Config 1

 

By clicking the H/W Config pushbutton, another popup window appears allowing the user to determine what VXI hardware is connected to the system.  By clicking Get H/W List,  Acq_Mat1564 will automatically find all VT1564 modules within the mainframe.  

 

 

Hardware Config GUI 2

 

In this example, only one VT1564A module was found.  Its VXI  address is 11 and it contains 4 MB of RAM (128MB possible).

When one is finished with this Hardware Configuration GUI, simple click on Done to clear the screen.

 

 

 

 

 

 

File Operations 1

 

Clicking the main Acq_Mat1564 GUI's File pushbutton brings up the window wherein a Project Directory can be created.  By doing so, all measurement data and measurement states can be stored in a common directory.   This GUI is also where one selects the name for any Data files or State files and actually perform the saving function.  Acq_Mat1564 also has a feature that allows Data to be automatically saved at the end of each measurement.   This GUI is also where you can optimize the way Acq_Mat1564 utilizes the host screen resolution by setting the Monitor Resolution to match the current host's capability.

Checks are made to prevent over writing existing files.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Time Meas Parameters 1Within the Time Meas Parameters GUI, the global sampling period Sample Period - Sec is set.  Block Sizes for all channels can be chosen from 1 to 4 MB. 

The # of Block Scans parameter determines the number of blocks of data that are obtained from all channels.    From the File GUI invoked from the main Acq_Mat GUI (not shown here) you can also set Auto Save to Yes, allowing the data to automatically be saved with an incrementing file name strategy.  That way, no time is lost in-between measurements when manually saving the data. The File GUI also allows one to save and recall measurement States and set the screen resolution of the monitor to optimize the screen real-estate.

The data is saved in standard MATLAB® multi-dimensional structures. 

Any change to the Span, Block Size & # Scans will update the bottom three parameters (Sampling Frequency, Block Time - Seconds & Total Scan Time) in the GUI to remind you of the measurement parameters. 

For maximum throughput performance to Host RAM, you can choose to turn off the data displays while the measurement is acquiring data.  Displaying the data while the measurement is running will slow the data transfer to host RAM.

 

 

 

 

Once the measurement parameters are set, clicking on Setup Inputs in the main GUI allows the input channels to be configured.

 

Input Setup Parameters

 

In this example, only a single VT1564 module was found and the Set Input Parameters GUI shows the four channels available to the measurement.

 

To change the Range of an individual channel, click on the channel number row (or use the Change Chan # entry) and then select from the pop-up window an appropriate range value (256, 64, 16, 4, 1, 0.25 & .0625) .  Now, if you want to globally set all the channels to this range value, click on the Range pushbutton (above the range value column).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Setup Setup Parameters 2

 

In this view of Setup Input Parameters, the filter for all channels has been set to 1500 Hz and the Triggering has been set to Channel 1 with a rising value (positive slope).  The trigger level is set to a negative 2 volts.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Meas Control 1

 

To actually start a measurement once the parameters are set, click on Meas Control in the main Acq_Mat1564 GUI.  Then simply click on meas_control's  start button.  

If you decide the measurement isn't going as expected, simply click on the Abort button.  Clicking on Fast, No Abort before the measurement starts will allow the data to be accumulated at the fastest rate, but you can't stop the measurement.

A measurement Status box in the top of the meas_control GUI gives the current status of the hardware as the measurement proceeds.  

 

 

 

 

 

Time Plot 1

 

Above is a sample 4 trace plot which updates during the measurement.  The on-line Display GUI allows one to chose 2, 4, 8 or 16 traces.   Here we are looking at the Time Traces where a 1kHz Square Wave (in Channels 1 & 3) has been filtered by the 1500 Hz filter in the module.

 

Post Plot GUI

 

One can recall any saved data by pressing the Post Plot  button in the main Acq_Mat1564 GUI.  The GUI at left appears which allows one to look in any project directory and by clicking on the Recall Data button, a pop-up list of the data files names in that project directory will appear.  Double clicking on any file name fills in the Data Stats box.

 

 

Multi-Trace GUI

 

Clicking the Multi Plot button brings up the Multiple Trace Plot GUI whereby one chooses the number of traces and the data group along with the plotting formats available. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

2 Channel Plot

In the plot above, the number of traces has been reduced to 2 and Display Group 1 (channels 1 & 2) was chosen. 

Dual cursors are automatically displayed after a measurement is completed

 

If you have specific questions, send your inquiry to info@dynamic-measurements.com