© National Instruments Corporation G-1 HSE Linking Device and NI-FBUS Software
Glossary

A

Alarm A notification the NI-FBUS Communications Manager software
sends when it detects that a block leaves or returns to a particular
state.
API See Application Programmer Interface.
Application Function blocks.
Application Programmer
Interface
A message format that an application uses to communicate with
another entity that provides services to it.
Asynchronous Communication that occurs at times that are not predetermined.

B

Bank The combination of one FieldPoint network module and one or more
terminal bases and I/O modules.
Basic device A device that can communicate on the Fieldbus, but cannot become
the LAS.
Block A logical software unit that makes up one named copy of a block and
the associated parameters its block type specifies. The values of the
parameters persist from one invocation of the block to the next. It can
be a resource block, transducer block, or function block residing
within a virtual field device.
Bus The group of conductors that interconnect individual circuitry in a
computer. Typically, a bus is the expansion vehicle to which I/O or
other devices are connected. Examples of PC buses are the ISA and
PCI buses.
Bus scheduler See Link Active Scheduler.