Glossary
NI 781xR User Manual G-2 © National Instruments Corporation
CMRR Common-mode rejection ratio—A measure of an instrument’s ability to 
reject interference from a common-mode signal, usually expressed in 
decibels (dB).
common-mode 
voltage
Any voltage present at the instrumentation amplifier inputs with respect to 
amplifier ground.
CompactPCI Refers to the core specification defined by the PCI Industrial Computer 
Manufacturer’s Group (PICMG).
DD/A Digital-to-analog.
DAC Digital-to-analog converter—An electronic device, often an integrated 
circuit, that converts a digital number into a corresponding analog voltage 
or current.
DAQ Data acquisition—A system that uses the computer to collect, receive, and 
generate electrical signals.
dB Decibel—The unit for expressing a logarithmic measure of the ratio of 
twosignal  levels: dB = 20log10 V1/V2, for signals in volts.
DC Direct current.
DGND Digital ground signal.
DIFF Differential mode.
DIO Digital input/output.
DIO<i> Digital input/output channel signal.
DMA Direct memory access—A method by which data can be transferred 
to/from computer memory from/to a device or memory on the bus while the 
processor does something else. DMA is the fastest method of transferring 
data to/from computer memory.
DNL Differential nonlinearity—A measure in LSB of the worst-case deviation of 
code widths from their ideal value of 1 LSB.
DO Digital output.