Glossary
© National Instruments Corporation G-5 NI 781xR User Manual
P
PCI Peripheral Component Interconnect—A high-performance expansion bus
architecture originally developed by Intel to replace ISA and EISA. It is
achieving widespread acceptance as a standard for PCs and workstations.
PCI offers a theoretical maximum transfer rate of 132 MB/s.
port (1) A communications connection on a computer or a remote controller.
(2) A digital port, consisting of four or eight lines of digital input and/or
output.
ppm Parts per million.
pu Pull-up.
PWM Pulse-width modulation.
PXI PCI eXtensions for Instrumentation—An open specification that builds off
the CompactPCI specification by adding instrumentation-specific features.
R
RAM Random-access memory—The generic term for the read/write memory that
is used in computers. RAM allows bits and bytes to be written to it as well
as read from. Various types of RAM are DRAM, EDO RAM, SRAM, and
VRAM.
resolution The smallest signal increment that can be detected by a measurement
system. Resolution can be expressed in bits, in proportions, or in percent
offull scale. For example, a system has 12-bit resolution, one part in
4,096 resolution, and 0.0244% of full scale.
RIO Reconfigurable I/O.
rms Root mean square.
RSE Referenced single-ended mode—All measurements are made with respect
to a common reference measurement system or a ground. Also called a
grounded measurement system.