Glossary
NI PCI-5911 User Manual G-2 ni.com
AC coupled the passing of a signal through a filter network that removes the 
DC component of the signal
ADC analog-to-digital converter—an electronic device, often an integrated 
circuit, that converts an analog voltage to a digital number
ADC resolution the resolution of the ADC, which is measured in bits. An ADC with16 bits 
has a higher resolution, and thus a higher degree of accuracy, than a 12-bit 
ADC.
alias a false lower frequency component that appears in sampled data acquired 
at too low a sampling rate
amplification a type of signal conditioning that improves accuracy in the resulting 
digitized signal and reduces noise
amplitude flatness a measure of how close to constant the gain of a circuit remains over a range 
of frequencies
attenuate to reduce in magnitude
Bb bit—one binary digit, either 0 or 1
B byte—eight related bits of data, an eight-bit binary number. Also used 
to denote the amount of memory required to store one byte of data.
bandwidth the range of frequencies present in a signal, or the range of frequencies to 
which a measuring device can respond
buffer temporary storage for acquired or generated data (software)
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 PCI and ISA bus.
CCCelsius
channel pin or wire lead to which you apply or from which you read the analog or 
digital signal