Real-Time Data Display

Abstract

RT-Display is a MATLAB-based data acquisition environment designed to use a variety of commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) hardware to digitize analog signals to a standard data format usable by other post-acquisition data analysis tools. This software presents the acquired data in real time using a variety of signal-processing algorithms. The acquired data is stored in a standard Operator Interactive Signal Processing Software (OISPS) data-formatted file. RT-Display is primarily configured to use the Agilent VXI (or equivalent) data acquisition boards used in such systems as MIDDAS (Multi-channel Integrated Dynamic Data Acquisition System). The software is generalized and deployable in almost any testing environment, without limitations or proprietary configuration for a specific test program or project. With the Agilent hardware configured and in place, users can start the program and, in one step, immediately begin digitizing multiple channels of data. Once the acquisition is completed, data is converted into a common binary format that also can be translated to specific formats used by external analysis software, such as OISPS and PC-Signal (product of AI Signal Research Inc.). RT-Display at the time of this reporting was certified on Agilent hardware capable of acquisition up to 196,608 samples per second. Data signals are presented to the user on-screen simultaneously for 16 channels. Each channel can be viewed individually, with a maximum capability of 160 signal channels (depending on hardware configuration). Current signal presentations include: time data, fast Fourier transforms (FFT), and power spectral density plots (PSD). Additional processing algorithms can be easily incorporated into this environment.