Data acquisition system application software

An interesting and useful classification of steps used to assure quality of analytical data (Bansal 2004) has drawn a clear distinction between quahfication of apparatus used to obtain the data and validation of the methods developed to use the apparatus to obtain the data pertinent to a particular analytical problem. Overlaid on this distinction is another, that between tests that must be completed satisfactorily before acquisition of the desired analytical data can begin (instrument quahfication and method vah-dation) on the one hand, and those that are conducted immediately before or simultaneously with data acquisition (system suitability and quahty control checks) on the other. The original paper (Bansal 2004) represented the outcome of a workshop intended to fiU a need for a more detailed scientific approach to what was termed Analytical Instrument Quahfication (AIQ) , particularly in the context of applications in the pharmaceutical industry. Note in particular that qualification of both hardware and software plays an important role in method validation. 

The assurance of critical systems was discussed for approaches that employ formal methods and testing for applications as well as underlying software layers. In addition, a number of results that target specific domains such as military systems, safety-critical product lines and peer-to-peer control and data acquisition systems were presented. These papers provided a good introduction into the specific requirements of these domains and presented specific solutions for their domain. Furthermore, the interplay of architecture modeling and existing domain-specific safety standards was discussed in the context of automotive systems. 

Time Systems, McGraw-HiU, New York, 1985 Hawryszldewycs, Database Analysis and Design, Science Research Associates Inc., Chicago, 1984 Kham-hata, Microprocessois/Microcomputers Architecture, Software, and Systems, 2d ed.. Whey, New York, 1987 Liptak, Instrument Engineers Handbook, Chilton Book Company, Philadelphia, 1995 Melhchamp (ed.), Real-Time Computing with Applications to Data Acquisition and Control, Van Nostrand Reinhold, New York, 1983. 

Data System development is an area which has recently seen tremendous growth. Instrument vendors pay increasing attention to their software in recognition of its vital role in the commercial success of their product. Manufacturers of data acquisition hardware are likewise working to bundle their hardware with attractive software. Software houses are offering some ambitious packages for data analysis applications. 

The term computer system can define any of the following desktop systems client or of the following desktop systems client or server systems automated process control and laboratory systems host-based systems data acquisition and analysis systems and all associated software. The associated software comprises application software or firmware, system software, and computer system supporting documentation. ... 

The requirements specification deliverable must include an overview of the process in order to familiarize the application software developer with the user, process and data acquisition requirements of the system, as well as special considerations for the project. The system functionality must be well defined at the outset, in order to provide the prospective supplier/ integrator with enough information to provide a detailed and meaningful quotation. 

The FIA system consisted of TMI modules (Tecniques Mesura Instrumentacio), a five-channel peristaltic pump, an eight-channel injection valve, an eight-channel distributed valve, and a colorimeter connected to an interface and to an IBM-PC microcomputer. A specific application software, Qcontroll , was used for data acquisition, with a continuous historical trend, and a scheduled control program for sequential analysis. In a previous scheme as in Fig. 1, free enzymes were used and the whole system was calibrated for a linear range of 0.05-1.0 g of ethanol/ L of standard ethanol solutions, and the product of the reaction was passed through the colorimeter. 

Additional database space must be allocated when intermediate data points are used. A system can be designed to use process I/O points as intermediates. However, the data acquisition software must be programmed to bypass these points when scanned. All system builders provide virtual data point types if the intermediate data storage scheme is adopted. These points are not scanned by the data acquisition software. Memory space requirements are reduced by eliminating unnecessary attributes such as hardware addresses and scan frequencies. It should be noted that the fill-in-the-forms technique is applicable to all data point types. 

Laboratory systems such as Laboratory Information Management Systems (LIMS) have also come under increased regulatory scrutiny as the complexity of the software they deploy has become more advanced. Currently, there are often two LIMS tiers of control, data acquisition and data processing, often implemented by two coupled LIMS applications. The data acquisition LIMS is likely, however, to disappear in the longer term as analytical... 

A low complexity and standardized software component, the Operational System Software, comes with each processing unit and provides within an infinite single loop, the following functions hardware tests, cycle time management, data acquisition, call to application software, data output, HMI management. 

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