Virtual instruments based on reconfigurable logic

Abstract

A virtual instrument results from the combination of a general purpose computer with a generic data acquisition system in order to emulate a traditional measurement instrument. The data acquisition hardware of the virtual instruments provides computers with input/output capability and is usually based on the integration of standard circuits with fixed architecture. Meanwhile the software defines the analysis and processing of the acquired data that is the function of the generated virtual instrument. As a consequence, the virtual instruments are characterized by their versatility and low cost but they lack of performance of the application oriented hardware architectures. In this paper, we present a virtual instrument system based on reconfigurable hardware that improves the features of virtual instruments preserving their versatility and low cost.