Data Acquisition and Transmission
Chapter 5
Analog and Digital Communication
Transmission Schemes
Fiber Optics
Satellite
Bluetooth Devices
Data Acquisition System
• A data acquisition system consists of many components that are integrated to:
Sense physical variables (use of transducers)
Condition the electrical signal to make it readable by an A/D board
Convert the signal into a digital format acceptable by a computer
Process, analyze, store, and display the acquired data with the help of software
Data Loggers
• Data logger automatically makes a record of the readings of instruments located
at different parts of plant.
• Data logger measures and record data effortlessly as quickly, as often, and as
accurately as desired.
• These devices measure electrical output from transducer, give plant performance
computation, logic analysis of alarm conditions, passes information (reading) to
computer for further processing etc.
• So they are used in power generation plant, petro-chemical installations, real
time processing plants etc.
Characteristics of Data Logger
a) Modularity
b) Reliability
c) Accuracy
d) Management Tool
e) Easy to Use
Application of Data Logger
a) Weather station recording e.g. wind speed, wind direction, temperature, relative
humidity
b) Hydrographic recording e.g. water level, depth, water flow, PH, conductivity
c) Soil moisture level
d) Gas pressure
e) Environmental Monitoring
Basic Operation of Data Logger
• Input Signals may be
o Pressure, transducers
o Thermocouple
o AC signal
o Signals from relay, switch
o Tachometer pulses etc.
• Input Scanner
It is an automatic sequence switch which selects each signal in turn. Modern
scanner have input scanner which can scan at a rate of 150 inputs per second.
Characteristics of input scanner may be:
o Low closed resistance
o High open circuit resistance
o Negligible interaction between switch, enter going signal and input signal
o Short operating time
o Long operation life
• Signal Amplifier & Conditioner
Amplifier for gain adjustment i.e. low level signal amplified up to 5v output.
Characteristics are:
o Precise and stable DC gain
o High SNR
o High CMMR
o Low DC drift
o Low output impedance
o High input impedance
o Good linearity
o Wide bandwidth
Conditioner for scaling linear transducer or correcting curvature of non linear transducer
i.e. signal is changed to more linear from and suitable for digital analysis.
Characteristics are:
o Linear scale
o Correcting the curvature of non linear transducer
o It may include sample and hold circuit
• A/D Converter
Converts analog sample into digital data.
Characteristics are:
o Resolution
o Accuracy
o Conversion time
o Full scale output voltage
o Linearity
• Recorder
Output from data logger may be recorded in any of following:
o Typewriter, strip printer, digital tape recorder, punched tape, computer (hard
drive), magnetic tape etc.
Characteristics are:
o Speed
o Memory
o Writing technique (Serial / Parallel)
• Programmer
Control all units of data conversion and operation
Microcontroller or microprocessor based system
Basic units: main frames, front panel assembly, power supply unit, scanner
controller, input interface etc.
Operation performed by programmer:
o Set amplifier
o Set linearity factor Set high and low alarm value
o Start A/D conversion
o Record reading channel
o Identify channel and time of recording
o Display recording
Compact Data Logger
• A typical data logger unit provides 60 channels of data in a 20x40x60 cm box weighing about 20 Kg.
Most manufacturers offer local or remote add-on scanners to expand about 100 channels.
• Scan rates are modest (1-20) channels per second
• The signal processing capability is limited to simple functions such as (mx+b) scaling time averaging of
single channels, group averaging of several channels and alarm signalling when preset limits are
exceeded.
• Most units do allow interfacing to computers where versatile processing is possible
• This class of data logger utilise a built in microprocessor to control the interval of operation and
carryout calculations through a single amplifier – A/D converter, which is automatically ranged in gain
switched under program control.
• Multiplexers are available in both general purpose (two wire) and low level (two original wire plus
shield) versions.
• Millivolt level signals, such as from thermocouples, generally use a shielded, twisted pair of conductors.
• Electro-mechanical read switches are used frequently in such scanners since speed requirements are
modest but low noise is important.
• The microprocessor also stores the equation which curve-fit the thermocouple table for each.
• The system amplifier and A/D converter is the crucial element for several system accuracy.
• The microprocessor sets the amplifier gains at a proper value as each channel is sampled.
• The A/D converter are often of dual slope type or voltage to frequency converter type as the speed is
modest with noise rejections
• Readout obtained by means of a built in digital indicator and two colour printers whose format is
selected by front panel programming.
Data Archiving and Storage
Data Archiving
• Data archiving is the process of moving data that is no longer actively used to a
separate data storage device for long-term retention, but can be readily accessed
if required. Data archives consist of older data that is still important and
necessary for future reference, as well as data that must be retained for
regulatory compliance. Referential integrity should be maintained.
• Data archives are indexed and have search capabilities so that files and parts of
files can be easily located and retrieved.
• Data archives are often confused with data backups, which are copies of data.
Data backups are used to restore data in case it is corrupted or destroyed. In
contrast, data archives protect older information that is not needed for everyday
operations but may occasionally need to be accessed.
Data Storage
Storage Factors:
• Speed with which data can be accessed
• Cost per unit of data
• Reliability
o data loss on power failure or system crash
o physical failure of the storage device
Can differentiate storage into:
o volatile storage: loses contents when power is switched off
o non-volatile storage:
Contents persist even when power is switched off.
Includes secondary and tertiary storage, as well as batter-backed up
main memory.
Physical Storage Types:
• Primary storage: Fastest media but volatile (cache, main memory – RAM and
ROM).
• Secondary storage: Non-volatile, moderately fast access time
o also called on-line storage
o E.g. flash memory, magnetic disks
• Tertiary storage: Non-volatile, slow access time which involves a robotic
mechanism that will mount and dismount removable mass storage media into a
storage device according to the system demands.
o also called off-line storage
o E.g. Tape libraries, optical jukebox etc.
Data Compression
• Process of encoding information using fewer bits than an un-encoded
representation would use, through specific encoding schemes.
• Reduce consumption of expensive resources such as hard drive and transmission
bandwidth.
• Trade-off between compression speed, compressed data size and quality (loss)
