Digital computer based data acquisition and control software packages

The hardware and software characteristics of current-generation digital data acquisition and control packages are presented. The history of digital-computer-based control from the IBM 1710 and GE PAC 4060 is reviewed, and the increasingly unique nature of the associated hardware platforms is noted. In recent years, this hardware evolution has been reversed as the general-purpose super microcomputer adapts to the special needs of data acquisition and control applications with speeds exceeding 6 MIPS. The hardware organization of modern super microcomputers is presented, along with performance benchmarks. Operating systems for such machines are discussed, and a number of poplar data acquisition and control packages for microcomputers are detailed. It is concluded that the variety and diversity of data acquisition and control software will continue to grow, while an increasing proportion of such programs will be designed for the POSIX (`Unix´) environment. Standardization of POSIX will likely lead to the standardization of more specific, real-time operating systems to host another generation of data acquisition and control packages