The role of virtual instruments in sensor software development

On the whole, programs for intelligent sensor systems are comparatively straightforward. The principal difficulty is keeping a model of the state of the system at any stage of the program. This is particularly true if the principal of analogue subsystem reconfigurability is used to implement self-test and autocalibration. A typical analogue chip might have 2¹⁶ different switch states, many of which are forbidden for various reasons. Another aspect is that signal levels are very important in the analogue sections. It is shown that a graphical user interface (GUI) based on virtual instrumentation techniques can prove an invaluable aid to dealing with these complexities. The mnemonic value of a live system diagram is enhanced by the availability of filter software that traps illegal switch operations. Further windows are added to aid the static and dynamic monitoring of signal flow