Virtual instrument software architecture: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 16:30, 15 February 2011

Revision as of 06:42, 18 February 2011

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The VISA standard<ref name="VISA Specification">{{cite news |url=http://www.ivifoundation.org/specifications/default.aspx

|publisher=IVI Foundation |title=VISA Specification}}</ref> includes specifications for communication with resources (usually, but not always, instruments) over T&M(Test and Measurement)-specific I/O interfaces such as [[GPIB]] and [[VXI|VXI.]] There are also some specifications for T&M-specific [[Protocol (computing)|protocols]] over PC-standard I/O, such as VXI-11 (over [[TCPIP|TCP/IP]] ) and USBTMC<ref name="USB Test & Measurement Class Specification">{{cite news |url=http://www.usb.org/developers/devclass_docs

|publisher=USB Implementers Forum Inc. |title=USB Test & Measurement Class Specification}}</ref> (over [[USB]]).

The VISA library has standardized the presentation of its operations over several software reuse mechanisms, including through a C [[Application programming interface|API]] exposed from Windows [[Library (computer science)#Dynamic linking|DLL]], visa32.dll and over the Microsoft [[Component Object Model|COM]] technology. Although there are several VISA vendors and implementations, applications written against VISA are (nominally) vendor-interchangeable thanks to the standardization of VISA's presentation and operations/capabilities. Implementations from specific vendors are also available for less common programming languages and software reuse technologies.

==History==

VISA was originally standardized through the VXIplug&play Alliance, a now-defunct T&M standards body. The current standard, "VISA Specification 5.0", is maintained by the [http://www.ivifoundation.org IVI Foundation].

==External references==