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Introduction to Measurement Analysis in LabVIEW

Digital signals are everywhere in the world around us. Telephone companies use digital signals to represent the human voice. Radio, TV, and hi-fi sound systems are all gradually converting to the digital domain because of its superior fidelity, noise reduction, and signal processing flexibility. Data is transmitted from satellites to earth ground stations

in digital form. NASA’s pictures of distant planets and outer space are often processed digitally to remove noise and extract useful information. Economic data, census results, and stock market prices are all available in digital form. Because of the many advantages of digital signal processing, analog signals are also converted to digital form before they are processed with a computer.

This chapter provides a background in basic digital signal processing and an introduction to the LabVIEW Measurement Analysis VIs.

The Importance of Data Analysis

The importance of integrating analysis libraries into engineering stations is that the raw data, as shown Figure 11-1, does not always immediately convey useful information. Often you must transform the signal, remove noise disturbances, correct for data corrupted by faulty equipment, or compensate for environmental effects, such as temperature and humidity.

Figure 11-1. Raw Data