Digital I/O Fundamentals - National Instruments http://www.ni.

com/white-paper/3405/en/

Digital I/O Fundamentals

Publish Date: ago 02, 2017

Overview
As part of the National Instruments Measurement Fundamentals Series (http://zone.ni.com/devzone/cda/tut/p/id/4523), this set
of tutorials helps you learn about a specific common measurement application topic through theory explanations and practical
examples.

What You Learn

A wide range of systems and applications incorporate digital devices and signals, so advancing your digital fundamental
knowledge is important for mastering many of today's test and automation applications. This set of tutorials provides you with
essential information about the nature of digital signals, digtial measurements, and the devices used to generate, analyze, and
control these signals.

Visit the Test System Development Resource Library (http://www.ni.com/automatedtest/) to learn how to incorporate these
measurements into an automated test system.

Table of Contents
1. Fundamentals of Digital I/O
2. Common Terminology and Definitions for Digital I/O
3. Examples of Digital I/O Applications
4. Choosing the Correct NI Digital I/O Device for Test, Control, and Design

1. Fundamentals of Digital I/O

Voltage Levels (http://zone.ni.com/devzone/cda/tut/p/id/3407) are what define how a device determines a valid lo
gic state (logic high level or logic low level). Learn more » (http://zone.ni.com/devzone/cda/tut/p/id/3407)

Logic Families (Single-Ended versus Differential) (http://zone.ni.com/devzone/cda/tut/p/id/3406) are groups of

logic circuits with standardized voltage levels that constitute a voltage high or low level. All circuits within a logic fa
mily are compatible with other circuits within that family because they share the same characteristics.
Learn more » (http://zone.ni.com/devzone/cda/tut/p/id/3406)

Clocked Digital I/O Generation, Acquisition, and Compare (http://zone.ni.com/devzone/cda/tut/p/id/3094) are

digital operations where binary data is sent or received from a digital device to a device under test (DUT) across
multiple pins/channels.
Learn more » (http://zone.ni.com/devzone/cda/tut/p/id/3094)

Termination (http://zone.ni.com/devzone/cda/tut/p/id/3854) is an important principle to understand when designin

g high-speed digital so that you can maximize signal quality and minimize the effects of signal reflections. Learn
more » (http://zone.ni.com/devzone/cda/tut/p/id/3854)

Industrial Digital I/O Features (http://zone.ni.com/devzone/cda/tut/p/id/4696) include isolation, higher voltage lev
els, programmable power-up states, change-of-state detection, watchdog timers, and industrial certifications. Lear
n more » (http://zone.ni.com/devzone/cda/tut/p/id/4696)

2. Common Terminology and Definitions for Digital I/O

Digital Definitions
Jitter (http://zone.ni.com/devzone/cda/tut/p/id/3103)
Skew (http://zone.ni.com/devzone/cda/tut/p/id/3103)
Rise time and fall time (http://zone.ni.com/devzone/cda/tut/p/id/3103)
Overshoot and undershoot (http://zone.ni.com/devzone/cda/tut/p/id/3103)
Settling time (http://zone.ni.com/devzone/cda/tut/p/id/3103)
Hysteresis (http://zone.ni.com/devzone/cda/tut/p/id/3103)
Duty cycle (http://zone.ni.com/devzone/cda/tut/p/id/3103)

Digital Concepts
Double Data Rate (DDR) (http://zone.ni.com/devzone/cda/tut/p/id/3375)
Eye Diagram Analysis (http://zone.ni.com/devzone/cda/tut/p/id/3299)
Benefits of deep onboard memory (http://zone.ni.com/devzone/cda/tut/p/id/4273)
3. Examples of Digital I/O Applications
Device Verification/Characterization
Logic Analyzer (http://zone.ni.com/devzone/cda/tut/p/id/4695)

Functional Test Applications

Voltage measurements with a digital device (http://zone.ni.com/devzone/cda/tut
/p/id/3292)
Open and shorts (http://zone.ni.com/devzone/cda/tut/p/id/3292)
Stuck-at-fault tests (http://zone.ni.com/devzone/cda/tut/p/id/3292)
Diode testing (http://zone.ni.com/devzone/cda/tut/p/id/4264)

Interfacing with Digital Devices

Digital protocols (JTAG, I2C, and SPI) (http://zone.ni.com/devzone/cda/tut/p/id/3671)
Interfacing with ECL devices (http://zone.ni.com/devzone/cda/tut/p/id/3525)
Interfacing with LVDS devices (http://zone.ni.com/devzone/cda/tut/p/id/4441)

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Digital I/O Fundamentals - National Instruments http://www.ni.com/white-paper/3405/en/

Customizing Digital Communication Interfaces (http://zone.ni.com/devzone/cda/tut/p/id/5385)

Industrial Applications
Using a Magnetic Encoder for Anti-Lock Braking (http://zone.ni.com/devzone/cda/tut
/p/id/4489)

4. Choosing the Correct NI Digital I/O Device for Test, Control, and Design
(http://www.ni.com/digitalio/)National Instruments provides a wide
range of digital I/O (DIO) products with different speed, voltage, and
timing options to meet the digital needs of your test, control, and
design applications. Check out the resources below to determine
which product line offers the ideal feature set for your application.
Digital I/O for Test, Control, and Design (http://zone.ni.com/devzone/cda/tut/p/id/6311)
Digital waveform generator/analyzers (high-speed digital I/O) (http://www.ni.com/highspeeddigitalio/)
Industrial digital I/O (http://sine.ni.com/nips/cds/view/p/lang/en/nid/1102)
Reconfigurable digital I/O (http://sine.ni.com/nips/cds/view/p/lang/en/nid/13897)
Counter/Timer I/O (http://sine.ni.com/nips/cds/view/p/lang/en/nid/4529)

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