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Chapter 4
Signal Connections
©
 National Instruments Corporation
4-9
Types of Signal Sources
When making signal connections, you must first determine whether the 
signal sources are floating or ground-referenced. The following 
sections describe these two types of signals.
Floating Signal Sources
A floating signal source is not connected in any way to the building 
ground system but, rather, has an isolated ground-reference point. Some 
examples of floating signal sources are outputs of transformers, 
thermocouples, battery-powered devices, optical isolator outputs, and 
isolation amplifiers. An instrument or device that has an isolated output 
is a floating signal source. You must tie the ground reference of a 
floating signal to the 611X E board analog input ground to establish a 
local or onboard reference for the signal. Otherwise, the measured input 
signal varies as the source floats out of the common-mode input range. 
Ground-Referenced Signal Sources
A ground-referenced signal source is connected in some way to the 
building system ground and is, therefore, already connected to a 
common ground point with respect to the 611X E board, assuming that 
the computer is plugged into the same power system. Nonisolated 
outputs of instruments and devices that plug into the building power 
system fall into this category.
The difference in ground potential between two instruments connected 
to the same building power system is typically between 1 and 100 mV 
but can be much higher if power distribution circuits are not properly 
connected. If a grounded signal source is improperly measured, this 
difference may appear as an error in the measurement. The connection 
instructions for grounded signal sources are designed to eliminate this 
ground potential difference from the measured signal.
Differential Measurements
The following sections discuss the use of differential (DIFF) 
measurements and considerations for measuring both floating and 
ground-referenced signal sources.
PCI_E.book  Page 9  Thursday, June 25, 1998  12:55 PM