A virtual instrumentation support system

A virtual instrumentation support system that permits one to run several concurrent virtual instruments has been developed. In this paper, we present a multi-tasking graphical environment (named AGMT) and two main virtual instrumentation applications-a digital oscilloscope and a digital image processor. The AGMT was designed to work in real-time and interact with sensors and actuators via data acquisition boards, and other input-output devices. The AGMT implements a preemptive and priority multi-tasking system under the DOS operating system. The AGMT allows the user to define, in run-time, the task scheduling policy of the concurrent applications. The virtual environment may be easily extended to run other typical Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition applications