Low Latency

"Latency" is the time delay between receiving input data and responding to that data. Guaranteed low latency is critical in real-time systems. NetAcquire systems use a real-time operating system and specially designed applications software to achieve very low latency.

Low-latency allows:

• closed-loop control algorithms such as PIDs that respond in a fraction of a millisecond

• rapid response when scanning for safety limit violations or emergency shutdown conditions

• immediate network communication to other computers without buffering delays.

With the NetAcquire Data Flow option, advanced low latency processing can be configured without programming.

Windows and UNIX Are Not Real-Time

Desktop operating systems such as Windows and UNIX are not designed for low latency. Without real-time support built into the operating system kernel, there is no way to guarantee that processor cycles are always available when needed for real-time processing.  

NetAcquire systems conveniently put real-time processing on the NetAcquire processor, and other non-real-time processing like data display on the desktop processor. This architecture combines the best of both worlds: low-latency performance with the convenience of a desktop environment.

Extension Architecture

Low-latency processing often involves specialized event scanning or control algorithms. User-supplied functions are easily installed into NetAcquire systems with the NetAcquire Extension Toolkit. User-supplied software automatically utilizes the NetAcquire real-time operating system to operate in low-latency mode with fast task switching. 

High Throughput

Low latency performance is different from high throughput data processing, and NetAcquire systems offer both.

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