One Channel group refers to the logical or hardware-based grouping of multiple measurement or software channels within a measurement data acquisition system. Grouping allows measurement channels to be clearly organized, configured together, and efficiently analyzed. Channel groups play a particularly important role in complex measurement tasks involving many sensors and measurement points.
Depending on the measurement system, the term Channel group have different meanings.
Software Channel Groups
In modern measurement data acquisition systems, channels are often divided into Software Channel Groups or grouped into folders. These are used solely to organize the measurement channels in a structured manner and facilitate project management.
For example, channels can be grouped by plant areas, machines, measurement variables, or projects:
- Temperatures
- Press
- Flow measurements
- Energy data
- Vibration Measurements
- Test Stand 1 or Test Stand 2
Channel grouping improves the clarity of large measurement projects and simplifies configuration, visualization, and data analysis.
Channel Groups with Multiplexers
Another meaning refers to several physical measurement channels, which have a Multiplexer (MUX) are connected to one another.
A multiplexer cycles through the individual input channels and connects each one only one channel at a time with the downstream measurement electronics or the analog-to-digital converter. This allows multiple sensors to be operated using a single set of measurement hardware.
This method reduces hardware requirements and is particularly well-suited for applications with many measurement points where fully parallel data acquisition is not required.
How a Multiplexer Works
A multiplexer operates using the time-division multiplexing method:
- The first measurement channel is connected to the measuring device.
- The signal is captured and digitized.
- The system will then automatically switch to the next channel.
- This process repeats continuously for all channels in the channel group.
Due to the high switching speed, the measurement appears to occur almost simultaneously in many applications; however, the channels are actually sampled one after the other.
Typical Applications
Channel groups are used in numerous areas of industrial measurement technology, for example for:
- Temperature Measurements Using Multiple Sensors
- Environmental and Climate Measurements
- Test stands
- Energy and Process Measurement Technology
- Long-term measurements
- Machine and Equipment Monitoring
- Research and development
Channel groups provide a clear structure and enable efficient management of measurement data, especially for large-scale measurement projects involving several dozen or hundreds of measurement points.
Channel Groups in Delphin Measurement Technology
The measurement data acquisition systems from Delphin Technology They support both the logical organization of measurement channels and the efficient acquisition of large numbers of channels. Measurement channels can be clearly organized into groups, configured together, and conveniently visualized.
Depending on the measurement system used, different types of sensors—such as temperature, pressure, flow, voltage, or current signals—can be managed within shared channel groups. This significantly simplifies the configuration of complex measurement tasks and makes the subsequent analysis of the measurement data more efficient.
Benefits of Channel Groups
- Efficient Analysis of Complex Measurement Tasks in Industry, Laboratories, and Research
- Structured Organization of Large Trade Show Projects
- Easy-to-manage administration of multiple measurement channels
- Joint Configuration and Analysis of Multiple Channels
- Reduced Hardware Requirements for Multiplexer Systems
- Flexible Scaling of Large Measurement Data Acquisition Systems