Patent ID: 7739070

Claim:
An apparatus comprising a data processor and a data acquisition system, said data acquisition system comprising first circuitry that generates signals and couples said signals to a device external to said apparatus and second circuitry that receives signals from said device and converts said signals to measurement digital data that is processed by said data processor, said data processor comprising measurement specific software that generates measurements from said digital data; a physics API that interfaces said measurement specific software with said data acquisition system, said physics API providing a plurality of internal physics functions that are used by said measurement specific software to access said measurement digital data; and a first external API that maps said physics functions to an external set of physics functions that are made available to a restricted software application that utilizes at least a portion of said measurement digital data, said internal physics functions being hidden by said first external API from said restricted software while providing said restricted software with access to at least a portion of said measurement digital data.