NI Introduces Industry's First Products for Laptop Control of PXI/CompactPCI; New Interfaces Deliver Direct Laptop Control of PXI/CompactPCI with ExpressCard or PCMCIA CardBus.AUSTIN, Texas -- Engineers now can directly control a PXI/CompactPCI system from a laptop computer using new National Instruments National Instruments, or NI (NASDAQ: NATI), is an American company with over 4,000 employees and direct operations in 41 countries founded in 1976 by Dr. James Truchard, Bill Nowlin and Jeff Kodosky. (Nasdaq:NATI NATI National Association of Teen Institutes NATI Newfoundland Association of Technical Industries ) ExpressCard MXI MXI - Multisystem eXtention Interface Bus and PCMCIA (Personal Computer Memory Card International Association, San Jose, CA, www.pcmcia.org) An international standards body and trade association that was founded in 1989 to establish a standard for connecting peripherals to portable computers. PCMCIA created the PC Card. See PC Card. CardBus interfaces. This new capability is ideal for portable and mobile applications, such as in-vehicle data logging (data) data logging - (data acquisition) Storing a series of measurements over time, usually from a sensor that converts a physical quantity such as temperature, pressure, relative humidity, light, resistance, current, power, speed, vibration into a voltage that is then converted , machine condition monitoring Condition monitoring is the process of monitoring a parameter of condition in machinery, such that a significant change is indicative of a developing failure. It is a major component of predictive maintenance. and field tests including RF spectral monitoring, in a variety of industries including automotive and military/aerospace. NI ExpressCard MXI (NI PXI-ExpressCard8360) offers direct control of PXI/CompactPCI systems from laptop computers with an ExpressCard slot. ExpressCard is the next-generation laptop interface that comes standard on many new laptop computers. The ExpressCard standard works with both USB USB in full Universal Serial Bus Type of serial bus that allows peripheral devices (disks, modems, printers, digitizers, data gloves, etc.) to be easily connected to a computer. 2.0 and PCI Express A high-speed peripheral interconnect from Intel introduced in 2002. Note that although sometimes abbreviated "PCX," PCI Express is not the same as "PCI-X" (see PCI-SIG and PCI-X for comparison). As a result of the confusion, "PCI-E" or "PCIe" is the accepted abbreviation. , and host slots accept modules that use either interface. ExpressCard MXI uses the PCI Express interface for maximum bandwidth performance. ExpressCard MXI delivers up to 110 MB/s of sustained throughput between PXI/CompactPCI systems and laptop computers. With the NI PXI-CardBus8310 interface, engineers can directly control PXI/CompactPCI systems from a PCMCIA CardBus slot, available on most existing laptop computers. The new interface gives engineers the option of using the laptop computers they currently own to control PXI/CompactPCI systems. Both interfaces are transparent to software applications and drivers. With embedded controllers or desktop computers with remote controllers, engineers can implement the new laptop control solutions without changing existing software written for use with PXI/CompactPCI systems. The ExpressCard MXI and PCMCIA CardBus interfaces provide a software-transparent link to the PXI/CompactPCI system, delivering software compatibility with all drivers and application development environments. For example, engineers can use them with the National Instruments LabVIEW graphical development environment and NI modular instruments to develop portable, high-performance field test systems. Engineers also can use the interfaces with DC-powered chassis, data acquisition modules and the National Instruments SignalExpress interactive measurement environment to create mobile data loggers. The ExpressCard MXI and PCMCIA CardBus interfaces work with modular instruments, data acquisition modules and bus interfaces from National Instruments, as well as modules from the more than 65 members of the PXI (PCI EXtensions for Instrumentation) A peripheral bus specialized for data acquisition and real time control systems. Introduced in 1997, PXI uses the CompactPCI 3U and 6U form factors and adds trigger lines, a local bus and other functions suited for measurement Systems Alliance and additional CompactPCI module vendors. About PXI PCI (1) (Payment Card Industry) See PCI DSS. (2) (Peripheral Component Interconnect) The most widely used I/O bus (peripheral bus). eXtensions for Instrumentation (PXI) is an open specification governed by the PXI Systems Alliance (www.pxisa.org) that defines a rugged, CompactPCI-based platform optimized for test, measurement and control. It is supported by more than 65 member companies and more than 1,150 products are available. PXI products are compatible with the CompactPCI industrial computer standard and offer additional features such as environmental specifications, standardized software and built-in timing and synchronization (1) See synchronous and synchronous transmission. (2) Ensuring that two sets of data are always the same. See data synchronization. (3) Keeping time-of-day clocks in two devices set to the same time. See NTP. . About NI Modular Instruments NI offers essential technologies for test, which combine high-performance hardware, flexible software and innovative timing and synchronization technology for test and design applications. NI modular instruments offer accurate, high-throughput measurements from DC to 2.7 GHz. The product family includes: --High-resolution digitizers (up to 24 bits, up to 200 MS/s) --Signal generators (up to 16 bits, 200 MS/s) --Digital waveform The shape of a signal. See wavelength, sine wave and square wave. generator/analyzers (up to 400 Mb/s) --Digital multimeters (up to 7 1/2 digits) --RF vector signal generators and analyzers (up to 2.7 GHz) --Dynamic signal analyzers (up to 24 bits, 204.8 kS/s) --Switching (multiplexers, matrices and general purpose) About National Instruments National Instruments (www.ni.com) is a technology pioneer and leader in virtual instrumentation Virtual Instrumentation is the use of customizable software and modular measurement hardware to create user-defined measurement systems, called virtual instruments. -- a revolutionary concept that has changed the way engineers and scientists in industry, government and academia approach measurement and automation. Leveraging PCs and commercial technologies, virtual instrumentation increases productivity and lowers costs for test, control and design applications through easy-to-integrate software, such as NI LabVIEW, and modular measurement and control hardware for PXI, PCI, USB and Ethernet. Headquartered in Austin, Texas, NI has more than 3,600 employees and direct operations in nearly 40 countries. In 2004, the company sold products to more than 25,000 companies in 90 countries. Pricing and Contact Information NI PXI-ExpressCard8360 priced from $1,099 NI PXI-CardBus8310 priced from $1,499 Web: www.ni.com/pxi 11500 N Mopac Expwy, Austin, Texas 78759-3504 Tel: 800-258-7022, Fax: 512-683-9300 E-mail: info@ni.com LabVIEW, MXI, National Instruments, NI, ni.com and SignalExpress are trademarks of National Instruments. Other product and company names listed are trademarks or trade names of their respective companies. |
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