National Instruments LabVIEW 8 Delivers Distributed Intelligence for Design, Control and Test; Major Release Features Streamlined Distributed System Development and New LabVIEW Project.AUSTIN, Texas -- 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 ), a global 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. , today announced LabVIEW 8, a major upgrade to the LabVIEW graphical development platform that improves the productivity of engineers and scientists in design, control and test. This upgrade introduces distributed intelligence The placing of processing capability in terminals and other peripheral devices. Intelligent terminals handle screen layouts, data entry validation and other pre-processing steps. Intelligence placed into disk drives and other peripherals relieves the central computer from routine tasks. -- a powerful suite of new capabilities for engineers and scientists to easily design, distribute and synchronize intelligent devices and systems. LabVIEW 8 also features a new project-based environment for developing and managing large-scale applications as well as the latest in Express technology for simplified instrument control. This release also includes significant updates to the LabVIEW Real-Time Module, LabVIEW FPGA (Field Programmable Gate Array) A type of gate array that is programmed in the field rather than in a semiconductor fab. Containing up to hundreds of thousands of gates, there are a variety of FPGA architectures on the market. Module, LabVIEW PDA (Personal Digital Assistant) A handheld computer for managing contacts, appointments and tasks. It typically includes a name and address database, calendar, to-do list and note taker, which are the functions in a personal information manager (see PIM). Module and LabVIEW Datalogging and Supervisory Control Supervisory control is a general term for control of many individual controllers or control loops, whether by a human or an automatic control system, although almost every real system is a combination of both. Module. "For nearly 20 years, LabVIEW has become the preeminent solution for instrumentation system design offering unparalleled productivity to engineers and scientists," said Dr. James Truchard, NI president and CEO (1) (Chief Executive Officer) The highest individual in command of an organization. Typically the president of the company, the CEO reports to the Chairman of the Board. . "With the release of LabVIEW 8, National Instruments expands the platform even further to increase productivity for a broader range of applications and technologies, including heterogeneous test systems, rapid system prototyping, full-scale system automation and embedded real-time, FPGA and microprocessor systems -- all using the same time-proven, open and intuitive platform." Design, Distribute and Synchronize Intelligent Devices LabVIEW 8 extends graphical programming further into test and control systems, from rack-and-stack test solutions to automation plant networks, with new flexible and easy-to-use distributed communication and control tools. The latest version of LabVIEW presents a simplified, scalable interface for communicating with and synchronizing between remote intelligent devices and systems, such as real-time processors and FPGAs. Embedded designers, test engineers and control system engineers now can use the same graphical platform for simple data transfer, deterministic real-time communication and network synchronization with integrated alarms, events and data logging. "National Instruments LabVIEW has evolved into the premier software tool for producing industrial measurement and control applications," said Steve Conquergood, president and founder of Advanced Measurements Inc. "Using a LabVIEW configuration-based approach, engineers can easily synchronize intelligent nodes and incorporate either NI real-time and FPGA-based programmable automation controllers (PACs) or the third-party PLCs of their choice. LabVIEW 8 dramatically simplifies the development, testing and support of distributed applications in test, control and design." Streamline Application and Device Management A key new feature in LabVIEW 8, the LabVIEW Project, introduces a new project-based environment for managing large applications and team development. The LabVIEW Project also includes tools for multiple target management; integrated code differencing and source code control; multi-build management; and the ability to seamlessly deploy applications to desktop, mobile, industrial and embedded targets. With these features, engineers and scientists can more easily integrate LabVIEW into advanced software engineering processes required for managing large teams of programmers or for compliance with industry- and government-defined development process certification standards. Measure in Minutes With the Latest Express Technology Additionally, LabVIEW 8 continues to build on Express technology with new tools for simplifying instrument control and data acquisition. With the new LabVIEW Instrument Driver Finder, engineers and scientists now can automatically recognize connected instruments and search, download and install the appropriate driver from the more than 4,000 available on the NI Instrument Driver Network (www.ni.com/idnet). The completely automated process eliminates tedious manual configuration and setup time, significantly reducing the time to first measurement. With an enhanced DAQ See data acquisition. Assistant as well as NI-DAQmx 8 support for simulating NI data acquisition devices, engineers and scientists can begin programming their LabVIEW 8 applications without hardware. National Instruments offers LabVIEW 8 in multiple languages, including French, German, Japanese and, for the first time, Korean, as well as LabVIEW documentation in simplified Chinese. For more than 17 years, NI has supplied European and Asian markets with localized services and support in local languages, currencies and time zones with branch offices in nearly 40 countries worldwide. About NI LabVIEW NI LabVIEW -- noted by industry, academia and the editorial community as premier software in the electronic test, industrial control and electronics design industries -- has redefined measurement and automation with its unique graphical development methodology. The recipient of 15 awards in 2004, LabVIEW delivers an intuitive and powerful way to acquire, analyze and present measurements at every stage of development, from prototyping to design to manufacturing test. With the release of LabVIEW 8, NI paves the way for even more third-party connectivity with LabVIEW, an open platform featuring compatibility with hundreds of cameras, motion stages, TEDS-compliant sensors and actuators, OPC-enabled industrial devices as well as more than 4,000 GPIB (General Purpose Interface Bus) An IEEE 488 standard parallel interface used for attaching sensors and programmable instruments to a computer. Using a 24-pin connector, up to 15 devices can be daisy chained together. HP's version is the HPIB. , VXI (VME EXtensions for Instrumentation) A peripheral bus specialized for data acquisition and real time control systems. Introduced in 1987, VXI uses all Eurocard form factors and adds trigger lines, a local bus and other functions suited for measurement applications. , 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 , PCI (1) (Payment Card Industry) See PCI DSS. (2) (Peripheral Component Interconnect) The most widely used I/O bus (peripheral bus). , serial, Ethernet and USB-controlled measurement devices. LabVIEW is available on Windows, Macintosh and Linux operating systems. About National Instruments National Instruments (www.ni.com) is a technology pioneer and leader in virtual instrumentation -- 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 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. 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 LabVIEW 8 graphical development environment Priced from $995 USD USD In currencies, this is the abbreviation for the U.S. Dollar. Notes: The currency market, also known as the Foreign Exchange market, is the largest financial market in the world, with a daily average volume of over US $1 trillion. Web: www.ni.com/labview 11500 N. Mopac Expwy expwy or expy abbr. expressway ., Austin, Texas 78759-3504 Tel: 800-258-7022, Fax: 512-683-9300 E-mail: info@ni.com LabVIEW, National Instruments, NI, ni.com and NI-DAQ are trademarks of National Instruments. Other product and company names listed are trademarks or trade names of their respective companies. |
|
||||||||||||
Printer friendly
Cite/link
Email
Feedback
Reader Opinion