PXI pulls military duty
By Richard A. Quinnell, Contributing Technical Editor -- Test & Measurement World, 5/1/2009 2:00:00 AM
 Malcolm Levy VP of sales and marketing Giga-tronics |
At first glance, PXI, which was originally developed for a benchtop environment, does not seem like a promising candidate for military test systems. Yet the military test market is a large part of where instrument developer Giga-tronics targets products such as its recently released PXI signal-switching starter kit. I spoke with Malcolm Levy, the company’s VP of sales and marketing, to learn more about the role PXI can play in military test applications.
Q: Where is PXI fitting into military test applications?
A: Everywhere. There are a whole slew of applications where PXI can have a role, from depot-level repair facilities to front-line system test in Humvees.
Q: Really? PXI can pull front-line duty?
A: I’m not aware of any PXI systems at the front line yet, but there are older VXI systems in place, and PXI has enough options available that it can replace the VXI systems and be equally reliable. The Marine Corps, for instance, has the VXI-based TETS (Third Echelon Test Set) in vehicles to provide a go/no-go test of a vehicle’s other equipment. There is no reason that PXI cannot do the same thing. It is a natural progression as companies move out of VXI to the next generation, and PXI is the next generation.
Q: How should PXI vendors prepare their products for military applications?
A: There are no stringent requirements to concern PXI vendors with. Typically, the prime contractor for the military system takes on the task of adding any ruggedization needed by doing things like mounting the system inside shock-proof boxes.
That is easier for PXI than for VXI because PXI is more compact and so the bounce factor is easier to handle. And there are different levels of ruggedization. A standard rack won’t pass the harshest requirements but can be suitable for many other environments such as the repair depot.
Q: What role does PXI have at the depot?
A: The depot is platform agnostic. They [the depot commanders] don’t care how it’s done, they just want the best solution. PXI is a convenient platform to use, especially as the current VXI-based instruments go obsolete. So, if the functions they need are available in PXI, that’s what they will use.
Q: Are there any restrictions in the depot environment?
A: The size of the ATE requirement might have an impact. For instance, if there are thousands of switching lines to configure to test equipment under a variety of configurations, PXI might need two or three racks to provide the right number of switches. In that case, PXI might not make sense. But for smaller-scale testing, PXI can handle it.
Q: Are the military opportunities for PXI growing?
A: There is a new opportunity becoming available: supplying military R&D labs. We developed our starter kit for those labs to get them into PXI and understand how it can be used for lab repair.
There are also a number of programs today that are upgrades of existing systems, and the prime contractors are looking for solutions. They will consider PXI, and as the PXI world grows, there will be more opportunity in the military market. The restriction is that the military wants to buy solutions—not a DMM here and a digitizer there—and all from one source. Test equipment companies need to make it really clear to the prime contractors what capabilities they have.
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