PXI instrumentation rivals benchtop performance
By Boyd Shaw, Director of Sales & Marketing, ZTEC Instruments -- Test & Measurement World, 5/1/2009 2:00:00 AM
Originally, modular instruments, including PXI, did not have all the performance or comprehensive feature sets of benchtop units. Because of this, modular instrumentation was used primarily for automated testing, while benchtop instruments best served the needs of users performing manual tests in the lab.
That is quickly changing, however, as many of today's PXI instruments match, and in some cases exceed, the performance and feature sets of their benchtop counterparts. To achieve these high levels of performance and advanced functionality, some PXI instruments take advantage of the latest hardware technologies including ADCs (analog-to-digital converters), DSPs (digital signal processors), and FPGAs (field-programmable gate arrays).
For example, by using the latest ADC chipsets, 8-bit PXI oscilloscopes and digitizers now have specifications as high as 1-GHz analog bandwidth and 4-Gsamples/s real-time sampling rates. Similarly, using onboard DSPs, PXI oscilloscopes perform the same waveform math and analysis functions as benchtop units. Onboard DSPs enable fast calculation of waveform parameters, waveform math, frequency-domain analysis, waveform filtering, and more.
Other advanced features, like segmented memory and automated mask generation for pass/fail testing, have existed in benchtop scopes for years and are now showing up in some PXI oscilloscopes. The ability to take an instrument's long acquisition memory and partition it up into thousands of segments lets users capture many waveforms, overlay them, and see how the acquired waveforms change over time. With automatic mask generation, the oscilloscope starts with a “golden waveform” and then generates upper and lower waveform limits around the golden waveform. Subsequent waveforms are compared to these masks—waveforms that completely fall inside the mask pass, while waveforms that fall outside the mask fail.
When combined with powerful software, an intuitive GUI, and the latest controllers, these full-featured PXI instruments can be used for manual testing, much like benchtop instruments. These same instruments are also still used in their traditional role within automated test systems.
No related content found.
- 0 rated items found.
Datasheets.com Electronic Parts & Inventory Search
185 million searchable parts
- Part Number
- Description
- Inventory
- Products
- Manufacturers
View All Webcasts
