PXI rolls along
Martin Rowe, Senior Technical Editor -- Test & Measurement World, 2/1/2005 2:00:00 AM
When National Instruments introduced PXI in 1997, the concept of using a standard backplane for modular instruments seemed so obvious. My reaction at the time was, "What took so long?" Eight years later, PXI has blossomed from a modular replacement for PCI data-acquisition cards to a system capable of automated functional test for a range of products.
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Switch cards provided the key to PXI's acceptance as an ATE platform. When I first asked system integrators what they thought about PXI, they all replied "It isn't viable without switching." Recognizing this need, companies including Ascor, Pickering, and PXIT began producing switch cards. Today, PXI switch cards work at baseband and microwave frequencies. Mass interconnects, which mount over a PXI chassis, provide for easy connections between a UUT, switches, and test instruments.
PXI also needed instruments that worked beyond baseband frequencies. RF signal sources, analyzers, and power meters pulled PXI out of data-acquisition applications and into the high-frequency realm. Now, PXI is moving into the telecom-testing space with the introduction of optical and electrical testers.
PXI is now a viable ATE platform. It won't replace VXI in systems that need large numbers of switches. Nor will it replace rack-and stack instruments, because discrete boxes still yield the highest performance. But PXI has found a home where engineers need small, flexible, and low-cost test and data-acquisition systems.
Contact Martin Rowe at mrowe@tmworld.com .
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