PXI reaches maturity

Richard A. Quinnell, Technical Editor -- Test & Measurement World, 2/1/2007

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It's a bittersweet moment when you realize that your children have grown up. Not too long ago, they needed special care and nurturing. Then, all of a sudden, it seems, their natures have changed and the relationships that once held true need to be re-examined.

Like a growing child, PXI seems to have reached a new level of maturity that merits viewing with new eyes. The adoption of PXI or PCI by Keithley, Agilent, and other companies that have traditionally developed stand-alone instruments is evidence that PXI and PCI modular instruments have achieved mainstream acceptance. PXI is no longer merely an emerging technology; it is a proven tool for test engineering.

This evidence of maturity by no means suggests that PXI has reached its full potential. As evidence of ongoing progress, witness the debut of the PXI Express specification, which provides for a 45-fold increase in bandwidth over the original PXI. On the applications front, BAE Systems, National Instruments, and Phase Matrix announced last fall that they are collaborating on developing a 26.5-GHz synthetic instrument based on PXI Express—an effort that is expected to yield prototypes this fall.

As the technology continues to grow, we will keep you posted on new design and applications options. We welcome your input about your experiences with PXI and about where you hope the technology is headed.

Contact Richard A. Quinnell at richquinnell@att.net