Instrumentation 2.0’s “data bus”

E-mail   Read more about Instrumentation 2.0 and link to additional sources of information in Rick's blog, Elaborating on Instrumentation 2.0

In your automated instrument system, do you want a “data bus” or a “results bus”? My initial thought was, take the “results bus.” But a “results bus” locks you into the answer your test-equipment vendor thinks you want; the “data bus” lets you derive the answer best suited to your application.

The “data bus” is a component of what Eric Starkloff, National Instruments’ director of product marketing, describes as Instrumentation 2.0, which is tailored to the test of such products as the Apple iPhone. In a discussion with editors at Test & Measurement World’s offices, Starkloff described why such products need a new approach. He quoted Time magazine’s iPhone description: “Suddenly, the interface isn’t fixed and rigid, it’s fluid and molten. Software replaces hardware.”

To test such products, a software-centric Instrumentation 2.0 system supports user-defined measurements, custom user interfaces, modular hardware, PC connectivity, and real-time data transfer (over a “data bus”), said Starkloff. In contrast, Instrumentation 1.0 employs fixed hardware, a fixed user interface, and connectivity to a “results bus” that carries vendor-defined measurement information.

The development of Instrumentation 2.0 paces the emergence of the Department of Defense’s synthetic-instrumentation architecture, which the market-research firm Frost & Sullivan defines as a subset of the virtual-instrumentation approach that National Instruments has long championed. Instrumentation 2.0 relies upon technologies such as high-performance data converters and high-bandwidth buses like PXI Express.

In a spirited discussion with Starkloff, editors questioned whether even PXI Express is fast enough to enable Instrumentation 2.0’s “data bus.” Starkloff said that Instrumentation 2.0’s processing power could be distributed; the key is that it be software-based and user-accessible.

We will never achieve the infinite speed and resolution data converters and infinite-bandwidth buses that an ideal virtual instrument demands, but it’s clear that today’s technology is sufficient for practical Instrumentation 2.0 implementations.

In a related matter, Test & Measurement World is pleased to introduce a bimonthly Market Trends column. In the first installment (p. 20), Mark Holler, a research analyst with the Frost & Sullivan North American Industrial Automation & Electronics Practice, comments on synthetic instrumentation’s prospects in nonmilitary applications. Since joining Frost & Sullivan in July 2006, Holler has completed research on synthetic instrumentation and wireless-network test equipment. He has a degree in economics and finance from the University of Texas at Dallas.

Post your comments at www.tmworld.com/blog.