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PXI enables high-channel-count, single-chassis data acquisition
At Autotestcon, the PXISA demonstrated a single-chassis data-acquisition system that gathered data from a jet-engine simulation.
Nicole Faubert, Marketing Manager, GaGe/KineticSystems -- Test & Measurement World, 11/1/2007
| PXISA Demonstration System: *Instrument configuration *Equipment used *Channels used |
The demonstration system, which acquired data from a jet-engine simulation, included hardware and software from six PXISA members: KineticSystems, GaGe, Geotest, Keithley Instruments, ADLINK, and National Instruments. KineticSystems integrated 10 different PXI/cPCI modules into a 3U/6U combo chassis from Geotest. With previous standards, it would have been difficult if not impossible to implement such a high-channel-count data-acquisition system within a single chassis.
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| A demonstration at Autotestcon showed that a single-chassis PXI/cPCI system could serve in real-world jet-engine tests. Courtesy of the US Air Force. |
The PXI/cPCI system collected temperature, pressure, flow, RPM, and ARINC-429 measurements from the jet-engine simulation. It included digital I/O, analog-to-digital and digital-to-analog converters, signal conditioning, digitizers, frequency counters, and multifunction data acquisition. Both 3U and 6U PXI/cPCI modules were used in the system. Figure 1 shows how the instruments interface to the jet-engine simulation. Table 1 shows the equipment used, and Table 2 details the channel type and count for each.
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| Figure 1. The data-acquisition system that the PXISA demonstrated at Autotestcon 2007 used this instrument configuration. |
“The extra real estate gained by the use of 6U PXI/cPCI is an important design factor in high-channel-density instruments,” said Steve Krebs, director of engineering for KineticSystems. “The combination 3U/6U chassis from Geotest also proved very valuable in the overall integration of all manufacturers' instruments. LabWindows/CVI was an efficient development environment to create a user-friendly interface for this high-channel-count data-acquisition system.”
The PXISA also presented two other demonstrations at Autotestcon: One showed the integration of PXI modules from multiple vendors performing JTAG boundary-scan and radio frequency (RF) tests; the other showed the interoperability, compact footprint, and performance of the PXI platform for both digital and analog test applications.
Table 1. Equipment used in PXISA demonstration at Autotestcon 2007
| Vendor | Qty. | Model | Description |
| KineticSystems | 2 | CP387 | High-density digital I/O (6U) |
| KineticSystems | 2 | CP213 | 64-channel 16-bit scanning ADC with signal conditioning (6U) |
| KineticSystems | 1 | CP266 | 64-channel 16-bit DAC (6U) |
| KineticSystems | 1 | P580 | 34x2 scanning differential relay multiplexer (3U) |
| KineticSystems | 1 | P635 | 8-channel frequency counter with signal conditioning (3U) |
| KineticSystems | 1 | V765 | Termination panel |
| KineticSystems | 1 | V792 | Isothermal termination panel |
| GaGe | 1 | CS14100C | 2-channel, 14-bit, 100-MHz digitizer (6U) |
| Keithley | 1 | KPXI-DAQ-96-3M | Multifunction DAQ (3U) |
| Geotest | 1 | GX7100A | 3U/6U Combo chassis |
| Geotest | 1 | GX7910-17512E | Embedded 1.7-GHz P4/512-MB PXI processor (6U) |
| ADLINK | 1 | cPCI-8554 | Counter/timer (3U) |
| National Instruments | 1 | LabWindowsCVI | Development software |
Table 2. Channels used in PXISA demonstration system
| Model | Channels used |
| CP387 | 256 digital I/O |
| CP387 | 256 digital I/O |
| CP213 | 64 ADC, 16 digital I/O, 2 frequency, 2 timer, 2 counter* |
| CP213 | 64 ADC, 16 digital I/O, 2 frequency, 2 timer, 2 counter* |
| CP266 | 64 DAC |
| P580 | 34 relay |
| P635 | 8 frequency |
| CS14100C | 2 digitizer (with gain) |
| KPXI-DAQ-96-3M | 48 ADC, 24 digital I/O 2 timer, 2 counter (with gain) |
| cPCI-8554 | 12 timer, 12 counter |
| Total channels | 884 |
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