Modular instruments speed rapid prototyping

Engineers and scientists can increase flexibility and system performance for rapid prototyping and test of mixed-signal devices using a desktop PC using the new PCI 100MS/s modular instruments.

Engineers and scientists can increase flexibility and system performance for rapid prototyping and test of mixed-signal devices using a desktop PC using the new PCI 100MS/s modular instruments from National Instruments.

These instruments extend the functionality of the recently released PXI mixed-signal suite for use with the millions of existing desktop PCs.

Engineers can define their own measurements with analysis routines in NI LabVIEW 7 Express graphical development software and the interactive NI Analogue and Digital Waveform Editors.

The new PCI instruments are matched in frequency and capability and include the following: * 100 and 50MHz digital waveform generator/analysers (NI PCI-6552 and NI PCI-6551) * 100MS/s, 16-bit arbitrary waveform generator (NI PCI-5421) * 100MS/s, 14-bit high-resolution digitiser (NI PCI-5122) The capabilities of the new PCI instruments were first introduced with the PXI mixed-signal suite in August 2003 and have been highly successful in applications from design to manufacturing test in consumer electronics, communications, semiconductors and scientific research.

For example, Lexmark International used the PXI-6552 digital waveform generator/analyser and the PXI-5122 digitiser to increase the sample rate and measurement accuracy of its high-volume inkjet cartridge testers.

Telebyte saved more than USA$1million in estimated design and ongoing support costs by using the PXI-5421 arbitrary waveform generator for xDSL modem verification.

The PCI instruments are built on the NI Synchronisation and Memory Core (SMC), a common architecture for mixed-signal instrument modules.

The SMC delivers a timing and synchronisation engine, data transfer cores and deep, flexible memory up to 512MB.

NI first used the SMC architecture for its PXI-based modular instruments.

The common SMC architecture means engineers who start with the PCI instruments can migrate without changing their test code to the more flexible, rugged and expandable PXI platform as their channel count and synchronisation needs evolve.

"In a matter of months, we leveraged the SMC architecture that we developed for the PXI instruments to quickly deliver this complete set of analogue and digital instruments for PCI," said Tim Dehne, NI senior vice president of research and development.

"Porting the PXI-based instrumentation suite to the PCI bus gives more engineers and scientists the opportunity to use world-class modular instruments in their applications, while providing a path to PXI when they need increased flexibility and scalability".

With flexible, software-based measurements, engineers can adapt their systems to meet specialised and rapidly changing requirements.

The instruments also integrate with third-party software simulation tools to reduce overall product development time.

For example, the NI Digital Waveform Editor can import industry-standard VCD files from popular digital and FPGA simulation packages.

Engineers can further increase system flexibility by using the new instruments with NI PCI-based multimeters, data acquisition boards, image acquisition boards and high-density SCXI switching.

The 100MS/s mixed-signal test platform increases engineers1 measurement accuracy through high-performance analogue, digital and timing capabilities.

The 100MS/s digitiser and arbitrary waveform generator feature low-distortion analogue front ends with high dynamic range.

High-resolution digitisers capture signals with increased fidelity - 64 times the resolution of traditional 8-bit instrumentation - and high-resolution arbitrary waveform generators provide precise waveforms needed for complete characterisation and test.

The digital waveform generator/analysers provide programmable voltage levels from -2.0 to 5.5V with the 10mV resolution necessary for testing devices that use different levels or for characterising how a given device performs under changing conditions.

With the digital waveform generator/analysers, engineers can shift their data relative to the onboard clock, which is critical to account for propagation delays and setup-and-hold times in the device under test.

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