NI intros PXI Express 2.53 GHz dual-core controller

AUSTIN, USA: National Instruments has introduced the NI PXIe-8108 high-performance embedded controller, which features an Intel Core 2 Duo T9400 processor and is designed to significantly reduce test times for PXI Express -- and CompactPCI Express-based automated test systems.

Engineers can use this 3U embedded controller in any PXI Express chassis to create a compact, high-performance PC-based platform for many test, measurement and control applications. With its 2.53GHz dual-core processor, 800MHz DDR2 memory and 1GB/s total system bandwidth, the NI PXIe-8108 is ideal for advanced RF and wireless test applications, high-throughput data acquisition systems and other applications that require intensive analysis, signal or image processing.

The NI PXIe-8108 optimizes RF and wireless test applications because measurement speed is related to the computational performance of the test system's controller. The advanced operation of the NI PXIe-8108 controller helps engineers maximize their controller investments by delivering up to a 25 percent performance improvement over similar systems based on previous-generation NI embedded controllers.

This results in significantly reduced RF and wireless test times including wireless local area network (WLAN) tests. For example, an NI WLAN Test System that incorporates the NI PXIe-8108 can deliver measurement times up to 10X faster than traditional WLAN instruments in WLAN protocol testing. Using the NI PXIe-8108, NI also has achieved similar test time reductions with other RF and wireless protocols including WiMAX, GPS, ZigBee and RFID.

NI LabVIEW graphical system design software, a development environment that inherently supports multithreaded applications, can maximize the use of the Intel Core2 Duo T9400 processor's dual cores in the NI PXIe-8108 to separate tasks into individual threads and simultaneously execute those threads. This function helps engineers take advantage of the processor's computational ability to optimize processing load and reduce test times.

Building on standard PXI industry specifications, a PXI Express system incorporating an NI PXIe-8108 embedded controller provides additional timing and synchronization features including a 100 MHz differential system clock, differential signaling and differential star triggers.

By using differential clocking and synchronization, PXI Express systems benefit from increased noise immunity for instrumentation clocks and the ability to transmit at higher frequency rates. With these features, PXI embedded controllers from National Instruments deliver advanced performance, longevity, reliability and fast system recovery.

Engineers already using PXI-based test systems easily can upgrade their embedded controllers to take advantage of the higher-performance NI PXIe-8108. Engineers using non-PXI systems can experience greater performance improvements by transitioning to a PXI solution based on the NI PXIe-8108 embedded controller.