Synchronizing DSA Devices

Note   If you want to synchronize analog input on two or more DSA devices at the same sampling rate, you can use channels from those devices within the same task.

You can synchronize the analog input and output operations on two or more DSA devices to extend the channel count of DSA measurements. Two synchronization methods are available, depending on the types of devices you want to synchronize and your overall system configuration:

• Sample Clock Timebase Synchronization—Using this method, you can synchronize any combination of NI 446X and NI 447X devices. The master device exports its sample clock timebase to the slave devices and must be in slot 2 for PXI devices. On PXI devices, you can synchronize up to 14 devices per chassis.
• Reference Clock Synchronization—This method can be used to synchronize NI PXI-446X devices only. Both master and slave devices lock the sample clock timebase to the shared 10 MHz reference clock on the PXI chassis backplane. Master and slave devices can be in any slot, and devices in all slots in the PXI chassis may be synchronized.

For more information on synchronization for DSA devices, refer to the following sections:

• Signals for Synchronizing DSA Devices—This section introduces the signals required to synchronize DSA devices and briefly discusses the programming steps needed to share them.
• Homogeneous DSA Device Synchronization—This section contains information about synchronizing the same types of DSA devices at the same sampling rate.
• Heterogeneous DSA Device Synchronization—This section contains information on multirate applications and synchronizing different types of DSA devices, such as an NI 446X with an NI 447X.
• Multi-Chassis DSA Synchronization—This section covers configuring a synchronized DSA application using more than one PXI chassis.
• DSA Synchronization Examples—This section contains descriptions of example programs that illustrate synchronization.