Integration and System Considerations
PXI Modules
PCI eXtensions for Instrumentation (PXI) modular instrumentation delivers a PC-based, standardized, high-performance measurement and automation system. PXI combines the high-speed PCI bus with integrated timing and triggering designed specifically for measurement and automation applications to deliver significant performance improvements over older architectures. The following figure shows a typical PXI chassis installation.
NI Signal Generators Available as PXI Modules
The NI 5401/5402/5404/5406/5411/5412/5421/5422/5431/5441 signal generators are available in the PXI form factor.
Chassis Guidelines
NI PXI signal generators can be installed in the following chassis and slots:
- PXI chassis—PXI signal generators can be installed in any peripheral slot of a PXI chassis.
- PXI-Express chassis—PXI signal generators can be installed in the following PXI Express chassis slots:
- PXI-1 slots—Accepts PXI modules
- PXI hybrid slots—Accepts either PXI modules that are hybrid slot-compatible or PXI Express modules
Using PXI-Compatible Products with Standard CompactPCI Products
The ability to use PXI-compatible products with standard CompactPCI products is an important feature provided by the PXI Specification, revision 2.1. If you use a PXI-compatible plug-in device in a standard CompactPCI chassis, you cannot use PXI-specific functions, but you can still use the basic plug-in device functions. For example, the PXI trigger bus on NI signal generators is available in a PXI chassis but not in a CompactPCI chassis. The CompactPCI specification permits vendors to develop sub-buses that co-exist with the basic PCI interface on the CompactPCI bus. Compatible operation is not guaranteed between CompactPCI devices with different sub-buses nor between CompactPCI devices with sub-buses and PXI. The standard implementation for CompactPCI does not include these sub-buses. NI signal generators work in any standard CompactPCI chassis. PXI-specific features, such as PXI_Trig bus and PXI_CLK10 reference are implemented on the J2 connector of the CompactPCI bus.
Related Topics
Related Web Topics
For an overview of the PXI Specification, refer to PXI Specification Tutorial
For an overview of PXI-specific functions, refer to How do National Instruments PXI Boards map to the PXI Backplane?