PXI (PCI extensions for Instrumentation) is a ruggedized, PC-based platform for measurement and automated testing & simulation. By combining the electrical bus characteristics of PCI with the ruggedness, modularity, and Eurocard mechanical packaging of CompactPCI, PXI has become a mainstream high-performance, low-cost carrier platform in the field of measurement and automated testing & simulation.

PXI is a PC-technology-based platform that provides high performance, high ruggedness, and low-cost configuration solutions for measurement and automated testing & simulation systems. It integrates the PCI (Peripheral Component Interconnect) electrical bus with the rugged, modular Eurocard mechanical packaging of CompactPCI, while adding dedicated synchronization buses and key software features. The PXI platform can be applied in hardware-in-the-loop (HIL) simulation for military, power, automotive, and other fields, as well as in automated testing of electronic products and equipment, and testing in communications and RF domains.

■ A PXI system consists of a chassis, a PXI backplane, a system controller, and several peripheral modules.
■ The PXI chassis provides a rugged modular enclosure, available in 4slot, 6slot, 8slot, 14slot, or 18slot configurations in 3U or 6U form factors.
■ The PXI backplane includes the PCI bus, timing buses, and trigger buses, and additionally provides a dedicated 10 MHz system reference clock, the PXI trigger bus, a star trigger bus, and local buses between slots.
■ The system controller is a highperformance compact embedded computer that plugs into the chassis.
■ By combining different PXI peripheral modules, automated testing & simulation systems for various fields can be implemented.

Chassis Specifications

NI chassis feature high-performance backplanes and robust, reliable mechanical packaging. They meet the needs of a wide range of testing applications, including portable, benchtop, rack-mounted, and embedded testing systems.

Diagrams of Specifications for Various Types of Chassis

Timing and Synchronization Capability

PXI provides a 10 MHz backplane clock, along with a singleended PXI trigger bus and lengthmatched PXI star trigger signals. PXI Express further enhances the backplane with a 100 MHz differential clock and differential star triggers, offering improved noise immunity and synchronization accuracy (with intermodule skew as low as 250 ps and 500 ps, respectively).

PXI Timing and Synchronization Capabilities Diagram