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National Instruments Corporation
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Introduction
Benefits of PXI
The PXIbus specification defines a compact modular PC platform for
industrial instrumentation. PXI leverages the PCI bus, which is the
de facto
standard for today’s desktop computer software and hardware designs. As
a result, PXI users receive all the benefits of PCI within an architecture that
supports mechanical, electrical, and software features tailored to industrial
instrumentation, data acquisition, and automation applications.
Well-suited for industrial applications, PXI leverages from the
CompactPCI specification, which defines a rugged form factor for PCI that
offers superior mechanical integrity and easy installation and removal of
hardware components. PXI products offer higher and more carefully
defined levels of environmental performance required by the vibration,
shock, temperature, and humidity extremes of industrial environments.
PXI adds mandatory environmental testing and active cooling to the
CompactPCI mechanical specification to ease system integration and
ensure multivendor interoperability.
Additionally, PXI meets the more specific needs of instrumentation users
by adding an integrated trigger bus and reference clock for multiple-board
synchronization, a star trigger bus for very precise timing, and local buses
for side-band communication between adjacent peripherals.
NI 8171 Series
Description
The NI 8171 series PXI/CompactPCI embedded computer is a
high-performance PXI/CompactPCI-compatible system controller. The
NI 8171 series controllers integrate standard I/O features in a single unit by
using state-of-the-art packaging. Combining a NI 8171 series embedded
controller with a PXI-compatible chassis, such as the PXI-1000B, results in
a fully PC-compatible computer in a compact, rugged package.
