National Instruments

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About National Instruments

Founded in 1976, National Instruments today is a leading manufacturer of plug-in DAQ boards, signal conditioning equipment, IEEE 488 interfaces, VXIbus controllers, and instrumentation software. National Instruments is dedicated to providing the highest quality products for data acquisition and control, data analysis, and instrument control.

National Instruments understands that supplying cost-effective, high-quality, and innovative products is only part of the equation. National Instruments is committed to the success of our customers. First-class support both before and after the sale, continuous product improvement, and delivery of innovative instrumentation tools all contribute to a successful long-term relationship.

We provide:
Technical Support
Alliance Program
Customer Education

VXIbus and MXIbus Products

VXI is a sophisticated, fast-growing, new instrumentation alternative. The modular, card-based VXI instruments can dramatically reduce system size and increase performance, and its rugged packaging is excellent for portable or industrial applications. Like GPIB, VXI requires a hardware interface for your computer, and a variety of options are available. Software is very important for VXI, and the tools in this catalog are the most extensive in the industry. Choices range from our application software packages with high-level instrument drivers to industry-standard NI-VXI driver functions for conventional programming.

Our VXI Product Line Includes:
Embedded VXI Computers
VXI and VME to PC Interfaces
VXIbus Extenders
GPIB Interface to VXIbus
VXIbus Mainframes
VXIbus Cables and accessories

MXIbus is the Multisystem eXtension Interface bus that provides a powerful, high-performance, 32-bit, multimaster communication link that interconnects devices using round, flexible cables. MXI brings the capabilities of modern backplane computer buses to a cabled communication link for very high-speed communication between physically separated devices.

The MXIbus specification developed by National Instruments and announced in April 1989, is an open industry standard. MXIbus has been endorsed by a variety of VXI vendors and users, including Hewlett-Packard, Tektronix, Racal-Dana, and GenRad. Because MXI is an open industry standard documented with a comprehensive specification, you are free to design MXI interfaces for your own devices. In this way, your proprietary peripherals or instruments can use MXI to connect to industry-standard computers or to a VXI or VME system.

Other Product Lines

Software Products
Simplifying development of test procedures, whether for production ATE or benchtop testing, is a primary goal of our application software packages (LabVIEW) and LabWindows). Whether you are generating industry-standard code from LabWindows function panels or interacting with intuitive LabVIEW fron panels, instrument control is greatly simplified. Libraries of instrument drivers give a uniform and user-friendly interface for programming and operating instruments. High-level analysis libraries include functions for calculating pass/fail decisions, statistics, power spectra, and more. With the presentation tools in our software, you can easily design operator interfaces for your test system.

GPIB/Serial Interface Products
GPIB instruments are the worldwide standard for test and measurement systems. Your computer must have a GPIB interface. Choices are available for almost every PC and workstation platform - PC, PS/2, Macintosh, Sun, DEC, IBM, and others. The latest GPIB interfaces conform to the IEEE 488.2 and SCPI industry standards and operate at data rates well above 1 Mbytes/sec. The software choices are the most extensive in the industry, ranging from our application software packages with high-level instrument drivers to industry- standard NI-488.2 driver software for conventional programming using the operating system and language of your choice.

Data Acquisition Products
DAQ boards can replace many traditional instrument functions at a very attractive price. The processing power of the PC is used to analyze and present the results. With new DSP hardware, you can achieve real-time performance that surpasses conventional stand-alone instruments. Often one board can perform a variety of functions, including A/D conversion, D/A conversion, digital I/O, and counter/timer operations. The latest boards feature advanced timing and triggering functions for sophisticated multiboard measurements. Comprehensive software makes this option very easy to use.

Need More Information?

You can request additional information by filling out this form. or by contacting us at:

National Instruments
6504 Bridge Point Parkway
Austin, TX 78730 USA
Phone: (512) 794-0100
Fax: (512) 794-8411
E-Mail: info@natinst.com
Web: http://www.natinst.com