PRODUCTS

 

VXIbus

 

With over 1544 products (20% product growth from 2002 to 2003) from 80 manufacturers, the VXIbus continues to be at the forefront for high-performance modular test instruments.

Now, more than ever before, time spent designing a test system, selecting components, writing software, and the time needed to bring a system online are dominant in overall system lifetime costs. VXI reduces these costs better than any other modular platform because it continues to be such a well-defined design environment. Key advantages for VXI solutions to our customers include:

  • High-speed Module Backplane - Up to 160 MB/s Data Transfer Rate.
  • Specified Cooling and Shielding Requirements - Minimizes Module Interference.
  • Large Circuit Development Area - Accommodates Sophisticated Circuit Design in a Single Module.
  • Wide Choice of Standard Instrument Functionality - From over 80 Vendors.
  • High-channel Count Switching Modules - Keeps Large Systems Compact in Size.
  • System Scalability - Extends from 4-slot Mainframes up to Multiple Interconnected 13-slot Mainframes.
  • Cross Platform Capabilities -Can Also Accept PXI, VME & M-Module Cards

In order to provide an even greater level of modularity and scalability to VXI, we provide multiple instruments or switch solutions per VXIbus card slot.

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VXI Modular Instrumentation Platform (VMIP™)

The award winning VXI Modular Instrumentation Platform (VMIP™) provides customers with a level of modularity for instruments that is unmatched in the industry. The VMIP™ makes a single VXIbus card slot three times more powerful than single device solutions. Each VMIP™ instrument can be mixed and matched with other VMIP™ devices for added flexibility.

The VMIP™ is designed for high performance instrumentation for functional test, i.e., 6.5 digit DMMs, 1 nS counter/timers, 50 MSa/s arbitrary waveform generators. The VMIP™ design supports all aspects of the VXI specification including access to all seven supply lines, triggers, interrupts, etc. Each VMIP™ product is an independent VXIbus device with its own unique logical address (ULA) and VXIplug&play drivers.

The VMIP™ is also an open-platform, allowing anyone to design a product that can be mixed and matched with other VMIP™ instruments found in this catalog, or from other suppliers. To aid in development, VXI Technology offers a prototyping module (VM7000) that allows custom instruments/circuitry to be integrated into the VMIP™ family. More than 20 unique high-performance instrument modules are available on the platform, bringing robust performance and design flexibility to ATE systems. Today, VMIP™ products are the choice of virtually every major functional test system developer, with over 1000 VM9000 base units shipped per year.

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Switch Modularity & Interface Platform (SMIPII™)

The introduction of the Switch Modularity & Interface Platform (SMIPII™) revolutionized the automated signal switching marketplace by providing a level of modularity, density, and performance that continues to be unparalleled. The SMIPII™ product family is at the heart of many test stations worldwide, ranging from large military and aerospace installations to smaller commercial testers. Reliability, functionality, and ease of use have resulted in successes with programs such as the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter LM-STAR, the Navy’s RT-CASS, the F22 CATS, Boeing/Teradyne NextGen testers and many more.

The SMIPII™ allows our customers to mix and match from approximately 50 - dc to RF switch modules in building blocks that can be combined to satisfy virtually any configuration. Two modules can be housed in a single VXI card slot and up to six modules in just two VXIbus slots. Modular microwave switches and combiners are also offered for frequency ranges up to 40 GHz, as well as a line of modular optical switches and attenuators.

The SMIPII™ family can address virtually any switching need:

  • Digital
  • Low-level dc
  • High Fidelity Analog
  • High Voltage
  • High Current
  • ac & dc Power
  • RF
  • Microwave
  • Optical

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VMEbus

The VMEbus (VersaModule Eurocard) was established in 1981 and is the communication bus structure on which the VXIbus (VME eXtensions for Instrumentation) is based. It is the most popular board level platform on the market and is used extensively in industrial controls, military command and control systems, simulation, and imaging. In 2002 the VME Renaissance Program was created and continued to evolve the VME standard by inserting new technology while maintaining backward compatibility. The VXIbus leverages these developments (See VXIbus 3.0). While not optimized for test and measurement, applications do exist where the VMEbus is the ideal choice. VXI Technology also offers a line of very high-density VMEbus I/O products optimized for these test applications.

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LXI™ (Ethernet)

The LAN eXtensions for Instrumentation (LXI™) provides the next logical step in the evolution of open platform, computer independent instrumentation and test systems for applications that do not require the density or modularity of the VXIbus. Since the introduction of GPIB, there has not been a single unified platform for lower density applications. Companies have been introducing products on platforms such as USB, Firewire, Multibus, Fieldbus, CAN, PCI, PXI amongst others.

VXI Technology, has adopted the Ethernet as the next logical platform, and has combined our expertise with other leading instrumenatation manufacturers to extend Ethernet for programmable instruments.

Ethernet has been adopted by the computer industry as the standard network interface, and is as common in the home as it is in the workplace. Virtually every computer, whether desktop or portable, is configured with a built in Ethernet interface, and many other devices such as gaming and multimedia controllers also incorporate the interface. Ethernet is the backbone for worldwide communications today. VXI Technology’s new family of products leverages off the Ethernet and VXIbus platforms.

The LXI™ platform is a standard that provides the ability to tightly integrate Ethernet based instrumentation with VXI, GPIB and other platforms. As with all our other open hardware platforms, LXI™ is also computer hardware and application software independent, allowing us to develop products that can be supported for 10 to 20 years. Critical device synchronization and triggering has been integrated into the LXITM instrument line providing the same control and timing flexibility that users have learned to expect from the VXIbus. The trigger bus interface permits the synchronization of multiple LXITM instruments, as well as other VXIbus instruments. Tight data acquisition phase requirements can be maintained while providing the flexibility of distributed instrument placement.

Standard VXIPlug&Play and IVI driver support provides the user with a familiar programming interface reducing program development and debug time. Care has been taken to map similar VXIbus function calls into the LXI™ environment to simplify migration between the platforms. This catalog showcases the first two of our LXI™ products - the EX1629 for strain gage applications, and the EX1048 for temperature measurements.

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