Keithley Introduces PXI Products For Hybrid Test Systems In Production Applications

Cleveland -- Keithley Instruments, Inc. introduced a new line of PXI products designed for high speed automated production testing as part of a hybrid test system using precision instruments. Test engineers and designers can combine the high-speed data acquisition and tight trigger synchronization features of the new KPXI products with the precision measurement capabilities in Keithley instruments for a hybrid test system architecture.

The new Keithley KPXI product line consists of simultaneous data acquisition boards, multifunction analog I/O boards, high speed analog output boards, a 130 MS/sec digitizer module, digital I/O modules, PXI chassis, embedded PC controllers, MXI bridges (for remote PC control), and GPIB interface cards. KPXI products are designed for optimal integration with precision instrumentation, such as Keithley's Series 2600 System SourceMeter multi-channel I-V test solutions, which feature TSP and TSP-Link that let users program and execute high-speed, automated test sequences across multiple channels – independent of a PC operating system and its associated communication delays.

"Today's production test engineers are under increasing pressure to maximize test throughput and move products to market more quickly," states Mark Cejer, Director of Marketing for Keithley Instruments, Inc. "Yet, in addition to determining the types of measurement to be made, they must grapple with the complications of selecting the type of instrumentation and computer interface that will provide the best combination of performance and speed. With Keithley's mix of industry-leading precision measurement products, plus PXI, LXI, and GPIB solutions, engineers can rely on just one vendor for virtually everything they need to create a hybrid test system that is optimized for their application."

The Keithley KPXI product line adheres to the PXI Standard (PCI eXtensions for Instrumentation), based on the industry standard PCI interface. Keithley KPXI products include software examples and drivers that work with LabView, Microsoft .net, Visual Basic, and C programming languages. The KPXI product line consists of the following:

• Simultaneous DAQ (KPXI-SDAQ) – Simultaneous analog I/O boards for parallel channel data collection at up to 16-bit resolution, plus analog outputs and digital I/O. Separate channel and gain queues allow reuse of channels on different ranges in a single scan.
• Multifunctional DAQ (KPXI-DAQ) – Multifunction boards with multiplexed analog inputs for sampling rates up to 3MS/sec for high-speed applications requiring up to 96 channels, plus analog outputs, D I/O, and counter/timers.
• High-Speed Analog Output (KPXI-AO) – This family of boards supplies analog outputs at a rate up to 1MS/sec, which constitutes a 1000X faster update rate than is available from PCI or USB offerings. This supplies waveform quality outputs matched to the instrument capabilities inherent in hybrid systems.
• Digitizer Module (KPXI-AI) – This module enables sampling up to 130MS/sec, and has latching digital inputs that are synchronized with the analog measurements. It has 14-bit resolution and comes with an onboard memory of 512MB.
• Digital I/O Modules (KPXI-DIO) – The digital I/O group of modules provides a variety of digital I/O functions and features, including timers and relay outputs. All boards use the same driver for simplicity, and provide high-speed handshaking for faster communications and test times with instruments in hybrid systems.
• PXI Chassis (KPXI-SYS) – These 3U chassis provide up to 18 slots with solid performance, particularly when used in larger systems.
• Controllers (KPXI-CON) – This family includes embedded PC controllers, and MXI bridges for remote PC control. The embedded controllers have preloaded hard drive backup software, WIN XP, KI-DAQ drivers, and test code examples. They are test proven in hybrid systems for high reliability.
• GPIB Interface (KPXI-488) – This IEEE-488 compatible interface allows easy connection to GPIB instruments to create high performance hybrid systems without communication problems.

SOURCE: Keithley Instruments, Inc.