Testimonials from Industry Experts

View the external articles below, to learn more about the trends in the automated test industry. In addition, you can learn more about the industry awards NI products have received as well as several of the test applications solved using NI tools. To view in-depth tutorials and product information, return to the NI Automated Test main page.

Industry Trends and Analysis for Automated Test

Electronic Design: T&M Takes the Standard Route

"The fastest growing segment [25.1% CAGR] of the T&M industry over the next several years will be PXI-based systems, according to research by Madhan Dhandayutham, a senior research analyst at Frost & Sullivan.”  Read More

Test & Measurement World: PXI Test Report

“But with PXI on the scene, you’ll need to evaluate your options. The odder the job you face or the wider range of chores you must contend with, the more likely you’ll want the flexibility to reconfigure hardware and software test resources that modular systems provide.”  Read More

Electronic Design: RF Instruments Must Cope With Massive Market

“PC-based plug-in cards also are coming to the rescue, advancing the cause of virtual instrumentation. Engineers can use National Instruments' 26.5-GHz PXI plug-in switch modules, the 5660 2.7-GHz RF vector signal analyzers, and the Spectral Measurements Toolkit for LabVIEW and LabWindows/CVI to develop PXI-based RF and microwave test applications.”   Read More

EETimes: Instrumentation Bus Eyes Express Lane

"The PXI Systems Alliance detailed a standard last week for hardware based on PCI extensions for instrumentation, or PXI. By this time next year, vendors in this fast-growing market expect to ship test and measurement modules that take advantage of the improved accuracy and much higher bandwidth supported by the PXI Express standard.

Revenue increased by 40 percent last year in the PXI-based hardware market, according to market research firm Frost & Sullivan. By leveraging PC technology and standards, and largely using industry-standard components, PXI vendors have been able to offer flexible, multifunction instrumentation solutions — usually controlled by the LabVIEW graphical programming tools — that often sell for much less than rack mounted instruments.”   Read More

EETimes: PXI Express on Fast Track for Instruments

“High-speed RF test and digital test are two other applications that will benefit from PXI Express, which marries the electrical signaling of the PCI Express standard with a ruggedized form factor borrowed from the VME board standard.”

“Teradyne Inc. is working on PXI Express-based test systems for the military and aerospace market, said Peter Hansen, product line manager for instrumentation at the company's mil/aero business unit in North Reading, Mass. "PXI Express has two great attributes: high bandwidth and low latency. That allows very complex and intimate connections between the CPU and the instrument," he said.”   Read More

Control Engineering: PXI takes the Express

“To introduce the benefits of PXI Express implementations, West [Intel’s marketing director ] cited what he called the 'shop-floor/top-floor' interface, which traditionally was managed by a manager on the plant floor. That no longer suffices, he said, when make-or-break decisions can't wait on end-of-shift reports. PXI Express, he suggests, can get critical data to management decision-makers in real time. In addition to improved decision-making, he cited technical innovations as key drivers to the adoption of a PXI Express-class technology. Simple manual visual-inspection tasks (is the candle wick sufficiently long?) are giving way to automated approaches requiring tremendous volumes of data transfer. The ability to get that data to a powerful host processor in real time is a key advantage of PXI Express, West said.”  Read More

Recent NI Automated Test Product Awards

2005 Control Engineering Editors’ Choice Award: NI LabVIEW 8.0

"We're happy to announce that National Instruments has been selected to receive a 2005 Control Engineering Editors' Choice Award for LabVIEW 8," said Mark T. Hoske, editor-in-chief of Control Engineering. "LabVIEW 8, the latest version of the NI graphical programming language, is an innovative product that meets a broad range of needs for test, control and design engineers."

For additional examples, view the other NI LabVIEW awards and recognition.

2006 Test Product of the Year Winner: NI PXI-5922 Flexible Resolution Digitizer

“We invited our readers to help determine which of the 12 Best in Test products would become the Test Product of the Year, and their choice was the NI PXI-5922 digitizer,” said Rick Nelson, chief editor of Test & Measurement World. “Our readers were undoubtedly impressed by the resolution and sample-rate flexibility that National Instruments engineers designed into the instrument.”

For additional examples, view the other NI PXI-5922 awards and recognition.

View the complete list of NI product and company awards.

Automated Test Applications

Automotive and RF

"Replace analog meters and stand-alone instruments with an integrated, computer-controlled system. Perform some 30 measurements on AM, FM, and weather-band (WB) carrier frequencies. Measurements include 3-dB limiting sensitivity, signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), total harmonic distortion (THD), and intermediate frequency (IF) rejection ratio.”

For more details, view the complete article entitled, Car Stereos Get Benched.

Publication: Test & Measurement World

In-circuit Test

“Users wishing to augment digital test with analog measurement capability can simply add analog PXI instruments and invoke appropriate analog source or measurement functions from within National Instruments' LabView, Katz said. A key goal for the Certimax system, he said, is to provide the benefits of an instrument without the complexities of a big-iron ATE system.”

For more details, view the complete article entitled, Advantest brings PXI instruments to event-based IC tester.

Publication: Test & Measurement World

Military/Defense

“The latest military training systems do in fact provide an excellent simulation of combat. They utilize a vest and associated headband (attached to the helmet) with an array of optical detectors, and a corresponding rifle-mounted laser transmitter. These are then integrated together using a wireless RF link. When the soldier fires the weapon (using blanks), the system accurately simulates a kill or near-miss using optical pulses, calibrated for the actual weapon range.

The test system used for alignment and final system test of this assembly is PXI based, providing a combination of low recurring cost and high throughput. An eight-slot chassis (NI PXI-1042) with MXI interface is utilized. Measurements are made primarily with the NI PXI-4070, which is a combination DMM and high speed digitizer (10-bit at 1.8 MSps). The latter allows for measurement of transient signals from the various station sensors. An IEEE 1394 interface in the PXI chassis is used to control the camera optics for display verification and character recognition.”

For more details, view the complete article entitled, Testing Military Laser Tag Assemblies.

Publication: PXI Test & Technology

Military/Aerospace

“The modular nature of PXI provides for the inclusion of a faster processor or alternative modules for future flight testing with specialized requirements. A full compartment of analog signal conditioning and anti-alias filter modules ensures compatibility with a range of aircraft transducers including strain gages, RTDs, synchro transmitters, thermocouples, and linear position transducers.”

For more details, view the complete article entitled, Using PXI technology and LabVIEW onboard an Australian Army Black Hawk helicopter.

Publication: PXI Test & Technology

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