CompactPCI and PXI Products

CompactPCI and PXI products are a general search form covering a wide range of peripherals for the CompactPCI / PXI bus, including switches, extenders, controllers, processors and interface adapters. Bus interfaces or adapters allow the CompactPCI / PXI system to communicate with other devices or systems.  Switches are used in industrial systems to connect test points or devices to instruments for the purpose of testing, measuring or monitoring the system.  Extenders are boards used to improve or extend the functions of the standard CompactPCI / PXI cards.  Controllers are special computers that are used to control the CompactPCI / PXI network.  They are used to control the data transfer between devices in the network, the status of interrupts, IRQs, registers, triggers, etc.  Also, they are used to control instruments in the network for testing and analysis.  Controllers are the most important single element in a CompactPCI / PXI system.  CompactPCI is high performance industrial bus based on the PCI electrical specifications. Its form factor is specified to be the rugged 3U and 6U Eurocard format. PXI (PCI eXtensions for Instrumentation) is a specification developed by National Instruments that extends CompactPCI for measurements and automation systems. CompactPCI / PXI is used in many industrial applications including computer telephony, industrial automation, real-time data acquisition, real-time machine control, instrumentation, military systems, and others. Compared to desktop PCI, Compact PCI supports 8 PCI slots (the desktop PCI standard supports only 4) that can be expanded by using PCI-PCI bridges, and is more robust and sturdy for use in industrial applications.

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