Moore’s Law and Modular Instrument Technology

Speaker/Author: Paul PackebushSenior Group ManagerCorporate Metrology, R&DNational Instruments11500 N Mopac ExpwyAustin, TX 78759

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Moore’s Law: Alive and Well at Intel• Moore’s Law: the number of transistors on a chip

roughly doubles every two years

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Impact of Moore’s Law

• Inexpensive memory• Higher speed processing• Rise of programming languages

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Moore’s Law for Instrumentation1980 1990 2000 2010

VXI

PXIe

cRIO

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Modular Instrumentation

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Reso

lutio

n (B

its)

2826242220181614121086

1 10 100 1K 10K 100K 1M 10M100M 1G 10G 100G

Frequency (Hz)

NI PXI-4071 7½-digit FlexDMM NI PXI-5922, 24-bit, 15 MS/s

Agilent 6030A, 15-bit, 500MHz

Phase Matrix 26.5 GHz Signal Analyzer

PXI Measurement CapabilityMore than 1,500 Instruments from 60+ Vendors

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Modular Instrument Architecture

Instrument Module and

I/OCommunication

BusProcessing

and MemoryInstrument Driver

SoftwareApplication

Software

Operating System (OS)

PXIe, PCI, USB, Ethernet, etc.

CPU, FPGA, etc.

DLL, .NET, etc. LabVIEW, C#,

VB, etc.

Instrumentation Platform

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Instrument Modules• Modular Instruments are available in an array of form

factors: PXI/PXIe, Ethernet, PCI, USB, cPCI, AXIe,...

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Instrument Platforms• Platforms required to calibrate modules are typically made

up of a module specific chassis and controller Costs of chassis and controllers can range from $1k to $20k

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Connectivity• Small form factors require high density

connectors• Semi-ridged and custom Module to Module

connectivity

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Example Calibration Station

Hybrid PXI/PXIe Chassisconnected via MXI

PCI, PCIe, PC Card

USB, Firewire, etc.

Ethernet

Other Instruments and Platforms

USB GPIBCalibration standards or other DUTs

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Instrument Driver – Traditional

GPIB DriverCalibration Software

Mfg AInstrument 1

Mfg AInstrument 2

Mfg BInstrument 1

Mfg BInstrument 2

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Instrument Driver – Modular Instruments

Calibration Software

Mfg AInstrument 1

Mfg AInstrument 2

Mfg BInstrument 1

Mfg BInstrument 2

MFG APXI Driver

1

MFG BPXI Driver

MFG APXI Driver

2

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Vendor Supplied Application Software

Soft Front Panel Off-the-Shelf Application Software

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Custom Calibration Software• Instrument supplier must provide:

Clearly written calibration procedure• Required platforms and connectivity• Required calibration standards• Supported software development ADEs

Driver and configuration software Driver capable of measurement adjustment Software development support

• Laboratory must have: Software development skills Development and verification process Time

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Modular Instrument Repair• Typical repair is only at the module level

Identify and replace damaged instrument module e.g. entire PXIe module

• Circuit repair is often reserved for manufacturer Requires custom test fixtures, software and stations

• Minor maintenance is sometimes possible Replace fuses Cleaning fans

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Modular Instrument Architecture

Instrument Module and

I/OCommunication

BusProcessing

and MemoryInstrument Driver

SoftwareApplication

Software

Operating System (OS)

PXIe, PCI, USB, Ethernet, etc.

CPU, FPGA, etc.

DLL, .NET, etc. LabVIEW, C#,

VB, etc.

Instrumentation Platform