The power of LXI interumentation — use cases and performances

With over 320 LXI instruments available in a little more than two years, electronic functional and data acquisition test systems can now be implemented with LXI instruments from a wide variety of product categories. Test system builders are often interested in three major areas: reduced system complexity with easier configuration, lower system cost, and increased performance. LXI instruments score high in lowering cost, remote access, and being easier to configure, verify, and debug, but there is discussion over performance in the area of latency and throughput. LXI class A and B instrumentation provide new test system techniques through flexible triggering schemes such as LAN messaging, IEEE-1588 timing, and downloaded scripts. While most LXI instruments are currently class C and are targeted to replace GPIB equivalents, 2007 and 2008 will see an increase of class A and B instruments that provide new and exciting possibilities that can directly improve performance and reduce system complexity. This paper will illustrate and demonstrate how test system challenges are being addressed with existing GPIB and LXI class C instruments and how class A and B instruments will provide exciting new test system capabilities.