National Instruments LabVIEW SignalExpress is interactive software for common instrument control, analysis and data display tasks. This application note outlines how you can connect to and control over 400 stand-alone and modular instruments with NI LabVIEW SignalExpress.

First used in the mid-1960s, emitter-coupled logic (ECL) is an important logic family predominantly because of its ability to operate at very high speeds. Additionally, because ECL is a differential standard, it offers better noise immunity than single-ended standards such as TTL. This application note will discuss three methods for interfacing single-ended NI PXI-655x digital waveform generator/analyzers to ECL logic: Single-ended ECL Differential ECL Using an off-board TTL-ECL translator Interfacing to PECL (positive emitter-coupled logic) can be done using these same methods; however, you must change the acquisition and generation voltage levels of the PXI-655x. In fact, some ECL buffer chips can change between the two logic families by simply changing the polarity of their power supply.

As broadband communication systems and other high-performance RF applications evolve, measurement systems must keep pace. In the past, spectral analysis has sufficed for most common applications, with vector analysis reserved for more specialized measurements, especially defense and signal surveillance applications. However, vector analysis is crucial when measuring fast-moving broadband or spread-spectrum signals. Vector analysis also offers many advantages for measuring general-purpose RF signals by dramatically increasing measurement throughput.

“How do I maximize my system throughput?” is a common question posed by many engineers and scientists. For years, engineers and scientists have employed numerous strategies to extract more speed from DMM-based systems in both R D laboratories and on the manufacturing floor. These optimization techniques have often included brute force procedures, such as cutting down the number of tests, purchasing several DMMs, or purchasing very accurate DMMs and running them at much lower resolution. This paper describes how to achieve superior throughput with the NI 4070 6 1/2-Digit FlexDMM, NI switches, and NI LabVIEW software, without having to make such sacrifices.

For design engineers, the ultimate goal of development is a superior product, unmatched in innovation. For test or automated test equipment (ATE) engineers, the development of that same product might have very different ramifications – more often than not, innovation is required to test innovation. Luckily, the test and measurement industry has supplied highly accurate and responsive instrumentation for years, allowing the necessary verification checks to be made. There are many different platforms on which these measurements can be taken, and thus begins a significant amount of comparison shopping to meet the design needs of the test systems.