NEWS RELEASE – NIWeek – Aug. 9, 2006 – Engineers now can create a new PXI system at a significant cost savings compared to previous systems using the National Instruments PXI-1033 chassis with an integrated MXI-Express remote controller. As part of the company’s long history of reducing the cost of test systems, the NI PXI-1033 chassis takes advantage of commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) technology to reduce the cost required to start a PXI system. The chassis integrates PCI Express technology to offer high value and reduces costs by incorporating the MXI-Express controller in the chassis.

The new chassis offers five peripheral slots and includes a host card to control the system from either a desktop or laptop and a cable. With the integrated MXI-Express controller, engineers can achieve up to 110 MB/s sustained throughput to the host PC. The chassis’ high value and performance will bring the benefits of the fast growing, industry-standard PXI platform to an even larger group of potential applications.

“NI is committed to reducing the cost of test systems,” said Tim Dehne, NI senior vice president of R&D. “The new PXI-1033 integrated controller and chassis reduces our entry price for PXI by 50 percent. The PXI-1033 chassis is one of many PXI products we recently released that both lower the cost and increase the performance of PXI systems.”

With the broad adoption of PXI and more than 1,200 PXI products available today, engineers can use the new chassis to design a PXI system customized for their specific application. The PXI-1033 chassis features compact, rugged packaging as well as quiet acoustic operation, which makes it ideal for both portable and desktop ATE systems.

The PXI-1033 chassis works with all existing PXI modules including PXI data acquisition devices and modular instruments from NI. It also integrates with a variety of software including the National Instruments LabVIEW graphical development environment, LabWindows/CVI software for ANSI C development, SignalExpress interactive measurement software and NI TestStand test management software.

About PXI
PCI eXtensions for Instrumentation (PXI) is an open specification governed by the PXI Systems Alliance (www.pxisa.org) that defines a rugged, CompactPCI-based platform optimized for test, measurement and control. It is supported by more than 70 member companies and more than 1,200 products are available. PXI products are compatible with the CompactPCI and CompactPCI Express industrial computer standards and offer additional features such as environmental specifications, standardized software and built-in timing and synchronization.

About National Instruments
For 30 years, National Instruments (www.ni.com) has been a technology pioneer and leader in virtual instrumentation – a revolutionary concept that has changed the way engineers and scientists in industry, government and academia approach measurement and automation. Leveraging PCs and commercial technologies, virtual instrumentation increases productivity and lowers costs for test, control and design applications through easy-to-integrate software, such as NI LabVIEW, and modular measurement and control hardware for PXI, PCI, PCI Express, USB and Ethernet. Headquartered in Austin, Texas, NI has more than 4,000 employees and direct operations in nearly 40 countries. For the past seven years, FORTUNE magazine has named NI one of the 100 best companies to work for in America.

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