Date: 05/08/2010

New DAQ devices for USB from NI with improved I/O handling

National Instruments has introduced NI X Series multifunction data acquisition (DAQ) devices for USB. This plug-and-play device for portable data-logging applications devices include up to 32 analog inputs, four analog outputs, 48 digital I/O lines and four counters. The eight new devices accept 500 kS/s multiplexed input to 2 MS/s/channel simultaneous sampling input.

NI has also launched new version of LabVIEW called LabVIEW 2010. In LabVIEW 2010 data can be exported from a waveform graph to Microsoft Excel or NI DIAdem for post processing. USB X Series devices use the same multithreaded NI-DAQmx driver software as other National Instruments DAQ devices.

The two key technologies of USB X Series are NI-STC3 technology for advanced timing and triggering and NI Signal Streaming for high-speed, bi-directional data streaming.

NI-STC3 timing and synchronization technology coordinates the timing and triggering of the analog, digital and counter subsystems. NI-STC3 technology provides X Series devices with independent timing engines for the onboard analog and digital I/O subsystems enabling analog and digital I/O to execute independently at different rates or together with synchronization. X Series devices include four enhanced 32-bit counters for frequency, pulse-width modulation (PWM) and encoder operations, and a new 100 MHz timebase with improved resolution.

USB X Series features patented technology called signal streaming that uses message-based transfers and device-side intelligence enabling concurrent measurements through the USB interface. With this technology, simultaneous sampling is possible at the rate of 1.25 MS/s and 2 MS/s on each of their eight analog inputs, finally resulting exploiting to the best the available bandwidth of USB.

USB X Series are packed in extruded aluminum enclosure to keep signal wiring secure and shielded, and device-specific pinout labels on the lid make it possible to quickly determine the corresponding screw terminals for a given channel. The enclosure also includes a lockable USB port to prevent accidental removal during operation.
National Instruments has also released the new NI cDAQ-9188, an Ethernet-based NI CompactDAQ modular data acquisition system. The new NI cDAQ-9188 chassis can hold eight I/O modules and measure up to 256 channels of electrical, physical, mechanical or acoustic signals.