New PXI and PCI interfaces

New Interfaces are Ideal for Hardware-in-the-Loop Simulation, Rapid Control Prototyping, Bus Monitoring and Automation Control

National Instruments has announced new PXI and PCI interfaces that expand the NI-XNET platform to include support for the Local Interconnect Network (LIN) communication bus. The new PXI-8516 and PCI-8516 LIN interfaces make it possible for engineers and scientists to develop LIN applications in LabVIEW, LabWindows™/CVI and C/C++ for Windows and LabVIEW Real-Time OSs. As part of the NI-XNET platform, the new PXI and PCI interfaces are ideal for applications that require real-time, high-speed manipulation of many LIN frames and signals, such as hardware-in-the-loop simulation, rapid control prototyping, bus monitoring and automation control. In addition, the new interfaces provide integrated support for importing and using signals from LDF databases, which simplify scheduling and scaling of LIN messages on the bus.


NI-XNET is a family of high-performance and easy-to-use PXI- and PCI-based products designed to communicate with embedded networks including Controller Area Network (CAN), LIN and FlexRay. NI-XNET integrates easily with LabVIEW, uses the same API for CAN, LIN and FlexRay and automatically translates low-level frame data into usable engineering data. The new interfaces combine the performance and flexibility of low-level microcontroller interfaces with the speed and power of Windows and LabVIEW Real-Time OS development. They can also be integrated easily into desktop real-time PCs as well as real-time PXI systems.

Designed for performance and ease of use in demanding applications, the PXI and PCI interfaces are ideal for high-signal-count, low-latency environments. The interfaces feature the NI-XNET device-driven DMA engine for coupling the LIN bus to host memory, which reduces system latency from milliseconds to microseconds. The engine makes it possible for the onboard processor to move LIN frames and signals between the interface and the user program without CPU interrupts, freeing host processor time for processing complex models and applications