Computing Requirements in Multiple PXI Chassis System

I have acquired a two PXI Chassis system, each with their own embedded controller (PXIe-8108 and PXIe-8130). I would like to control all instruments (simultaneously) in both chassis from a central location (either a laptop or one of the embedded controllers). What is the best configuration for this and will using one controller have enough power to drive two fully populated PXIe-1065 chassis?
(I am aware of the different configurations for control (MXI, etc.) and am more concerned with instrument performance, data buffers become full quickly etc., in using one PC controller)
THANKS!

Hi JMU_ISAT,
The PXIe-1065 chassis uses a four link configuration where there is an x4 link going to slots 7, one to slot 8, another to slots 9-14. There are also an x1 link converted to PXI that goes to slots 2-7 and another x1 link converted to PXI that goes to slots 11-13 and 15-18. Each x4 link gives 1 GB/s of bandwidth and each x1 link converted to PXI will provide 125 MB/s of bandwidth. These bandwidths are theoretical maximums where overhead and chip design reduces the bandwidth somewhat.
The PXI-8130 has four x4 links with the four link configuration so it will be able to get the full chassis bandwidth. The PXIe-8108 has four x1 links which will limit the bandwidth to 250 MB/s for slot 7, slot 8, and slot 9-14.
To synchronize the measurements across both chassis you will need a timing and synchronization module such as the PXIe-6672 in the timing slot of each chassis. This will allow you to route the clock of one timing module to the other and then use that clock to override the backplane reference clock of each chassis. Now each module can use the 10 MHz reference clock to synchronize to each other.
In order to control both chassis from one controller, you can run windows on one controller and LabVIEW RealTime on the other controller allowing you to distribute code from the windows controller to the LabVIEW RealTime controller. The other method would be to run a MXI connection from one chassis to the other to daisy chain the chassis. Since the most you can get out of a single slot of the PXIe-1065 is an x4 link, this would limit the total bandwidth of the daisy chained chassis to 1 GB/s theoretical maximum.
I hope this information is helpful!
Andy K.
Applications Engineer
National Instruments

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How do you configure multiple PXIe chassis to share Tclk synch with the 6672 timing module?

Hi,
I have two PXIe chassis, each with a number of digitizers (configured through NI-SCOPE). Each chassis has a PXIe 6672 timing module. I have downloaded the sample VI from:
http://zone.ni.com/devzone/cda/epd/p/id/5254
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Those example VIs are written to be used when a single host PC is controlling multiple chassis so there is just one computer running the program. Since both of your chassis have their own controllers it will be necessary to run a program on each (one as master, the other as slave). You can modify the code from that example to create and Master and Slave VIs. For the Master you will call the VIs as specified in case 0 of the example; for the Slave you will call the VIs as specified in the default, 1 case of the example.
You will also want to send a signal from the Master to the Slave to let the Slave know that the clock is being generated. You could use TCP/IP or a PFI line to do this. The basic order of events should be as follows:
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Good Morning (at least in the western hemisphere)!
I'm having a problem on two test systems where intermittently, at least on one machine, I get a Windows "Blue Screen of Death" error message when booting the machine connected to a PXI RT system. I reloaded the RT systems software yesterday (LV RT 7.1.1, NI-VISA 3.3.1) and am having this problem on two different setups, two laptops, two PXI chassis. Our short term work around has been to boot with the network cable removed at one end or the other, but these are the baseline models for a larger test system in the design/construction stage that will not be used by knowledgeable engineers but by (probably more knowledgeable!) technicians. Any ideas would be a help
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Can I communicate single PXI chassis with multiple computer using MXI

Can I communicate single PXI chassis with multiple computer using multiple MXI cards
we are using cvi with MXI we want to share channels for other computers Can we do with mxi

Yes this is possible when you use a PXI controller. Attached is a screenshot showing a possible configuration.
Jacob K || Applications Engineer || National Instruments
Attachments:
PXIMaster.png ‏20 KB

How do you configure multiple PXI 1011 chassis' in MAX?

I have two PXI 1011 chassis'. The first has the MXI-3 card hooked to a MXI-3 PC card through fiber. The second chassis has an 8176 controller and the 6052e GPIB card. Both chassis have multiple SCXI cards. The problem is the configuration in MAX. MAX 3 picks up the MXI-3 card and chassis with all the SCXI modules, but will not pick up the 8176 chassis. This 8176 is hooked to the PC through a CAT5 ethernet switch.I know there are problems with multiple chassis configuration, but I'm sure I'm just missing something here.

Hi,
So it sounds like you have two PXI systems that are not connected or related to each other, is that right? Since your PXI chassis connected via MXI-3 is working fine, we�ll take that out of the equation.
It sounds like you are trying to configure your PXI-8176 system as a Remote System through an Ethernet connection. Is your PXI-8176 running Windows (if so which version) or Real-Time (RT) operating system?
If you are running Windows XP on the PXI-8176 and also on your computer you can use XP Remote Desktop to control your PXI-8176 system through Ethernet (see the following link for information on that):
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http://digital.ni.com/public.nsf/websearch/3a4d2f5f4354e53a862568c0006a8bc0?OpenDocument
http://digital.ni.com/public.nsf/websearch/5CC9792C6CD4A34C862565BC0072D5DF?OpenDocument
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http://www.ni.com/support/install/install_configure_6.htm
I hope this helps you.
Regards,
Doug K.
National Instruments

HELP! I need to be able to remove power from a PXI chassis and replace a card without rebooting the whole system

I do not have particulars on the controller, but I am sure it's an NI chassis
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I am making this PXI rack into a debug rack for instrument cards,
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or the same one and then turn the power back on and restart a
diagnostic test on the card WITHOUT
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Is there a PCIe bridge setup that would allow me to do this?
Is there software that I need that can accomplish this?

Yes
The Chassi is a NI PXI 1045
and the controller is a NI-PXI-8331
Let me re-enumerate my requirements:
Background:
I have a number of NI cards as well as other manufactured cards in the system.
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The UUT uses a PLX 9030 for it's PCI interfacing.
This UUT is not designed for hot swap, and I do not bieleve it is plug and play.
Requirement:
1. I need to be able to shut off the chassis and remove the UUT when the test finishes, replace the tested UUT
with a unknown UUT, re-apply power and then test the new UUT WITHOUT having to reboot the PC.
I have tried several things, such as disabling the PCIe busses in the windows control panel, and then removing power
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I am by no means an expert in PCI/PXI,
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Perhaps there is a way for the NI8331 controller to capture PCI configuration data to the card's on system boot,
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Or perhaps PLX makes such a tool?
Any ideas?

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I have a PXI-1000 connected to my desktop PC via a MXI-3 interface. When I plug more than a couple of PXI modules into the chassis and switch on, my PC continually resets itself. Any idea what is wrong?

Dear Darren,
This sounds like there is a problem with your chassis supplying the power required for all of your PXI modules. This could indicate either a problem with the power supply on the chassis itself, a problem with the PXI backplane being shorted, or a problem with one or more of your modules. If possible, I recommend testing this system with a different PXI chassis.
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National Instruments

CNVString - Sending Strings from a PXI chassis over ethernet to a labWindows application on another computer

I have a PXI chassis with a PXI-8101 controller. It is set up with a realtime operating system. I am communicating to it with a PC with a Windows operating system. I am trying to send variable length string messages from my PXI system to my PC.
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Solved!
Go to Solution.

I've changed things around and now the application on the realtime operating system on the PXI-8101 does not hang but my host computer does not see the message correctly. It sees some characters but they are not what I sent.
I don't seem to be able to get message out of CNVData data properly. Below is the new code for the PXI-8101 controller and the Host computer LabWindows application.
Here is the code in the PXI-8101 controller now:
CNVCreateWriter("\\\\localhost\\system\\" REG_CAL_ERROR_STRING, 0, 0, 5000, 0, &gErrorPublisher);
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int i;
char out_str[ERROR_STRN_SIZE*4];
strcpy(out_str,message);
size_t arrayDims= ERROR_STRN_SIZE;
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error = CNVCreateScalarDataValue( &data,CNVString,out_str);
if(error<0)
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CNVWrite(gErrorPublisher, data, 1000);
CNVDisposeData(data);
And here is the code in the Host computer LabWindows application:
sprintf(path, "\\\\%s\\system\\%s", address, REG_CAL_ERROR_STRING);
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static void CVICALLBACK ErrorMessageCallback(void * handle, CNVData data, void * callbackData)
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(void)SetCtrlVal(panelHandle,PANEL_TEXTBOX_DEBUG_MSG,"got something\n");
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(void)SetCtrlVal(panelHandle,PANEL_TEXTBOX_DEBUG_MSG,"\n");
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NI System Monitor. PXI chassis info? Where?

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Jeff·Þ·Bohrer wrote:
I'm with the blue bars on this Scott. The system configuration API is the way to go.
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Timers do and communication not working on RT system on PXI chassis

I am having problems with my application when I "Install it to a real-time target". When I run the program in debug mode everything works fine.
I have two programs. One runs on a real-time OS on a PXI chassis Controller (Client). The other runs on my Windows 7 PC (host).
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It appears that the timers do do start. The Client application does receive communication sent from the Host application but is not able to send communication from the Client to the Host.
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It is not LabView. I am developing software with LabWindows\CVI. I've seemed to narrow things down a bit. When I send a message to my application on the PXI Controller it is calling a function PostDeferredCall(...). The deferred function is never called. Not sure why it works when I am running the code in Debug Mode but not when I install it on the target. In my while loop in my RTmain() function it looks like this:
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What equipment is required to calibrate PXI cards.

I need to know what all is required, hardware and software wise, for me to calibrate the following NI items in my cal lab:
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What I have now is an old version 2.0 of Calibration Executive and the software that came with these cards (NI-488.2, GPIB-VXI/C Legacy Documentation and NI-VISA Libraries Version 3.0). My software guy also has the NI Developer Suite from 2003. In the lab we have calibrators (5700,5720,4708,9500) and meters (34401,3458,1281,8508) and scopes (TDS) and PC controllers running XP with NI PCI-GPIB cards.
I realize I will need to get an upgrade for the Cal Exec, I need to know what all else is required to decide if it is going to be justifiable to gear up for this capability. Any information, including prices, is appreciated.

Hi Poornima -
The SCXI chassis and equipment are used to condition signals sent to and from the DUT. After being conditioned, the signals are sent to your DAQ device to be digitized and read into the computer. As such, the SCXI chassis only needs to be cabled to the DAQ device. You can do this using a shielded E-series cable (SH68-68-EP) and an adapter block (SCXI-1349). These will connect the leftmost device in your SCXI chassis to your DAQ card, which must reside in the rightmost slot of your PXI chassis. There is detailed information about SCXI connections in the "SCXI Quick Start Guide", which can be found in the Start Menu documentation for DAQ.
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There are also detailed text instructions for making the connections in the "Calibration Executive Help" file, which you can find in the program's Start menu group. Inside this file, browse the tree to "Device Calibration Procedures » Modular Instruments » High-Speed Digital". The instructions given here explain step-by-step how to connect your equipment for both scenarios (combo chassis and separate SCXI chassis).
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I want to use NI LabView and LabView RT, some PXI chassis of N.I and
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More simply
Third party PXI chassis and controllers support LabView RT or not?
Note: Mark Andre Hary [email protected] of Sensing Systems LLC answer to this question as:
"You can't. I think NI bought Pharlap, and they do not offer board support packages (BSPs) for non-NI PXI controllers. There is no way to get LabVIEW-RT running on a controller not purchased from NI. You will have to use a standard RTOS like Linux,VxWorks, or QNX.
Regards

Hello,
You can install LabVIEW RT ETS on a third party PXI controller just as if it were a PC. Check the requirements that a PC needs to have in order to run LabVIEW RT ETS.
Check the following link:
http://digital.ni.com/public.nsf/3efedde4322fef19862567740067f3cc/cb3434da94466dd286256e9e006bb775?O...
Ricardo S.
National Instruments

Computing Requirements in Multiple PXI Chassis System

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