National Instruments updates FlexRIO

Improved signal processing capabilities in the new generations of FPGAs affect more than the end application. They also allow better test capabilities, particularly in hardware-in-the-loop environments. National Instruments Inc. just introduced an extension to its NI FlexRIO product line, using adapter modules for tailoring I/O to vertical realms such as RF and visual inspection. The adapter modules are linked to a PXI-based FPGA module based on the Xilinx Virtex-5.

When I got my first hands-on look at FlexRIO at last August’s NIWeek, National was on the verge of offering the first adapters for digital IO and LVDS signaling. Over the course of the next few months, the company will release additional adapters for a baseband transceiver; an 8-bit digitizer for testing time-domain measurements; a four-channel, 14-bit digitizer for signals intelligence applications; and a Camera Link interface for image processing. NI promises to have third parties such as Adsys Controls, Cosylab (Control System Laboratory), Prevas AB, and Smart Embedded Technologies GmbH offer additional adapter modules.