National Instruments PXIe-8880 PXI Express Embedded Controllers Instruction Manual
- June 12, 2024
- NATIONAL INSTRUMENTS
Table of Contents
National Instruments PXIe-8880 PXI Express Embedded Controllers
PXI Express Embedded Controllers
PXIe-8880, PXIe-8861, PXIe-8840, and PXIe-8821
- Latest high-performance Intel processors
- Operating system: Windows 10, Windows 7 and LabVIEW Real-Time.
- Up to 24 GB/s system bandwidth
- Solid State drives, Thunderbolt™ 3, USB 3.0, Gigabit Ethernet, and other peripheral ports.
- OS, hardware drivers and applications factory installed and ready to use
Built for Automated Test and Measurement
The highest performance PXI Express embedded controllers provide class-leading
performance in a compact embedded form factor for your PXI-based test,
measurement, and control systems. Besides offering high CPU performance, these
controllers provide high I/O throughput coupled with a rich set of peripheral
I/O ports and up to 32 GB of RAM. NI PXI embedded controllers are specifically
designed to meet the demanding requirements of test, measurement, and control
systems. They are available with the latest processor options in a rugged form
factor designed to operate in a wide temperature range and high shock and
vibration environments.
Table 1. NI offers PXI Express Embedded Controllers with Intel processors ranging from Intel Xeon to Intel Core i3.
| __
PXIe-8880
| __
PXIe-8861
| PXIe-8840
Quad Core
| __
PXIe-8840
| __
PXIe-8821
---|---|---|---|---|---
Processor| Intel Xeon E5- 2618L v3| Intel Xeon E3- 1515MV5| Intel Core i7-
5700EQ| Intel Core i5-4400E| Intel Core i3-4110E
Processor Cores| 8| 4| 4| 2| 2
Processor Frequency| 2.3 GHz (3.4 GHz Turbo)| 2.8 GHz (3.7 GHz Turbo)| 2.6 GHz
(3.4 GHz Turbo)| 2.7 GHz (3.3 GHz Turbo)| 2.6 GHz
Standard Memory| 8 GB| 8 GB| 4 GB| 4 GB| 2 GB
Maximum Memory| 24 GB| 32 GB| 8 GB| 8 GB| 8 GB
System Bandwidth| 24 GB/s| 16 GB/s| 8 GB/s| 2 GB/s| 2 GB/s
Standard Storage| 240 GB, SSD| 512 GB, SSD| 320 GB, HDD| 320 GB, HDD| 320 GB,
HDD
TPM Version| 1.2| 2.0| –| –| –
Ethernet| 2 GbE| 2 GbE| 2 GbE| 2 GbE| 1 GbE
USB Ports| 4 USB 2.0
2 USB 3.0
| 4 USB 2.0
2 USB 3.0
| 4 USB 2.0
2 USB 3.0
| 4 USB 2.0
2 USB 3.0
| 2 USB 2.0
2 USB 3.0
Thunderbolt 3 Ports| –| 2| –| –| –
Detailed View of PXIe-8880 Embedded Controller
Key Features
Performance
When National Instruments releases a new PXI embedded controller, it offers
the controller shortly after major computer manufacturers such as Dell or HP
release computers featuring the same high-performance embedded mobile
processor. This trend illustrates the company’s design expertise and
commitment to providing the instrumentation industry with high-performance PXI
embedded controllers that take advantage of the latest PC technologies, such
as the Intel Atom, Core i7 processor, or Xeon processor. Also, because NI has
been in the business of releasing PXI embedded controllers for over 20 years,
the company has developed a close working relationship with key processor
manufacturers such as Intel and Advanced Micro Devices (AMD). For example, NI
is an associate member of the Intel Intelligent Systems Alliance, which offers
access to the latest Intel product roadmaps and samples.
In addition to computing performance, I/O bandwidth plays a critical role in
designing instrumentation systems. As modern test and measurement systems
become more complex, there is a growing need to exchange more and more data
between the instruments and the system controller. With the introduction of
PCI Express and PXI Express, NI embedded controllers have met this need and
now deliver up to 24 GB/s of system bandwidth to the PXI Express chassis
backplane.
Figure 1: NI has continued to incorporate the latest PC technologies into its PXI controllers.
As the PCI Express standard evolved to PCI Express 3.0, PXI Express continued
to take advantage of new features. The PXIe-8880 uses the advancements of PCI
Express technology to offer both one x16 and one x8 Gen 3 PCI Express link for
interfacing to the PXI chassis backplane.
Using the PXIe-8880 with a Gen 3 PXI Express chassis, such as the PXIe-1095,
provides total system data throughput up to 24 GB/s. With this high bandwidth,
you can now easily implement computationally intensive applications that
demand high-throughput rates such as next generation wireless communication
design and prototyping, RF record and playback, and noise mapping.
Differentiated I/O
NI PXI and PXI Express embedded controllers feature a variety of I/O
connectivity to interface to stand-alone instruments or peripheral devices.
I/O offerings include up to two Thunderbolt 3, two USB 3.0, four USB 2.0
ports, Dual-Gigabit Ethernet, GPIB, serial, two display ports for dual-monitor
support, and parallel ports. Each of these ports directly translates to cost
savings because they negate the need to purchase PXI modules that provide this
functionality. In addition, you can optimize the usage of the available slots
in a PXI chassis because you can use the slots to place measurement modules
instead.
Figure 2: The
PXIe-8880 features rich I/O options for peripheral device connections.
Increased Memory and Hard Drive Offering
As the needs of test, measurement, and control applications evolve, NI
continues to expand the accessories portfolio of the PXI embedded controller
to ensure optimal performance. For memory-intensive applications, NI offers
the PXIe-8861 embedded controller with memory upgrade options up to 32 GB RAM.
To align with the memory upgrade options, Windows 10 64-bit is available on
the highest performance controllers to ensure your applications can fully
access all available system RAM.
NI also provides a variety of storage upgrade options. These options range
from high-capacity standard hard disk drives (HDD) to solid-state drives
(SSD). When storing instrumentation data from your application, it is
convenient to store to the onboard HDD/SSD on the embedded controller. To
ensure enough space for all desired data, NI offers an option to upgrade your
standard HDD or SSD to a larger capacity HDD or SSD, for example 800 GB SSD
with the PXIe-8880, to maximize storage space.
For harsh environments where you want to operate the controller or store data,
SSDs are ideal. These drives do not have any moving parts; therefore, they
significantly reduce risk due to mechanical failure, resulting in improved
system reliability. They can also withstand extreme shock, high altitude and
vibration, and other harsh operation environments. Besides better tolerance
for harsh operating environments and increased reliability, SSDs provide lower
read and write seek times as compared to standard rotating medium hard drives.
This translates to higher sequential and random data read and write rates.
Applications using SSDs experience faster application load times and overall
test-time savings due to faster file I/O.
High Reliability
PXI embedded controllers continuously feature the latest processors on the
market. To ensure that the embedded controller offers optimal performance over
the entire operating range, NI performs extensive thermal, mechanical, and
electrical testing to ensure that the CPU in an NI PXI embedded controller
doesn’t throttle its processor performance when used in extreme environments.
Ensuring the CPU’s proper performance and reliability increases the overall
reliability of the PXI system. NI accomplishes this by using its expertise in
developing embedded controllers and applying techniques such as advanced
design simulation and designing custom heat sinks. You can also choose a
solid-state hard drive instead of the standard, rotating-medium hard drive to
further improve the reliability of the entire system, particularly in harsh
environments. Because of this unique design consideration by NI, you can
deploy PXI-based instruments in more challenging applications.
To ensure determinism and offer even higher reliability, NI offers PXI
embedded controllers that run a real-time OS and LabVIEW Real-Time Module
software instead of standard Windows OSs. Systems running Windows or other
general-purpose OSs cannot guarantee the completion of a certain task in a
specified time because the OS shares the processor with other system processes
running in parallel. With LabVIEW Real-Time running on the embedded
controller, the entire processor is dedicated to running your specific
application, which ensures deterministic and reliable behavior.
Integrated Tools to Improve System Availability and Manageability
NI works closely with Intel to ensure features of the latest processor are
incorporated into PXI embedded controllers, enabling PXI applications to take
advantage of these new tools. Intel Active Management Technology (AMT), which
provides system administrators the ability to remotely monitor, maintain, and
update systems. With this feature, administrators can boot systems from a
remote media, track hardware and software assets, and perform remote
troubleshooting and recovery.
You can use this feature to manage deployed automated test or control systems
that need high uptime. Test, measurement, and control applications can use AMT
to collect data remotely and monitor application status. When an application
or system failure occurs, AMT gives you the ability to remotely diagnose the
problem and access debug screens. The problem is resolved sooner and no longer
requires interaction with the actual system. With AMT, you can remotely update
software when required, ensuring that the system is updated as quickly as
possible since downtime can be very costly. AMT can provide many remote
management benefits for PXI systems.
The Trusted Platform Module (TPM) is a component on select embedded
controllers that is specifically designed to enhance platform security above
and beyond the capabilities of today’s software by providing a protected space
for key operations and other security critical tasks. Using both hardware and
software, the TPM protects encryption and signature keys at their most
vulnerable stages—operations when the keys are being used unencrypted in
plain-text form. The TPM is specifically designed to shield unencrypted keys
and platform authentication information from software-based attacks. The
PXIe-8880 is equipped with TPM v1.2, while the PXIe-8861 is equipped with TPM
v 2.0.
Often to deploy test and measurement systems in classified areas, you need
these systems to have an associated declassification process. Declassifying a
PXI system requires knowledge of all memory components in the system including
the chassis, controller, and modules. PXI embedded controllers feature
nonvolatile storage in the form of a hard drive or a flash drive that retains
user and system information, even after the system is powered down. Because
nonvolatile storage is required for the PXI embedded controller to operate,
the PXIe-8135 and PXIe-8861 offer variants with removable drives that provide
the ability to remove this storage media so that it can be placed in a secure
environment.
Figure 3: The
PXIe-8135 offers a removeable hard disk drive.
Platform-Based Approach to Test and Measurement
What Is PXI?
Powered by software, PXI is a rugged PC-based platform for measurement and
automation systems. PXI combines PCI electrical-bus features with the modular,
Eurocard packaging of CompactPCI and then adds specialized synchronization
buses and key software features. PXI is both a high-performance and low-cost
deployment platform for applications such as manufacturing test, military and
aerospace, machine monitoring, automotive, and industrial test. Developed in
1997 and launched in 1998, PXI is an open industry standard governed by the
PXI Systems Alliance (PXISA), a group of more than 70 companies chartered to
promote the PXI standard, ensure interoperability, and maintain the PXI
specification.
Integrating the Latest Commercial Technology
By leveraging the latest commercial technology for our products, we can
continually deliver high-performance and high-quality products to our users at
a competitive price. The latest PCI Express Gen 3 switches deliver higher data
throughput, the latest Intel multicore processors facilitate faster and more
efficient parallel (multisite) testing, the latest FPGAs from Xilinx help to
push signal processing algorithms to the edge to accelerate measurements, and
the latest data converters from TI and ADI continually increase the
measurement range and performance of our instrumentation.
PXI Instrumentation
NI offers more than 600 different PXI modules ranging from DC to mmWave.
Because PXI is an open industry standard, nearly 1,500 products are available
from more than 70 different instrument vendors. With standard processing and
control functions designated to a controller, PXI instruments need to contain
only the actual instrumentation circuitry, which provides effective
performance in a small footprint. Combined with a chassis and controller, PXI
systems feature high-throughput data movement using PCI Express bus interfaces
and sub-nanosecond synchronization with integrated timing and triggering.
Oscilloscopes
Sample at speeds up to 12.5 GS/s with 5 GHz of analog bandwidth, featuring
numerous triggering modes and deep onboard memory
Digital Instruments
Perform characterization and production test of semiconductor devices with
timing sets and per channel pin parametric measurement unit (PPMU)
Frequency Counters
Perform counter timer tasks such as event counting and encoder position,
period, pulse, and frequency measurements
Power Supplies & Loads
Supply programmable DC power, with some modules including isolated channels,
output disconnect functionality, and remote sense
Switches (Matrix & MUX)
Feature a variety of relay types and row/column configurations to simplify
wiring in automated test systems
GPIB, Serial, & Ethernet
Integrate non-PXI instruments into a PXI system through various instrument
control interfaces
Digital
Multimeters
Perform voltage (up to 1000 V), current (up to 3A), resistance, inductance,
capacitance, and frequency/period measurements, as well as diode tests
Waveform Generators
Generate standard functions including sine, square, triangle, and ramp as well
as user-defined, arbitrary waveforms
Source Measure Units
Combine high-precision source and measure capability with high channel
density, deterministic hardware sequencing, and SourceAdapt transient
optimization
FlexRIO Custom Instruments & Processing
Provide high-performance I/O and powerful FPGAs for applications that require
more than standard instruments can offer
Vector Signal Transceivers
Combine a vector signal generator and vector signal analyzer with FPGA-based,
real-time signal processing and control
Data Acquisition Modules
Provide a mix of analog I/O, digital I/O, counter/timer, and trigger
functionality for measuring electrical or physical phenomena
Hardware Services
All NI hardware includes a one-year warranty for basic repair coverage, and
calibration in adherence to NI specifications prior to shipment. PXI systems
also include basic assembly and a functional test. NI offers additional
entitlements to improve uptime and lower maintenance costs with service
programs for hardware. Learn more at
ni.com/services/hardware.
|
Standard
|
Premium
|
Description
---|---|---|---
Program Duration| 1, 3, or 5
years
| 1, 3, or 5
years
|
Length of service program
Extended Repair Coverage| ●| ●| NI restores your device’s functionality and
includes firmware updates and factory calibration.
System Configuration, Assembly, and Test1|
●
|
●
|
NI technicians assemble, install software in, and test your system per your custom configuration prior to shipment.
Advanced Replacement2| | ●| NI stocks replacement hardware that can be
shipped immediately if a repair is needed.
System Return Material Authorization (RMA)1| |
●
| NI accepts the delivery of fully assembled systems when performing repair
services.
Calibration Plan (Optional)|
Standard
|
Expedited3
| NI performs the requested level of calibration at the specified calibration interval for the duration of the service program.
- This option is only available for PXI, CompactRIO, and CompactDAQ systems.
- This option is not available for all products in all countries. Contact your local NI sales engineer to confirm availability. 3Expedited calibration only includes traceable levels.
PremiumPlus Service Program
NI can customize the offerings listed above, or offer additional entitlements
such as on-site calibration, custom sparing, and life-cycle services through a
PremiumPlus Service Program. Contact your NI sales
representative to learn more.
Technical Support
Every NI system includes a 30-day trial for phone and e-mail support from NI
engineers, which can be extended through a Software Service Program (SSP)
membership. NI has more than 400 support
engineers available around the globe to provide local support in more than 30
languages. Additionally,
take advantage of NI’s award winning online resources and communities.
©2019 National Instruments. All rights reserved. LabVIEW, National Instruments, NI, NI TestStand, and ni.com are trademarks of National Instruments. Other product and company names listed are trademarks or trade names of their respective companies. The contents of this Site could contain technical inaccuracies, typographical errors or out-of-date information. Information may be updated or changed at any time, without notice. Visit ni.com/manuals for the latest information.
10 December 2019
ni.com | PXI Express Embedded Controllers
References
- Test and Measurement Systems, a part of Emerson - NI
- Product Documentation - NI
- Hardware Services - NI
- Test and Measurement Systems, a part of Emerson - NI
- NI Community - National Instruments
- What Are PXI Digital Pattern Instruments? - NI
- What Are PXI Digital Multimeters? - NI
- What Is FlexRIO? - NI
- What Are PXI Oscilloscopes? - NI
- What Is a PXI Programmable Power Supply? - NI
- What are PXI Source Measure Units (SMUs)? - NI
- What Are PXI Switches? - NI
- What Is a PXI Waveform Generator? - NI
- Frequency Counters - NI
- GPIB, Serial, and Ethernet - NI
- Multifunction I/O - NI
- What Is a PXI Vector Signal Transceiver? - NI
- PXIe-1095 - NI
- PXIe-8821 - NI
- PXIe-8840 - NI
- PXIe-8861 - NI
- PXIe-8880 - NI
- Product Documentation - NI
- Hardware Services - NI
- Software Services - NI
- Support - NI
- Supercharging Test and Measurement Systems with Intel Xeon CPU and PCI Express Gen 3 Technology - NI
- PXI Controllers - NI
- PXI-8105 National Instruments PXI Controller | Apex Waves
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