National Instruments (Nasdaq: NATI) has announced a significant bandwidth increase in its digitiser offering with the introduction of the NI PXI-5154 digitiser/PC-based oscilloscope, expanding the family of more than 20 high-speed, high-resolution and high-channel-count products. The dual-channel, 1 GHz PXI-5154 digitiser offers up to a 2 GS/s real-time sample rate (20 GS/s equivalent-time sample rate for repetitive signals), making it ideal for acquisition and characterisation of fast, nanosecond-edge speeds. Equipped with the deepest onboard memory in its class of up to 256 MB per channel, the digitiser also provides high sustained sample rates over extended data capture windows. The device is well-suited for automated test and data streaming applications in the consumer electronics, semiconductor, aerospace/defence and life sciences industries.

Using National Instruments patented T-Clock technology, engineers can integrate PXI digitisers with a variety of NI hardware – including arbitrary waveform generators and digital waveform generators/analysers – to customise and build a complete, automated mixed-signal test system. Using T-Clock technology, engineers can also synchronise multiple PXI-5154 digitisers to build systems with up to 34 channels in a single PXI chassis, all simultaneously sampling at 1GS/s and synchronised to picosecond-level accuracy between modules. The digitiser's high bandwidth and tight multi-module synchronisation are particularly beneficial for applications including mass spectrometry, radar, signal intelligence, non-destructive test and high-channel count physics experimentation.

Engineers can combine the new digitiser with NI LabVIEW Signal Express software to quickly acquire data, perform measurements, and view and analyse data in Microsoft Excel. Additionally, the PXI-5154 digitiser works with all National Instruments software including LabVIEW and LabWindows™/CVI as well as other development environments such as ANSI C, Microsoft C++ and Visual Basic.

For more information on the new digitiser, readers can visit www.ni.com/digitizers.