National Instruments PXIe-6555 PXI Digital Waveform Instrument

The PXIe-6555 (Part number; 781948-01) is a 24-Channel Digital Waveform Instrument manufactured by National Instruments. The NI PXIe-6555 has 30 ps timing resolution for each pin and can separately source or sink 32 mA maximum for every channel. It has a voltage range of -2 V to 7 V, with an output impedance of 50 ohms. This PXI Digital Waveform Instrument is ideal for DC parametric assessment with 24 single-ended digital pins, characterization, and interfacing. Additional capabilities of the PXIe-6555 include: per-pin advanced digital timing features, DC voltage and current parametric measurements, and hardware comparison for bit-error assessment. The device has a maximum clock rate of 200 MHz, with a maximum data rate of 200 Mb per second.

To operate the Digital Waveform Instrument, an application development environment (ADE) is required, and should be installed before the NI-HSDIO–one of LabVIEW or LabWindows/CVI would suffice. The device can be used with the NI-HSDIO instrument driver. The NI Script Editor comes with the NI-HSDIO DVD and delivers an interface to assist the user with creating linking and looping waveform generation operations. An optional type of software for the NI PXIe-6555 is the NI Digital Waveform Editor (NI DWE). This software enables users to effortlessly import information from well-known third-party electronic design automation programs, generate and edit original waveforms, and look at obtained waveforms. The NI DWE should be installed after NI-HSDIO.

Most regular NI Digital Waveform Generator/Analyzer applications, such as those for the PXIe-6555, often require that the user generate a customized accessory to swiftly reach the signals of the device under test (DUT). If the user is making a customized accessory to utilize with a device with a VHDCI DDC connector, then they can buy the mating connector for the VHDCI cable from NI. Also, users should keep in mind that they should always correctly terminate cables to prevent incorrect measurements caused by signal reflections. The device weighs 28 oz., with the dimensions: 21.6 x 2.0 x 13.0 cm.

PXIe-6555 Maintenance Status has been announced by National Instruments, but the Digital Waveform Instrument will still be available for purchase and repairs by Apex Waves.