Choices Abound for Instrument Control

摘要

Virtual instrumentation continues to benefit from new technologies that speed the link between PCs and instruments. IEEE 488 (GPIB), IEEE 1394 (FireWire™), and MXI-2 offer increasing levels of performance for remotely controlling box instruments and VXI systems. Ethernet is used increasingly more as a low-cost, remote-control technology for a variety of instrumentation devices. Many factors affect the selection of an instrumentation platform and whether a remote or embedded control scheme is used. These considerations include performance, software demands, ease of integration, and price. When choosing remote-controller technology, factors such as cable flexibility, interconnect length, and link bandwidth are important. Ultimately, a careful analysis of an application''s specific needs will clarify the choice of a platform and a control scheme.