National Instruments: Vector signal transceiver meets latest RF standards with flexible design

National Instruments: Vector signal transceiver meets latest RF standards with flexible design

August saw the introduction of a remarkable modular instrument, the culmination of many years of development. Composed of a vector signal generator, a vector signal analyzer, digital I/O, and FPGA-based real-time signal processing and control, the NI PXIe-5644R RF vector signal transceiver (VST) combines all of the above in a single, three-slot PXI Express module. Backed by software to support the latest RF standards, the VST is said to offer the performance and flexibility of several much-more-expensive R&D-grade box instruments, with the speed, low cost, and small form factor of a manufacturing test system.

But what may be most significant about the new instrument is that it allows users to directly access the FPGA at its core and thus define how the instrument will function. This capability makes it the ultimate virtual instrument — a test device whose function is determined by software — or, as its manufacturer states, the world’s first software-designed instrument. Users benefit from this capability by being able to create the specific instrument they need to check out complex new designs, customizing functionality through firmware down to the pins of the device or system to be characterized.

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