LXI Standard – Current and Future David Owen – Pickering Interfaces TC Chair LXI Consortium LXI – “It’s About Your Time”

Page 2 LXI Consortium Defined Ethernet based control interface for the T&M industry Built around other standards Provide a precise definition of behavior within those standards In 3 years since first publication Over 500 products on the market 15 vendors with compliance tested products Over 50 vendors are members – almost all the key T&M players

Page 3 Product Breadth in just a few years Spectrum Analyzers Power Supplies Switching Multifunction Mainframes Digital Multimeters Signal Generators Function/Arbitrary Waveform Generators RF/Microwave Downconverters/Upconverters IF Digitizers Thermocouple Instruments WTB Accessories Bridges Signal Analyzers Oscilloscopes Power Analyzers

Page 4 Why LXI? LAN-based systems offer speed, simplicity, and low cost. The ubiquitous nature of LAN, with its ongoing enhancements and backward compatibility, provides a perfect test and measurement platform. System configuration is quick and easy through the intuitive Web interface Programming is simplified, and there is greater software re-use through IVI drivers.

Page 5 Why LXI? (2) LXI provides the ability to create hybrid systems that include LXI, GPIB, VXI, PXI, PCI, USB, and others. LXI offers enhanced system performance and event handling via hardware- and LAN-based triggering modes. Local and remote instruments can be synchronized through the IEEE 1588 precision time protocol.

Page 6 GPIB and beyond Succeed GPIB in new applications Provide more functionality and capability Capable of migration with the standards it is built on Ensuring long market life based on the longest lived IT interface Not to have the limitations of GPIB No distance, speed or device count limitations Improved trigger and communication interface Have the same feel and ease of use as a modern IT product Connect intelligent instruments With local distributed processing Fast interface Which will get faster

Page 7 From small to large systems Single or multiple controllers Short to continental distances IT industry standard cables and building blocks High degree of building block independence Operating systems Controller technology

Page 8 LXI is a Different “_XI” LXI not a Modular Standard Like PXI & VXI No additional Slot 0 or 1 Controller No Additional Chassis Works in Harmony with These Standards

Page 9 Making it easy to switch from GPIB to LXI TCPIP0:: ::INSTRGPIB0::22::INSTR LXIGPIB Swapping IP Address for GPIB Address

Page 10 Making it easy to configure and control Through simple web based interfaces Providing Soft Front Panels without drivers Typically through Java programs

Page 11 3 Classes of LXI Class B Class C Class A Class C plus IEEE 1588 time sync LAN messaging Brings the potential to make systems “smarter” Breaks the traditional PC centric system model with network and timing capabilities Class B & C plus LVDS Hardware trigger bus Tight sub 5ns local trigger allows module integration for performance products Ethernet standards IVI driver Instrument web page Physical Size / Shielding Power / Cooling Indicators / reset button The baseline for common LAN connectivity Class A Class B Class C All products have consistent LAN implementation Functional classes may be in any physical size

Page 12 Bringing a sense of Time to a test system IEEE1588 brings an accurate knowledge of time to instruments Time stamp events, execute triggers in time, recover past event information Easy to correlate between instruments Schedule events across instruments Off loading traffic at busy times Minimizing device to device traffic “

Page 13 Compliance Testing LXI products have to be compliance tested At an LXI Event or through an approved test house Ensures interoperability between vendors Ensures consistent specification interpretation Provides direction for future clarification

Page 14 LXI Evolution (1) Version 1.3 being published Specification reorganised to aid clarity of reading Adoption of mDNS Discovery mechanism Commonly used mechanism for printers and other IT products Adoption of Providing improved timing accuracy through use of transparent clocks

Page 15 LXI Evolution (2) Very active TC looking forward to Version 2 with added user focussed features Improved Event Log and Web based trigger support Resource Management model to arbitrate between processes Improved peer to peer communication And probably more, the planning is starting

Page 16 Conclusion LXI is a Well Thought Out Specification Based on the collective knowledge of the leading players Strong Acceptance in T&M Community Growing Number of Products Growing Acceptance by users Designed for long market life Ongoing improvements in the standard in response to user demand With careful attention to legacy compatibility and usability Bright Future