4472B Sound & Vib boards - how to maintain relevancy?

[mgengineer]

Hello everyone,

I have a few PXI-4472B Sound & Vibration boards that we have used in the past with:

• PXI-1044 chassis
• PXI-8360 MXI Express interface

that we would connect to a laptop through a expresscard/34 -> thunderbolt 2 adapter -> thunderbolt 3 adapter...

However, I haven't been able to get this kludge to work with my machine and I assume that this method is obsolete.

I was looking at the PXIe-1083 for a solution but after some research, I do not believe the PXI-4472B boards will work with the Hybrid peripheral slots of this chassis.

I'm a bit new to NI equipment. Could anyone recommend a chassis/interface setup that could make use of our existing PXI-4472B boards? I would be interested in a low channel count (maybe 4 or 5 slots) or high channel count option (~14 slots). I'm not sure what the benefit would be of having an embedded controller versus direct interface to my laptop. Generally I take data with a Python script and my laptop has a Thunderbolt 3/USB-C port.

The application is mobile, or semi mobile data acquisition of sound & vibration data (that was probably obvious!).

Thanks in advance, everyone!

Edit: the most I have been able to see is the MXI expresscard in NI MAX...

[dsb@NI]

I admire your dedication to those modules. It sounds like they have served you well.

I don't have an immediate answer to the question you posed regarding keeping your 4472B cards relevant. I might turn the question around by asking: What features and benefits of newer hardware might compel you to invest in upgrading your portable sound and vibration measurement system rather than looking for ever more inventive ways to keep that aging system calibrated and running and connected to newer and newer laptops? cDAQ modules can match the specs of the 4472B in a more rugged form factor with lower power requirements and NO fan. 

It sounds like you have a few of the 4472B modules. Are you able to put together more modules for measurements requiring more than 24 channels? What is the most number of channels you need? Sample rate?

[rwunderl]

I think the PXIe-1083 is an excellent option to connect PXIe devices to your laptop using Thunderbolt 3. The cost makes it very attractive. If you wanted more slots, you'd have to go with something like the PXIe-1084 chassis with a PXIe-8301.

As for the cards, the PXIe-4492 is the new 4472B. If you need more than 8 channels, I would strongly suggest going with the PXIe-4497. Either way, you'll need a BNC breakout of some sort, either an InfiniBand-to-BNC cable or the BNC-2144 panel (and InfiniBand patch cables). See this link for more info. The 4497's are solid and have served well for many years.

As far as your original question, would a chassis like the PXIe-1065 not be able to use the PXI-4472B directly? It has 9 PXI slots. You could use a PXIe8301 to interface it using Thunderbolt 3. It's Mature in its life cycle, so NI probably won't offer it much longer.

The integrated controller is probably not what you want unless you want to use that controller as your "computer" (attach a monitor and keyboard to it). The effort to program interfaces to the remote controller, decide where to put the data, handle lost network connections, etc. is not trivial. Probably not worth it unless the system needs to run in a headless (unattended) mode.

Hope it helps.

[mgengineer]

Regarding PXIe-4497 boards, do you know the length restrictions of the InfiniBand cables? I may want to run a 15 m length InfiniBand 4x cable from a PXIe-4497 to a BNC-2144 breakout panel that's located near our experimental setup. Any ideas?

Thanks.

[rwunderl]

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@mgengineer wrote:

I may want to run a 15 m length InfiniBand 4x cable from a PXIe-4497 to a BNC-2144 breakout panel that's located near our experimental setup.

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NI only sells 1 m and 2 m cables. This is often not enough for practical implementations. You would be forced to run 10s or 100s of BNC cables from your 2144 to the field. I think it is absolutely a good idea to run one double-shielded InfiniBand cable into the field versus 8 BNC cables.

There are cable vendors who will terminate InfiniBand cables at lengths of up to 15 m. I recommend having these cables professionally terminated as they are quite complex (fine pitch, insulation and shielding treatment, epoxy potting inside the backshell).

Some vendors specify the gauge of wire used in the cabling. It should be lower gauge (larger diameter) copper for longer distances to keep your losses down. As far as length limitations, I don't know of a practical hard limit. I think 15 m is a good limit. I have used 8-10 m and plan to go up to 15 m as well.

Finally, the real issue is the obsolescence of the InfiniBand connector itself. It is increasingly difficult to locate mating connectors. I don't know where NI is still sourcing the parts, as the Fujitsu microGiGaCN has been obsolete since September 2020. Who knows when they will change the connector on the front of the 4497...