Multiple DAQ cards sync hardware setup for PXI

[msouza]

I recently went through the process of getting multiple DAQ PCI cards in a computer and synchronizing them together using a RTSI cable.  I just purchased two similar cards in PXI.  In the Measurement and Automation software I had to manually add a RTSI cable to the DAQmx devices and link the cable with the PCI cards.  I just want to make sure that I don't have to do the same with the PXI cards because there is no RTSI cable necessary for the PXI.

Thanks for any assistance,

Mike

[crossrulz · Accepted solution]

The PXI chassis has clock and trigger lines in the backplane so that you don't need the RTSI cable.

[msouza]

Thanks!  I thought so, but wanted to make sure.

[jvc]

I am curious to know if there is something special I need to do so that the cards all acquire data "at a similar instant of time"? I get that they won't be exactly at the same time, but they should be close. For ease of conversation, I have two card types, a PXIe-4302 and a PXIe-4357. I don't have my PXI hardware yet and am writing my code with simulated modules in MAX. So far, the timing for a 1 SPS acquisition across two tasks has not been very deterministic.

[santo_13]

There are multiple ways to synchronize instruments in the PXI chassis like sharing the sampling clock, sending triggers etc.,

The method to synchronize is dependent on the family of instrument you're synchronizing and timing requirements.

With simulated instruments, you cannot validate the hardware synchronization features of the instruments.