10-15-2016 12:04 PM
I need to add a PXI-6221 and a PXI-6713 to a cPCI system with a 6U backplane. Can these two cards operate in this system? The connectors look compatible but I can't find information confirming it one way or the other.
10-17-2016 02:24 PM
Hi Greg,
As per this document:
"Using PXI Modules in a Compact PCI Chassis and Vice Versa"
http://digital.ni.com/public.nsf/allkb/C4E39E48095AD980862571E90083B8DA
It looks like the PXI cards are compatible with the cPCI system, with the caveat that you need to check the voltage rating of the cards are consistent with the chassis, and you won't be able to route triggers and clocks through the backplane.
Hope this helps!
10-17-2016 04:20 PM
Yeah, thanks. But the problem is that the little XP4 plug at the top of the card plugs into the top 8 pins of the J2 connector of the backplane. And the pinout for the XP4 connector doesn't match up with descriptions of standard cPCI backplanes. Where can I find the signal description information for these pins for cards like the PXI-6221 and 6713?
10-18-2016 07:23 PM
Hi Greg,
Other than the diagrams listed here (I'm looking specifically at figure 5, 8, and 9):
"Introduction to the PXI Architecture"
http://www.ni.com/white-paper/52018/en/
I'm not sure if we have more descriptive pinouts of our PXI cards. You can obviously find the pinout of the front panel connector in the user manual, but I think since the back connector usually just goes to the backplane and so the user doesn't need to know the information carried on each pin this isn't information as readily available.
10-20-2016 01:55 PM
Hi Greg,
Both those cards follow the PXI specification which can be found at www.pxisa.org. I've included a link here to the PXI-1 hardware specification and it should take you to the section that shows the pinout for the J2 connector on the PXI cards. The entire section 4.1 lists out the spec's and behavior of the pins for the J2 connector and its compatibility with cPCI systems.
From 4.1.2 - "The PXI back-panel I/O definition of signals on the P2/J2 connector consists of signals mapped from the CompactPCI 64-bit connector pinout and new signals defined by this specification. The only differences between the PXI pinout and the CompactPCI 64-bit connector pinout are on signals that are reserved or not used in the CompactPCI specification (PICMG 2.0 R3.0). Therefore, all modules that meet the requirements of the CompactPCI 64-bit specification will function in a PXI system. Furthermore, all PXI modules will work in a system that meets the requirements of the CompactPCI 64-bit specification, but without the complete set of benefits of PXI."
Does that help?
10-20-2016 02:11 PM
Thanks for the help guys. I think I'm good to go now. Much appreciated.