how do I connnect two pxi boxs together?

[weizbox]

I am developing a system in which there will be one more rugged DAQ type system in a harsher enviroment (site A), and then the analyzing part in a more controlled enviroment (site B). I want to be able to have a digitizer and a daq card at site a, transfer the digital data to site B, then anaylze and display. I dont want to have to buy two controllers, one for A and B, i just would like one at site B, and somehow transfer the information to site B to look at. I was looking into the MXI-3 bus but wasnt to clear on if that was what i wanted to use. Please let me know what I need to go about getting this type of system to work, preferably WITHOUT useing two pxi controllers, but possibly pxi to mxi.

Thank you veyr much,
-Mark

[JustinBritten]

Hello Mark,

MXI-3 is just a PCI bus extension. This will allow you to have one PXI chassis with a controller and then cabled via MXI-3 to another PXI chassis to entend the bus. The system will appear to be one continuous bus and therefore one large uniform system instead of two separate systems. Additionally, this daisy chain configuration can be beneficial in spanning long distances between your system controller and the location where measurements must be taken.

Our MXI-3 setup comes in either copper or fiber-optic varieties. You would need two PXI-MXI-3 cards (one for each chassis) and a copper or fiber-optic cable to connect the two.

Configuration Options when Using Multiple PXI Chassis and MXI-3 and MXI-4 Kits
http://digital.ni.com/public.nsf/w
ebsearch/90A0019CB94BD1BB86256B7D0056A615?OpenDocument

Best Regards,
Justin Britten

Applications Engineer
National Instruments

[Methis Elddir]

Hi Mark,

You don't mention if you have speed constraints. Is this for high speed
DAQ? Do you need to quickly respond to variations in processed data? How
harsh is this environment? How long does the PC have to run in that
environment?

So far, from your description, it's possible that MXI or even PXI could be
overkill. Compare the specs of a desktop PC to that of the PXI chassis
and then compare that to the harsh environment you plan to place them in.

One cheap solution would be to use an industrial PC at Site A and just
dump your data via TCP or DataSocket to the other PC at Site B for
processing. Using this method would allow Site B to be anywhere on your
network.

If you do go with PXI and need to tether it to a remote PC's PCI bus, take
a look at
StarFabric (http://www.starfabric.org/). You should also
consider using other PXI chassis vendors. You may also find that
you can get by with cPCI (instead of PXI). Here's a few links for vendors
I have used in the past:

StarFabric PCI/cPCI cards (more flexible than MXI):
http://www.pcisystems.com/Produkts/CompactPCI/Bus%20Extenders/starfabric.html

PCI to cPCI adapter (very handy for legacy hardware):
http://www.pcisystems.com/Produkts/CompactPCI/Adapters/3U-cPCI-4-slot-PCI.html

cPCI/PXI chassis from Chroma ATE (hint: cPCI is very cheap):
http://www.chromaate.com/english/product/detail.asp?gid=90&id=817

good luck with your project!