Low Sampling Rate Issue with PN2271 Pressure Sensor and NI 9203 in LabVIEW

[mp777]

I'm currently working on a project where I'm interfacing a PN2271 pressure sensor, which outputs a 4–20 mA current signal, with an NI 9203 current input module. I'm using LabVIEW for data acquisition and processing.

However, I'm encountering an issue where I'm only able to achieve a sampling rate of approximately 30–45 readings per second. This is significantly lower than the expected performance of the NI 9203 module, which supports up to 200 kS/s.

System Details:

• Sensor: PN2271 pressure sensor (4–20 mA output)

• DAQ Module: NI 9203 current input module

• Software: LabVIEW

Issue:
Despite the NI 9203's high sampling capabilities, I'm limited to 30–45 samples per second. I suspect that the current LabVIEW configuration might be the bottleneck.

Request:
Could someone provide guidance on how to optimize my LabVIEW setup to achieve higher sampling rates? Specifically:

1. Should I transition from using the DAQ Assistant to DAQmx VIs for better performance?

2. Would implementing a Producer/Consumer architecture help in this scenario?

3. Are there any example VIs or tutorials that demonstrate high-speed current data acquisition with the NI 9203?

[santo_13]

#1 - yes, ditch the DAQ Assitant and use DAQmx APIs to achieve the highest possible sampling

#2 - mostly yes, producer/consumer helps if you got a lot of processing or logging, you can skip producer/consumer if using DAQmx's inbuilt TDMS logging

#3 - checkout datalogging example that ships with DAQmx, those are generic and works with almost all models.

[aeastet]

If you post your code we can give more specific advice to improve the code.

[mp777]

Subject: Help Needed: Low Sampling Rate Using NI 9203 + PN2271 in LabVIEW Project (Please Review and Correct VI)

Hi everyone,

I’m currently working on a LabVIEW project to acquire pressure data using:

• Sensor: PN2271 pressure sensor (4–20 mA analog output)

• DAQ: NI 9203 module

I’ve built a VI (Main.vi) to acquire sensor data using the DAQ Assistant, but I’m only getting 30–45 readings per second. I want to achieve a much higher sampling rate, closer to the potential of the NI 9203.

What I'm Doing:

• Data acquisition is in Data read.vi

• No Producer/Consumer loop yet

• Not using TDMS logging

• Saving to file is done manually

I received helpful suggestions from the community:

1. Replace DAQ Assistant with DAQmx API to unlock better performance.

2. Consider Producer/Consumer for efficient separation of acquisition and logging.

3. Use DAQmx TDMS logging examples which are efficient and scalable.

Request:

• Could you please review the attached VI set?

• Please help me understand how to modify or restructure my VI to:

  • Improve sampling rate

  • Correct any bad practices

  • Implement DAQmx properly

  • Optionally include Producer/Consumer if needed

I’d also appreciate a corrected version of my VI (if possible).