PCIe products similar to PCI-6733/PCI-1428

[Jack12]

Hello-

I am building a real time system, similar to the one we currently have.  The current system(~ 2 years old) is used to control electromagnets and consists of:

a)PCI-6733: High Speed analog output   (+ BNC-2110) 

Generates sinusoidal signal from 2 AO channels(typically 0.1 -10Hz), which is amplified by a set of commercial stereo receivers, which are connected to a pair of electromagnets.

b)2x USB-6009

Monitors voltage drop (AI) across pair of electromagnets, which, in most cases is proportional to the magnetic field.

c)PCI-1428 frame grabber

d)PCI-7342 motion controller

Now, as the expansion slots in most new computers come with usually 1 - 2 PCI and at least 2 PCIe x1,  I am considering changing the type of expansion slots/cards in the next system, possibly going with 2 PCIe cards, if they fit my needs.  

Is there a comparable PCIe product similar to PCI-6733 that would be able to generate AO waveforms (>= 2 channels)?  (Possibly the PCIe-6353)

For the PCI-1428, it seems PCIe-1427 would work.

What, if any, advantages are there in a PCIe vs PCI?

Thank you for any help you can provide!

[Jake_G]

Hey Jack12,

If I were to recommend a comparable PCIe card to the PCI-6733, you hit the nail on the head, I'd go with the PCIe-6353.  If you are sure that you only need two AO channels then you could go with the 6351, but seeing as how the 6733 has 8 AO channels, you may want to stick with the 6353 as it at least has 4. 

Now when you say that the PCIe-1427 will work, did you look at the different specifications?  The PCI-1428 has Medium Configuration Camera Link support that the 1427 doesn't have.  Assuming that you are happy with the 1427 specifications and that your camera has a Base Configuration Camera Link, the PCIe-1427 would work.  If your camera is Medium Configuration though, you would need the PCIe-1433.

As far as the differences between PCI and PCIe, PCI Express (PCIe) was introduced to overcome the limitations of the original PCI bus, which operated at 33 MHz and 32 bits with a peak theoretical bandwidth of 132 MB/s.  The most notable PCI Express advancement over PCI is its point-to-point bus topology. The shared bus used for PCI is replaced with a shared switch, which gives each device its own direct access to the bus. Unlike PCI, which divides bandwidth between all devices on the bus, PCI Express provides each device with its own dedicated data pipeline.  For more information on this architecture, please see the article Introduction to PCI Express.