Software-Based Design, LabVIEW 2012, and the World's First RF Vector Signal Transciever: NIWeek Day One Keynote Recap

[JMoran]

The first keynote event of NIWeek 2012 got us off to a great start! NI president, CEO, and cofounder Dr. Truchard opened the day by stating that we are now in the era of software-based design. Truchard explained that “software is where it’s at.” We use software to build our instrumentation, share technology, and make complex systems work. Truchard went on to discuss how NI started with virtual instrumentation when it introduced LabVIEW in 1986. Later that role has expanded into graphical system design. With the graphical system design approach “for the first time in history we can have advanced measurements and advanced control in the same system.” Today, graphical system design gives engineers and scientists the tools to solve important problems now and in the future.

Eric Starkloff, NI VP of product marketing for test and embedded systems, followed Truchard by welcoming attendees to the biggest NIWeek ever with 3,400 attendees. Along with leaders from engineering and marketing, Starkloff shared some of the most exciting products from NI, including the following:

·         LabVIEW 2012, the heart of graphical system design, with sample projects and templates and new self-paced online training to raise users’ productivity

·         Stand-Alone NI CompactDAQ for sophisticated embedded applications without the need for a PC

·         NI Single-Board RIO General Purpose Inverter Controller, powered by the LabVIEW RIO architecture

·         PXI platform advancements, such as the new PCI Express Gen 2 all-hybrid chassis and the best-in-class quad-core Intel Core i7 embedded controller

·         The NI PXIe-5644R vector signal transceiver, a new category of RF instrumentation that combines an RF signal generator, RF signal analyzer, digital I/O, and LabVIEW FPGA

In addition to these products, Starkloff and his team gave the audience a sneak peek at many more products to be revealed in the coming days. So join us for the rest of the week for even more great new products and demonstrations.