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PCI Express - Expanding the World of Virtual Instrumentation

PCI Express, the next-generation PC I/O bus, is shipping as a standard option on new PCs. An evolution of the PCI bus, PCI Express maintains software compatibility with PCI but replaces the parallel bus with a high-speed (2.5 Gb/s) serial bus. It sends data through differential signal pairs called lanes, which offer 250 MB/s bandwidth per direction per lane. You can group multiple lanes with typical lane widths of x1 (pronounced "by one"), x4, x8, and x16. And, unlike PCI, which shares bandwidth with all devices on the bus, each PCI Express device receives dedicated bandwidth.
Learn about digital I/O for PCI Express and PXI Express
Learn what to consider when working with PCI Express peripheral architecture
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Additional Resources

PCI Express Hardware

Data Acquisition

PCI Express data acquisition products feature a x1 PCI Express interface; 16 or 32 channels of 16-bit, 1.25 MS/s analog input; four channels of 16-bit, 2.8 MS/s analog output; and 32 channels of 10 MHz digital I/O.

Modular Instruments

PCI Express modular instruments feature a x1 PCI Express interface, PCI Express control of PXI, and sustainable PXI throughput up to 160 MB/s (two chassis) or 110 MB/s (single chassis).

Instrument Control/GPIB

PCI Express instrument control/GPIB products feature a x1 PCI Express interface, complete IEEE 488.1 and IEEE 488.2 compatibility, and maximum GPIB transfer rates of up to 7.9 MB/s.

Machine Vision

PCI Express machine vision products feature a x4 PCI Express interface and image acquisition for full-configuration Camera Link cameras at the maximum Camera Link rate of 680 MB/s.

Compatible NI Software

The mark LabWindows is used under a license from Microsoft Corporation.