One significant advantage of the digital control loop architecture of the PXIe-4051 is the ability to make precise adjustments to the control loop through software to account for a variety of loading conditions.

The PXIe-4051 can operate in either Constant Voltage mode or Constant Current mode.

• In Constant Voltage mode, the device acts as a precision voltage shunt, and, regardless of the source, the voltage across the input terminals is held constant at the programmed value up to the programmed current limit.
• In Constant Current mode, the device acts as a precision current shunt, and, regardless of the input voltage, the current through the input is held constant at the programmed value.

A measurement circuit on the PXIe-4051 can simultaneously read the voltage and current values present at the input terminals (local sense) or sense terminals (remote sense). These measurements are performed by two integrating analog-to-digital converters which are synchronized at all times.

The PXIe-4051 features remote sense terminals. Remote sense is enabled to compensate for current-resistance loss drops in cables and switches.

The PXIe-4051 timing and triggering circuitry enables precise control of the sinking and measuring operations and synchronization with other devices.

The sequence engine of the PXIe-4051 enables precise control over the sinking functionality of the device and enables fast, deterministic timing. Additionally, you can utilize sequencing with the measurement functionality of a device to achieve specific measurement timing.

A sequence is a collection of setpoints that are executed one after another. A setpoint is a single input setting for the device. There are two methods for running a sequence:

• Apply input values in succession: one setpoint followed by its corresponding Source Delay, immediately followed by the next setpoint.
• Use a trigger to configure the input to the next setpoint in the sequence at a precise time, followed by its corresponding Source Delay. When triggering a sequence, only one setpoint followed by its Source Delay is applied per received trigger.

Additional options allow for multiple executions of the sequence, synchronizing the engine at various points within its execution, and so on.