History of LXI
In 1972 Hewlett-Packard engineers invented the Hewlett-Packard Interface Bus (HP-IB) as an open standard
communications bus (IEEE-488) from instruments to the computer. It later became as GPIB (general-purpose interface bus) and was found on nearly every instrument. For 30 years GPIB instruments (also known as rack-and-stack instruments) were the preferred architecture for test systems. State-of-the-art measurements and excellent price/performance solutions are found in GPIB instruments.
In 1985, Hewlett-Packard, Tektronix, Wavetek, Racal-Dana, and Colorado Data Systems introduced VXI (VME eXtensions for Instruments); a modular instrument standard for the U.S. military. These modular instruments (instruments-on-a-card) became very popular in Aerospace/Defense industry and manufacturing test applications where size and throughput were important.
In 2004, Agilent Technologies (formerly Hewlett-Packard) and VXI Technology, Inc. introduced LXI (LAN-based eXtensions for Instrumentation); combining the best of GPIB instruments and VXI modules. With LXI you get the reduced size of VXI, high throughput of LAN, and the high performance measurements of GPIB. No cardcage, no slot 0 and no expensive PC to instrument communications link are required in LXI.
LXI is the next generation of test systems combining state-of-the-art measurements in a small package at a cost-effective price. LXI modules are full-rack width, 1U tall or half-rack width, 1U or 2U tall. Signals enter and exit the module from its front panel while LAN (IEEE 802.3), power, and trigger cables are found on the back of the module. All modules are designed to be easily mounted in a standard 19” rack or stacked on the bench.