Using PCI Boards in a PXI Chassis, or PXI Boards in a PCI Slot

Issue Details

I would like to use a PCI board in my PXI chassis. Are there PCI to PXI adapters? Alternatively, if I want to test my PXI board in my PC, are there PXI to PCI adapters?

Solution

National Instruments does not make or directly support adapters that can serve this purpose.

Additional Information

Given that the PXI form factor is built on CompactPCI, there are 3rd party CompactPCI-to-PCI and PCI-to-CompactPCI adapters that you can use to accomplish this. It is important to keep in mind, however, that if you are controlling your PXI chassis via MXI-3 or MXI-4 from a host computer, you can still install PCI boards into the computer's remaining PCI slots and run the PXI chassis in parallel with PCI devices.

Compact PCI-to-PCI: When using a CompactPCI-to-PCI adapter your PCI board will most likely stick out of your PC, so you will not be able to close the PC tower. See examples of this type of adapter by using the links for Sensoray and Hunter Technology Corporation (below).

PCI-to-Compact PCI: PCI-to-CompactPCI adapters usually occupy more than one slot of the CompactPCI or PXI chassis because they expand side-ways. The advantage is that they usually allow connections of several PCI boards into your PXI/CompactPCI chassis. See examples of this type of adapter using the links for SBS Technology and PCI Automation (below).

NOTE: The only adapter listed here that has been tested by National Instruments is the adapter from SBS Technology. This has been confirmed to work under the Windows and LabVIEW RT environment.

NOTE: The PCI bus does not offer the same timing and synchronization features that the PXI backplane offers (8 trigger lines, 10 MHz Backplane Clock, Star Trigger and local buses). When using a PCI-to-CompactPCI adapter to test your PXI board in your PC, you will not be able to use any of these features.