Improve Multisite Performance When Using PXIe-4309 in TSM

Updated Aug 5, 2026

Reported In

Hardware

  • PXIe-4309

Software

  • TestStand Semiconductor Module

Driver

  • NI-DAQmx

Operating System

  • Windows

System

  • Semiconductor Test System

Issue Details

When running tests using the PXIe-4309 with the TestStand Semiconductor Module (TSM), I observe an increase in execution time when switching from single-site to multisite operation.
For example, single-site execution completes faster, but when enabling multiple sites, the execution time increases noticeably.
In my pin map, I am using the following NI-DAQmx task that includes channels from multiple PXI modules:
<NIDAQmxTask name="DAQforSite0and2" taskType="AI" channelList="DAQ_4309_C1_S02/ai20,DAQ_4309_C1_S02/ai28,
DAQ_4309_C1_S05/ai20,DAQ_4309_C1_S05/ai28" />
I consistently observe longer execution time when running multisite tests compared to single-site tests.

Solution

This behavior occurs when NI-DAQmx tasks include channels from multiple PXI modules in different sites, which introduces synchronization overhead during execution.
 
To reduce execution time, modify the NI-DAQmx task configuration in the TSM pin map:
  • Define tasks so that each task references only one physical PXIe-4309 module.
  • Assign one independent task per site (for example, DAQ_Site0, DAQ_Site1, DAQ_Site2, DAQ_Site3).
  • Update the test sequence to call the site-specific tasks instead of shared tasks.
Split tasks that contain channels from multiple modules into separate tasks:
<NIDAQmxTask name="DAQ_Task_Site0" taskType="AI" channelList="DAQ_4309_C1_S05/ai20,DAQ_4309_C1_S05/ai28" />

<NIDAQmxTask name="DAQ_Task_Site2" taskType="AI" channelList="DAQ_4309_C1_S02/ai20,DAQ_4309_C1_S02/ai28" />
This configuration removes the need for inter-module synchronization and reduces software overhead during multisite execution.

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