For further support information, refer to the Technical Support and Professional Services appendix. To comment
on National Instruments documentation, refer to the National Instruments Web site at ni.com/info and enter
the info code feedback.
The NI PCIe-8360 and NI PXI-8360 are warranted against defects in materials and workmanship for a period of one year from the date of
shipment, as evidenced by receipts or other documentation. National Instruments will, at its option, repair or replace equipment that proves to
be defective during the warranty period. This warranty includes parts and labor.
The media on which you receive National Instruments software are warranted not to fail to execute programming instructions, due to defects
in materials and workmanship, for a period of 90 days from date of shipment, as evidenced by receipts or other documentation. National
Instruments will, at its option, repair or replace software media that do not execute programming instructions if National Instruments receives
notice of such defects during the warranty period. National Instruments does not warrant that the operation of the software shall be
uninterrupted or error free.
A Return Material Authorization (RMA) number must be obtained from the factory and clearly marked on the outside of the package before
any equipment will be accepted for warranty work. National Instruments will pay the shipping costs of returning to the owner parts which are
covered by warranty.
National Instruments believes that the information in this document is accurate. The document has been carefully reviewed for technical
accuracy. In the event that technical or typographical errors exist, National Instruments reserves the right to make changes to subsequent
editions of this document without prior notice to holders of this edition. The reader should consult National Instruments if errors are suspected.
In no event shall National Instruments be liable for any damages arising out of or related to this document or the information contained in it.
E
XCEPTASSPECIFIEDHEREIN, NATIONAL INSTRUMENTSMAKESNOWARRANTIES, EXPRESSORIMPLIED, ANDSPECIFICALLYDISCLAIMSANYWAR RANTYOF
MERCHANTABILITYORFITNESSFORAPARTICULARPURPOSE . CUSTOMER’SRIGHTTORECOVERDAMAGESCAUSEDBYFAULTORNEGLIGENCEONTHEPART OF
N
ATIONAL INSTRUMENTSSHALLBELIMITEDTOTHEAMOUNTTHERETOFOREPAIDBYTHECUSTOMER. NATIONAL INSTRUMENTSWILLNOTBELIABLEFOR
DAMAGESRESULTINGFROMLOSSOFDATA, PROFITS, USEOFPRODUCTS, ORINCIDENTALORCONSEQUENTIALDAMAGES, EVENIFADVISEDOFTHEPO SSIBILITY
THEREOF. This limitation of the liability of National Instruments will apply regardless of the form of action, whether in contract or tort, including
negligence. Any action against National Instruments must be brought within one year after the cause of action accrues. National Instruments
shall not be liable for any delay in performance due to causes beyond its reasonable control. The warranty provided herein does not cover
damages, defects, malfunctions, or service failures caused by owner’s failure to follow the National Instruments installation, operation, or
maintenance instructions; owner’s modification of the product; owner’s abuse, misuse, or negligent acts; and power failure or surges, fire,
flood, accident, actions of third parties, or other events outside reasonable control.
Copyright
Under the copyright laws, this publication may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying,
recording, storing in an information retrieval system, or translating, in whole or in part, without the prior written consent of National
Instruments Corporation.
Trademarks
National Instruments, NI, ni.com, and LabVIEW are trademarks of National Instruments Corporation. Refer to the Terms of Use section
on
ni.com/legal for more information about National Instruments trademarks.
Other product and company names mentioned herein are trademarks or trade names of their respective companies.
Members of the National Instruments Alliance Partner Program are business entities independent from National Instruments and have no
agency, partnership, or joint-venture relationship with National Instruments.
Patents
For patents covering National Instruments products, refer to the appropriate location: Help»Patents in your software, the patents.txt file
on your CD, or
ni.com/patents.
WARNING REGARDING USE OF NATIONAL INSTRUMENTS PRODUCTS
(1) NATIONAL INSTRUMENTS PRODUCTS ARE NOT DESIGNED WITH COMPONENTS AND TESTING FOR A LEVEL OF
RELIABILITY SUITABLE FOR USE IN OR IN CONNECTION WITH SURGICAL IMPLANTS OR AS CRITICAL COMPONENTS IN
ANY LIFE SUPPORT SYSTEMS WHOSE FAILURE TO PERFORM CAN REASONABLY BE EXPECTED TO CAUSE SIGNIFICANT
INJURY TO A HUMAN.
(2) IN ANY APPLICATION, INCLUDING THE ABOVE, RELIABILITY OF OPERATION OF THE SOFTWARE PRODUCTS CAN BE
IMPAIRED BY ADVERSE FACTORS, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO FLUCTUATIONS IN ELECTRICAL POWER SUPPLY,
COMPUTER HARDWARE MALFUNCTIONS, COMPUTER OPERATING SYSTEM SOFTWARE FITNESS, FITNESS OF COMPILERS
AND DEVELOPMENT SOFTWARE USED TO DEVELOP AN APPLICATION, INSTALLATION ERRORS, SOFTWARE AND
HARDWARE COMPATIBILITY PROBLEMS, MALFUNCTIONS OR FAILURES OF ELECTRONIC MONITORING OR CONTROL
DEVICES, TRANSIENT FAILURES OF ELECTRONIC SYSTEMS (HARDWARE AND/OR SOFTWARE), UNANTICIPATED USES OR
MISUSES, OR ERRORS ON THE PART OF THE USER OR APPLICATIONS DESIGNER (ADVERSE FACTORS SUCH AS THESE ARE
HEREAFTER COLLECTIVELY TERMED “SYSTEM FAILURES”). ANY APPLICATION WHERE A SYSTEM FAILURE WOULD
CREATE A RISK OF HARM TO PROPERTY OR PERSONS (INCLUDING THE RISK OF BODILY INJURY AND DEATH) SHOULD
NOT BE RELIANT SOLELY UPON ONE FORM OF ELECTRONIC SYSTEM DUE TO THE RISK OF SYSTEM FAILURE. TO AVOID
DAMAGE, INJURY, OR DEATH, THE USER OR APPLICATION DESIGNER MUST TAKE REASONABLY PRUDENT STEPS TO
PROTECT AGAINST SYSTEM FAILURES, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO BACK-UP OR SHUT DOWN MECHANISMS.
BECAUSE EACH END-USER SYSTEM IS CUSTOMIZED AND DIFFERS FROM NATIONAL INSTRUMENTS' TESTING
PLATFORMS AND BECAUSE A USER OR APPLICATION DESIGNER MAY USE NATIONAL INSTRUMENTS PRODUCTS IN
COMBINATION WITH OTHER PRODUCTS IN A MANNER NOT EVALUATED OR CONTEMPLATED BY NATIONAL
INSTRUMENTS, THE USER OR APPLICATION DESIGNER IS ULTIMATELY RESPONSIBLE FOR VERIFYING AND VALIDATING
THE SUITABILITY OF NATIONAL INSTRUMENTS PRODUCTS WHENEVER NATIONAL INSTRUMENTS PRODUCTS ARE
INCORPORATED IN A SYSTEM OR APPLICATION, INCLUDING, WITHOUT LIMITATION, THE APPROPRIATE DESIGN,
PROCESS AND SAFETY LEVEL OF SUCH SYSTEM OR APPLICATION.
Compliance
Compliance with FCC/Canada Radio Frequency Interference
Regulations
Determining FCC Class
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has rules to protect wireless communications from interference. The FCC
places digital electronics into two classes. These classes are known as Class A (for use in industrial-commercial locations only)
or Class B (for use in residential or commercial locations). All National Instruments (NI) products are FCC Class A products.
Depending on where it is operated, this Class A product could be subject to restrictions in the FCC rules. (In Canada, the
Department of Communications (DOC), of Industry Canada, regulates wireless interference in much the same way.) Digital
electronics emit weak signals during normal operation that can affect radio, television, or other wireless products.
All Class A products display a simple warning statement of one paragraph in length regarding interference and undesired
operation. The FCC rules have restrictions regarding the locations where FCC Class A products can be operated.
Consult the FCC Web site at
FCC/DOC Warnings
This equipment generates and uses radio frequency energy and, if not installed and used in strict accordance with the instructions
in this manual and the CE marking Declaration of Conformity*, may cause interference to radio and television reception.
Classification requirements are the same for the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and the Canadian Department
of Communications (DOC).
Changes or modifications not expressly approved by NI could void the user’s authority to operate the equipment under the
FCC Rules.
Class A
Federal Communications Commission
This equipment has been tested and found to comply with the limits for a Class A digital device, pursuant to part 15 of the FCC
Rules. These limits are designed to provide reasonable protection against harmful interference when the equipment is operated
in a commercial environment. This equipment generates, uses, and can radiate radio frequency energy and, if not installed and
used in accordance with the instruction manual, may cause harmful interference to radio communications. Operation of this
equipment in a residential area is likely to cause harmful interference in which case the user is required to correct the interference
at their own expense.
www.fcc.gov for more information.
Canadian Department of Communications
This Class A digital apparatus meets all requirements of the Canadian Interference-Causing Equipment Regulations.
Cet appareil numérique de la classe A respecte toutes les exigences du Règlement sur le matériel brouilleur du Canada.
Compliance with EU Directives
Users in the European Union (EU) should refer to the Declaration of Conformity (DoC) for information* pertaining to the
CE marking. Refer to the Declaration of Conformity (DoC) for this product for any additional regulatory compliance
information. To obtain the DoC for this product, visit
and click the appropriate link in the Certification column.
* The CE marking Declaration of Conformity contains important supplementary information and instructions for the user or
installer.
ni.com/certification, search by model number or product line,
Appendix C
Technical Support and Professional Services
Glossary
Index
MXI-Express Series User Manualvini.com
About This Manual
This manual describes the features, functions, and operation of the
MXI-Express series of products. The products in this series are the
NI PCIe-8360 and the NI PXI-8360.
Conventions
The following conventions appear in this manual:
»The » symbol leads you through nested menu items and dialog box options
to a final action. The sequence File»Page Setup»Options directs you to
pull down the File menu, select the Page Setup item, and select Options
from the last dialog box.
This icon denotes a note, which alerts you to important information.
This icon denotes a caution, which advises you of precautions to take to
avoid injury, data loss, or a system crash.
boldBold text denotes items that you must select or click in the software, such
as menu items and dialog box options. Bold text also denotes parameter
names.
italicItalic text denotes variables, emphasis, a cross reference, or an introduction
to a key concept. This font also denotes text that is a placeholder for a word
or value that you must supply.
monospaceText in this font denotes text or characters that you should enter from the
keyboard, sections of code, programming examples, and syntax examples.
This font is also used for the proper names of disk drives, paths, directories,
programs, subprograms, subroutines, device names, functions, operations,
variables, filenames and extensions, and code excerpts.
MXI-Express cardMXI-Express card refers to any of the following cards, unless otherwise
noted: NI PCIe-8360 and NI PXI-8360.
Note In this manual, whenever a PXI chassis is referenced, a CompactPCI chassis could
This chapter describes the MXI-Express series of products, lists what you
need to get started, and explains how to unpack and set up your hardware.
The two products in this series are the NI PCIe-8360 and NI PXI-8360. For
the remainder of this manual the term MXI-Express card refers to any
product in the MXI-Express series.
MXI-Express cards must always be installed as a PCI Express card and a
PXI card.
About the MXI-Express Series
Description and Features
MXI-Express functions as a cabled PCI Express link of up to 7 m and a
PCI Express-to-PCI bridge. With MXI-Express, you can do the following:
•Control a PXI/CompactPCI backplane with a PCI Express-based PC
•Physically separate the measurement or automation system from
a host PC
•Combine PCI Express, CompactPCI, and PXI devices in the same
system
1
Basic MXI-Express System
The simplest MXI-Express system consists of an NI PCIe-8360 in a PC
connected to an NI PXI-8360 in the controller slot of a PXI/CompactPCI
chassis, as shown in Figure 1-1.
Each NI PCIe-8360 has two MXI-Express connectors. One NI PCIe-8360
may be connected to two different NI PXI-8360 cards in separate
PXI/CompactPCI chassis. If multiple PCI Express slots are available in
the host PC, additional PXI chassis can be connected by installing an
NI PCIe-8360 in any available PCI Express slot.
PC to PXI/CompactPCI
Figure 1-1. Basic MXI-Express Configuration
Figure 1-2 shows how you can use MXI-Express cards to connect multiple
expansion chassis to a PC in a star topology. The star topology is the only
supported topology due to the point-to-point nature of PCI Express.
Figure 1-2. Star Topology MXI-Express Configuration
MXI-Express Series User Manual1-2ni.com
What You Need to Get Started
To set up and use your MXI-Express cards, you need the following:
❑ One NI PCIe-8360 and one NI PXI-8360
❑ A MXI-Express cable
❑ A host PC with an available x1 (or wider) PCI Express slot
❑ An expansion chassis—the PXI/CompactPCI chassis that you control
with MXI-Express
Note Your PXI MXI-Express card will work in any standard CompactPCI chassis
adhering to the PICMG CompactPCI 2.0 R3.0 specification, or in PXI chassis that are
compatible with the PXI Hardware Specification, Revision 1.0 or later. Your PCI Express
MXI-Express card will work in systems compliant with the PCI Express Specification,
Revision 1.0a or later.
Unpacking
Chapter 1Introduction
Your MXI-Express cards are shipped in antistatic packages to prevent
electrostatic damage (ESD) to the devices. ESD can damage several
components on the device.
Caution Never touch the exposed pins of connectors. Doing so may damage the device.
To avoid such damage in handling the device, take the following
precautions:
•Ground yourself using a grounding strap or by holding a grounded
object.
•Touch the antistatic package to a metal part of the computer chassis
before removing the device from the package.
Remove the devicefrom the package and inspect the devicefor loose
components or any sign of damage. Notify NI if the deviceappears
damaged in any way. Do not install a damaged deviceinto the computer
or PXI/CompactPCI chassis.
Store the device in the antistatic envelope when not in use.