New National Instruments Controller Area Network Products Improve Automotive Testing Efficiency, Support CAN Calibration Protocol

National Instruments recently expanded its Controller Area Network (CAN) product line with the new PCI-CAN/XS software-selectable board for multiple transceiver access and the PCI-CAN/SW board for communication with single wire devices. These boards, along with new NI-CAN 2.2 driver software and the CAN Calibration Protocol (CCP) Toolkit for National Instruments LabVIEW, simplify automotive electronics testing, Engine Control Unit (ECU) programming and system calibration.

PCI-CAN/XS is a universal CAN board that communicates with high-speed, low-speed/fault-tolerant and single-wire networks through a single port. With the PCI-CAN/XS interface, engineers can use a single PCI port to test body, powertrain and safety devices without changing hardware, which decreases development costs and speeds time to market. The specialized PCI-CAN/SW interface communicates exclusively with single-wire networks. Both boards ship with NI-CAN 2.2 driver software, which integrates seamlessly with NI LabVIEW 7.1 Express and provides support for mode-dependent messages. Engineers can use NI-CAN 2.2 to run both CAN and DeviceNet on a single PC.

NI-CAN 2.2 also supports CCP through a new downloadable CCP Toolkit that complies with the MCD (Measurement Calibration and Diagnostics) 1MC open-standard CCP as specified by The Association for Standardization of Automation and Measuring Systems (ASAM). With the toolkit, engineers can use CCP to communicate directly with an automotive ECU, and use the flexible LabVIEW environment and the rugged PXI platform to access information stored on the ECU.

About National Instruments
National Instruments (www.ni.com ) is a technology pioneer and leader in virtual instrumentation – a revolutionary concept that has changed the way engineers and scientists approach measurement and automation. Leveraging the PC and its related technologies, virtual instrumentation increases productivity and lowers costs through easy-to-integrate software, such as the NI LabVIEW graphical development environment, and modular hardware, such as PXI modules for data acquisition, instrument control and machine vision. Headquartered in Austin, Texas, NI has more than 3,100 employees and direct operations in 40 countries. In 2003, the company sold products to more than 25,000 companies in more than 90 countries. For the past five years, FORTUNE magazine named NI one of the 100 best companies to work for in America.

Pricing and Contact Information

PCI-CAN/XS and PCI-CAN/SW Contact Sales: www.ni.com/contact
Web: www.ni.com/can E-mail: info@ni.com