VXIbus instruments-past, present and future

VXI instruments, when first introduced to the marketplace in 1988, were initially aimed at reducing the size and improving the performance over GPIB ATE systems. The acceptance of VXIbus solutions has enabled the VXIbus platform to be used effectively in many other applications, and not just ATE. With new and emerging platforms, such as compact PCI, as well as customers looking more closely at return on investments (i.e., cost of hardware), VXIbus instruments are changing in the way they look and perform. This paper describes how VXIbus instruments have changed over the last few years, and how they will need to change to compete with other standards