LeCroy Announces Full Line of PXI Digitizers

LeCroy announces introduction of eight digitizers in PXI format with bandwidths ranging from 150 MHz to 1 GHz. There are also choices for eleven possible upgrades of acquisition memory length, giving the end user a total of 19 PXI digitizer configurations to choose from. The new products feature advanced “instrument on a chip” technology which combines a high performance ADC and long acquisition memory in a single hybrid. This allows LeCroy to produce PXI digitizers with highest performance in the PXI market, high density of channels and low price. The 1 GHz bandwidth offered by LeCroy, doubles the previously available bandwidth and is ideal for testing a variety of datacom, telecom and other high performance products & IC’s. All eight digitizers feature fast single shot sampling rate (either 2 GS/s or 1 GS/s) and a 50 GS/s repetitive sampling rate. The repetitive mode is very useful in manufacturing test applications where the input signal is repetitive. By providing both single shot and repetitive modes, LeCroy PXI products can emulate a high performance digital oscilloscope. It is possible to configure an 8 channel PXI digitizer system in a single 3U, eight slot PXI chassis achieving higher density and higher performance than previously possible using either PXI or VXI digitizers. Because the budgeting process and design of high performance test systems is a lengthy process, LeCroy is announcing its entry into the market in a fashion that provides adequate advance notice to the engineers who develop such systems. Shipments of these digitizers will begin in late Fall.

The PXD series are fully PXI compliant and based on the desktop computer industry standard PCI bus. Fast data transfer rates and improvements to test times are realized compared to traditional GPIB instruments. The plug and play functionality of the PXI digitizers provides ease of set-up and use. The PXD series digitizers include several software tools to allow engineers to quickly get started and to develop test software in LabView, CVI, Visual C++ or Visual Basic. PXD series software includes an IVI-scope compliant instrument driver, ActiveX control and a custom LeCroy PXD getting started application program for interactive control.

LeCroy, a founding member of the PXI Systems Alliance, has 20 years experience in the production of digitizers on a card and has been the market leader in such products, having built more than 400,000 channels of digitizers since 1980. These digitizers have won numerous awards, and included the model 6880 which was the first solid state 1 GS/s digitizer on a card. The LeCroy entry into the PXI digitizer market comes at a strategic time when two major vendors have halted production of their high performance VXI digitizers. This announcement by LeCroy provides test engineers with a solid source for high performance, high density digitizers. Engineers who are interested in obtaining full details and technical datasheets should go to www.lecroy.com/pxi

LeCroy is establishing a “” website focused strictly on information concerning PXI digitizers. The new website is a service to engineers using PXI digitizers in their test systems. The site has a chart listing the detailed specifications of all PXI digitizers with bandwidths of 20 MHz or above, allows the reader to create side-by-side feature lists using a “PXIcomparer”, contains pricing information and also has direct links to the LeCroy website (an excellent source of information on digitizers and digital oscilloscopes) and that of National Instruments (an excellent source of information on PXI crates, controllers and software for system integration). There are also chat rooms for engineers to exchange ideas and information concerning the use of PXI digitizers.

Demonstration units are available in late Summer and customer shipments begin in late Fall of 2000.

LeCroy, a U.S. Corporation established in 1964, designs and manufactures digital storage oscilloscopes, signal sources, waveform digitizers, and high-energy physics instrumentation. Manufacturing facilities are located at Corporate Headquarters in Chestnut Ridge NY. Direct sales and service offices are located throughout the United States, in all major European countries, in Japan, and throughout Asia.

Media contact:Patrick Brightman, SSD&W (973) 299-8000

Editors’ Technical contact: Mike Lauterbach, LeCroy (914) 578-6057

Customer contact: LeCroy Customer Care Center (800) 453-2769