Wireless Measurement Device Selection Guide.docx

WirelessMeasurementDeviceSelectionGuideWi-FidataacquisitionisanextensionofPC-baseddataacquisitiontomeasurementapplicationswherewiringisdifficultorcost-prohibitive.Wi-Fidataacquisition(DAQ)devicescombineIEEE802.11wirelessorEthernetcommunication,directsensorconnectivity,andtheflexibilityofNI-DAQmxsoftwareforremotemonitoringofelectrical,physical,mechanical,andacousticsignals.TheNIcDAQ-9191holdsasingleCSeriesmoduleandiscapableofstreamingcontinuouswaveformdataoneachchannelatmorethan50kS/swith24bitsofresolution.Figure1.TheNIcDAQ-9191streamscontinuouswaveformdatabacktoahostcomputer.Inaddition,built-inNIST-approved128-bitAESencryptionandadvancedIEEE802.1Xnetworkauthenticationofferthehighestcommerciallyavailablenetworksecurity(WPA2Enterprise).WiththeflexibilityoftheNIsoftwareplatform,includingLabVIEW,andtheubiquityof802.11networkinfrastructure,it'seasytoincorporatetheNIcDAQ-9191andwirelessconnectivityintoneworexistingPC-basedmeasurementorcontrolsystems.NIWLS-9163andCSeriesHardwareEachNIWi-FiDAQdeviceisacombinationofanNIWLS-9163wirelesscarrierandanNICSeriessignalconditioningmodule.TheWLS-9163providesbothIEEE802.11b/gandEthernetconnectivitybacktoahostPC.Figure2.EachWi-FiNICompactDAQdevicecombinesanNIcDAQ-9191chassisandanNICSeriesmoduletoprovidewirelesssensormeasurements.CSeriesmodulesofferdirectsensorconnections,NIST-traceablecalibration,andbuilt-insignalconditioningforavarietyofmeasurements,includingtemperature,high-voltagedigitalI/O,strain,acceleration,current,andvoltage.InadditiontotheNIcDAQ-9191wirelesschassis,youcanuseCSeriesmodulesinterchangeablyformeasurementandcontrolapplicationswithdifferentchassis,including4-and8-slotNICompactDAQchassisandCompactRIO,aswellastheNIUSB-9171singlemodulechassisandNIcDAQ-9181Ethernetchassis.SecureWirelessDataAcquisitionWi-FiNICompactDAQdevicesimplementthehighestcommerciallyavailablewirelessnetworksecuritystandard,IEEE802.11i(commonlyknownasWPA2Enterprise),includingIEEE802.1Xnetworkauthenticationand128-bitAESdataencryption.Authenticationensuresthatonlyauthorizeddeviceshavenetworkaccess,andencryptionpreventsdatapacketsfrombeingintercepted.Acceptedworldwide,IEEE802.11isecuritystandardsbuildonmorethan10yearsofwirelessinnovationintheITsector.Byusingstandardsecurityprotocols,NIWi-FiDAQdevicesmakeiteasytoaddwirelessmeasurementstoITnetworkssafely.StreamingWirelessMeasurementswithNI-DAQmxSoftwareAftermorethan20yearsofhelpingengineersandscientistsachievehigh-qualityPC-baseddataacquisition,NI-DAQmxdriversoftwarecontinuestobetheheartoftheNationalInstrumentsdataacquisitionplatform.Recognizingthediversityofmeasurementapplications,NIapproachesdataacquisitionindependentofspecificPCbustechnologies.YoucanusethesameNI-DAQmxAPIforcommunicatingacrossPCI,PCIExpress,PXI,PXIExpress,USB,Ethernet,andWi-Fi.ThismeansyoucanuseanapplicationdevelopedforaUSBdataacquisitiondevice(evenahigh-speedapplication)withawirelessdataacquisitiondevicewithoutmakinganychangestothesoftware.Figure3.NI-DAQmxdriversoftwareabstractsdataacquisitionbustechnologyfromtheuserandprovidesaconsistentAPIacrossmultipleprogramminglanguages.NIWi-FiDAQdevicescanstreamcontinuous24-bitwaveformdataatmorethan50kS/sfrommultiplemeasurementchannels.Managingthisamountofdataoverawirelessnetworkisanontrivialtask,butNI-DAQmxabstractsthecomplexityassociatedwithbufferedtransfersoverTCP/IPfromtheuser.Withdevice-sideintelligence,message-basedcommunication,andanadvancedstreamingengine,NI-DAQmxandNIWi-FiDAQprovideallthebenefitsofwirelesstechnologyfortestandmeasurementapplicationswithoutsacrificingtheperformanceorreliabilityofawiredsolution.