The increase in adoption of LXI (LAN eXtensions for Instrumentation) compliant instruments for Ethernet was evident at this year’s PlugFest, hosted by LXI Consortium. With a membership roster of 50 leading test and measurement instrument suppliers, the LXI Consortium event drew more LXI members than any other PlugFest. And certified an array of new products, including the first to be certified under the newest version (V1.2) of the LXI standard.

"Perhaps the largest change that came out of this most recent PlugFest was the growing evolution of Class A and B instruments," said Bob Rennard, president of the LXI Consortium. "The built-in advantages of this level of the LXI Standard truly provide powerful and compelling benefits to those building LXI systems.”

Many of the newly certified instruments were Class A and B. Class A and B instruments incorporate IEEE 1588 timing/synchronization protocols. More than 75% of the vendors demonstrating LXI applications were showcasing their Class A and B products, according to LXI Consortium. Companies participating in the IEEE 1588 discussions included Hirschmann, Ixxatt, National Semiconductor, and Freescale.

Also, the LXI Consortium used this event to establish testing standards for IEEE 1588 V2 enabled LXI instruments, and to address potential interoperability issues introduced by the new IEEE 1588 protocol.

A key goal of each PlugFest is to verify that instruments marketed as LXI compliant are in compliance with key areas of the LXI Standard. An independent testing lab is hired and paid for by the LXI consortium and offered as a free service to all LXI members. The table below lists the instruments that were certified at this PlugFest.

The PlugFest also conducted interoperability tests on 16 instruments using five different software packages. This included assembling and testing a network of instruments using standard networking components.

According to LXI Consortium, more than 480 products have been certified as being compliant with the LXI Standard and annual sales of LXI-equipped test and measurement equipment now exceed $200 million.

www.lxistandard.org