Customer demand draws suppliers into LXI camp.(LXIConneXion)

The number of vendors supplying LXI instruments continues to grow. The first to make introductions, as you might expect, were the larger instrument houses. Now, however, many other companies are getting into the action.

Powering LXI

A look at the list of all LXI products reveals that power supplies are one of the largest categories. Recently, Magna-Power added LXI as an option for its entire line of supplies, whether the units have traditional front panels or blank panels with software-only control. The company usually has dealt in high-power supplies ranging from the XR Series (2 to 6 kW), PQ Series III (3.3 to 10 kW), TS Series III (5 to 45 kW), and MS Series III (30 to 75 kW) to the MT Series IV (100 to 150 kW).

Customer demand led the company to develop LXI versions of them all, reported Adam Pitel, director of business development. He explained that all the products previously had Ethernet links, but customers often want to drop a new power supply into existing configurations. LXI seems to be a trend among power supplies, and this puts his company in a competitive position with the very large companies who have LXI-based supplies.

In addition, Magna-Power is moving into the lower power market with its associated higher quantities. LXI reduces system development time and provides other advantages such as the capability to drop in a supply and use its autoconfiguration features.

And while the LXI interface has only been available for a relatively short time, Mr. Pitel explained, "One of our customers is using LXI standards to minimize setup for a project currently in the R&D stage. His company purchased two LXI power supplies with intentions to buy dozens more after R&D is complete. Using the VXI-11 discovery protocol, he plans to simply drop in the future supplies and minimize communications setup."

In addition, the IVI driver has received a positive response. A user can write a customized control interface with the language of his choice without being burdened with the details of the underlying communications mechanism. …

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