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Distributed I/O

National Instruments distributed I/O products are designed for remote measurement, industrial control, and data-logging applications. With NI rugged construction and industrial certifications, you can take measurements from a diverse set of sensors and actuators regardless of environment or distance. NI distributed I/O products range from deterministic Ethernet and Ethernet-based expansion I/O to intelligent control and acquisition systems that can work as stand-alone systems. To integrate into existing equipment, NI distributed I/O products use industrial protocols, such as Modbus TCP, over Ethernet and serial. With NI distributed I/O products, you can acquire data reliably and easily even in electrically and environmentally harsh environments.

Expand real-time systems with deterministic Ethernet I/O
Add reliable expansion I/O with NI Compact FieldPoint
View the 6-minute guided tour on wireless data acquisition

Case Studies

PACs and Related Hardware

Distributed I/O Hardware Platforms

Deterministic Ethernet Expansion Chassis

The NI 9144 8-slot expansion chassis for C Series modules uses standard CAT5 Ethernet cabling to communicate deterministically with any CompactRIO or real-time PXI system with two Ethernet ports. By daisy chaining NI 9144 chassis from the master controller, you can expand your application to high channel counts while maintaining hard determinism with minimal processor resources.

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Ethernet/Serial Expansion Chassis

The NI cFP-1804 and cFP-1808 add expansion I/O to any programmable automation controller (PAC) or host PC with Ethernet or serial connectivity, LabVIEW shared variables, and easy-to-use FieldPoint software. For third-party connectivity to cFP-180x interfaces, you can use a wide range of third-party protocols such as Modbus TCP, Optomux, Modbus ASCII, Modbus RTU, and OPC, as well as NI event-driven Ethernet/serial protocols.

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Wireless and Ethernet Data Acquisition

NI Wi-Fi data acquisition (DAQ) devices combine IEEE 802.11 wireless or Ethernet communication, direct sensor connectivity, and the flexibility of NI LabVIEW software for remote monitoring of electrical, physical, mechanical, and acoustical signals. With built-in signal conditioning and the highest commercially available network security, NI Wi-Fi DAQ devices stream data in real time for easy to use, high-performance remote measurements.

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Distributed I/O Software and Industrial Networks

NI LabVIEW for Industrial Measurements and Control

LabVIEW is designed for engineers and scientists who need to create flexible and scalable test, measurement, and control applications rapidly and at minimal cost. The intuitive graphical development environment combines the ease of use of configuration-based tools with the flexibility of a powerful programming language.

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Network Interfaces for Industrial Communications

National Instruments offers a variety of reliable and easy-to-use hardware and software tools to help you meet all your communication needs - whether you are performing instrument control from your PC or communicating with devices such as process instruments, programmable logic controllers (PLCs), smart sensors, and single-loop controllers.

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