NI TestStand 4.1 Accelerates Parallel Test Performance with Multicore Support

Test Engineers Now Can Develop Faster Test Systems to Increase Throughput


NEWS RELEASE – May 2008 – National Instruments today announced NI TestStand 4.1, the latest version of the company’s test management software, which now helps engineers develop faster test systems with multicore processor support. As manufacturers shift to multicore processors to provide performance gains, NI TestStand 4.1 running on these new processors can deliver more powerful systems with increased test throughput. With the new NI Switch Executive 3.0, developers can more quickly develop parallel test systems in NI TestStand by graphically specifying switch signal routes.

“The proven multithreaded architecture of NI TestStand allows our customers to take advantage of multicore processing,” said John Pasquarette, director of software marketing for National Instruments. “Now engineers can achieve improved test system performance by complementing the built-in multicore support in NI TestStand with multithreaded application development environments such as NI LabVIEW and multithreaded drivers.”

NI TestStand 4.1 introduces the new instrument resource profiler. This tool gives engineers a graphical representation of test system execution and statistics on instrument resource use, which simplifies test system analysis and exposes opportunities for test time reduction. By visualizing the execution of test systems, engineers can also optimize instrument use and increase total system throughput. In addition, engineers can reduce parallel system development time with the new NI Switch Executive 3.0 intelligent switch management software. Developing code for switches is one of the most challenging aspects of programming parallel test systems. NI Switch Executive 3.0 facilitates rapid switch code generation with a new graphical interface that provides point-and-click creation of routes and simplified system maintenance through tighter integration with Microsoft Excel.

The new version of NI TestStand also facilitates large system development through a hierarchical view of sequences that illustrates all sequences calls in a system and simplified results collection for easily adding results to reports with just a few clicks rather than manual coding.

Engineers using NI TestStand with NI Switch Executive 3.0, LabVIEW, LabWindows™/CVI and PXI can quickly design parallel test systems capable of testing units under test (UUTs) with the shortest possible test time. NI TestStand also integrates with PXI modular instruments, and NI Requirements Gateway offering a complete software and hardware platform for automated test.