GPIB-USB Controller Increases Instrument-Control Performance

July 10, 2000

Connecting GPIB instruments to a standard PC through the USB serial port has gotten easier and better, thanks to the GPIB-USB-A instrument controller. This next-generation device offers data-transfer rates that exceed 650 kbytes/s. It turns any Windows 98/2000 computer with a USB port into a full-function IEEE 488.2 controller that can handle up to 14 programmable GPIB instruments.

This small and lightweight controller is ideal for portable applications using a laptop computer. It also suits applications using computers with no available internal interface slots. Easy to install and use, it has a pre-attached USB cable on one end and a GPIB controller on the other, which attaches directly to the instrument. When it's connected to the computer's USB port, the operating system automatically recognizes it and configures it. It has no switches and requires no external power cord.

The GPIB-USB-A costs $495 each.

National Instruments, 11500 N. Mopac Expwy., Austin, TX 78759-3505; (512) 794-0100; www.natinst.com.

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About the Author

Roger Allan

Roger Allan is an electronics journalism veteran, and served as Electronic Design's Executive Editor for 15 of those years. He has covered just about every technology beat from semiconductors, components, packaging and power devices, to communications, test and measurement, automotive electronics, robotics, medical electronics, military electronics, robotics, and industrial electronics. His specialties include MEMS and nanoelectronics technologies. He is a contributor to the McGraw Hill Annual Encyclopedia of Science and Technology. He is also a Life Senior Member of the IEEE and holds a BSEE from New York University's School of Engineering and Science. Roger has worked for major electronics magazines besides Electronic Design, including the IEEE Spectrum, Electronics, EDN, Electronic Products, and the British New Scientist. He also has working experience in the electronics industry as a design engineer in filters, power supplies and control systems.

After his retirement from Electronic Design Magazine, He has been extensively contributing articles for Penton’s Electronic Design, Power Electronics Technology, Energy Efficiency and Technology (EE&T) and Microwaves RF Magazine, covering all of the aforementioned electronics segments as well as energy efficiency, harvesting and related technologies. He has also contributed articles to other electronics technology magazines worldwide.

He is a “jack of all trades and a master in leading-edge technologies” like MEMS, nanolectronics, autonomous vehicles, artificial intelligence, military electronics, biometrics, implantable medical devices, and energy harvesting and related technologies.