The digital multimeter (DMM) moves National Instruments into higher-resolution territory for that product category; the RF analyzer hits far higher frequencies than NI's previous entries. The new instruments use the PXI interface. Because they are programmable via LabView, they can be used for a variety of measurements as the product mix changes, without pulling the hardware out of the chassis.

The 4070 FlexDMM can do more than 100 samples per second at 6-1/2digits of resolution or 2,000 samples at 5-1/2 digits. Priced at about $2,000, the new DMM fits in between a class of multimeters that cost about $1,000 but are much slower and a group of systems that outperform the 4070 FlexDMM but cost about $8,000 for the same level of resolution, said product strategy manager Edward Kruft.

About 100,000 DMMs (excluding handhelds) are sold each year, with 85 percent of them in the $1,000 category and the remainder in the $8,000 system class. The entire DMM market is valued at between $450 million and $550 million, and Kruft said the portion addressed by the 4070 FlexDMM is valued at between $100 million and $110 million annually.

Packaged as a board measuring 3.9 inches high by 6.33 inches long, the FlexDMM is relatively small compared with standalone instruments, fitting into a chassis that can easily hold multiple DMMs for use on a crowded factory floor. "This unit is quite a bit more accurate than anything in its price class, and there is a value in being small," said Mihir Ravel, vice president of strategic planning.

The RF analyzer, meanwhile, takes National Instruments into a whole new arena. The company's previous product could handle RF signals of only 100 MHz; the new signal analyzer, which costs about $13,000, can handle signals ranging from 9 kHz to 2.7 GHz and can be configured to test a variety of cell phones, for example.

As wireless capabilities are embedded in a broad swath of electronics systems — from Bluetooth connectors to 802.11 wireless modems — measurement systems that can be quickly reprogrammed for different applications are required, said Carl Peterson, product manager for the RF signal analyzer.

Truchard has built on the idea of programmability, emphasizing the importace of software. It thus comes as no surprise that he has been attracted by FPGAs and the promise those devices hold for expanding the range of programmable instruments.

"Reprogrammable hardware is a milestone in the history of computer science," Truchard said in a keynote speech last week at NIWeek.

Yiannis Pavlou, who heads the FPGA board development project, said National Instruments will develop LabView "virtual instruments" optimized to run on programmable logic. The functions will include arithmetic and Boolean functions, I/O VIs to control the I/O on the FPGA board, interrupts, and others.

Those functions will load on a board with a Xilinx Virtex II 40-MHz FPGA with 1 million system gates that can be plugged into a chassis alongside other instruments.

The FPGA board will be useful for hardware-in-the-loop test models, or I/O standards that are subject to frequent changes, Pavlou said.

"Right now we offer data acquisition boards with an FPGA that sell for $399, so I have no doubt that at some point we can reach a similar price point for this board and the supporting software," he said. "And we will move up and down a range of densities" of programmable logic.