National Instruments LabVIEW Provides Off-the-Shelf EPICS Integration for Particle...

National Instruments LabVIEW Provides Off-the-Shelf EPICS Integration for
Particle Accelerator and Tokamak Control

NI Graphical System Design Simplifies Big Physics Control by Integrating
Commercial Hardware with EPICS IOC

AUSTIN, Texas, May 19, 2009 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- National Instruments
(Nasdaq: NATI) today announced that the NI LabVIEW graphical system design
platform now integrates with the Experimental Physics and Industrial Control
System (EPICS) input/output controller (IOC), which is used in the control
systems of particle accelerators, tokamak fusion devices and other big physics
applications. With LabVIEW EPICS IOC integration, engineers and scientists can
use LabVIEW as a commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) solution for integrating
industrial control and data acquisition hardware, a task that previously
required custom driver development.

Because the EPICS set of open-source control system applications has become a
de facto standard for particle physics experimentation systems throughout the
United States and other countries, National Instruments has been collaborating
with experts in the field to improve hardware integration for these
applications. NI engineers worked with Slovenia-based Cosylab, a National
Instruments Alliance Partner and provider of turnkey particle accelerator
control systems, to implement an interface between LabVIEW and the EPICS IOC
on embedded hardware for the linear accelerator project at the Los Alamos
Neutron Science Center (LANSCE) in New Mexico. The solution, based on the Wind
River VxWorks real-time operating system, incorporated the NI CompactRIO
programmable automation controller and demonstrated that, with LabVIEW EPICS
IOC integration, EPICS can run simultaneously with the LabVIEW Real-Time
Module to interface with I/O that is based on field-programmable gate array
(FPGA) technology for high-speed data acquisition and control.

"With LabVIEW integration for EPICS, scientists and engineers can use the
latest COTS hardware, such as NI CompactRIO and PXI instrumentation, for the
variety of advanced control and data acquisition needs associated with
experimental physics applications," said Dr. James Truchard, president, CEO
and cofounder of National Instruments and former physicist at Applied Research
Laboratories of The University of Texas at Austin. "We are continuing to
expand the ways we integrate LabVIEW with EPICS, with the end goal being
high-performance flexibility that simplifies sophisticated tasks. With the
advanced features available through commercial hardware and software, we can
help physicists and engineers focus on performing their experiments rather
than spending time developing custom hardware and drivers."

CompactRIO offers an embedded hardware platform that features FPGA-based I/O.
With FPGA technology, systems become inherently parallel, efficient and
reliable, which makes FPGA-based hardware valuable for critical systems, such
as those in particle accelerators. Additionally, scientists can program FPGAs
using LabVIEW for enhanced system flexibility.

The results that LabVIEW EPICS IOC integration delivers can be used for a
variety of advanced applications that require a simplified means by which
physicists can integrate all hardware instruments within their accelerators
and other devices. The LabVIEW EPICS solution is ideal for streamlining the
control of tokamaks and accelerators because it reduces the need for
time-intensive hardware development and custom driver implementation.

Readers can view a webcast about National Instruments solutions for
experimental physics applications at www.ni.com/physics.

About National Instruments
National Instruments (www.ni.com) is transforming the way engineers and
scientists design, prototype and deploy systems for measurement, automation
and embedded applications. NI empowers customers with off-the-shelf software
such as NI LabVIEW and modular cost-effective hardware, and sells to a broad
base of more than 30,000 different companies worldwide, with no one customer
representing more than 3 percent of revenue and no one industry representing
more than 15 percent of revenue. Headquartered in Austin, Texas, NI has more
than 5,000 employees and direct operations in more than 40 countries. For the
past 10 years, FORTUNE magazine has named NI one of the 100 best companies to
work for in America. Readers can obtain investment information from the
company's investor relations department by calling (512) 683-5090, e-mailing
nati@ni.com or visiting www.ni.com/nati.

CompactRIO, LabVIEW, National Instruments, National Instruments Alliance
Partner, NI and ni.com are trademarks of National Instruments. Other product
and company names listed are trademarks or trade names of their respective
companies.

A National Instruments Alliance Partner is a business entity independent from
National Instruments and has no agency, partnership or joint-venture
relationship with National Instruments.

Editor Contact:Hilary Marchbanks, (512)683-5937
Reader Contact:Ernest Martinez, (800)258-7022

SOURCE National Instruments

Editors, Hilary Marchbanks, +1-512-683-5937, or Readers, Ernest Martinez,
1-800-258-7022, both of National Instruments