I. Product Introduction (Positioning + Key Features) Basic Information

Model: PCI‑8331 (MXI‑4 optical interface)

Part Number: 189051A‑01 / 778956‑01

Type: PCI 32-bit → MXI‑4 optical serial bus interface card

Purpose: Long-distance PC control of PXI chassis, multi-chassis cascading, distributed testing

Status: EOL停产； Replacement： PXIe‑838x (PCIe MXI‑4 optical)

Core functions and features

MXI‑4 high-speed interconnection (4 Gbps serial)

Bandwidth： Peak 400 MB/s， continuous >200 MB/s (3 times that of MXI‑3)

Delay： Hardware low latency， fully transparent (no need to modify drivers)

Topology： Star / Daisy chain， up to 255 bus nodes

Fiber long distance (key difference from PCI‑8330)

Multi-mode fiber： Maximum 200 m

Single-mode fiber： Farthest 10 km (optional optical module)

Anti-interference： Photoelectric isolation， suitable for strong electromagnetic environments (preferred in industrial sites)

PCI bus (32-bit / 33 MHz)

Bus master DMA， compatible with PCI 2.2 / PCI‑X

Size： Full-length PCI card (15.5 × 22.0 cm)

Interfaces and indicators

Panel： 1 × SC/ST optical port + 1 × HSSDC copper cable port (compatible with MXI‑3)

LED： Link (link)， Act (activity)， Err (error)

System transparency

Remote PXI devices are directly displayed as local PCI devices on the PC

Support： Windows 2000/XP/7， LabVIEW， NI‑DAQ， VISA

Typical applications

Distributed ATE： PC remote control of 200 m away PXI chassis (such as factory workshops)

Strong electromagnetic environment： power， rail transit， industrial furnaces， etc. interference scenarios

Multi-chassis synchronization： shared clock / trigger across data centers

Long-distance data acquisition： remote sensors， high-speed image transmission

II. Instructions for Use (Hardware + Software + Basic Operations)

1. Hardware Installation (PCI Slot)

Shut down the system, disconnect power, prevent static electricity, open the chassis.

Insert an idle 32-bit PCI/PCI-X slot (not PCIe supported).

Tighten the retaining screws, close the chassis.

Connect the fiber optic cable:

Use MXI-4 multimode fiber (SC/SC), one end connected to PCI-8331, the other end connected to PXI-8331 (slot 1 of the PXI chassis)

Fiber optic port: SC interface (card end + chassis end)

Copper cable compatibility: Can also connect HSSDC copper cable (10 m, compatible with PCI-8330)

Power on, the system recognizes the new hardware.

2. Software Driver Installation (Windows Recommended)

Supported systems

Windows 2000 / XP / 7 (32/64 bit)

Windows 10/11 has no official driver (compatibility mode is unstable)

Installation steps (official)

Download / Insert the NI-MXI-4 driver CD (old version library at ni.com).

Run the installation, check:

NI-MXI-4 Core Driver (core)

LabVIEW MXI-4 VIs (optional)

NI-VISA (instrument control, optional)

Reboot the computer after installation.

Device Manager verification:

National Instruments → PCI-8331 / MXI-4 Fiber Controller (no exclamation mark)

Expand to see the remote PXI chassis and boards (such as PXI-6259)

3. Basic Usage (Transparent System Operations)

Hardware connection: PC (PCI-8331) → Fiber → PXI chassis (PXI-8331, slot 1)

System identification: After powering on, all boards in the PXI chassis automatically appear in the PC device manager

Software control:

Directly use LabVIEW / NI-DAQ / VISA to access PXI devices (as if it were a local PCI card)

No additional programming required, the driver is completely transparent

Multi-chassis cascading:

Daisy chain: PC → Chassis 1 → Chassis 2 → … → Chassis N (each segment 200 m)

Star type: PC with multiple PCI-8331 → Independent fiber connections to each chassis

4. Common Problems and Precautions

PCI not PCIe: Only supports 32-bit PCI/PCI-X slots, PCIe is not compatible

Fiber direction: MXI-4 fiber has transmission and reception directions, HOST→TARGET cannot be reversed

Distance limit: multimode ≤ 200 m; single mode ≤ 10 km (requires changing the optical module)

Power supply and cooling: PCI slot +5 V power supply, full-length card requires good chassis cooling

System limitations: Windows 10/11 has no official driver, use PXIe-8381 (PCIe fiber) for new projects (PCIe optical fiber)

III. Comparison of PCI-8330 and PCI-8331 Table

Model Interface Distance Bandwidth Interference Resistance

PCI-8330 Copper HSSDC ≤10 m 132 MB/s General

PCI-8331 Fiber SC ≤200 m (multi-mode) 400 MB/s Strong (optical isolation)

IV. Alternative Models (Recommended)

PXIe-8381: PCIe MXI-4 optical fiber, 4 GB/s bandwidth, multi-mode 200 m / single-mode 10 km

PXIe-8380: PCIe MXI-4 copper cable, 10 m, compatible with MXI-3/4