AUSTIN, Texas, August 4 /PRNewswire/ --

- New Version of Software Empowers Users to Take Advantage of Multicore, 
FPGA and Wireless Technologies

NIWeek -- National Instruments (Nasdaq: NATI) today announced LabVIEW
8.6, the latest version of the graphical system design software platform for
control, test and embedded system development. Building on the inherent
parallel nature of graphical programming, LabVIEW 8.6 delivers new tools to
help engineers and scientists take advantage of the benefits of multicore
processors, field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs) and wireless
communication.

(Photo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20080804/LAM510)

To take advantage of these technologies, engineers currently are forced
to work with multiple tools which are not designed for parallel programming.
By using the latest version of LabVIEW, engineers now have a single platform
to increase test and control system throughput with multicore processors,
reduce the development time of high-performance FPGA-based advanced control
and embedded prototyping applications and more easily create distributed
measurement systems to acquire data remotely.

"To meet the performance and efficiency demands of cutting-edge
applications such as controlling robotic systems, testing wireless devices
and designing hybrid vehicles, users must have the ability to quickly
incorporate the latest technologies such as multicore processors, FPGAs and
wireless communication," said Dr. James Truchard, president, CEO and
cofounder of National Instruments. "LabVIEW offers the shortest path to apply
these technologies using parallel programming while providing users the
flexibility to define their solutions with application-specific
optimizations."

Achieve Supercomputing with Multicore Processors

The opportunity for breakthrough performance in test and measurement
systems increases as standard systems gain more processing cores. Expanding
on the built-in multithreading technology of the LabVIEW platform, LabVIEW
8.6 offers supercomputing performance through multicore-optimized features
which can help engineers process increasing amounts of measurement data to
meet advanced control application challenges and increase test system
throughput.

To increase performance, LabVIEW 8.6 includes more than 1,200 advanced
analysis functions optimized for faster math and signal processing on
multicore systems for control and test applications. Vision applications can
benefit from multicore systems by using innovative image processing functions
included in the NI Vision Development Module for LabVIEW 8.6 that
automatically distributes data sets across multiple cores. Also using new
multicore features, test engineers can develop applications to test wireless
devices up to four times faster with the latest version of the NI Modulation
Toolkit for LabVIEW, and control system engineers can execute simulation
models in parallel up to five times faster with the LabVIEW 8.6 Control
Design and Simulation Module. Additionally, engineers now can better identify
parallel sections of code using a new feature that reorganizes LabVIEW
diagrams.

Add FPGA Technology to an Application -- No Digital Design Expertise
Required

With the intuitive dataflow paradigm of LabVIEW, engineers can use the
LabVIEW FPGA Module and FPGA-based commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) hardware
such as NI CompactRIO to customize measurement and control systems for
increased performance in applications such as semiconductor validation and
advanced machine control. LabVIEW 8.6 continues to make FPGAs more accessible
to domain experts without experience in low-level hardware description
languages or board-level design.

LabVIEW 8.6 further reduces FPGA-based development time with new features
that engineers can use to program CompactRIO programmable automation
controllers (PACs) directly without having to separately program the FPGA. In
addition, new simulation features reduce the number of time-consuming
compilations by validating an FPGA application on the desktop. LabVIEW 8.6
also offers new IP development and integration features including the new
fast Fourier transform (FFT) IP core to offload spectral analysis functions
which increases the performance in applications such as machine condition
monitoring and RF test. Engineers easily can import existing or third-party
IP into LabVIEW FPGA using the new component-level IP (CLIP) node.

Acquire and Analyze Data From Remote Systems With Wireless Technology

As wireless technology advances, engineers have the opportunity to take
measurements in isolated locations. Using wireless technology with LabVIEW
8.6, engineers can extend applications into new areas of data acquisition,
such as environmental and structural monitoring. The flexibility of LabVIEW
graphical programming and the ubiquity of Wi-Fi network infrastructure make
it easy to incorporate wireless connectivity into new or existing PC-based
measurement and control systems.

With support for the latest wireless data acquisition devices and drivers
for 22 third-party wireless sensors, LabVIEW 8.6 simplifies programming of
distributed measurement systems with a single software platform. Engineers
now can configure data acquisition applications easily to use NI Wi-Fi data
acquisition (DAQ) hardware without making code changes in LabVIEW 8.6. New
3-D visualization tools in LabVIEW 8.6 help engineers integrate remote
measurements with design models to accelerate design validation.

Interact with LabVIEW Applications Using Any Web-Enabled Device

As constant connectivity between people and systems becomes more
prevalent, engineers are using the Web to interact with systems from any
location on a variety of devices. With LabVIEW 8.6, engineers now can convert
LabVIEW applications into Web services on desktop and real-time hardware that
they can access from any web-enabled device such as smart phones and PCs.
With this feature, engineers can develop remote user interfaces for their
LabVIEW applications using standard web technologies such as HTML, JavaScript
and Flash.

Readers interested in learning more about LabVIEW 8.6 and downloading the
evaluation software can visit http://www.ni.com/labview86. LabVIEW platform
now comes on DVD for easier installation and includes an evaluation mode for
the entire LabVIEW platform. Members of the LabVIEW service maintenance and
support program will automatically receive LabVIEW 8.6 in the mail or can
download the new version at the Services Resource Center at
http://www.ni.com/src. Readers whose software is part of a company-wide
Volume License Agreement (VLA) should contact their VLA administrators for
installation instructions.

About National Instruments

National Instruments (http://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 25,000 different companies worldwide,
with no one customer representing more than 3 percent of revenue and no one
industry representing more than 10 percent of revenue. Headquartered in
Austin, Texas, NI has more than 4,800 employees and direct operations in
nearly 40 countries. For the past nine 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 +1-512-683-5090, e-mailing nati@ni.com or visiting 
http://www.ni.com/nati.

Pricing and Contact Information
    LabVIEW 8.6 priced* from US$1,199; euro 1,149; 170,000 yen
    Web: http://www.ni.com/labview86

    * All prices are subject to change without notice.

    11500 N Mopac Expwy, Austin, Texas 78759-3504
    Tel: +1-800-258-7022, Fax: +1-512-683-9300
    E-mail: info@ni.com



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

Editor Contact: Julia Betts, +1-512-683-8165
    Reader Contact: Ernest Martinez, +1-800-258-7022



Web site: http://www.ni.com