AUSTIN, Texas, August 3 /PRNewswire/ --

- New Version of Software Simplifies Parallel Programming, Distributed
Wireless Sensor Networks, RF Testing and Real-Time Math to Empower Innovation

National Instruments (Nasdaq: NATI) today announced LabVIEW 2009, the
latest version of the graphical system design software platform for control,
test and embedded system development. LabVIEW 2009 
(http://www.ni.com/labview/whatsnew/) simplifies the development challenges 
of parallel hardware architectures with new virtualization technology that 
takes advantage of multicore systems as well as by offering new compiler 
improvements and IP that enhance field-programmable gate array (FPGA) design.
The latest version of LabVIEW makes it possible to deploy code to wireless 
sensor networks to help engineers and scientists build smarter industrial 
measurement and monitoring systems and features new solutions for testing 
multiple wireless standards such as WLAN, WiMAX, GPS and MIMO systems on a 
single hardware platform. In addition, LabVIEW 2009 simplifies real-time math 
by streamlining mathematical algorithm design and deployment to real-time 
hardware.

To view the Multimedia News Release, go to:
http://www.prnewswire.com/mnr/nationalinstruments/39273/

(Photo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20090803/NY54858 )

"In today's challenging economic climate, engineers and scientists are
being asked to complete their projects with fewer resources and in less
time," said Dr. James Truchard, president, CEO and cofounder of National
Instruments. "With new opportunities emerging from investments in
infrastructure, environmental monitoring, medical research and device design
and test, we focused our LabVIEW 2009 development to harness key technologies
such as multicore, FPGA design, wireless platforms and real-time math to
empower innovation in these areas."

Improve Parallel System Design

Virtualization technology (http://www.ni.com/virtualization/) makes it 
possible to run multiple operating systems side by side on the same 
multicore processing hardware to build more efficient systems. New NI 
Real-Time Hypervisor software combines the power of the LabVIEW Real-Time 
Module (http://sine.ni.com/nips/cds/view/p/lang/en/nid/13742) with 
general-purpose OS capabilities to reduce overall system cost and size. Using
this software, engineers and scientists can run Windows XP and LabVIEW 
Real-Time (http://zone.ni.com/wv/app/doc/p/id/wv-162) side by side on the
same controller, partitioning the processor cores among the two operating 
systems for more efficient use of system resources. The Real-Time Hypervisor 
works with dual-and quad-core NI PXI controllers 
(http://www.ni.com/pxi/controllers.htm) as well as the NI Industrial 
Controller (http://sine.ni.com/nips/cds/view/p/lang/en/nid/206844).

While virtualization provides a new way to design parallel systems,
LabVIEW 2009 also delivers enhancements for existing parallel design
technology including multicore programming (http://www.ni.com/multicore/) and
FPGA development (http://www.ni.com/fpga_technology/). LabVIEW 2009 features 
a new parallel for-loop structure, which automatically divides iterations of 
loops across multiple processors to increase the execution speed of the 
process. LabVIEW also further simplifies FPGA programming by offering early 
compile feedback and critical path highlighting to make early estimates on 
FPGA resource usage and better debug timing violations. Additionally, new 
streamlined FPGA IP delivers higher-throughput math and signal processing 
performance.

Create Smart Wireless Sensor Networks

Wireless sensor networks (WSNs) make it possible to deploy distributed
measurements across vast physical hardware systems. With WSNs, engineers and
scientists can analyze more effectively everything from rain forests and
river deltas to the health and safety of buildings and bridges. LabVIEW
provides the ability to configure the new NI WSN platform 
(http://www.ni.com/wsn/) with a drag-and-drop programming environment for 
performing analysis as well as extracting and presenting measurement data. 
Using the new LabVIEW Wireless Sensor Network Module Pioneer, engineers and 
scientists can program the individual NI WSN measurement nodes to extend node
battery life, increase acquisition performance and create custom sensor 
interfaces.

Test More Wireless Devices and Standards

With software-defined instrumentation using LabVIEW, engineers and
scientists can implement the same measurement platform to acquire and analyze
any modulation scheme or protocol standard rather than using dedicated box
instruments for specific protocols. The new NI WLAN Measurement Suite 
(http://sine.ni.com/nips/cds/view/p/lang/en/nid/206889) for LabVIEW 
guarantees compliance with IEEE 802.11 a/b/g standards and performs
measurements more than five times faster than traditional box instruments. In
addition to the WLAN Measurement Suite, the WiMAX 
(http://sine.ni.com/nips/cds/view/p/lang/en/nid/207235), GPS 
(http://sine.ni.com/nips/cds/view/p/lang/en/nid/204980) and MIMO 
(http://sine.ni.com/nips/cds/view/p/lang/en/nid/207234) solutions for
LabVIEW provide the ability to test more wireless standards with NI modular
instruments (http://www.ni.com/modularinstruments/).

Deploy Real-Time Math

LabVIEW features built-in math libraries that contain more than 1,000
functions ranging from low-level, point-by-point signal processing to
high-level, configuration-based implementations, all of which easily can be
deployed to real-time embedded devices. With the LabVIEW MathScript RT
Module, LabVIEW 2009 further expands access to real-time math, which is the
implementation and deployment of mathematical algorithms to deterministic
operating systems, for engineers and scientists using text-based math tools.
The module also provides engineers and scientists the ability to incorporate
their own existing .m files using interactive user interfaces and real-world
I/O and easily deploy them to real-time hardware for faster system
prototyping. By simplifying the process of deploying mathematical algorithms
to real-time embedded hardware, LabVIEW 2009 can help medical device
designers, machine builders and autonomous system designers shorten product
time to market.

Additionally, NI is adopting an annual release cycle for LabVIEW, with
version names based on the year of release. The annual release cycle
solidifies the schedule, stability and feature scope of each new release to
provide an easy upgrade process for customers.

Readers interested in learning more about LabVIEW 2009 and downloading
the evaluation software can visit www.ni.com/labview/whatsnew. Members of the
LabVIEW service maintenance and support program will receive LabVIEW 2009
automatically in the mail or can download the new version from the NI
Services Resource Center at www.ni.com/src. Readers whose software is part of
a company-wide Volume License Agreement (VLA) should contact their VLA
administrators for special installation instructions.

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 +1-512-683-5090, e-mailing
nati@ni.com or visiting www.ni.com/nati. (NATI-G)

Pricing and Contact Information

    NI LabVIEW 2009                        11500 N Mopac Expwy, Austin, Texas
                                           78759-3504
    Priced* from US$1,249; 
    euro 1,249; 184,000 yen                Tel: +1-800-258-7022, 
                                           Fax: +1-512-683-9300
    Web: www.ni.com/labview/whatsnew       E-mail: info@ni.com

    *All prices are subject to change without notice.



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: Hilary Marchbanks, +1-512-683-5937
    Reader Contact: Ernest Martinez, +1-800-258-7022