PXI Systems Alliance

What PXI Systems Alliance does

PXI Systems Alliance (PXISA), founded in 1998 and headquartered in Niwot, Colorado, is an independent nonprofit industry consortium chartered to promote, maintain, and evolve the PXI (PCI eXtensions for Instrumentation) standard. The PXI standard combines CompactPCI specification technology with integrated timing and triggering, producing a rugged modular instrumentation platform used for functional test, automated test equipment (ATE), data acquisition, and process automation. PXISA publishes and version-controls the technical specifications (e.g., PXI-1 Hardware, PXI-5 PXI Express Hardware, PXI-6 Software, PXI-2 Software, PXI-9 Trigger Management) and curates a public catalog of 151 PXI/PXIe-compliant products from five member companies: Marvin Test Solutions (125 products), Pickering Interfaces (18), NI (2), Keysight Technologies (1), and MAC Panel Company (1).

PXISA does not sell products directly. Its revenue mechanics are consortium-based — member dues and member-contributed content — and its go-to-market runs through technical articles, a monthly newsletter library, educational resources, an online product directory, and a "PXI Worldwide" outreach program rather than direct sales. The member companies independently distribute PXI-based hardware (chassis, digital subsystems, FPGA boards, oscilloscopes, vector signal transceivers, source/measure units, switching matrices, battery stack simulators) and software (e.g., ATEasy test executive) to end customers in aerospace, defense, manufacturing, and semiconductor test. PXISA is governed by its members rather than a parent entity; Jon Semancik (also Director of Marketing at Marvin Test Solutions) serves as President, with Matt Greenwood of MAC Panel Company acting as a primary contributor.

Name

PXI Systems Alliance

Legal name

PXI Systems Alliance

Website

https://pxisa.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

1998

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

PXI Systems Alliance (PXISA) is a nonprofit industry consortium founded in 1998 that promotes and maintains the open PXI (PCI eXtensions for Instrumentation) standard for modular test, measurement, and automation, serving member companies and end users across aerospace, defense, and manufacturing.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Modular Instrumentation Standards

NAICS

Analytical Laboratory Instrument Manufacturing (334516), Printed Circuit Assembly (Electronic Assembly) Manufacturing (334418)

SIC

Industrial Instruments For Measurement, Display, And Control (3823), Laboratory Analytical Instruments (3826), Printed Circuit Boards (3672)

akta.pro primary industry

Quality Engineering & Test Automation (QE/QA) (BPAEAFAJ)

akta.pro secondary industry

PCB Assembly (PCBA/EMS) (HDAHAOAI)

Keywords

• Modular instrumentation
• PXI standard
• Automated test equipment
• Data acquisition systems
• Test and measurement

Headquarters

HQ city

Niwot

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Operations

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels3 records

Core offering

PXI Systems Alliance is a nonprofit industry consortium that promotes and maintains the PXI (PCI eXtensions for Instrumentation) Standard, an open specification combining CompactPCI architecture with integrated timing and triggering for modular instrumentation. It does not sell products directly; instead, it governs interoperability, publishes PXI/PXIe hardware and software specifications, operates an online product directory of 151 compliant products from member companies, and produces technical newsletters and educational content for the test-and-measurement ecosystem.

Product overview

PXI Systems Alliance (PXISA) is an industry consortium that promotes and maintains the PXI (PCI eXtensions for Instrumentation) Standard. The organization comprises member companies (Keysight, MAC Panel Company, Marvin Test Solutions, NI, Pickering Interfaces) manufacturing PXI-based hardware and software. The PXI standard combines CompactPCI specification technology with integrated timing and triggering for rugged, high-performance test and measurement platforms used in functional test, ATE, data acquisition, and process automation applications. Member product portfolio includes: SCOUT Mass Interconnect solutions for ATE interface optimization; PXI/PXIe chassis in various configurations (8-slot to 21-slot); FPGA-based digital I/O boards (GX3700 series); high-performance digital subsystems (GX5960 series with up to 528 channels); vector signal transceivers (PXIe-5841 with 1 GHz bandwidth); oscilloscopes (M924xA); precision source/measure units; analog output modules; switching and matrix products; and ATEasy test executive software. The 151 listed member products span configurations including PXI (40 products) and PXIe (12 products), covering categories such as arbitrary waveform generators, chassis, DACs, digital instruments, mass interconnect, multiplexers, power supplies, SMUs, switches, and vector signal transceivers.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• PXI-1 Hardware Specification Rev 2.3 Core PXI hardware specification document defining the modular instrumentation platform, published 2018-05-31, available to the public and members.
• PXI-5 PXI Express Hardware Specification Rev. 1.1 PXI Express hardware specification defining the high-bandwidth PXIe modular instrumentation platform, published 2018-05-31.
• PXI-6 PXI Express Software Specification Rev 1.4 Software specification for the PXI Express platform governing software interoperability, published 2020-03-20.
• PXI-2 Software Specification Rev 2.6 Core PXI software specification covering software architecture for PXI-based systems, published 2020-03-20.
• PXI-9 PXI and PXI Express Trigger Management Specification Rev 1.1 Trigger management specification defining timing and synchronization across PXI and PXI Express modules, published 2018-05-31.
• PXI-7 MultiComputing Hardware Specification Rev 1.0 MultiComputing hardware specification for distributed PXI computing topologies, published 2009-09-16.
• PXI-8 MultiComputing Software Specification MultiComputing software specification governing software for distributed PXI computing topologies, published 2018-05-31.
• PXI-4 Module Description File Specification Rev. 1.2 Module description file specification standardizing how PXI modules are described for interoperability, published 2018-05-31.
• PXI Member Product Directory Searchable online catalog of 151 PXI/PXIe-compliant hardware and software products from member companies (Keysight, MAC Panel Company, Marvin Test Solutions, NI, Pickering Interfaces), filterable by configuration (PXI/PXIe), product type, and manufacturer.
• PXISA Newsletter Library Monthly newsletter library with technical articles submitted by member companies covering PXI applications, RF instrument synchronization, oscilloscope use cases, fault insertion testing, ATE development, and system design best practices.
• PXISA Consortium Membership Industry consortium membership for test-and-measurement manufacturers and integrators, providing participation in PXI standard governance, interoperability certification, and access to PXISA marketing channels including the product directory and newsletter.

Segments1 record

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature1 record

Partnerships

Six partnerships are on record, tiered core.

• CompactPCIcoreTechnology or Integration · 1 January 1998PXI technology is built upon the CompactPCI specification, combining its core architecture with additional features for instrumentation including integrated timing and triggering capabilities
• Marvin Test SolutionscoreOthersLeading member company with 125 PXI products; Jon Semancik serves as President of PXISA. Company founded 1988, provides ATE hardware/software solutions including GENASYS platform and ATEasy test executive
• Pickering InterfacescoreOthersMember company with 18 PXI products including switching solutions, resistor modules, and chassis. Provides fault insertion and sensor simulation products for PXI-based test systems
• Keysight TechnologiescoreOthersMember company providing PXI oscilloscopes and precision source/measure units. Submitted technical content on PXI oscilloscope applications and RF synchronization
• NI (National Instruments)coreOthersMember company with PXI chassis and mass interconnect products including SCOUT solution. Provided technical content on hardware and measurement abstraction layers
• MAC Panel CompanycoreOthersMember company providing cable assemblies and interconnect solutions for PXI systems. Matt Greenwood serves as primary contact and contributor to PXISA newsletter content

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Others

• Keysight Technologies: Major PXISA member and one of the leading providers of PXI-based instruments (oscilloscopes, SMUs, vector signal transceivers). As both an ecosystem participant and a competing proprietary-platform vendor, Keysight is the most commercially influential member relative to PXISA's open standard.
• National Instruments (NI, now Emerson Test & Measurement): Co-founder and member of PXISA and historically the dominant commercial force behind PXI. While not a peer in the standards-governance sense, NI's product strategy and PXI commitments directly shape the standard's commercial trajectory.

Broad incumbents

• PCI-SIG: Industry consortium that defines the PCI, PCI Express, and related interconnect specifications. PXISA's PXIe standard builds directly on PCI Express; comparable as a deep-tech standards body, but with a vastly broader commercial scope.
• IEEE Instrumentation and Measurement Society: Professional society within IEEE focused on instrumentation and measurement, including standards development, conferences, and publications. Comparable as a higher-level ecosystem participant in the same test and measurement domain as PXISA.

Direct peers

• LXI Consortium: Governing body for the LXI (LAN eXtensions for Instrumentation) standard, which competes head-to-head with PXI for modular test & measurement system architectures, particularly where Ethernet connectivity is preferred.
• VXIbus Consortium (VXI Technology): Governing body for the VXIbus standard, the predecessor modular instrumentation architecture from which PXI evolved. Continues to maintain legacy VXI specifications relevant to long-lifecycle defense and aerospace test systems.
• IVI Foundation: Industry consortium defining interchangeable virtual instrument driver standards (IVI) for test and measurement. Complementary to PXISA's hardware specification work, addressing the software interoperability layer that PXI also touches via PXI-6 Software Specification.
• AXIe Consortium: Industry consortium promoting the AXIe standard for high-performance modular instrumentation, a direct architectural alternative to PXI for advanced test and measurement applications.

Emerging players

• PICMG (PCI Industrial Computer Manufacturers Group): Standards body that owns the underlying CompactPCI and AdvancedTCA specifications on which PXI and AXIe are respectively built. Comparable as a foundational instrumentation/computing standards organization, but with a broader industrial computing scope.
• SCPI Consortium: Standards body defining the Standard Commands for Programmable Instruments (SCPI) language used across test & measurement instruments. Adjacent to PXISA's interoperability mandate, addressing command-level rather than hardware-level standardization.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• YouTubeyoutu.be/57seOhE1cRU
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/mac-panel-company

Compliance2 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about PXI Systems Alliance