National Instruments (NI) released the second-generation product "NI PXIe-5840" of the Vector Signal Transceiver (VST) module. The company released the first-generation product "NI PXIe-5644R" in 2012.

VST is a measuring instrument that combines a vector signal generator, a vector signal analyzer and a user-programmable FPGA. The first product of the first generation product is PXIe-5644R, the instantaneous bandwidth is 80MHz. After that, the first-generation product "PXIe-5646R" with an instantaneous bandwidth of 200MHz came out in 2014. This second-generation product has increased the instantaneous bandwidth to 1GHz. With such a high instantaneous bandwidth, new products will become the best choice for many applications, including IEEE 802.11ac/ax standard equipment testing, mobile device testing, IoT (Internet of Things, Internet of Things) device testing, 5G (5th generation mobile Communication system) design and test, RFIC test, radar prototype, etc.

In addition, the width of the first-generation products is 3 PXI Express slots, and the second-generation products are reduced to two slots. In this width, a vector signal generator with a frequency band of 9kHz～6.5GHz, a vector signal analyzer, a user-programmable FPGA, and a high-speed serial/parallel interface are embedded. Due to the reduced width and tight synchronization, an 18-slot chassis can support up to 8×8 multiple input multiple output (MIMO) configurations. Moreover, the built-in FPGA allows users to use NI's system development software "LabVIEW" to easily program.

According to reports, Niels Koch, head of radar system components at Audi Germany, as a pioneer user of the second-generation product, commented on the product, “Using the industry’s highest level of software-designed instrument with large bandwidth and low latency, we can develop unprecedented Vehicle-mounted radar sensors. Moreover, problems that were impossible to grasp before can be found in the early stages of design. With the help of VST equipped with FPGA (programmable with LabVIEW), we can quickly simulate a variety of scenarios, so it can improve autonomous driving The safety and reliability of the system".