IMPLEMENTATION OF A NETWORKED VIRTUAL NUCLEAR-MAGNETIC-RESONANCE SPECTROMETER

Virtual instrumentation offers several advantages over traditional ins truments, such as the ability to simplify hardware design, the flexibi lity to easily change device function, and more recently,the ability t o operate instrumentation from remote locations. In this article, a nu clear magnetic resonance (NMR) receiver is being developed using virtu al instrumentation technology. In lieu of the analog technology used i n traditional NMR instruments, a highspeed data acquisition board is u sed to directly digitize the radio-frequency (RF) NMR signal. This sig nal is then demodulated and processed from within LabVIEW(R). Work is also being done so that the instrument can be operated over the Intern et in a client-server mode. The resulting receiver was tested using bo th hardware-and software-simulated NMR signals. (C) 1998 National Inst ruments. Published by John Wiley & Sons, Inc.