CASE STUDIES - AEROFLEX

Aeroflex

Aeroflex Takes the Fast Path to IVI Proficiency

"Pacific MindWorks is a very responsive company that delivers what they promise", Mark Meldrum, Aeroflex Software Development Manager

Achieving proficiency in IVI driver development is often considered a challenging endeavor. While drivers that conform to the IVI specification are a major productivity boon for application developers, they are time consuming for driver developers to create.

Aeroflex Systems, a leading provider of synthetic test and measurement systems for the military-aerospace industry, knew there had to be a better way. Faced with a schedule critical IVI driver development project, Aeroflex sought out the tools and training that would put them on the fast path to IVI proficiency.

Fast Forward

"We knew better than to jump right into an IVI driver project without a carefully planned roadmap," said Mark Meldrum, Aeroflex Software Development Manager, "I had been informed by some IVI experts that it would be difficult to develop an IVI driver without the right tools. The projected learning curve would have impacted our tight schedule."

Aeroflex's search for a better way led to Pacific MindWorks. "Pacific MindWorks IVI driver development tool, Nimbus, seemed just right for our needs. Nimbus promised to shield us from the complexity of IVI so we could focus on writing code to support the unique features of our instrument, not the myriad of supporting details that the IVI specification requires."

"Pacific MindWorks offered a one week training program to jump start our IVI development efforts. We signed up right away and in less than a week Pacific MindWorks was onsite and began training."

Aeroflex discovered the training was unlike any other. "The format of the training was outstanding. The first two days covered the basics of IVI and Nimbus. Everything we needed to know was clearly explained. In the last few days we used Nimbus to develop an actual working driver for our hardware. In the typical training session you merely work on instructor provided examples. Here we walked away with real code that is in use today."

Power Users

It took only one week of training for the Aeroflex team to achieve self-sufficiency. "We haven't needed any further training since the initial session. Everyone left with a solid understanding of IVI and Nimbus. It doesn't hurt, of course, that Nimbus is so easy to use. Nimbus walks you through the process of creating an IVI driver. You answer some questions and then it produces a driver shell that takes care of the messy details of IVI-COM and IVI-C."

"Another big plus of Nimbus is its seamless integration with Microsoft Visual Studio .NET. Once Nimbus has generated the initial driver code all other development tasks are accomplished without leaving the Visual Studio IDE. Nimbus even tracks changes you have made to the generated driver source in case you need to work with the model again. Its code round-tripping support is very complete."

Satisfied Customers

"We are very pleased to have found Pacific MindWorks," concluded Meldrum. "The IVI training was pivotal to our success and Nimbus saves us a lot of time. The experience gave us a big jump on a challenging project which has been a key part of helping us meet schedules. Pacific MindWorks is a very responsive company that delivers what they promise."

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