Abstract: A carrier card includes a U-shaped design. A daughter card mounts in a void in the carrier card in a co-planar fashion. The carrier card includes an upper member; a lateral member, a lower member and a front panel with optional snout. The lateral member or other member includes a carrier card electrical and/or optical connector. The lower member or other member includes a mating electrical and/or optical connector to connect with the daughter card. The upper member, the lateral member, and the lower member form or define the void. A front panel connects with the upper and lower member and, optionally, the daughter card.

Abstract: This invention relates generally to modular instrument chassis and more particularly to benchtop and rack mount modular instrument chassis that employ the PXI and PXIe standards. The present invention combines the benefits of the PXI/PXIe systems without the drawbacks that preclude PXI/PXIe systems from being used effectively in a deployable environment. Embodiments of the present invention enable PXI/PXIe systems to be deployed in a benchtop or rack mount deployable environment and enable front-to-back cooling, flexible I/O (front and back I/O panels), consistent I/O on front and back panels for reproducible and repeatable connections to external devices and for calibration requirements associated with such environments while maintaining the modularity benefits of PXI/PXIe and without sacrificing PXI/PXIe slots.