New LabVIEW FPGA Tools Streamline FPGA Development
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To streamline field-programmable gate array (FPGA) development and make using this technology easier for engineers and scientists, NI is leading a collaboration among FPGA developers and third-party vendors to build an NI LabVIEW FPGA ecosystem. This ecosystem consists of tools and development resources including new LabVIEW FPGA intellectual property (IP) for control and processing; the new FPGA IPNet where NI staff, National Instruments Alliance Partners, and customers can share LabVIEW FPGA IP online; and new third-party I/O modules for the NI CompactRIO platform. Because of their short development time, low cost, and high performance, FPGAs are continuing to provide engineers and scientists with an option other than custom hardware design. With these new tools, they now can easily use FPGAs within their test and control applications without having hardware design experience.
Figure 1. Share your IP and examples with the LabVIEW FPGA community at IPNet,
where you can find more than 100 LabVIEW FPGA functions today.
New LabVIEW FPGA IP and IPNet
With the newly released LabVIEW 8.5 FPGA Module, NI introduced built-in IP for signal generation, PID control, and digital signal processing. Engineers can use new multichannel PID and digital filtering functions to perform more than 80 FPGA-based PID loops, or more than 200 analog input channels with in-line filtering within a single FPGA. All of the new IP in the LabVIEW 8.5 FPGA Module is configuration-based, so engineers have a powerful interface for quickly implementing IP within LabVIEW FPGA, with no programming required. In addition to new IP within the LabVIEW FPGA Module, NI recently announced IPNet, a site for searching, downloading, and sharing LabVIEW FPGA IP, so engineers can use their peers’ work to reduce FPGA development time. There are already more than 100 FPGA IP functions for math and signal processing, data acquisition, signal generation, control, communications buses and digital protocols, and sensor simulation.
Figure 2. Developers test their third-party CompactRIO modules
with NI engineers at the NIWeek 2007 CompactRIO Plugfest.
CompactRIO Plugfest – Now More Than 60 C Series Modules
NI and Alliance Partners are working together to create a growing family of C Series I/O modules for the CompactRIO FPGA-based platform. As part of NIWeek 2007, NI hosted the first CompactRIO Plugfest event where CompactRIO module developers tested their products for compatibility within the CompactRIO platform and talked directly to the NI CompactRIO engineering team.
More than 10 companies attended the CompactRIO Plugfest, and there are now more than 25 third-party modules for CompactRIO. New third-party modules include the following:
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S.E.A. wireless LAN and Ethernet switch module
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S.E.A. wireless ZigBee networking module
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COMSOFT PROFIBUS master/slave module
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S.E.A. LIN module
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Mindready MIL-STD-1553 module
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SET ARINC-429 transmit module
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SET ARINC-429 receiver module
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DSM linear piezo amplifier module
Including these new introductions, the C Series platform now consists of more than 60 C Series modules from NI and worldwide partners for analog I/O, digital I/O, communications buses and protocols, motion control, and more. Engineers can use hot-swappable C Series modules to directly connect the FPGA within CompactRIO to real-world sensors, actuators, and communications protocols.
Download or add new LabVIEW FPGA IP at IPNet or view a list of third-party CompactRIO modules.
This article first appeared in the Q4 2007 issue of Instrumentation Newsletter.
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