C Interface to LabVIEW FPGA

The C Interface to LabVIEW FPGA makes it easier for C/C++ developers to take advantage of LabVIEW FPGA and NI reconfigurable I/O (RIO) hardware, such as NI CompactRIO, NI FlexRIO, and R Series FPGA I/O, for embedded control and acquisition applications. With the new C Interface to LabVIEW FPGA, developers can use LabVIEW graphical tools to program the field-programmable gate array (FPGA) within NI hardware and choose either LabVIEW or C/C++ tools to program the processor within the system. This new LabVIEW FPGA feature gives engineers and scientists with C expertise the ability to take advantage of FPGAs within their designs without the burden of learning hardware design while also giving them the option to reuse their existing embedded C code.

Pioneer C Interface to LabVIEW FPGA

With the new C Interface to LabVIEW FPGA, engineers and scientists can program the real-time processor on NI FPGA-based hardware using C tools such as NI LabWindows^™/CVI, Microsoft Visual Studio, or Wind River Workbench and interface to the LabVIEW FPGA code running on the FPGA. Developers also can program the processor using the LabVIEW Real-Time Module, which includes tools for low-level system debugging and precision execution timing for increased flexibility and functionality of deterministic real-time applications.

Figure 2.  Choose a C/C++ development environment based on which hardware platform and operating system meets your application requirements.

The current pioneer release of the C Interface to LabVIEW FPGA includes nearly all the same functionality as the existing LabVIEW host interface, including the ability to read and write FPGA front panel controls, target-to-host and host-to-target DMA streaming, and IRQ assertion and acknowledgement. Periodic development updates to the NI Labs version of the C Interface will be available online until this feature graduates into a released product. 

The pioneer C Interface to LabVIEW FPGA is available on NI Labs (ni.com/labs), the National Instruments virtual research lab.  NI Labs showcases the latest evolving technologies that are not quite ready for release directly from the National Instruments R&D department. The virtual research lab offers developers the chance to download and work with cutting-edge developments and offer product feedback early in the design cycle.

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Download, evaluate, and discuss the Pioneer C Interface to LabVIEW FPGA

View the tutorial for building a FPGA host application in LabWindows™/CVI

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