LabView 2009 adds multicore support for embedded design
The new version addresses three areas: parallel programming and virtualization, wireless data acquisition, and real-time math.
By Rick Nelson, Editor-in-Chief -- EDN, August 4, 2009
Austin, TX -- National Instruments at its NIWeek event held here this week debuted LabView 2009 graphical system design software platform for control, test and embedded system development. The new version, said software marketing VP John Pasquarette, addresses three areas: parallel programming and virtualization, wireless data acquisition, and real-time math. Pasquarette said that NI has made commitment to release a new version every year as "the best way to move in the directions we need to move in to respond to customer needs." Version names based on the year of release
LabView 2009 enables the development of embedded systems using a variety of programming tools, including a graphical programming language, C code, a hardware description language, and text-based math. Engineers and scientists can employ the new features of the new version to take advantage of increased FPGA support and expanded multicore capability. With this one programming tool, engineers and scientists can develop using the most suitable design entry approach, prototype faster with integrated hardware and middleware, and deploy to a variety of hardware platforms.
“In today’s challenging economic climate, engineers and scientists are being asked to complete their projects with fewer resources and in less time,” said Dr. James Truchard, president, CEO and cofounder of National Instruments. “With new opportunities emerging from investments in infrastructure, environmental monitoring, medical research, and device design, we focused our LabView 2009 development to harness key technologies such as multicore, FPGA design, wireless platforms, and real-time math to empower innovation in these areas.”
With LabView 2009, engineers and scientists can reduce design time and cost by using graphical tools along with their existing source code. They can work with LabView throughout the design process by using the new NI C Interface to LabView FPGA, which helps C designers program in real time on NI hardware and interface to an FPGA without knowledge of HDL programming.
LabView features built-in math libraries that contain more than 1000 functions, ranging from low-level, point-by-point signal processing to high-level, configuration-based implementations, all of which can be deployed to real-time embedded devices. With the LabView MathScript RT Module, LabView 2009 supports implementation and deployment of mathematical algorithms to deterministic operating systems for engineers and scientists using text-based math tools. The module also provides engineers and scientists the ability to incorporate their own existing .m files using interactive user interfaces and real-world I/O and easily deploy them to real-time hardware for faster system prototyping.
With new LabView 2009 FPGA Module features and NI FPGA-based hardware, engineers can reduce development time and cost by using new graphical FPGA intellectual-property blocks for signal processing and analysis. A new compilation experience in LabView simplifies FPGA programming by providing early compile feedback and critical path highlighting to receive early estimates on FPGA resource usage and to help debug timing violations. LabView 2009 also offers FPGA IP for communicating with embedded sensors, high-throughput math functions and improvements to the Component-Level IP (CLIP) interface for importing HDL code into FPGAs.
Virtualization technology makes it possible to run multiple OSs side by side on the same multicore processing hardware. NI Real-Time Hypervisor software combines the LabView Real-Time Module with general-purpose OS capabilities to reduce overall system cost and size. Using this software, engineers can run Windows XP and LabView Real-Time OSs side by side on the same controller, partitioning the processor cores among the two OSs for more efficient use of system resources. Real-Time Hypervisor software works with dual- and quad-core NI PXI controllers as well as the NI 3110 industrial controller.
