- What are the new R Series devices?
Each of the four new NI R Series intelligent data acquisition (DAQ) and control modules is configurable with the NI LabVIEW FPGA Module.
These intelligent DAQ devices feature user-defined onboard processing as well as complete I/O timing and triggering flexibility. You can configure all device functionality by creating LabVIEW block diagrams with the LabVIEW FPGA Module. Your block diagram executes in hardware, giving you direct, immediate control of all I/O signals on the PXI or PCI device. With R Series and LabVIEW FPGA, you can configure user-defined hardware for a wide variety of applications requiring precise timing and control such as:
- Data acquisition with onboard processing
- High-speed analog and discrete control loops
- Pulse-width modulation (PWM) and encoder interfacing
- User-defined digital communication protocols
- Custom counters with up to 64-bit resolution
- Hardware-timed decision making at 40 MHz
Learn More about R Series Devices
- How do the new R Series modules compare to previous-generation R Series devices?
The new R Series modules are equipped with high-performance Virtex-5 FPGAs, which deliver improved optimization capabilities that provide faster code execution and more LabVIEW code capacity than previous-generation R Series devices. Virtex-5 FPGAs feature a new 6-input look-up table (LUT) architecture for substantially improved resource utilization as well as DSP slices that make it possible for you to implement more complex digital signal processing at faster rates. The new Virtex-5 LX30 FPGA is approximately twice the size of a Virtex-II 1M gate FPGA, and the new Virtex-5 LX50 FPGA is slightly larger than a Virtex-II 3M gate FPGA.
In addition, the new NI PXI-7851R and PXI-7852R modules can sample up to 750 kS/s on all eight analog input channels with 16-bit resolution. PID control loops can run more than 3.5 times faster than previous-generation R Series hardware, and, with FPGA-based parallel execution, multiple control loops do not have to compete for processor bandwidth. Faster analog input rates also improve analog triggering precision and frequency measurement capabilities.
The new R Series modules also require a new version of the NI-RIO driver (Version 2.4 or later). If you have an earlier version of the NI-RIO driver for R Series devices, upgrade to the latest version for free.
- How many gates are there in the new Virtex-5 FPGAs?
The number of gates has traditionally been a way to compare FPGA chips to ASIC technology, but it does not truly describe the number of individual components inside an FPGA. This is one of the reasons why Xilinx did not specify the number of gates for the new Virtex-5 family. LabVIEW FPGA benchmarks have shown that the new Virtex-5 LX30 FPGA is approximately twice the size of a Virtex-II 1M gate FPGA, and the new Virtex-5 LX50 FPGA is slightly larger than a Virtex-II 3M gate FPGA.
- How do I decide which FPGA is right for my application?
Unfortunately, it is difficult to determine whether an application or program will require a larger or smaller FPGA. The LabVIEW FPGA Module and NI-RIO driver give you the ability to compile block diagrams without having any hardware at all, so the best way to see how many resources you need is to try it out.
You can use the following as a general guideline when deciding which FPGA works for your application.
For an application that performs basic timing, triggering, and synchronization on the FPGA, you can use a smaller FPGA. If the application includes timing, triggering, and synchronization along with additional signal processing on the FPGA (control, digital filtering, complex analog triggering), you need a larger FPGA that has more resources to implement those operations.
For more information on how FPGAs work at a lower level, read the FPGAs - Under the Hood white paper.
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