NI-RFSG, NI-RFSA, and RF Toolkits Installation and Example Locations

Primary Software: LabVIEW Development Systems>>LabVIEW Professional Development System
Primary Software Version: 1.0
Primary Software Fixed Version: N/A
Secondary Software: LabVIEW Modules
Hardware: Modular Instruments>>RF Measurement Devices>>PXI-5670

Problem:
Is there an order I must follow when installing RF software, including NI-RFSG, NI-RFSA, and the RF toolkits? After installation, where are the examples location for each driver and toolkit?

Solution:
National Instruments does recommend a specific installation order for NI RF software. The NI-RFSA and NI-RFSG drivers should be installed after all supported application development environments (ADEs) have been installed on the system. This includes LabVIEW, LabWindows/CVI, Visual Studio, etc. The driver checks to determine which ADEs are on the system to determine which examples and other modules need to be installed.

The RF toolkits must be installed after installing the drivers. For example, the Modulation Toolkit (MT) detects what drivers are present and will install examples for the installed drivers. So, if MT detects NI-RFSG, it will install NI-RFSG examples for use with the NI PXI-5670, NI PXI-5671, NI PXIe-5672, and NI PXIe-5673. Other drivers that MT looks for are NI-SCOPE for digitizer-only use cases (no downconverter), NI-FGEN for arb-only use cases (no upconverter), and NI-RFSA for our signal analyzers.

The current recommended order of installation is:

LabVIEW, LabWindows/CVI, Visual Studio, and other supported ADEs
NI-RFSG
NI-RFSA
Spectral Measurements Toolkit
Modulation Toolkit
GPS Toolkit
WLAN Toolkit
Fixed WiMAX
Mobile WiMAX

Notes: The spectral measurement toolkit and modulation toolkit can be installed in any order after installing the drivers. The GPS toolkit and WLAN toolkit must be installed after the modulation toolkit. This is because the modulation toolkit is required for them to work. In addition, the WLAN Analysis toolkit must be installed after both the modulation toolkit and spectral measurements toolkit are installed.

Below are a list of example locations for the current RF drivers and toolkits:

NI-RFSG examples

<labview>\examples\instr\niRFSG
Start»All Programs»National Instruments»NI-RFSG»Examples

Navigate to this folder for examples demonstrating non-modulation oriented examples for the 567x. The examples include scripting, triggering, multi-tone generation, upconverter-only mode, and so on. For NI 5670/5671/5672/5673 examples producing modulated signals, refer to the Modulation Toolkit examples.

NI-RFSA examples

<labview>\examples\instr\niRFSA
Start»All Programs»National Instruments»NI-RFSA»Examples
<labview>\examples\instr\ni5660
Start»All Programs»National Instruments»NI-RFSA»Examples (NI PXI-5660)

Navigate to these folders for examples demonstrating the NI-RFSA and NI 5660 VIs. The examples include both spectral measurements and IQ data acquisition. For demodulation examples, refer to the Modulation Toolkit examples.

Modulation Toolkit examples

There are two separate modulation toolkits. One installer for the LabVIEW toolkit and the other for LabWindows CVI. Below are the locations of the examples assuming you installed the appropriate toolkit.

LabVIEW:

<labview>\examples\Modulation
Start»All Programs»National Instruments»Modulation»LabVIEW Support»Modulation Examples Folder

LabWindows CVI:

<Documents and Settings>\All Users\Documents\National Instruments\CVI\samples\amodt <Documents and Settings>\All Users\Documents\National Instruments\CVI\samples\dmodt
Start»All Programs»National Instruments»Modulation»CVI Support»Analog Modulation Examples Folder
Start»All Programs»National Instruments»Modulation»CVI Support»Digital Modulation Examples Folder

Once you have navigated to the above folders, the following table shows what hardware or software oriented modulation examples the subfolders contain.

FGEN examples	NI-FGEN arb-only examples
niSCOPE examples	NI-SCOPE digitizer-only examples
ni5660 examples	NI 5660 examples
niRFSA examples	NI 5661/5663 examples
niRFSG examples	NI 5670/5671/5672/5673 examples
simulation examples	software only examples

Spectral Measurements Toolkit examples

<labview>\examples\Spectral Measurements Toolset
Start»All Programs»National Instruments»Spectral Measurements»LabVIEW Support»LabVIEW Spectral Measurements Examples

GPS Toolkit examples

<labVIEW>\examples\RF Toolkits\GPS
Start»All Programs»National Instruments»NI GPS Simulation Toolkit»Examples

WLAN Toolkit examples

<labVIEW>\examples\RF Toolkits\WLAN\analysis
Start»All Programs»National Instruments»NI WLAN Analysis Toolkit»Examples
<labVIEW>\examples\RF Toolkits\WLAN\generation
Start»All Programs»National Instruments»NI WLAN Generation Toolkit»Examples

Fixed WiMAX Toolkit examples

<labVIEW>\examples\RF Toolkits\FixedWiMAX\analysis
Start»All Programs»National Instruments»NI Signal Analysis Toolkit for Fixed WiMAX»Examples
<labVIEW>\examples\RF Toolkits\FixedWiMAX\generation
Start»All Programs»National Instruments»NI Signal Generation Toolkit for Fixed WiMAX»Examples

Mobile WiMAX Toolkit examples

<labVIEW>\examples\RF Toolkits\MobileWiMAX\analysis
Start»All Programs»National Instruments»NI Signal Analysis Toolkit for Mobile WiMAX»Examples
<labVIEW>\examples\RF Toolkits\FixedWiMAX\generation
Start»All Programs»National Instruments»NI Signal Generation Toolkit for Mobile WiMAX»Examples

Related Links:
RF & Communications Resources
Drivers and Updates: NI-RFSG
Drivers and Updates: NI-RFSA
Products and Services: NI Spectral Measurements Toolkit
Products and Services: NI Modulation Toolkit
Products and Services: NI Measurement Suites for WiMAX

Attachments:

Report Date: 05/02/2005
Last Updated: 01/15/2010
Document ID: 3L1CGULE

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