National Instruments VXI-USB manual

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Table of contents for the manual

  • Page 1

    VXI VXI-USB User Manual VXI-USB User Manual December 2004 371381A-01[...]

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    Support Worldwide Technical Support and Product Info rmation ni.com National Instruments Corporate Headquarters 11500 North Mopac Expressway Aust in, Texas 78759-3504 USA Tel: 512 683 0100 Worldwide Offices Australia 1800 300 800, Austria 43 0 662 45 79 90 0, Belgium 32 0 2 757 00 20, Brazil 55 11 3262 3599, Canada (Calgary) 403 274 9391, Ca nada ([...]

  • Page 3

    Important Information Warranty The VXI-USB is warranted against defects in materials and workmanship for a perio d of one year from the date of ship ment, as ev idenced by receipts or other documentation. National Instruments will, at its option, repair or replace equi pment that proves to be defect ive during the warranty period. This warrant y in[...]

  • Page 4

    Compliance Compliance with FCC/Canada Radio Frequency Interference Regulations Determining FCC Class The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has rules to protect wireless co mmunications from inte rference. The FCC places digital electronics into two classes. These classes are known as Class A (for use in industrial-commercial locations onl y) [...]

  • Page 5

    © National Instruments Cor poration v VXI-USB User Manual Contents About This Manual Conventions ............ .............. .............. .............. .............. .............. ............... .............. .... v ii Related Documentation ............ .............. .............. .............. .............. .............. .............[...]

  • Page 6

    Contents VXI-USB User Manual vi ni.com Appendix A Specifications Appendix B Default Settings Appendix C Advanced Hardware Co nfiguration Settings Appendix D Common Questions Appendix E Technical Support and Professional Services Glossary Index[...]

  • Page 7

    © National Instruments Cor poration vii VXI-USB User Manual About This Manual This manual contains instructions for installing and configuring the VXI-USB interface kit. It also discu sses ho w to start de veloping your VXI/VME application. Conventions The following con ventions appear in this manual: » The » symbol leads you through nested menu[...]

  • Page 8

    About This Manual VXI-USB User Manual viii ni.com Related Documentation The following documents contain information that you mi ght find helpful as you read this manual: • ANSI/IEEE Standard 1014-1987, IEEE Standar d for a V ersatile Backplane Bus: VMEb us • ANSI/IEEE Standard 1155-1998, IEEE VMEb us Extensions for Instrumentation: VXIbus • A[...]

  • Page 9

    © National Instruments Cor poration 1-1 VXI-USB User Manual 1 Introduction This chapter describes your VXI-USB in terface kit, lists what you need to get started, and includes a brief description of the hardware and software. The VXI-USB interface kit links a PC-bas ed computer to the VXIbus using the Universal Serial Bus (USB). This kit makes you[...]

  • Page 10

    Chapter 1 Introduction VXI-USB User Manual 1- 2 ni.com VXI-USB Interface Kit Over view The interface kit described in thi s manual links a USB-equipped com puter directly to the VXIbus using USB 2.0. The VXI-USB kit uses this high-speed (480 Mbps ) serial bus to link your compu ter running Windows to a VXI chassis. Note Y ou can use the VXI-USB kit[...]

  • Page 11

    Chapter 1 Introduction © National Instruments Cor poration 1-3 VXI-USB User Manual The VXI-USB links the computer to the VXIbus and converts USB data transfers into VXIbus data transfers and vice versa. The VXI-USB includes additional USB Series A po rts you can u se to connect other USB devices. VXI-USB Front Panel Features The VXI-USB has the fo[...]

  • Page 12

    Chapter 1 Introduction VXI-USB User Manual 1- 4 ni.com Advanced Configuration Options The VXI-USB default hardware conf iguration should be acceptable for most systems. Refer to Append ix B, Default Sett ings , only if your system uses the front-panel CLK10 and trigger SMB connectors. The NI-VISA/NI-VXI bus interface softw are includes a Resource M[...]

  • Page 13

    Chapter 1 Introduction © National Instruments Cor poration 1-5 VXI-USB User Manual extensive libraries of VX I instrument drivers writt en to take full advantage of direct VXI cont rol. LabV IEW, Measurement Studio, and LabWindows/CVI include all the tools needed fo r instrument control, data acquisition, analysis, and presentation. LabVIEW is an [...]

  • Page 14

    © National Instruments Cor poration 2-1 VXI-USB User Manual 2 Installation and Configuration This chapter explains how to set up your test system. Installing the Software Use the Setup program that came wi th your NI-VXI/NI-VISA software to install the entire software package or a software update, or to reinstall software in the event that your fi[...]

  • Page 15

    Chapter 2 Installation and Configuration VXI-USB User Manual 2- 2 ni.com Caution T o keep the manuf acturer/model name tables or the VME de vice conf iguration from a previous installation, be sure to back them up before star ting Setup. They are in th e TBL subdirectory of your NI-VXI directory , usuall y Program FilesNational InstrumentsVXI . S[...]

  • Page 16

    Chapter 2 Installation and Configuration © National Instruments Cor poration 2-3 VXI-USB User Manual restore them to the TBL subdirectory of your NI-VXI directory before running MAX. Note If you sav e and restore the TB L files from an older version of NI-VXI, the software will use TBL files that do not have the latest updates from National Instru[...]

  • Page 17

    Chapter 2 Installation and Configuration VXI-USB User Manual 2- 4 ni.com For information about the software, including optional setting s, use MAX and its online help. Use the Windo ws Start menu to open the program group for National Instruments, launch MAX, and select Help»Help Topics . Installing the Hardware This section summarizes how to inst[...]

  • Page 18

    Chapter 2 Installation and Configuration © National Instruments Cor poration 2-5 VXI-USB User Manual Installing Y our VXI-USB Interface Module All kits contain a VXI-USB interface module. T o install the VXI-USB in Slot 0 of your VXI chassis, complete the following steps: 1. Power of f the chassis. 2. V erify that the backplane connector is intact[...]

  • Page 19

    Chapter 2 Installation and Configuration VXI-USB User Manual 2- 6 ni.com performance. Plug-in boards with USB 2.0 po rts are also support ed but may not pro vide the highest performance. Full-speed (USB 1. x ) ports are support ed as well, but provide much lower performance. The LI NK light (refer to Chapter 1, Introdu ction ) on the f ront panel o[...]

  • Page 20

    © National Instruments Cor poration 3-1 VXI-USB User Manual 3 Developing Y our Application This chapter discusses the softw are utilities you can use to star t developing applications that use NI-VXI. After installing the NI-VXI soft ware, you can begin de veloping your VXI/VME application. Be sure to ch eck the release notes for the latest applic[...]

  • Page 21

    Chapter 3 Developing Your Application VXI-USB User Manual 3- 2 ni.com provide a high le vel of performan ce; ho wev er , there may be some slight changes in behavior for certain applicat ions. Y our software features several system de velopment utilities including MAX, Resman, NI Spy , VISA In teracti ve Control (VISAIC), and optionally VXI Interac[...]

  • Page 22

    Chapter 3 Developing Y our Application © National Instruments Cor poration 3-3 VXI-USB User Manual Resman reports to MA X all errors it finds in your system. When yo u view your VXI system in MAX, you can eas ily spot any errors that Resman found while configuring the system. Figure 3-1. Right-Click a VXI Syste m in MAX to Run Resman on that Syst [...]

  • Page 23

    Chapter 3 Developing Your Application VXI-USB User Manual 3- 4 ni.com launch VISAIC (or VIC) from the Tools menu in MAX or from the VISA or VXI subgroups in Start» Programs»Natio nal Instrument s . T ry the following in VISAIC: In the tree view , na vigate using your mouse to the VISA resource for y our controller—probably V XI0::0::INSTR, repr[...]

  • Page 24

    Chapter 3 Developing Y our Application © National Instruments Cor poration 3-5 VXI-USB User Manual Figure 3-3. Successful viIn Access in the VISA IC Register I/O T ab (This Window May Look Slightly Different for LabVIEW Users) If the data value ends in FF6 , you ha ve successfully read the National Instruments m anufacturer ID from your VXI/VM E c[...]

  • Page 25

    Chapter 3 Developing Your Application VXI-USB User Manual 3- 6 ni.com Older programs that use the NI-VXI API now use the NI-VXI-to-NI-VISA compatibility layer to communicate with the VXI devices. Using thi s layer, older prog rams can run in NI-VXI 3. 0 or later without being rewritten to use the VISA interface. Note The NI-VXI API development en v[...]

  • Page 26

    Chapter 3 Developing Y our Application © National Instruments Cor poration 3-7 VXI-USB User Manual Note MAX includes configuration options that affect lo w-le vel functions and shared memory , as well as trigger mappin gs and other attributes of your VXI system. Refer to the MAX online help for information regarding these options. Optimizing Large[...]

  • Page 27

    Chapter 3 Developing Your Application VXI-USB User Manual 3- 8 ni.com NI-VXI API Notes The following notes apply only if you are using the NI-VX I API. We recommend that all new VXI/VME app lications use the NI-VISA API, but you can still develop with the older NI-VX I API for compatibili ty with legacy code. Compiler Symbols You may need to define[...]

  • Page 28

    Chapter 3 Developing Y our Application © National Instruments Cor poration 3-9 VXI-USB User Manual are recei ving triggers on an external c ontroller , you may n eed to modify the trigger configuration on your e xtender module using MAX. In general, interrupts are routed automatically based on the interr upt configuration the resource manager dete[...]

  • Page 29

    Chapter 3 Developing Your Application VXI-USB User Manual 3-10 ni.com Figure 3-4. NI Spy VISAIC, discussed in the Device Interaction section, is an e xcellent platform for quickly testing instrume nts and learning how to communicate with them. Figure 3-5. VI SAIC[...]

  • Page 30

    © National Instruments Cor poration A-1 VXI-USB User Manual A Specifications This appendix lists the specifications for the VXI-USB module. Requirements VXIbus configuration space................... 64 B Default ....................... .............. .............. . None Environmental Maximum altitude ............. .............. ....... 2,000 m [...]

  • Page 31

    Appendix A Specifications VXI-USB User Manual A-2 ni.com Shock and Vibration Operational shock ....................... ............30 g peak, half-sine, 11 ms pulse (Tested in accordance with IEC-60068-2-27. Test profile developed in accordance with MIL-PRF-28800F.) Random vibration Operating .................. ................. ......5 to 500 Hz, [...]

  • Page 32

    Appendix A Specifications © National Instruments Cor poration A-3 VXI-USB User Manual Slot requirements ................. .............. .... Single VXI C-size slot Compatibility ............ ................. ... ......... Fully comp atible with VX I specification VXI keying class ........................ ............ Class 1 TTL MTBF .......... [...]

  • Page 33

    Appendix A Specifications VXI-USB User Manual A-4 ni.com CE Compliance This product meets the essential re quirements of applicable European Directi ves, as amended for CE marking, as follo ws: Low-Voltage Directive (safety) ..............73/23/EEC Electromagnetic Comp atibility Directive (EMC) ................. .............. ......89/336/EEC Note[...]

  • Page 34

    Appendix A Specifications © National Instruments Cor poration A-5 VXI-USB User Manual RETRY (master) VMEbus master retry support RETRY (slave) VMEbus slave r etry support FSD First slot detector SCON VMEbus System Controller (Automatic Detection) PRI, RRS Prioritized or Round Robin Select arbiter ROR, FAIR Release on Request and FAIR bus requester[...]

  • Page 35

    © National Instruments Cor poration B-1 VXI-USB User Manual B Default Settings This appendix summarizes the default settings for the hardware and software in the VXI-USB kit. If you need more informatio n about a particular setting or want to try a different conf iguration, refer to Appendix C, Advanced Hardware Configuration Sett ings , for your [...]

  • Page 36

    Appendix B Default Settings VXI-USB User Manual B-2 ni.com Figure B-1. VXI-USB Default Conf iguration Settings S3 S4 S5 S6 S2 S1 Y N F rom Onboard Oscillator F rom SMB CLK10 In ON OFF ON OFF OUT IN Inv erted Noninv erted[...]

  • Page 37

    Appendix B Default Settings © National Instruments Cor poration B-3 VXI-USB User Manual Default Software Settings Table B-1. VXI-USB Hardware Defa ult Settings Hardwar e Component Default Setting S1—Firmware reco very N: do not recov er fir mware S2 —VXIbus CLK10 source From onboard oscillator S3—SMB trig ger in terminati on ON: terminated S[...]

  • Page 38

    © National Instruments Cor poration C-1 VXI-USB User Manual C Advanced Hardware Configuration Settings This appendix describes the altern ate hardware configuration settings of the VXI-USB. The board is set at the f actory for the most commonl y used configuration. Use this appendix if you want to try a dif ferent hardware configuration or if you [...]

  • Page 39

    Appendix C Advanced Hardware Configura tion Settings VXI-USB User Manual C-2 ni.com Figure C-1. Firmware R ecover y Operation VXIbus CLK10 Routing The VXI-USB has four hardware switch es that work toge ther to control v arious aspects of CLK10 routing. Read this section car efully and notice that if you change one switch, you may need to change ano[...]

  • Page 40

    Appendix C Advanced Hardware Config uration Settings © National Instruments Cor poration C-3 VXI-USB User Manual When switch S5 is set so that the VXI-USB receiv es the SMB CLK10 signal, you have the option to add a 50 Ω termination to the signal by setting switch S4. S4 is unused when S5 is conf igured to dri v e the external CLK SMB signal. T [...]

  • Page 41

    Appendix C Advanced Hardware Configura tion Settings VXI-USB User Manual C-4 ni.com Figure C-2. Default Settings for CLK10 Switches In Figures C-3 and C-4, sw itch S2 us es the alternate configuration to generate the VXIbus CLK10 signal. Instead of the onboard oscillator, the VXI-USB generates from the external CLK SMB connector and driv es to the [...]

  • Page 42

    Appendix C Advanced Hardware Config uration Settings © National Instruments Cor poration C-5 VXI-USB User Manual Figure C-4. Receive Ex ternal CLK SMB with 50 Ω T ermination and Drive to t he Backplane Figures C-5 and C-6 show two conf igurat ions for driving the external CLK SMB from the VXIbus CLK10 signal by changing switch S5 to its alternat[...]

  • Page 43

    Appendix C Advanced Hardware Configura tion Settings VXI-USB User Manual C-6 ni.com Figure C-6. Drive Noninverted External CLK SMB T r igger Input T ermination Located within the group of CLK10 switches is switch S3, whi ch controls whether to put a 50 Ω terminati on on the external trigger in put SMB. Figure C-7 shows the setting for a nontermin[...]

  • Page 44

    © National Instruments Cor poration D-1 VXI-USB User Manual D Common Questions This appendix addresses common question s you may hav e about using the NI-VISA/NI-VXI soft ware on the VXI-USB platform . What does hot plugging mean in terms of USB? The concept of hot p lugging in USB m eans that you can remove and insert USB cables without powering [...]

  • Page 45

    Appendix D Common Qu estions VXI-USB User Manual D-2 ni.com How can I determine the serial nu mber and f irmwar e version of the VXI-USB module? This information is displa yed in the title bar of the Hard ware Configuration window in MAX. What is Resman? Resman is the utility that performs the duties of a VXI Resou rce Manager as discussed in the V[...]

  • Page 46

    Appendix D Common Qu estions © National Instruments Cor poration D-3 VXI-USB User Manual What can I do to mak e sur e that my system is up and ru nning? The fastest method for testing the syst em is to run Resman. This program attempts to access memory in the u pper A16 address space of each de vice in the system. If Resman does no t report any pr[...]

  • Page 47

    Appendix D Common Qu estions VXI-USB User Manual D-4 ni.com When all LEDs except the SYSF AIL LED are on, the hardware detected that the FPGA PLL lost lock, and the boa rd may be in an unstable state. Power c ycle the board to repair it. In an empty chassis, when both th e SYSF AIL and F AIL LEDs are solid on, the firmware image is corrupted. Recov[...]

  • Page 48

    © National Instruments Cor poration E-1 VXI-USB User Manual E T echnical Support and Professional Ser vices Visit the following sections of the National Instruments Web site at ni.com for technical support an d professional services: • Support —Online technical support resources at ni.com/support include the following: – Self-Help Resources [...]

  • Page 49

    © National Instruments Cor poration G-1 VXI-USB User Manual Glossar y Symbol Pref ix V a lue pp i c o 1 0 –1 2 nn a n o 1 0 –9 µ micro 10 –6 m milli 10 –3 k kilo 10 3 Mm e g a 1 0 6 Gg i g a 1 0 9 Tt e r a 1 0 12 Symbols ° degrees Ω ohms A A amperes address Character code that identif ies a specif ic location (or series of locations) i[...]

  • Page 50

    Glossary VXI-USB User Manual G-2 ni.com ANSI American Nationa l Standards Institute API Application Programming Interface—the direct interface that an end user sees when creatin g an application. arbitration A process in which a potential bus master gains control ov er a particular bus . B B Byte—eight related bits of data, an 8-bit bin ary num[...]

  • Page 51

    Glossary © National Instruments Cor poration G-3 VXI-USB User Manual byte order Ho w bytes are arranged within a word or ho w words are arranged within a longword. Motorola ordering stores the most significant byte (MSB) or word first, followed by the least signif icant byte (LSB) or word. Intel ordering stores the LSB or word f irs t, followed by[...]

  • Page 52

    Glossary VXI-USB User Manual G-4 ni.com dynamically configured de vice A device that has its logical address assigned b y the Resource Manager . A VXI de vice initially responds at Logical Address 25 5 when its MODID line is asserted. The Resource Manager subsequently assigns it a ne w logical address, to which the device responds until powered do [...]

  • Page 53

    Glossary © National Instruments Cor poration G-5 VXI-USB User Manual H hex Hexadecimal — the n umbering system with base 16, using the d igits 0 to 9 and letters A to F . Hz hertz; cycles per second I I/O Input/output—the techniques, media, and devices used to achiev e communication between machines and users. IEC International Electrotechnica[...]

  • Page 54

    Glossary VXI-USB User Manual G-6 ni.com L logical address An 8-bit number that uniquely identif ies each VXIb us de vice in a system. It def ines the A1 6 regi ster address of a de vice, and indicates Commander and Servant relationships. M m meters M mega—(1) the standard metric prefix for 1 million or 10 6 , when used with units of measure such [...]

  • Page 55

    Glossary © National Instruments Cor poration G-7 VXI-USB User Manual NI-VXI The National Instru ments bus interface s oftware for VME/VXIbus systems. Non-Slot 0 de vice A device conf ig ured for inst allation in an y slot in a VXIbus mainframe other than Slot 0. Installing su ch a device into Slot 0 can damage the device, the VXIbus backplane, or [...]

  • Page 56

    Glossary VXI-USB User Manual G-8 ni.com Slot 0 device A de vice configured for installation in Slot 0 of a VXIbus mainframe. This device is unique in the VXIbus system in that it performs the V XI/VMEbus System Controller func tions, including clock sourcin g and arbitration for data transfers across the backplane. In stalling such a device into an[...]

  • Page 57

    Glossary © National Instruments Cor poration G-9 VXI-USB User Manual VME V ersa M odule Eurocard or IEEE 1014 VMEbus System Controller A device conf igured for installation in Slot 0 or a V XIbus mainframe or the first slot in a VMEb us chassis. This de vice is unique in the VMEbus system in that it performs the VMEbus System Controller functions,[...]

  • Page 58

    © National Instruments Cor poration I-1 VXI-USB User Manual Index A advanced conf iguration options, 1-4 advanced hardware conf iguration settings, C-1 application development, 3-1 configuration, 3-2 debugging, 3-9 device interaction, 3-3 NI-VXI API notes, 3-8 optimizing large VXIbus transfers, 3-7 programming for VXI, 3-5 C cables, connecting, 2-[...]

  • Page 59

    Index VXI-USB User Manual I-2 ni.com default settings, B-1 description, 1-2 determining revision, D-2 installation, 2-4 help, technical support, E-1 hot plugging, D-1 I installation, 2-1 hardware, 2-4 software, 2-1 instrument driv ers (NI resources), E-1 introduction, 1-1 K Kno wledgeBase, E-1 L LabVIEW, 1-5 LabW indo ws/CVI, 1-5 LEDs, 1-3, D-3 M M[...]

  • Page 60

    Index © National Instruments Cor poration I-3 VXI-USB User Manual S safety specifications, A-3 selecting controller in VISAIC (figure), 3-4 serial number , determining, D-2 shock and vibration speci fications, A-2 software configuration, 2-6 installation, 2-1 completing, 2-2 verif ication, 2-6 software (NI resources), E-1 specifications, A-1 CE co[...]

  • Page 61

    Index VXI-USB User Manual I-4 ni.com kit ove rv iew, 1- 2 software configuration and verif ication, 2-6 installation, 2-1 specifications, A-1 W W eb resources, E-1[...]