June 2016
This file contains important information about the LabVIEW FPGA Module, including system requirements, installation instructions, descriptions of new features, upgrade and compatibility issues, known issues, and a partial list of bugs fixed for this release.
FPGA Module System Requirements
FPGA Compile Farm Server System Requirements
NI Software Support for Microsoft Windows 7, Windows Vista, Windows XP, and Windows Server 2003
Product Security and Critical Updates
Upgrade and Compatibility Issues
Automating the Installation of NI Products
With the LabVIEW FPGA Module, you can create VIs that run on NI FPGA targets, such as Reconfigurable I/O (RIO) devices. The FPGA Module helps you design complex systems by providing a highly-integrated development environment, a large ecosystem of IP libraries, a high-fidelity simulator, and debugging features. The FPGA Module also includes FPGA IP Builder and the FPGA Compile Farm Server. You can use FPGA IP Builder to efficiently implement your LabVIEW algorithms for FPGA targets and to generate FPGA code that meets specific performance requirements. FPGA IP Builder supports only a subset of FPGA targets. Visit ni.com/info and enter the Info Code exvxfe for a list of supported targets. You can use the FPGA Compile Farm Server to offload compiles to dedicated computers.
The development computer is a PC or NI PXI/PXI Express system on which you install LabVIEW and the FPGA Module. You can also install the Xilinx compilation tools on your development computer to compile LabVIEW FPGA VIs locally. However, if the FPGA design or target requires more than 2 GB of memory, NI recommends you install the Xilinx compilation tools on a separate computer. This computer is referred to as the remote compile worker.
Visit ni.com/info and enter the Info Code XilinxCompileTools for more information about the NI hardware supported by each Xilinx compilation tool.
The development computer must meet the following system requirements:
Note
1 Memory requirements vary according to both the FPGA target and the FPGA VI you create for that target.
2 You must use a 64-bit OS to address 4 GB of RAM.
3 NI software is signed with a SHA-256 certificate. Windows 7 SP1, Windows Embedded Standard 7 SP1, and Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1 require Microsoft updates to support SHA-256. Refer to Microsoft KB3033929 for more information about how to install this security update.
Refer to the LabVIEW Readme for additional system requirements and supported operating systems for LabVIEW 2016.
If you install the FPGA Compile Farm Server on a separate computer, you can configure that computer to be a remote compile farm server. If you install the Xilinx compilation tools on a separate computer, you can configure that computer to be a remote compile worker.
Refer to the Setting Up a Remote Compile Farm Server or Compile Worker section of this document for information about setting up and using a local or remote compile farm server or compile worker. Visit ni.com/info and enter the Info Code XilinxCompileTools for more information about the NI hardware supported by each Xilinx compilation tool.
The remote compile farm server must meet the following minimum system requirements:
You can use either a Windows or Linux computer as a compile worker. Refer to the Xilinx Compilation Tools Readme for the operating system to obtain information about the minimum system requirements.
This section provides information about installing the FPGA Module and related components.
Note If you are upgrading from a previous version of LabVIEW, you must install the LabVIEW 2016 FPGA Module before mass-compiling existing FPGA VIs. Otherwise, some FPGA-specific VIs might have mutation issues.
Complete the following steps to install LabVIEW and the FPGA Module:
In addition to installing program files and documentation in the LabVIEW directory, the installer also puts files from Xilinx in the x:\NIFPGA directory, where x is the drive on which you installed LabVIEW. The FPGA Module uses these files to compile FPGA VIs into code that runs on an FPGA target.
You can use the LabVIEW Platform media to install the FPGA Compile Farm Server to offload compiles to dedicated computer. You must install the FPGA Compile Farm Server separately on any remote machine that you want to use to manage your compilations. Also, you must install the Xilinx compilation tools on any machine that you want to use as a remote compile worker. Visit ni.com/info and enter the Info Code XilinxCompileTools for more information about the NI hardware supported by each Xilinx compilation tool.
NI also offers the LabVIEW FPGA Compile Cloud Service to increase the development efficiency by offloading compile jobs to multiple computers in a cloud environment. Visit ni.com/trycompilecloud for information about the LabVIEW FPGA Compile Cloud.
With this release, the LabVIEW FPGA Module drops support for Microsoft Windows 7 RTM (with no service pack), Windows Vista, Windows XP, and Windows Server 2003. The LabVIEW 2016 FPGA Module and later will not install or run on an unsupported OS. You cannot deploy or distribute applications that use the LabVIEW 2016 FPGA Module to an unsupported OS. Additionally, after installing the LabVIEW 2016 FPGA Module, you cannot use any installers built on this computer with any version of LabVIEW, LabWindows™/CVI™, NI TestStand™, or Measurement Studio on an unsupported OS.
For more information about the changes to our OS support for 2016, refer to KB 79UC78LS, Why Does my LabVIEW, LabWindows/CVI, Measurement Studio, or TestStand Built Installer Fail on Windows XP/Vista and Server 2003?.
Visit ni.com/security to view and subscribe to receive security notifications about NI products. Visit ni.com/critical-updates for information about critical updates from NI.
The LabVIEW 2016 FPGA Module includes the addition of a new suite of Xilinx compilation tools, Vivado 2015.4. Visit ni.com/info and enter the Info Code XilinxCompileTools for more information about the NI hardware supported by each Xilinx compilation tool.
You can access the software and documentation known issues list online. Refer to the NI website for an up-to-date list of known issues in the FPGA Module.
The following items are the IDs and titles of a subset of issues fixed in the FPGA Module. This is not an exhaustive list of issues fixed in the current version of the FPGA Module. If you have a CAR ID, you can search this list to validate that the issue has been fixed.
| ID | Fixed Issue |
|---|---|
| 577377 | FPGA User-Controlled I/O Sampling functions are broken in the Japanese version of LabVIEW 2015 and LabVIEW 2015 SP1 |
| 574086 | IP Integration Node and Component Level IP can fail to generate simulation files in Vivado 2014.4 |
| 568649 | FPGA VI Reference wire can become broken across structures and subVIs when the referenced bitfile changes |
| 550239 | A case structure that contains global variables and more than 32 cases can fail FPGA compilation |
| 545362 | The output valid terminal is missing if the FFT Express VI is configured to perform single channel, single sample transformation outside an SCTL |
| 534464 | The Tick Count Express VI in microseconds does not roll over in simulation |
| 495744 | VIs remain open after a project closes if the project contains a DMA FIFO that has an FXP data type |
| 549466 | The Linear Algebra Matrix Multiply function can return wrong simulation results when N=1 and Output pattern is Row-Wise Element |
| 542770 | Copying code from a subVI in a .lvlib that contains an SCTL or the FPGA I/O node can cause LabVIEW to hang or crash when you close the owning project |
| 521795 | The Sampling Probe Watch Window does not update unless the highlight execution mode is turned on |
| 512546 | When you compile an FPGA design on Vivado targets, specifically the USB-7856R, the compilation might hang during the place phase |
This section provides information about upgrading from the LabVIEW 2015 FPGA Module to the LabVIEW 2016 FPGA Module. Refer to previous versions of the LabVIEW FPGA Module Release and Upgrade Notes, available on ni.com/manuals, for changes in previous version of the FPGA Module.
Note The LabVIEW FPGA Module Release and Upgrade Notes document was deprecated from the 2016 release.
Note NI recommends that you test all FPGA designs after upgrading. Upgrading the FPGA Module requires upgrading to a new version of the Xilinx compilation tools. This upgrade can change the timing or resource utilization characteristics of FPGA VIs you developed in previous versions or cause these VIs to fail to compile.
If you open a VI saved in a previous version of LabVIEW that contains an IP Integration Node, you must regenerate support files for the IP. To regenerate the support files, select Tools»FPGA Module»Regenerate IP Integration Nodes Support Files from LabVIEW and follow the on-screen instructions.
Note If LabVIEW fails to update all support files, re-add the IP Integration Node to the VI and generate the support files for the IP Integration Node.
If the IP Integration Node contains Xilinx Vivado IP configuration (.xci) files, you must regenerate the configuration files in the latest Xilinx compilation tool for Vivado. After regenerating the configuration files, re-add the files to the IP Integration Node, re-add the IP Integration Node to the VI, and generate the support files for the IP Integration Node.
If you open a VI saved in a previous version of LabVIEW that contains a Xilinx IP node, you must regenerate support files for the Xilinx IP node. To regenerate the support files, select Tools»FPGA Module»Regenerate IP Integration Node Support Files from LabVIEW and follow the on-screen instructions. (Xilinx Vivado) After regenerating the support files, verify the behavior of the Xilinx IP node. Reconfigure the Xilinx IP node if its behavior has changed.
Tip (Xilinx Vivado) You can also regenerate the support files by double-clicking the Xilinx IP node and clicking the Upgrade Xilinx IP button.
Refer to the LabVIEW Help, accessible by selecting Help»LabVIEW Help from LabVIEW, for information about the FPGA Module.
Select Help»Find Examples from LabVIEW to launch the NI Example Finder. You can modify an example VI to fit an application, or you can copy and paste from one or more examples into a VI that you create.
You can automate the installation of most NI products using command-line arguments to suppress some or all of the installer user interface and dialog boxes. However, starting with the August 2012 releases (products using NI Installers version 3.1 or later), you may need to perform additional steps before or during a silent installation of NI software.
If the NI product you are installing uses Microsoft .NET 4.0, the .NET installer may run before any NI software installs and may require a reboot before the installation of NI software begins. To avoid a .NET reboot, install .NET 4.0 separately before you install NI software.
For more information about automating the installation of NI products, refer to the following KnowledgeBase articles:
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Third-Party Copyright Notices
The SharpZipLib_Notice.pdf file contains a third-party copyright notice for third-party components used by certain FPGA Module features. The following directory is the default installation location for the file, but the location might vary depending on the configuration of the local computer:
\National Instruments\LabVIEW <version>\FPGA\Legal\
End-User License Agreements and Third-Party Legal Notices
You can find end-user license agreements (EULAs) and third-party legal notices in the following locations after installation:
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If you are an agency, department, or other entity of the United States Government ("Government"), the use, duplication, reproduction, release, modification, disclosure or transfer of the technical data included in this manual is governed by the Restricted Rights provisions under Federal Acquisition Regulation 52.227-14 for civilian agencies and Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement Section 252.227-7014 and 252.227-7015 for military agencies.
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Content from the IVI specifications reproduced with permission from the IVI Foundation.
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Refer to the NI Trademarks and Logo Guidelines at ni.com/trademarks for information on NI trademarks. Other product and company names mentioned herein are trademarks or trade names of their respective companies.
Patents
For patents covering the NI products/technology, refer to the appropriate location: Help»Patents in your software, the patents.txt file on your media, or the NI Patent Notice at ni.com/patents.
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