March 2017
This file contains important information about the LabVIEW FPGA Module, including system requirements, installation instructions, 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
Product Security and Critical Updates
Upgrade and Compatibility Issues
Automating the Installation of NI Products
Using NI Software with Microsoft Windows 10
Using NI Software with Microsoft Windows 8.1
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 installs VC2015 Runtime and .NET 4.6.2. Windows 8.1 and Windows Server 2012 R2 require Microsoft updates to support these items. Refer to Microsoft KB2919442 and KB2919355 for more information about how to install these updates.
4 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 2017.
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:
Note In 2016 the FPGA Compile Farm Server dropped support for Windows Vista, Windows XP, Windows Server 2003, and installations of Windows 7 without any service packs. The LabVIEW 2017 FPGA Compile Farm Server will not install or run on an unsupported OS.
1 NI software installs VC2015 Runtime and .NET 4.6.2. Windows 8.1 and Windows Server 2012 R2 require Microsoft updates to support these items. Refer to Microsoft KB2919442 and KB2919355 for more information about how to install these updates.
2 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.
You can use either a Windows or Linux computer as a compile worker. Refer to the Xilinx Compilation Tools Readme for 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 2017 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.
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 2017 FPGA Module includes the following new featurs:
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 |
|---|---|
| 629576 | I2C/SPI palette link in FPGA does not properly open VIPM in Google Chrome |
| 611528 | Flush (FIFO Method) node breaks VI as unsupported if FIFO In is wired |
| 608514 | When using Target to Host FIFO, SGL changes to FXP if the Configure FPGA VI Reference dialog box opens after the VI or bitfile is imported |
| 602509 | FPGA Desktop Execution node reports error -61444 when an FPGA control or indicator is inside a tab control |
| 602274 | Read TEDS method reports error -65006 on cRIO targets when the Open FPGA VI Reference function is in dynamic mode |
| 601363 | When running a bitfile, the Split Number function returns all zeroes if you wire an I16 array to the input, wire the hi(x) output, and leave the lo(x) output unwired |
| 596659 | Unexpected XNode error when an FPGA VI using a FIFO is changed while another FPGA VI is running interactively on the the same target |
| 595635 | In an FPGA IP Builder design, resource configuration on an array buffer might conflict with the interface configuration and cause errors during the IP build process |
| 589796 | Duplicating example projects with an FPGA VI containing the Read I/O function or Get I/O Read Status function causes an error |
| 455843 | "FPGA Target" is localized to Japanese with multibyte characters, which causes build errors for RT executables referencing an FPGA bitfile with a default name |
Upgrading the FPGA Module requires you to upgrade 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. NI recommends that you test all FPGA designs after upgrading.
If you are upgrading from the LabVIEW 2015 FPGA Module or earlier to the LabVIEW 2017 FPGA Module, refer to previous versions of the LabVIEW FPGA Module readme or LabVIEW FPGA Module Release and Upgrade Notes, available on ni.com/manuals, for changes in previous versions of the FPGA Module.
Note The LabVIEW FPGA Module Release and Upgrade Notes document was deprecated from the 2016 release.
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.
If the NI product you are installing uses Microsoft .NET 4.6.2, 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 4.6.2 separately before you install NI software.
For more information about automating the installation of NI products, refer to the following KnowledgeBase articles:
Microsoft Windows 10 is the latest version of the Windows operating system and features significant changes compared to previous versions. Windows 10 introduces several new capabilities and also combines features from both Windows 7 and Windows 8. For more information about NI support for Windows 10, visit ni.com/windows10.
When you install NI software on Microsoft Windows 8.1, you will notice a few additional tiles in the Apps view, including shortcuts to NI application software products such as NI LabVIEW, Measurement & Automation Explorer (NI MAX), and NI Launcher. For more information about NI support for Windows 8.1, visit ni.com/windows8.
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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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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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