PDF1. Key Features
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2. Hardware
The analog front end of the PCI-5640R offers two IF inputs (receivers) and two IF outputs (transmitters). A/D and D/A converters back these channels and include built-in digital up- and down-converters that offload computational requirements by allowing processing to occur at baseband. Signal samples can be processed or prepared for transmission with the on-board Xilinx® Virtex-II Pro FPGA. The PCI-bus board sports four DMA channels that allow you to stream signal samples to and from host memory for host-based processing.
For detailed hardware specifications, please click here.
With external hardware, you can extend the frequency span of the inputs and outputs of the NI PCI-5640R. This document describes how to extend the input frequency span to 2.3-2.5GHz.
3. Software
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The PCI-5640R offers different programming alternatives tailored for host- or FPGA-based processing. For host-based processing, you can work with NI LabVIEW and use the NI-5640R instrument driver offers functions and examples for configuration and control over the input and output channels to enable streaming data to and from host memory. Optionally, you can install LabVIEW FPGA to program the on-board FPGA for inline processing with intuitive LabVIEW graphical programming without prior knowledge of HDL or other traditional FPGA programming languages. |
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NI-5640R Instrument Driver
The NI-5640R instrument driver API features a set of operations and attributes that exercise all the functionality of the device, including configuration, control, and other device-specific functions. With the NI-5640R API you program the NI PCI-5640R with its default personality—two synchronized input and two synchronized output channels.
Follow this link, to download the NI-5640R Instrument Driver.
LabVIEW FPGA Module
Using the LabVIEW FPGA module, you can configure the behavior of the FPGA core in the NI PCI-5640R to closely match the requirements of your system. The behavior of the NI PCI-5640R is fully user defined and can be implemented as a VI, creating an application-specific I/O device. While you gain full access and develop more powerful applications, the programming time required to create an application using the LabVIEW FPGA module also increase when compared with the standard NI-5640R instrument driver and more advanced programming skills are required.
Programming Methods Comparison Table
| Host-only Processing | FPGA- and/or Host-based Processing | |
| Transmitter / Receivever Configuration | Synchronized I/O, fixed digital edge triggering | Bit-level manipulation, programmable acq / gen clocks, custom triggering |
| Acquired Data Type | Applications return calibrated IQ data | Applications return raw, unscaled data |
| Processing | Host-only | FPGA and/or Host |
| Floating-point data representation | Integer / fixed-point data representation | |
| Frame-based | Point-by-point (pipelined) |
4. Software Requirements
| Host-only | FPGA- and/or host-based | |
| Required Software |
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| Recommended Software | ||
5. More Information
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Purchase information: See online pricing and ordering information.
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NI-5640R Instrument Driver: Download the NI-5640R Instrument Driver.
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Detailed hardware specifications: See detailed hardware specifications.
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NI LabVIEW: You can work with NI LabVIEW graphical programming to control the NI PCI-5640R.
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NI LabVIEW FPGA: With the LabVIEW FPGA Module you can use graphical programming to leverage the onboard signal processing capability of the NI PCI-5640R.
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NI Modulation Toolkit: The NI Modulation Toolkit extends LabVIEW with tools for communications that can be used for host-based processing of signals to transmit or receive with the NI PCI-5640R.
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NI Digital Filter Design Toolkit: You can design and deploy digital filters for use on the NI PCI-5640R
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Extend the Tx/Rx Frequency Span: Read a tutorial that describes how to extend the frequency span of the Tx / Rx of the NI PCI-5640R to 2.3GHz to 2.5 GHz.
