Acquiring I/Q Data with the DST Acquisition Add-On

Use the DST Acquisition Add-On for InstrumentStudio to acquire I/Q data.

  1. Launch InstrumentStudio by navigating to Start » National Instruments » InstrumentStudio.
  2. Click Manual layout.
  3. In the Edit Layout window that opens, select DST Acquisition.
  4. Select Create a large panel.
  5. Click OK.
    A panel opens.
    Figure 15. DST Acquisition Add-On in InstrumentStudio


  6. Select the PXI high-speed serial instrument in the DST INSTRUMENTS field.
    The DST instrument receives the firmware for this operation.
  7. Click the gear icon () and select Instrument Settings.
  8. In the Acquisition Settings window that opens, specify the following:
    1. Reset Device: Enable to redeploy the bitfile and clear previous data in the device.
    2. DST Bitfile Path: Enter the .lvbitx file path.
    3. Serial Path Type: Select Packed Library.
    4. Serial Class Packed Library: Enter the .lvlibp serial interface plugin path for the protocol you want to use.
    5. Class Name: Select the class name you want to use if you have more than one LabVIEW class in your packed library.
    6. Serial Initialize Options: Apply defined parameters when initializing the serial host interface.
    7. Serial Configuration File Path: Enter the path to the configuration file if it is defined in the serial interface.
    8. Serial Configuration Options: Define parameters or change parameters in the file path.
    Note When the Serial Class Packed Library field is empty, the DST Acquisition attempts to find a .lvlibp library in the plugin path that matches the FPGA ID. If the library is not found, the DST Acquisition does not make calls from the serial interface and it displays as the interface in that path.
    Note The strings used in the Serial Initialize Options, Serial Configuration Options, and Serial File Path fields are optional parameters defined by the Serial Class Packed Library.
  9. Close the Acquisition Settings window and click CONNECT.
    Connecting downloads the bitfile to the DST instrument.
    Note The information icon () becomes bordered in red to indicate an invalid configuration or error. Click the information icon for more information.
  10. Configure the measurement settings in the Sampling Configurations, Trigger, and Digital Signal Processing sections.
    Note A gray control indicates that the loaded FPGA firmware is not configured for a capability. Verify capability configuration by clicking the gear icon and selecting Instrument Settings. Refer to the Available Components Table for a list of available capabilities.
  11. In the top left of the graph, select the type of measurement you want to display in the panel. Options include I/Q data, spectrum, magnitude, and phase.
  12. Begin the acquisition.
    • Click SINGLE to begin an acquisition based on the values entered in the NO. SAMPLES and NO. RECORDS fields.
    • Click RUN to continuously acquire a single acquisition.

Logging the Waveform Data

Configure the DST Acquisition Add-On for InstrumentStudio to record waveform data to TDMS files.

  1. Click CONNECT if the DST Acquisition is currently disconnected.
  2. Click the gear icon () and select Data Logging to enable logging.
    The RUN button is disabled because the panel cannot continuously stream RF signals to disk.
    Note The default data logging directory is C:\Users\Public\Documents\National Instruments\NI-DST.
  3. Click SINGLE to begin an acquisition based on the values entered in the NO. SAMPLES and NO. RECORDS fields.
    Note Click STOP if you want to abort the acquisition.
  4. To change the file system location from the default location, click the ellipses icon () and select the Data Logging tab.
    1. Select Enable Logging to allow data logging.
    2. Edit the path in the Logging Directory field to log to a different location.
Every record and channel creates a TDMS file with the data in the location entered in the Logging Directory field.