DAC Node
- Updated2025-09-11
- 4 minute(s) read
This node reads I/Q data from an asynchronous wire and writes it to a 14-bit DAC. The name of the associated DAC is shown on the node.
By default, the DAC applies a two-bit right shift to each I and Q numerical value before generating it, thus using the most significant 14 bits of each I and Q value. To choose which 14 bits to use, right-click the node and select an option from the Adjust 16-Bit I/Q Data to the 14-Bit DAC submenu.
| FIFO Wired to I/Q Parameter | Circular Buffer Wired to I/Q Parameter |
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I/Q Data receives the I/Q data from the
asynchronous data wire. An I/Q data pair is always packed into a single unsigned
32-bit word with the I data in the upper 16 bits and the Q data in the lower 16
bits. After you wire an asynchronous wire to this input terminal, a gray glyph
representing the data exchange policy for the wire appears next to the terminal on
the node (
). Supported Data Exchange Policy: FIFO, circular
buffer.
Start Trigger supplies a start trigger to the DAC node. The
DAC is configured by a host program, so the DAC cannot start running before that
configuration is complete. Click the polarity indicator (
) to
toggle whether the DAC node detects a rising edge trigger (shown) or a falling edge
trigger.
I/Q Clock supplies the DAC I/Q clock to
the asynchronous timing wire. The DAC I/Q Clock controls how I/Q data is produced
and is the clock domain in which it is read from the FIFO at the
I/Q Data terminal. The name of
this terminal varies.
Underflow returns whether the DAC failed to read data because
the input FIFO is empty. A TRUE is written to the underflow
terminal when the DAC attempts to read and fails. If the input FIFO is empty, zeros
are used for the I/Q pair. This terminal is not present if the DAC is reading a
circular buffer, as shown in the screenshots above.
User-Enabled Terminals
This node has several terminals you can enable by selecting options from the node shortcut menu.
Stop Condition—Right-click the node and select Stop Condition»Sample Count or Stop Condition»Trigger Edge to create one of the following two terminals.
-
Stop Condition»Sample Count specifies the number of
samples to generate before stopping the DAC and waiting for another Start
trigger. -
Stop Condition»Trigger Edge supplies a digital edge
Stop trigger to the DAC node. Click the polarity indicator (
)
to toggle whether the DAC node detects a rising edge trigger (shown) or a
falling edge trigger.
DAC Node Details
When you drop the DAC node on the LabVIEW block diagram, it is automatically configured for DAC 0. To select the other DAC, right-click the node and select the DAC from the shortcut menu.