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RFmx LTE 20.7.1 Readme

July 2021

This file contains important information about the RFmx LTE, including system requirements, and installation instructions.

Overview

New Features

Supported Hardware

System Requirements

Supported Operating Systems

Application Software Support

Installation Instructions

Installed Software

File Locations

Executable

Accessing the API

Accessing the Help

Finding Examples

Product Security and Critical Updates

Behavior Changes

Known Issues

Bug Fixes

Automating the Installation of NI Products

Using NI Software with Microsoft Windows 10

Legal Information


Overview

RFmx LTE is an optimized API for performing physical layer measurements on LTE cellular standard signals. RFmx LTE is an application software that provides simple access to advanced optimization techniques such as multimeasurement parallelism and multi-DUT measurements. RFmx LTE additionally supports NB-IoT/eMTC and LTE-V2X.

New Features

RFmx LTE 20.7 includes the following new features:

  • Support for IQ impairment compensation in uplink
  • Support for Time Alignment Error (TAE) measurement in downlink

RFmx LTE 20.6 includes the following new features:

  • Support for PXIe-5832

RFmx LTE 20.0 includes the following new features:

  • Support for LabVIEW 2020 (32-bit and 64-bit)
  • Support for Start trigger, Advance trigger, and Events in RFInstr
  • Support to configure RFInstr properties in the context of a signal configuration
  • Support for FFT Overlap in the Sequential FFT method of the ACP measurement
  • Support for TM 2b and TM 3.1b downlink test Models
  • Support for PXIe-5841 with PXIe-5655
  • Support for demodulation of PSSCH in the presence of PSCCH for LTE-V2X
  • Addition of spectrum emission mask for CA Bandwidth Class B

Supported Hardware

The following hardware products are supported in all operating systems listed in the Supported Operating Systems section.

Vector Signal Analyzers

  • PXIe-5663
  • PXIe-5663E
  • PXIe-5665
  • PXIe-5668
  • PXIe-5668 with PXIe-5698

Device-specific information about these modules is included in the NI RF Vector Signal Analyzers Help.

Vector Signal Transceivers

  • PXIe-5644
  • PXIe-5645
  • PXIe-5646
  • PXIe-5820
  • PXIe-5830
  • PXIe-5831
  • PXIe-5832
  • PXIe-5840
  • PXIe-5841
  • PXIe-5841 with PXIe-5655

Device-specific information about these modules is included in the NI RF Vector Signal Transceivers Help.

System Requirements

RFmx LTE has the following requirements:

  • Processor—1 GHz 64-bit (x64) processor
  • 4 GB RAM *
  • A screen resolution of 1,024 x 768
  • Windows 10, with all available critical updates and service packs

* Depending on the amount of data acquired and/or processed, a larger amount of memory may be required.

Supported Operating Systems

RFmx LTE 20.7.1 supports the following 64-bit operating systems:

  • Windows 10
  • Windows Server 2019
  • Windows Server 2016

Note    RFmx LTE no longer supports Windows Vista/XP/7/8.1, Windows Server 2003/2008/2012, or any 32-bit Windows operating system. RFmx LTE 20.7.1 will not install or run on an unsupported OS. You cannot deploy or distribute applications that use RFmx LTE 20.7.1 to an unsupported OS. Additionally, after installing RFmx LTE 20.7.1, 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 detailed information about NI operating system support, visit http://www.ni.com/r/win32bitsupport.

Application Software Support

RFmx LTE supports the following application software versions, including service packs. You should install application software, such as LabVIEW or Microsoft Visual Studio®, before installing RFmx LTE. If you are not using NI application software, refer to  Microsoft Visual Studio Support.

Application Software Versions Supported by RFmx LTE
LabVIEW 2017, 2018 SP1 f4 patch, 2019 SP1 f3 patch, or 2020 SP1

Required Software

  • NI-RFSA 14.1 or later
  • NI-RFSA 17.1 or later (for initializing debug session when "using breakpoints in C/C++/.NET application" is selected)

Microsoft Visual Studio Support

If you are using the RFmx LTE .NET Class Library, .NET Framework 4.0 (minimum) is required. The RFmx LTE .NET Class Library can be used with Visual C# or Visual Basic .NET in any Visual Studio version that can target .NET Framework 4.0 or .NET Framework 4.5.

Installation Instructions

Download the RFmx LTE installer from ni.com/downloads. NI software includes NI Package Manager to handle the installation. Refer to the NI Package Manager Manual for more information about installing, removing, and upgrading NI software using NI Package Manager.

Notes

  • If you purchased this product with an NI Software Suite or NI Product Bundle, use the installation media that shipped with your purchase to install this product.
  • RFmx LTE installs the following licensed products
    • LTE : This will enable analysis of FDD and TDD signals with standard-compliant physical layer measurements such as Error Vector Magnitude (EVM), Adjacent Channel Leakage Ratio (ACLR), Spectrum Emission Mask (SEM), Channel Power (CHP), Occupied Bandwidth (OBW), Power Versus Time (PVT), SlotPhase, and SlotPower measurements.
    • LTE-Advanced : This will enable analysis of LTE Advanced and LTE Advanced Pro features such as Carrier Aggregation, Higher Modulation Schemes, License Assisted Access (LAA) with standard-compliant physical layer measurements such as Error Vector Magnitude (EVM), Adjacent Channel Leakage Ratio (ACLR), Spectrum Emission Mask (SEM), and more
    • NB-IoT/eMTC : This will enable analysis of LTE Cat-NB1/NB2 and LTE Cat-M1/M2 Uplink signals with standard-compliant physical layer measurements such as Modulation Accuracy (ModAcc), Adjacent Channel Leakage Ratio (ACLR), Spectrum Emission Mask (SEM), and more.
    • LTE-V2X : This will enable analysis of sidelink PC5 signals with standard-compliant physical layer measurements such as Modulation Accuracy (ModAcc), Adjacent Channel Leakage Ratio (ACLR), Spectrum Emission Mask (SEM), and more.

Notes

  • If Windows Update is enabled, the installation process might hang if Windows Update interferes with the installation of Microsoft Visual C++ 2015 Run-Time. Visit ni.com/r/exjq43 for more information and steps to resolve this issue.
  • Use the serial number that is included with your software to activate the product. Refer to the NI Software Activation for more information on product activation.
  • Installed Software

    • <MSTUDIOVS2010DIR> is an alias for the following National Instruments file folder location:
      • Program Files (x86)\National Instruments\MeasurementStudioVS2010
    • <NIDir> is an alias for the following National Instruments file folder location:
      •  Program Files (x86)\National Instruments 
    • <SYSDIR> is an alias for the following file folder location:
      • Windows\SysWOW64 for 32-bit programs and windows\system32 for 64-bit programs

    File Locations

    Item Installed Location
    Version Compatibility Checker <NIDir>\RFmx\niRFmxCompatibility_Checker.exe
    Debug Configuration Utility <NIDir>\RFmx\niRFmxDebugConfigurationUtility.exe
    DLLs <SYSDIR>
    Header files

    <NIDir>\Shared\ExternalCompilerSupport\C\include

    Import Library files (64-bit)
    • 32-bit: <NIDir>\Shared\ExternalCompilerSupport\C\lib32\msvc
    • 64-bit: <NIDir>\Shared\ExternalCompilerSupport\C\lib64\msvc
    .NET Class Libraries
    Assemblies <MSTUDIOVS2010DIR>\DotNET\Assemblies\Current\NationalInstruments.RFmx.LteMX.Fx40.dll
    <MSTUDIOVS2010DIR>\DotNET\Assemblies\Current\NationalInstruments.RFmx.InstrMX.Fx40.dll
    <MSTUDIOVS2010DIR>\DotNET\Assemblies\Current\NationalInstruments.Common.dll

    Executable

    Select Start » All Programs » National Instruments » RFmx LTE » RFmx Soft Front Panel to launch the RFmx Soft Front Panel (64-bit).

    Accessing the API

    RFmx LTE palette VIs are available from the Functions » Measurement I/O » NI-RFmx » LTE palette.

    Accessing the Help

    Documentation for RFmx LTE is located at Start » All Programs » National Instruments » RFmx LTE » RFmx LTE Documentation. The documentation set is composed of the following documents.

    Document Format Description
    RFmx LTE Help HTML/Windows Help Contains primary help content for RFmx LTE. This help file is an HTML version of a traditional user manual that includes the following information:
    • An introduction to RFmx LTE
    • How to get started with application development
    • A complete reference for all RFmx LTE programming functions and VIs
    RFmx LTE 20.7.1 Readme HTML (this document) Contains information about supported hardware and operating systems, new features, fixed issues, and legal notices.

    Finding Examples

    You can access all the installed RFmx LTE examples at Start » All Programs » National Instruments » RFmx LTE » RFmx LTE Examples.

    For the most recent revisions of documentation and for newly released documentation, visit ni.com/manuals.

    Product Security and Critical Updates

    Visit ni.com/security to view and subscribe to receive security notifications about National Instruments products. Visit ni.com/critical-updates for information about critical updates from National Instruments.

    Behavior Changes

    The following items are the behavior changes in RFmx LTE 20.7 from RFmx LTE 19.1

    • Obsoleted the RFmxInstr Configure Automatic SG SA Shared LO API and the RFmxInstr Automatic SG SA Shared LO property. Use RFmxInstr LO Source property with Automatic_SG_SA_Shared value instead.

    The following items are behavior changes in RFmx LTE 19.1 from RFmx LTE 19.0.

    • Dropped support for Cleaner Spectrum property on PXIe-5830 and PXIe-5831 devices
    • Obsoleted RFmxLTE Analyze (IQ) and RFmxLTE Analyze (Spectrum) APIs. Use RFmxLTE Analyze (IQ, 1 Wfm) and RFmxLTE Analyze (Spectrum, 1 Wfm) APIs instead

    The following items are behavior changes in RFmx LTE 19.0 from RFmx LTE 3.0.

    • Dropped support for LabVIEW 2015.
    • Deprecated the Recommended I/Q Measurement Bandwidth property in RFInstr.

    Known Issues

    You can access the RFmx LTE known issues list online at RFmx LTE 20.7.1 Known Issues.

    Bug Fixes

    You can access the RFmx LTE bug fix list online at RFmx LTE 20.7.1 Bug Fixes. This list describes a subset of issues fixed in the RFmx LTE. If you have a Bug ID, you can search this list to validate that the issue has been fixed.

    Automating the Installation of NI Products

    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 Automating an Installer in the NI Package Manager manual.

    Using NI Software with Microsoft Windows 10

    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.


    Legal Information

    Copyright

    © 2015–2021 National Instruments Corporation. All rights reserved.

    Under the copyright laws, this publication may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, storing in an information retrieval system, or translating, in whole or in part, without the prior written consent of National Instruments Corporation.

    NI respects the intellectual property of others, and we ask our users to do the same. NI software is protected by copyright and other intellectual property laws. Where NI software may be used to reproduce software or other materials belonging to others, you may use NI software only to reproduce materials that you may reproduce in accordance with the terms of any applicable license or other legal restriction.

    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:

    • Notices are located in the <National Instruments>\_Legal Information and <National Instruments> directories.
    • EULAs are located in the <National Instruments>\Shared\MDF\Legal\license directory.
    • Review <National Instruments>\_Legal Information.txt for information on including legal information in installers built with NI products.

    U.S. Government Restricted Rights

    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.

    IVI Foundation Copyright Notice

    Content from the IVI specifications reproduced with permission from the IVI Foundation.

    The IVI Foundation and its member companies make no warranty of any kind with regard to this material, including, but not limited to, the implied warranties of merchantability and fitness for a particular purpose. The IVI Foundation and its member companies shall not be liable for errors contained herein or for incidental or consequential damages in connection with the furnishing, performance, or use of this material.

    Trademarks

    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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