NI-RFmx Waveform Creator 3.0 Readme

January 2019


This file contains important information about NI-RFmx Waveform Creator and is organized into the following sections:


New Features

Supported Hardware

System Requirements

Installed Software, Documentation, and Examples

Executable

Documentation

Product Security and Critical Updates

Behavior Changes

Known Issues

Bug Fixes

Automating the Installation of NI Products

Using NI Software with Microsoft Windows 10

Using NI Software with Microsoft Windows 8.1

Legal Information


New Features

NI-RFmx Waveform Creator 3.0 includes the following new features:


  • Addition of 5G new radio (NR) modulation scheme
  • Support for launching the WLAN Generation SFP
  • Support for launching the Bluetooth Generation SFP
  • Support for NI PXIe-5820
  • Addition of crest factor reduction (CFR) in LTE, NR, and Multi-Carrier modulation schemes. Supported CFR types are Clipping and Peak Windowing.
  • Support for custom output sample rate in multi-carrier plugin.
  • GSM relative power per slot

NI-RFmx Waveform Creator 2.5 includes the following new features:


  • Support for waveform generation in eMTC uplink features such as,
    • Frequency Hopping
    • Guard symbols
  • Support for waveform generation in NB-IoT uplink features such as,
    • Single/multi tones
    • 15kHz/3.75kHz subcarrier spacing
    • NPUSCH Format 1/2
  • Support for LTE-LAA Resource Allocation Type 3
  • Support for 64-bit
  • Addition of the Waveform Summary window
  • Support for multi-carrier generation utility
  • Support for generating tones up to 1.25G
  • Support for updating the window duration based on LTE bandwidth
  • Improvements in the performance of waveform generation

NI-RFmx Waveform Creator 2.4 includes the following new features:


  • Addition of LTE-LAA waveform generation support
  • Addition of GSM power ramp-up, ramp-down, and ramp delay support
  • Addition of DSB-AM support
  • Addition of 4096 QAM support
  • Addition of Half Sine pulse shaping filter support in PSK
  • Addition of Manchester encoding support in FSK

Supported Hardware

Vector Signal Generators

  • NI PXIe-5673
  • NI PXIe-5673E

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


Vector Signal Transceivers

  • NI PXIe-5644R
  • NI PXIe-5645R
  • NI PXIe-5646R
  • NI PXIe-5840
  • NI PXIe-5820

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


System Requirements

Supported Operating Systems

NI-RFmx Waveform Creator 3.0 supports the following operating systems:


  • Windows 10/8.11/7 SP12 (32-bit and 64-bit)
  • Windows Server 2012 R21 (64-bit)
  • Windows Server 2008 R2 SP12 (64-bit)

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.


Note  NI-RFmx Waveform Creator 3.0 does not support Windows Server non-R2 editions.


NI recommends that you have the most recent service pack for your operating system installed.


Minimum Requirements

  • Processor—1 GHz or faster 32-bit (x86) or 64-bit (x64) processor
  • RAM—4 GB*
  • A screen resolution of 1,024 x 768
  • Windows 10/8.1/7, with all available critical updates and service packs
  • Microsoft .NET Framework 4.6.2

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


Other Required Software

  • NI-RFSG 14.5 or later

Installed Software, Documentation, and Examples

Installed Software

  • <NIDir> is an alias for the following National Instruments file folder location:
    • (32-bit OS) Program Files\National Instruments\RFmxWaveformCreator
    • (64-bit OS) Program Files\National Instruments\RFmxWaveformCreator 
  • <NIDocDir> is an alias for the following National Instruments file folder location: Users\Public\Documents\National Instruments\NI-RFmx Waveform Creator

File Locations

Item Installed Location
DLLs <NIDir>
Examples <NIDir>\examples

Executable

Select Start»All Programs»National Instruments»NI-RFmx Waveform Creator»NI-RFmx Waveform Creator to launch the NI-RFmx Waveform Creator.


Documentation

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


Document Format Description
NI-RFmx Waveform Creator Help HTML/Windows Help Information about the NI-RFmx Waveform Creator. This help file is an HTML version of a traditional user manual that includes the following information:
  • An introduction to NI-RFmx Waveform Creator
  • How to get started with the application
  • A complete reference of all the different modulation schemes supported
NI-RFmx Waveform Creator 3.0 Readme HTML (this document) Information about supported hardware and operating systems, new features, fixed issues, and legal notices.

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 NI-RFmx Waveform Creator 3.0 from NI-RFmx Waveform Creator 2.5.


  • Fractional resampling is performed in LTE and NR carrier aggregation so that the final sample rate is a multiple of 3.84 MHz.
  • CCDF graph calculates PAPR based on generated waveform excluding OFF power period.
  • UI controls on the Download & Play window are reset based on selected device.

The following items are the behavior changes in NI-RFmx Waveform Creator 2.5 from NI-RFmx Waveform Creator 2.4.


  • Updated the PAPR calculation for bursty signals in the presence of noise.
  • Removed restriction on configuring resource allocation type 0 and resource allocation type 1 settings in LTE.

Known Issues

The following item is a known issue in NI-RFmx Waveform Creator 3.0.


ID Known Issue
711673 PAPR displayed on CCDF graph does not match with PAPR stored in the tdms file in User plugin.

Bug Fixes

The following items are the IDs and titles of a subset of issues fixed in NI-RFmx Waveform Creator. This is not an exhaustive list of issues fixed in the current version of the NI-RFmx Waveform Creator. If you have a CAR ID, you can search this list to validate that the issue has been fixed.


The following items are changes in NI-RFmx Waveform Creator 3.0 from NI-RFmx Waveform Creator 2.5


ID Fixed Issue
704721 Fixed the phase discontinuity issue on configuring GSM on first slot and EDGE on last slot.
698120 Fixed the issue where CCDF graph was reporting negative results for some configurations.
701478 Fixed the issue of not reporting burst start and stop locations for NB-IoT and eMTC FDD.
705738 and 701490 Fixed the issue of reporting incorrect burst PAPR for impaired bursty signal in Multi-Carrier and User plugins.
712524 Fixed the issue where IQ impairments per carrier set were incorrect, when multiple carrier sets are configured.

The following items are changes in NI-RFmx Waveform Creator 2.5 from NI-RFmx Waveform Creator 2.4


ID Fixed Issue
685187 Fixed issue where an overflow error was reported on generating LTE.
700390 Fixed issue where the PAPR calculation for bursty signals with user plugin was incorrect.

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. However, starting with the August 2012 releases (products using NI Installers version 3.1 or later), you may need to perform additional steps before or during a silent installation of NI software.


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.


Using NI Software with Microsoft Windows 8.1

When you install National Instruments 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.



Legal Information

Copyright


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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.


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Patents


For patents covering the National Instruments products/technology, refer to the appropriate location: Help»Patents in your software, the patents.txt file on your media, or the National Instruments Patent Notice at ni.com/patents.


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