Aug. 4, 2008 – National Instruments announced LabVIEW 8.6, the latest version of the graphical system design software platform for control, test and embedded system development. Building on the inherent parallel nature of graphical programming, LabVIEW 8.6 delivers new tools to help engineers and scientists take advantage of the benefits of multicore processors, field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs) and wireless communication.
To take advantage of these technologies, engineers currently are forced to work with multiple tools which are not designed for parallel programming. By using the latest version of LabVIEW, engineers now have a single platform to increase test and control system throughput with multicore processors, reduce the development time of high-performance FPGA-based advanced control and embedded prototyping applications and more easily create distributed measurement systems to acquire data remotely.
Achieve Supercomputing with Multicore Processors
The opportunity for breakthrough performance in test and measurement systems increases as standard systems gain more processing cores. Expanding on the built-in multithreading technology of the LabVIEW platform, LabVIEW 8.6 offers supercomputing performance through multicore-optimized features which can help engineers process increasing amounts of measurement data to meet advanced control application challenges and increase test system throughput.
To increase performance, LabVIEW 8.6 includes more than 1,200 advanced analysis functions optimized for faster math and signal processing on multicore systems for control and test applications. Vision applications can benefit from multicore systems by using innovative image processing functions included in the NI Vision Development Module for LabVIEW 8.6 that automatically distributes data sets across multiple cores. Also using new multicore features, test engineers can develop applications to test wireless devices up to four times faster with the latest version of the NI Modulation Toolkit for LabVIEW, and control system engineers can execute simulation models in parallel up to five times faster with the LabVIEW 8.6 Control Design and Simulation Module. Additionally, engineers now can better identify parallel sections of code using a new feature that reorganizes LabVIEW diagrams.
Add FPGA Technology to an Application - No Digital Design Expertise Required
With the intuitive dataflow paradigm of LabVIEW, engineers can use the LabVIEW FPGA Module and FPGA-based commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) hardware such as NI CompactRIO to customize measurement and control systems for increased performance in applications such as semiconductor validation and advanced machine control. LabVIEW 8.6 continues to make FPGAs more accessible to domain experts without experience in low-level hardware description languages or board-level design.
LabVIEW 8.6 further reduces FPGA-based development time with new features that engineers can use to program CompactRIO programmable automation controllers (PACs) directly without having to separately program the FPGA. In addition, new simulation features reduce the number of time-consuming compilations by validating an FPGA application on the desktop. LabVIEW 8.6 also offers new IP development and integration features including the new fast Fourier transform (FFT) IP core to offload spectral analysis functions which increases the performance in applications such as machine condition monitoring and RF test. Engineers easily can import existing or third-party IP into LabVIEW FPGA using the new component-level IP (CLIP) node.
Acquire and Analyze Data From Remote Systems With Wireless Technology
As wireless technology advances, engineers have the opportunity to take measurements in isolated locations. Using wireless technology with LabVIEW 8.6, engineers can extend applications into new areas of data acquisition, such as environmental and structural monitoring. The flexibility of LabVIEW graphical programming and the ubiquity of Wi-Fi network infrastructure make it easy to incorporate wireless connectivity into new or existing PC-based measurement and control systems.
With support for the latest wireless data acquisition devices and drivers for 22 third-party wireless sensors, LabVIEW 8.6 simplifies programming of distributed measurement systems with a single software platform. Engineers now can configure data acquisition applications easily to use NI Wi-Fi data acquisition (DAQ) hardware without making code changes in LabVIEW 8.6. New 3-D visualization tools in LabVIEW 8.6 help engineers integrate remote measurements with design models to accelerate design validation.
Interact with LabVIEW Applications Using Any Web-Enabled Device
As constant connectivity between people and systems becomes more prevalent, engineers are using the Web to interact with systems from any location on a variety of devices. With LabVIEW 8.6, engineers now can convert LabVIEW applications into Web services on desktop and real-time hardware that they can access from any web-enabled device such as smart phones and PCs. With this feature, engineers can develop remote user interfaces for their LabVIEW applications using standard web technologies such as HTML, JavaScript and Flash.
Use Advanced Control Algorithms to Increase Efficiency
With rising energy costs and pressure to reduce the impact on the environment, engineers are optimizing control systems to develop more efficient processes and machines. With the LabVIEW Control Design and Simulation Module, engineers can use enhanced model predictive control functions to optimize processes with user-defined constraints such as power consumption as well as improved Kalman filters that can compensate for noisy or failing sensors. In addition, the module includes a range of advanced control tools such as analytical proportional integral derivative (PID) design, linear-quadratic regulator (LQR) and state-space feedback, which can run in LabVIEW on PACs such as CompactRIO.
Interact With Control Systems Using Any Web-Enabled Device
To maximize productivity and efficiency, engineers are seeking to interface with control systems through Web-based user interfaces that can be accessed anywhere. With LabVIEW 8.6, they now can convert LabVIEW applications into Web services on desktop and real-time hardware that can be accessed from any Web-enabled device such as smart phones and PCs. Control engineers now can develop remote user interfaces for systems controlled by PACs using standard Web technologies such as HTML, JavaScript and Flash.
Accelerate RF Test With Multicore-Optimized Algorithms
To meet the widespread demand for wireless devices, test engineers face increasing pressure to design faster test systems. LabVIEW 8.6 and the NI PXI platform take advantage of the latest commercial multicore processors to deliver the ideal software-defined test architecture and accelerate RF device test. Currently, engineers who want to increase performance using multicore processors must apply sequential, text-based software tools to meet the parallel needs of their applications. The inherent multithreading technology in LabVIEW simplifies parallel programming, and the latest version of the software delivers improved performance with more than 1,200 new, optimized analysis functions that perform faster math and signal processing on multicore systems.
The new NI GPS Toolkit for LabVIEW and the latest release of the NI Modulation Toolkit for LabVIEW also feature improvements to help engineers build faster RF test systems. The NI GPS Toolkit expands the NI RF PXI platform to include multi-satellite GPS signal simulation, while the NI Modulation Toolkit 4.1 provides an additional 100 multicore-optimized analysis functions. These include fractional resampling and QAM demodulation measurements that perform up to 200 percent faster than the previous version of the toolkit. With the NI Modulation Toolkit, test results for many individual WCDMA measurements are more than 20 times faster than traditional instruments, and, for an entire suite of WCDMA measurements, test results are up to five times faster. Enhanced multicore support for LabVIEW 8.6 can be realized across all of the LabVIEW RF test toolkits for WiMAX, GPS, WCDMA, GSM, EDGE, broadcast video, 802.11, Bluetooth, OFDM and MIMO with little to no change to existing software applications.
“To meet the performance and efficiency demands of cutting-edge applications such as controlling robotic systems, testing wireless devices and designing hybrid vehicles, users must have the ability to quickly incorporate the latest technologies such as multicore processors, FPGAs and wireless communication,” said Dr. James Truchard, president, CEO and cofounder of National Instruments. “LabVIEW offers the shortest path to apply these technologies using parallel programming while providing users the flexibility to define their solutions with application-specific optimizations.”
Readers interested in learning more about LabVIEW 8.6 and downloading the evaluation software can visit www.ni.com/labview86. The software now is available on DVD for easier installation and includes an evaluation mode for the entire LabVIEW platform. Members of the LabVIEW service maintenance and support program will automatically receive LabVIEW 8.6 in the mail or can download the new version at the Services Resource Center at www.ni.com/src. Readers whose software is part of a company-wide Volume License Agreement (VLA) should contact their VLA administrators for installation instructions.
About National Instruments
National Instruments is transforming the way engineers and scientists design, prototype and deploy systems for measurement, automation and embedded applications. NI empowers customers with off-the-shelf software such as NI LabVIEW and modular cost-effective hardware and sells to a broad base of more than 25,000 different companies worldwide, with no one customer representing more than 3 percent of revenue and no one industry representing more than 10 percent of revenue. Headquartered in Austin, Texas, NI has more than 4,800 employees and direct operations in nearly 40 countries. For the past nine years, FORTUNE magazine has named NI one of the 100 best companies to work for in America.
