LabVIEW Real-Time (RT) Configuration
LabVIEW RT combines easy-to-use LabVIEW programming with the power of real-time systems. When you use a National Instruments PXI controller as a LabVIEW RT system, you can install a PXI CAN card and use the NI-CAN and NI-DNET APIs to develop real-time applications. For example, you can simulate the behavior of a control algorithm within a CAN device, using data from received CAN messages to generate outgoing CAN messages with deterministic response times.
Installation
As with any other NI product for LabVIEW RT, you download the NI-CAN and NI-DNET software to your LabVIEW RT system using the Remote Systems branch in MAX. For more information, refer to the LabVIEW RT documentation.
Hardware Configuration
After you have installed your PXI CAN cards and downloaded the NI-CAN software to your LabVIEW RT system, you need to verify the installation and assign interface names to CAN ports. In the MAX Tools menu, select NI-CAN»RT Hardware Configuration.
The RT Hardware Configuration tool begins with a dialog that requests your PXI system IP address. Enter the IP address from your original Remote Systems configuration, which is the same IP address that you use within LabVIEW. After a connection has been established successfully, subsequent execution of the NI-CAN RT Hardware Configuration tool uses the same IP address. If you need to change the IP address to a different PXI system, select Server Address from the Network menu.
Within the RT Hardware Configuration tool, if you do not see the installed PXI CAN cards, select Refresh from the View menu. To perform a self-test for all PXI CAN cards, select Test All from the Test menu. The status for each card's self-test is displayed in the same manner as the MAX Devices and Interfaces branch on your local Windows system.
To assign an interface name to each CAN port, right-click the port and select Properties. The resulting properties dialog is the same as the Port Properties Dialog Box on your local Windows system.
Using NI-CAN Channels
To use the NI-CAN Channel API on your LabVIEW RT system, you must download channel configuration information. Within the Data Neighborhood branch in MAX, right-click on CAN Channels and select Send to RT System.
What to Send
By default, the current channel configuration in MAX is sent to the RT system. If necessary, you can also send channel configurations that you previously saved to a file.
Where to Send
The configuration is sent using an FTP connection to the RT system. The IP address (or machine name) is required for the connection. Enter the IP address from your original Remote Systems configuration, which is the same IP address that you use within LabVIEW.
If your PXI system is configured for password protection, you must provide the FTP user and password. If no password protection is configured, you can leave the FTP user and password blank.
There is no destination file required for the configuration. Within your LabVIEW RT application, you can access the channels without using a file prefix for the Channel API Get Names function or Initialize function.