labview fpga vs xilinx ise

[nolsqn]

hi all 

i am new to fpga and my question is fairly simple one which one is better ? 

labview fpga or the xilinx ise platform ?

or does it depend upon the application? 

[BruceAmmons]

It always depends on the application.  Better in what way?

I like programming in LabVIEW, so I think LabVIEW FPGA is a much better choice.  Learn just a little more than regular LabVIEW and you can program an FPGA!  Unless you have experience using ise, I suspect LabVIEW would be the easier route.

If you are looking at price, maybe ise wins.  It isn't cheap to get buy LabVIEW and the FPGA module (and probably RT module) so you have all the tools.

If the task is very complex, you might manage to make the program slightly more efficient using a lower level tool like ise.  You might shave off a few nanoseconds of loop time.  In 99.9% of the cases, this is unlikely.  LabVIEW code does a pretty good job converting over to FPGA.

Bruce

[nolsqn]

what if the application is realy big . for example if its to implement a complete communication protocol for MIL STD 1553 or ARNIC 429.

which option is better labview fgpa or the xillinx ise tool ?

[BruceAmmons · Accepted solution]

I am not familiar with those protocols, so I can't answer the question precisely.

NI has several FPGA products with large capacity chips.  I would assume these could handle the protocols, but I can't make any promises.

Unless you are an expert already with ise, I don't think you will end up with more efficient code than LabVIEW.  I suppose it is possible higher capacity chips are available for ise than LabVIEW, but I don't know.

One thing I like about LabVIEW is that you can write the code and compile for the target without buying the hardware first.  You could program the algorithm, then figure out what size FPGA you need to put it on.

Bruce

[nolsqn]

thanks bruce after much research over the internet and with your help i have also reached to the same conclusion 

with regards 

ali asad

[ErnieH]

LabVIEW FPGA is only for NI FPGA boards. You are locked into that vendor. With the ISE tools, you can program any Xilinx chip. They limit the size of the chip for the free online version. Mainly this would be used for your own custom designed board or off the shelf boards, which there are a pretty limited supply and usually they are not cheap. With LabVIEW FPGA, you get a lot of extras that would take a lot of time to implement in a FPGA, such as interfacing to memory, a processor, etc. Plus you can tie it into a much larger system easily. It is still developing, but overall NI has come up with a very good platform for developing FPGA based hardware and integrating it into your system. 

[muks]

I feel ISE is the best when you want to learn. Also the choice will entirely depend on your application. Consider if you want to try a wireless  communication using a modem. You will have full control over your hardware by using ise. Cost is another thing that you need to consider when opting for lv FPGA .

Have used Crio and felt that was pretty good but always gives you a kinda black box feeling.