How to Install PCIe 8237R On Real Time Desktop

[lukepike]

Hello,

I am having trouble setting up an NI PCIe 8237R in a real time destkop. I have already tested the device in Windows 8.1, the drivers work and it functions correctly. However, when using it in a real time OS, it does not appear under the Real Time Target->Devices section in MAX.

I have verified that IMAQ I/O 14 is installed to the real time target, and I made sure that the 8237R support was checked on the installer when I installed LabVIEW on the computer. Is there something I'm missing to get it recognized? Any help on this would be appreciated.

Thank you!

[cody_a]

You're host (non-RT) PC is running Windows 8.1 correct?  Are you using 32-or 64-bit LabVIEW?  The LabVIEW FPGA module is not supported on Windows 8.1, regardless of LabVIEW bitness.  And IMAQ I/O is not supported on Windows 8.1 with 64-bit LabVIEW.  It sounds like you may be running into one or more of these incompatibilities.

You can find the full Windows 8 software support info here: http://www.ni.com/white-paper/14281/en/

[lukepike]

Thank you for the reply. The computer that has the 8237R installed has two hard drives, one with Windows 8.1 and one with the LabVIEW RT OS; to switch between them I unplug the other hard drive. I use my laptop that has LabVIEW 2014 installed in a Windows XP virtual machine when I'm testing the real time OS. I made sure the device worked under Windows 8.1 first, I am now attemping to get it working under the real time OS.

My issue is that the real time OS does not see the 8237R, I open MAX on the laptop and it is not shown under Remote Systems->Real Time Desktopp->Devices. I have installed the IMAQ I/O on the real time target using MAX, I am wondering if there is some other software that I'm missing that needs to be installed?

Thank you!

[BlueCheese]

Hi,

The PCIe 8237R is not currently supported on Real Time Desktop. Is there some compatibility information online that indicated otherwise that needs to be corrected?

Thanks,
Eric

[lukepike]

Hmm, that is unfortunate. I did not see anywhere that it was not supported, originally I was looking at the PCIe 1473R, which is supported. Also, in the release notes for NI Vision Acquisition it states the following (I've highlighted the relevant parts):

---

• NI-IMAQ I/O is driver software for controlling reconfigurable input/output (RIO) on image acquisition devices and real-time targets. The following hardware is supported by NI-IMAQ I/O:
  • NI CVS-1457RT
  • NI CVS-1458RT
  • NI CVS-1459RT
  • NI EVS-1463RT
  • NI EVS-1464RT
  • NI PCI-8254R
  • NI PCIe-8255R
  • NI PCIe-8237R
  • NI PCIe-1473R
  • NI PCIe-1473R-LX110
  • NI 1483R FlexRIO Adapter Module

---

It saying that IMAQ I/O had drivers (including one for the 8237R) for real time targets seemed to indicate that it would be compatible, but this is apparently not true. This part was suggested as an alternative to the 1473R by a co-worker, however I should have double checked to make sure it was supported by real time. Thank you for your help.

[BlueCheese]

Can I ask what your planned usage for this card was for? It is possible this might not be the right card for you even if it was supported in RT.

The 1473R has a bit different expected usage as it is geared mainly for in-line image processing. Not only is the image stream in the data path, but it has a big enough FPGA, DRAM, and bandwidth to the host for image streaming.

The 8237R's FPGA is mainly geared to do user-programmable I/O associated with camera connected to the network ports. The FPGA is smaller, has no DRAM, and there is no FPGA->host DMA connectivity for streaming images, so you cannot process images on the FPGA like the 1473R.

If you want to do image processing with a GigE Vision camera in LabVIEW FPGA, a good option is still to use the 1473R and use the new FPGA image DMA capabilities that come with Vision Development Module to DMA the images on-the-fly from the host.

Eric

[lukepike]

Thank you for the information!

The application this was intended for inspects a continous printed product. The product is moved past the camera using a spinning wheel with an encoder at up to 400 feet per second. With the field of view we are looking at, this gives us a minimum of ~12.5 milliseconds between each image. I have done several vision projects before, but this one is the first that requires this kind of speed.

To trigger the camera off the encoder, we need an FPGA for sure, however I'm not sure if we need the image processing FPGA option. My original plan was to use the PCIe 1473R in a real time desktop with an i7 (4 cores, 8 threads). The FPGA would be used to trigger the camera and stream the image to the real time OS for processing, as well as do any image processing if the real time needed help.

The other option that was put forward was to use a GigE camera, which would be easier to install in the space where the vision system will be placed. That would mean using the 8237R, which could still do the camera trigger off the encoder, but lacked the ability to do image processing should we require it.

Currently I'm seeing if using the 8237R in Windows is quick enough for our application. The inspection does not control the process, it just needs to be fast enough to not fall behind.

Thank you again for your help.

[BlueCheese]

Sounds like a very interesting application!

You should definitely get the same image processing throughput on Windows, you just don't get the same level of determinism.

Sorry the 8237R doesn't work on RT - it has a unique architecture design that isn't currently supported there. If you could put two cards in the system (or have a separate GigE port you can use), you could get the PCIe-8255 (same encoder support, I believe) and use the FPGA and I/O portion of it.

Eric

[Tinnotek]

Dear Eric,

Thanks to your post. It solves my several questions to 8237R.

One more additional question. Will the Vision-RIO FPGA IP open to public in the future?

The output queue functions are very good and it would be great if the FPGA part can be opened so that we can deploy the IP to any NI FPGA targets.

Thank you

Ting

[BlueCheese]

Hi Ting,

The IP actually is already open. I don't recall the exact path on disk it is, but there should be an LLB with all the code. Note that changing it can break compatibility with the shipping host VIs. You also might need to make significant changes to make it work with non-Vision devices.