USRP 2953 R and labview

[icho]

Hello everyone,

I have two USRP 2953R devices, which I'm trying to connect with LabVIEW. I use a TP-LINK swich to connect them with a Windows 10 PC via Ethernet. At first, both of the devices were shown in the NI-USRP Configuration Utility, with the UPDATE NEEDED label. After trying several FPGA images, as well as UHD versions, I figured the problem was the EEPROM. After burning the correct revision on one of the two USRPs, the UPDATE NEEDED label was gone, plus the correct Type/Revision was shown (instead of x300). The problem is that LabVIEW 2017 x32 which I'm using still can't recognize the USRP. I'm currently downloading the trial version of LabVIEW Communications System Design Suite, to give it a try, but I'm pretty sure I should be able to run USRP projects with LabVIEW 2017. Any help would be really appreciated.

[paigec]

Hi icho,

Since it sounds like the device itself is recognized on that PC without issue, there may be a gap in the API support for LabVIEW. I've got a few clarifying questions for you:

1. Which version of the NI-USRP driver do you have installed on your system? You'll want to check the driver page for the version installed, as it may be a driver specifically designed for LabVIEW NXG and Comms only (versus the general NI-USRP drivers, which should work with LabVIEW 2017). 

2. In what order did you install that driver and LabVIEW? Sometimes when LabVIEW is installed after device drivers, the software API support has not been added unless done manually when configuring the installation of something like NI-USRP. Additionally, you'll want to ensure that the version of NI-USRP on board is at least 17.X to ensure it has support for that version of LabVIEW. 

3. How are you currently trying to see the device (i.e. in examples, from a VI you've made, something else), and what do you see? Screenshots in LabVIEW can help inform what may be happening. 

Cheers,

paigec

[icho]

Hi paigec,

first of all thank you for your quick responce!

I installed the NI-USRP 1.3 Driver from the CD that originally came with the devices. I'm almost certain I installed it after installing LabVIEW, but I'll reinstall it and get back with an update. I'm using UHD 003.010.002.000 release with the corresponding  FPGA image. I also installed NI-USRP 18.5.0 driver after installing NXG (Maybe there is a driver conflict here?).

I include screenshots from LabVIEW (Browse RIO devices window), as well as from NXG. I should point out that at the NXG's design tab, the USRP module was already configured as a 2953 device (not matched though), but I never specified that (maybe there is some level of recognition between NXG and the device). Nevertheless, there isn't any USRP device at the live tab, and the results of trying to add hardware are shown in the screenshots.

I should state that uhd_usrp_probe and uhd_find_devices work perfectly on windows. Furthermore, I tried connecting the USRP to an Ubuntu laptop. I built the UHD, and the utils work (there are some warnings about pipes, but regular results are printed). I also tried the benchmarking util, which worked as well.

Thank you for your help!

Cheers,

icho

[paigec]

Hi icho, 

Thanks for the update on your testing! Based on that information, you're seeing a RIO0 device, but it's unclear whether that's referencing the USRP or not. 

1. How is the USRP device connected to the computer?

2. What do you see in NI MAX? 

3. What version of NI-RIO in on the computer? 

I noticed that the NI-USRP 18.5 driver is the NXG and LabVIEW Comms-specific driver, so you'll want to ensure that you download a recent version that also supports the LabVIEW API. Based on the NI-USRP Download page, the latest driver is 18.1. Otherwise, as referenced in the Compatibility between NI-USRP and NI-RIO Drivers article, there may be an incompatibility between the USRP 1.3 driver from your CD and the NI-RIO version installed, so you'll want to follow the steps there to address this. Essentially, by having a version such as 18.1 on board, you'd resolve a potential incompatibility with NI-RIO while also getting the LabVIEW API support. 

Long term for your project, which application environment will you be using with this USRP? LabVIEW, LabVIEW NXG, or LabVIEW Comms? 

Cheers,

paigec

[icho]

Hi paigec,

1. Ethernet (NI-USRP Configuration Utility recognizes the devices)

2. NI-MAX doesn't see the devices, but I think that's expected for NI-MAX and USRPs (at least ethernet-connected ones)

I installed NI-USRP driver 18.1 and NI-RIO 13.1.1 as instructed, but the results in NXG are the same, I will try with LabVIEW 2017 and get back to you.

Cheers,

icho

[paigec]

Hi icho, 

Sounds like a plan. If you are able to see and recognize the device in the configuration utility, then we've hit a key milestone for its identification in the system. Had the USRP been connected via MXI / PCI(e), we would expect that you see the device in Devices and Interfaces in NI MAX. 

I'd also like to follow up on an earlier question. Long term for your project, which application environment will you be using with this USRP? LabVIEW, LabVIEW NXG, or LabVIEW Comms? 

As for LabVIEW NXG, which results are the same? Are we still not able to see the device in "live?" 

If those drivers were installed with the LabVIEW 2017 API support, it should be in a good place for that environment. I look forward to hearing about the results! 

Cheers

paigec