Read Me First: VXIpc Embedded Controller for VxWorks
Contents
1. VXIpc Embedded Controller for VxWorks 6 ni com Enhancements to the NI VXI Software The following sections describe the additional options beyond what is documented in the NI VXI User Manual and the NI VXI Programmer Reference Manual Compatibility NI VXI applications that follow the guidelines documented in the NI VXI User Manual will work with NI VXI for the VXIpc embedded controllers with VxWorks High Level VXlbus Access Functions For best performance keep the following in mind when using VXImove or viMove e Make sure your buffers are 32 bit aligned e Transfer 32 bit data whenever possible e Use VXI block access privileges to significantly improve performance to devices that can accept block transfers Interrupts in NI VXI for VxWorks To provide real time performance NI VXI event handlers in VxWorks behave differently than those in other operating systems When you install a handler for a VXI event such as an interrupt trigger or signal and the appropriate event occurs the interrupt service routine ISR executes your code The context for the ISR is independent of any task and has certain restrictions regarding what operating system functions may be used because for the duration of the ISR no normal task will execute For example you may not attempt to acquire a semaphore semTake in the ISR Refer to your VxWorks reference manuals for details on functions which may not be executed in the ISR If your ap2. Controller for VxWorks contains an overview of the VXIpc hardware and the NI VXI software guides you through setting up your kit and helps you get started with application development You can also use this manual as a reference for the hardware and software default settings to find the answers for commonly asked questions and for information on reinstalling the software if necessary e The VXIpc 770 870B Series User Manual in VXIpc 770 870B Series kits VXIpc 870 Series User Manual in VXIpc 870 kits VXIpc 800 Series User Manual in VXIpc 800 kits or VXIpc 700 Series User Manual in VXIpc 700 kits contains information on configuring and installing your VXIpc controller You may not need this manual if you are performing a simple hardware installation that uses the standard default settings However you should keep this manual in case you VXIpc Embedded Controller for VxWorks 2 ni com decide to try a different switch or jumper setting at a later time The user manual also contains information on BIOS the front panel and connectors the LEDs and system resources Online Documentation Your kit includes links to online manuals Adobe Acrobat portable document format PDF files This online documentation is installed by the Host Side Software with VXIpc with VxWorks setup software and is intended for use on the Microsoft Windows operating systems You can view these manuals online navigate through them and print them from your
3. Use the Acrobat Reader to view this manual online 8 Refer to the README TXT files for important information that may affect your application program including known issues and software corrections with this release and additional information relevant to API development You can access the README TXT files where you installed the software for VxWorks on your host machine There are separate README files for several of the components You can also reference the National Instruments Web sites ni com or ftp ni com for driver updates examples and product news What Is NI VXI The NI VXI system level software is the driver that controls your VXIpe and VXI VME system NI VXI includes a Resource Manager an interactive configuration program libraries of software routines for test and measurement programming and an interactive control program You can use this software to seamlessly program multiple mainframe configurations and ensure software compatibility across a variety of controller platforms What Is NI VISA VISA is a standard I O Application Programming Interface API for instrumentation programming In VxWorks VISA by itself does not provide any instrumentation programming functionality VISA is a high level API that calls into system level drivers As an example the NI VISA implementation of VISA uses the NI VXI system level driver for National Instruments VXI controllers In its full
4. computer using the Adobe Acrobat Reader The National Instruments manuals in PDF format are as follows e The NI VXI User Manual describes the features and concepts of the NI VXI software and explains how to use NI VXI in your application e The NI VXI Programmer Reference Manual describes in detail the VXI VME function calls in the C C and BASIC languages e The NI VXI Text Utilities Reference Manual describes in detail the interactive text utilities for the NI VXI software e The NI VISA User Manual describes how to program using VISA e The NI VISA Programmer Reference Manual describes in detail the attributes events and operations you use in NI VISA e The GPIB Reference Manual for VXIpc Embedded Controllers and VxWorks contains information about using NI 488 2 on your VXIpc controller with the VxWorks operating system To access these manuals the NI V XI and NI VISA function references and the ReadMe files follow the links in the appropriate HTML file in your Board Support Package BSP The files you use to access the online manuals are manuals vxi html manuals visa html and manuals gpib html See step 3 in the Where Do You Start section for more information on the BSP Where Do You Start 1 Compare your kit contents with the description in the What Do You Have section Contact National Instruments regarding any discrepancies 2 VxWorks uses a target and host machine If you are unfamiliar with this concep
5. implementation VISA can control VXI PXI GPIB TCP IP or Serial instruments making the appropriate driver calls depending on the type of instrument being used VISA uses the same operations to communicate with instruments regardless of the interface type For example the VISA command to write an ASCII string to a message based instrument is the same whether the instrument is Serial GPIB or VXI As aresult VISA gives you interface independence This makes it easier to switch bus interfaces and means that users who must program instruments for multiple interfaces need learn only one API This release of NI VISA for VxWorks provides the VXI and Serial portions of the API and is National Instruments Corporation 5 VXIpc Embedded Controller for VxWorks compatible with VISA programs written for those interfaces on other platforms Another advantage of VISA is that it is an object oriented API that will easily adapt to new instrumentation interfaces as they evolve making application migration to the new interfaces easy Because VISA is the industry standard for developing instrument drivers most instrument drivers currently written by National Instruments use VISA and therefore support VxWorks Windows Solaris Linux and Macintosh if the system level drivers are available for that platform NI VXI NI VISA Release Notes This section describes the new utilities and features in this release of NI VXI NI VISA for VxWorks Supporte
6. software already installed along with a working bootrom sys file to help you get started e Ifyou need to reinstall this software for any reason use the disks labeled Target Side Software for VXIpc with VxWorks You can also refer to the Reinstalling the NI VXI Software section in Chapter 1 Introduction of your getting started manual e A working bootrom sys is included on the target side software disks should it become necessary to reinstall that component 6 Most VXI VME features on the VXIpc controller are configurable through software Use the vxitedit configuration utility in the NI VXI software if you want to change any of the options from their default settings Run Resman to set up your VXI system and victext to verify the system configuration 7 After you finish setting up your system refer to the following documents to learn how to use VXI VME or GPIB e Refer to Chapter 4 Developing Your Application in your getting started manual to learn how to use your VXI VME system and ensure it is operating properly e Refer to Chapter 2 Developing Your Application with the VxWorks Drivers in the GPIB Reference Manual for VXIpc Embedded Controllers and VxWorks to learn how to use the VXIpc Embedded Controller for VxWorks 4 ni com VxWorks GPIB drivers and how to develop a GPIB application using the NI 488 2 API e Refer to Chapter 3 VISA Overview in the NI VISA User Manual for information about programming with VISA
7. I e The Resource Manager Logical Address 0 always acknowledges the system IRQ line e You cannot disable the system IRQ line on the Resource Manager Calling DisableVxIint on the system IRQ line does not disable it e Devices other than remote controllers can also interrupt on the system IRQ line provided the device at Logical Address 0 is the handler for the interrupt e National Instruments recommends that you do not route the system IRQ line to the signal queue Because the system IRQ line cannot be disabled this routing could lose interrupts Passing the value 1 as the logical address of a controller in NI VXI causes NI VXI to select the local controller Notice that on external controllers such as the PCI MX 2 1 refers to the first remote controller in your system This is to maintain compatibility with older systems where the external controller needed an extender to assert and receive interrupts NT 321847E 01 May02
8. NI NI 488 2 ni com NI VISA NI VXI and VXlpc are trademarks of May 2002 National Instruments Corporation Product and company names mentioned herein are trademarks or trade names of 321847E 01 their respective companies For patents covering National Instruments products refer to the appropriate location Help Patents in your software the patents txt file on your CD orni com patents yN NATIONAL 1997 2002 National Instruments Corp All rights reserved INSTRUMENTS What Do You Have Hardware Software Your kit contains hardware software and documentation You may also have ordered some optional equipment or software Your hardware includes either the VXIpc 800 Series or the VXIpc 700 Series controller which you install in your VXI mainframe You also receive the following accessories e 8 in serial conversion cable available for the VXIpc 800 Series only e Electromagnetic emissions kit e AT PS 2 cable Your VXIpc kit contains the following software components e Host Side Software for VXIpc with VxWorks Microsoft Windows Installation e Target Side Software for VXIpc with VxWorks For your convenience NI VXI NI VISA NI 488 2 and a VxWorks boot ROM loader boot rom sys are already installed on the hard drive of your VXIpc embedded controller Printed Documentation Aside from this document your kit contains the following printed manuals e Getting Started with Your VXIpc
9. O OO C Reap Me First VXlpc EmBeppep CONTROLLER FoR VxWorks This document contains information to help you understand the components of your kit determine where to start setting up your kit and learn about the NI VXI NI VISA features Contents What Do You Have ccccscccccccsssseccccesssssceeccessssseeccesessseeeceessseeeeseeeees 2 aT Wales rnanan aaan r E ven ssceessaeuyeseeweses EAE 2 SS OPCW ATC eera E r E E EE NN 2 Printed Documentation ccccccccccssseccceeesssseeceeessseeeeceesssseeeeeeees 2 Online Documentation cccccccccecesssececeessssceeceeesssseeeceessteeeeeeeses 3 Where Do You Start 325 sissiescicedhaieaieseies A N ENOPS 3 What Is NEVX I oeir ccccssssccccessssscccecessssneeeecesssseeeecesessseeecesesseeeeeeesses 5 What IS NEVISA Feinen oe a a Aa E AE E ETENE 5 NI VXI NI VISA Release Notes ccccsccccccssssecccceessseeeeceesseeeeeeesaes 6 Supported Application Development Environments 0 6 The NEV XI Directory orreri nin ese esbsoniveds 6 The VXIpnp Directory sisississiiicssesi iritasi aiian 6 Enhancements to the NI VXI Software ccccccsssccccceesssseeeeeeenes T Compatibility snis ree aeee raies aaae eai e asean iE 7 High Level VXIbus Access Functions seeeeeeeeeeeeeeereeeees 7 Interrupts in NI VXI for VX WOTKS eeceeseeeseeeeteeeeeeeeaeeenees 7 Remote Controllers serseri nesre ria or 7 MXI National Instruments
10. d Application Development Environments This release of NI VXI NI VISA for VxWorks supports the Tornado gcc compiler version 2 7 Other Application Development Environments ADEs or a later version of this ADE may also work The NI VXI Directory The nivxi directory on your VXIpc hard drive contains important files that describe the configuration of your hardware and software By default the library searches for these files in the directory ide0 nivxi which corresponds to C NIVXI in MS DOS and means that the nivxi directory must be at the root level of the hard drive If you must move or rename the directory use the environmental variable NIVXI PATH to inform the library of the new location The VxWorks method for setting an environment variable uses the putenv variableName value function For example to instruct the library to search for the NI VXI files in a subdirectory of your NI VXI directory your function syntax would be putenv NIVXIPATH ide0 nivxi vxworks The VXIpnp Directory The vxipnp directory on your VXIpc hard drive like the nivxi directory contains important information used by NI VISA If the files in that location ide0 vxipnp are not available VISA will not work To instruct the library to search for the NI VISA files in a different location use the putenv syntax described above for example to use a floppy disk for your VXIpnp directory your function syntax would be putenv VXIPNPPATH d0 vxipnp
11. plication requires a function with this restriction or performs other complex or time consuming operations you may want to consider using a signal or a semaphore to alert a worker task which will respond to the interrupt outside of the ISR The worker task can be given high priority if needed to ensure optimal performance Remote Controllers This section applies to multiframe systems where you use interrupts triggers or utility bus signals Remote controllers when configured to detect asynchronous events such as a VXI interrupt or VXI trigger need to inform the local controller that such an asynchronous event has occurred The remote controllers report National Instruments Corporation 7 VXIpc Embedded Controller for VxWorks these events back to the local controller via a VXI IRQ line This IRQ line is called the system IRQ line You can use vxitedit to select which VXI interrupt line the remote controller uses to report remote events to the local controller Map the system IRQ line back to the local controller to receive remote controller interrupts The Resource Manager performs this mapping automatically in the parent side VXI MXI I 2 controllers but not in other mainframe extenders You can map interrupts through vxitedit or with the MapVXIint function which is described in the NI VXI online help or the NI VXI Programmer Reference Manual The system IRQ line is treated differently than other IRQ lines used by NI VX
12. t refer to the Developing for VxWorks section in Chapter 1 Introduction of Getting Started with Your VXIpc Embedded National Instruments Corporation 3 VXIpc Embedded Controller for VxWorks Controller for VxWorks hereafter referred to as your getting started manual 3 The following steps assume that Tornado the VxWorks host side development environment is already installed on your host computer Run the Setup program from the Host Side Software with VXIpc with VxWorks installation disk to install the software This disk is intended for Windows host machines For a first time installation we recommend you install all the software which contains the VxWorks Board Support Package BSP the VXI VME and GPIB driver component software NI VISA support for VxWorks online help examples and header files for NI VXI NI VISA and NI 488 2 3 Note The current version of the VXIpc BSP requires Tornado II If you have an earlier version of Tornado contact Wind River for an upgrade 4 Refer to the Using the VXIpc Board Support Package to Create the VxWorks Operating System section in Chapter 1 Introduction of your getting started manual This section contains information about building the VxWorks operating system which will run on the VXIpc using the VXIpc Board Support Package BSP This section also contains information about configuring the VXIpc BSP 5 On the target side your VXIpc should have the NI VXI NI VISA and NI 488 2
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