Spincore technologies Pulseblasterddsii User manual

SpinCore PulseBlasterDDS-II

LabVIEW Extensions

User's Manual

SpinCore Technolo ies, Inc.

http://www.spincore.com

SpinCore

PulseBlasterDDSII

LabVIEW Extensions

Con ratulations and thank you for choosin a desi n from

SpinCore Technolo ies, Inc.

We appreciate your business!

At SpinCore we try to fully support the needs of our customers. If you

are in need of assistance, please contact us and we will strive to provide

the necessary support.

SpinCore Technologies, Inc. reserves the right to make changes to the product(s or information herein without notice.

RadioProcessor™, PulseBlaster™, SpinCore, and the SpinCore Technologies, Inc. logos are trademarks of SpinCore Technologies, Inc.

All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.

SpinCore Technologies, Inc. makes every effort to verify the correct operation of the equipment. This equipment version is not intended

for use in a system in which the failure of a SpinCore device will threaten the safety of equipment or person(s .

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SpinCore

PulseBlasterDDSII

LabVIEW Extensions

Table of Contents

I. Overview ....................................................................................................... 5

II. Installation ................................................................................................... 8

Method 1: Stand-Alone Executables ............................................................................ 8

Method 2: Customizable VIs ......................................................................................... 8

III. General Information ................................................................................... 9

Instruction Description .................................................................................................. 9

Re ister Descriptions .................................................................................................. 11

Path Terminals .............................................................................................................. 13

Error Terminals ............................................................................................................. 14

LabVIEW Pro ram Flow ............................................................................................... 14

IV. VI descriptions ......................................................................................... 15

Main VI ........................................................................................................................... 15

PBLV_DDSII_Interface.vi ........................................................................................ 15

Example VIs .................................................................................................................. 16

PBLV_DDSII_freq_test.vi ........................................................................................ 16

PBLV_DDSII_phase_test.vi .................................................................................... 18

PBLV_DDSII_amp_test.vi ....................................................................................... 20

Basic SubVIs ................................................................................................................. 22

pb_err r_handler.vi ................................................................................................. 22

pb_init.vi .................................................................................................................. 22

pb_set_default.vi ..................................................................................................... 22

pb_c re_cl ck.vi ...................................................................................................... 22

pb_select_dds.vi ...................................................................................................... 23

pb_start_pr gramming.vi ........................................................................................ 23

pb_set_freq.vi .......................................................................................................... 23

pb_set_phase.vi ...................................................................................................... 23

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PulseBlasterDDSII

LabVIEW Extensions

pb_set_amp.vi ......................................................................................................... 24

pb_inst_dds2.vi ....................................................................................................... 24

pb_st p_pr gramming.vi ......................................................................................... 24

pb_cl se.vi .............................................................................................................. 24

pb_start.vi ................................................................................................................ 25

pb_st p.vi ................................................................................................................ 25

V. Contact Information ................................................................................. 26

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SpinCore

PulseBlasterDDSII

LabVIEW Extensions

I. Overview

The SpinCore PulseBlasterDDS-II LabVIEW Extensions (PBLV-DDS-II provide the

functionality of programming and controlling digital pulse and RF generation in

PulseBlasterDDS-II boards using the simple NI LabVIEW graphical programming interface.

The package contains basic subVIs that can be used to include PulseBlasterDDS-II

interaction from your own LabVIEW programs, as well as some complete example VIs.

Additionally, all of the examples are available as stand-alone applications to control.

The PBLV-DDS-II is an intuitive graphical equivalent of the SpinAPI C functions. The GUI

(known as the front panel has all the inputs needed to access the PulseBlaster including

instruction registers, clock frequency, and buttons for loading, starting, and stopping the

board. The input is then used in the back-end code (known as the block diagram to

access the C functions that control and program the PulseBlasterDDS-II. The LabVIEW

block diagram is a one-to-one equivalent of the corresponding C code, without having to

write code. An example of the front panel and block diagram are shown in Figure 1 and

Figure 2.

Note: For information on using the the Digital Pulse Generation functionality of the board

in LabVIEW, please see the PulseBlaster LabVIEW Extensions documentation.

(http://www.spincore.com/support/PBLV/PBLV_Manual.pdf

All example VIs and subVIs are described in detail below.

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PulseBlasterDDSII

LabVIEW Extensions

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Figure 1: Example of PulseBlasterDDS-II LabVIEW

Extensions User Interfa e

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PulseBlasterDDSII

LabVIEW Extensions

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Figure 2: Example of PulseBlaster-DDS-II LabVIEW Extensions Blo k Diagram

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SpinCore

PulseBlasterDDSII

LabVIEW Extensions

II. Installation

There are two methods of using the PulseBlasterDDS-II LabVIEW Extensions. The first

method is a set of stand-alone executables which will control the PulseBlasterDDS-II

boards with a simple, intuitive interface with no other necessary knowledge of LabVIEW

programming. The second method is a set of LabVIEW VIs which can be used with the

LabVIEW Development platform to create custom programs using the PBLV interface.

Method 1: Stand-Alone Executables

In order for PBLV-DDS-II stand-alone executables to work, the following must be installed:

●SpinCore Driver Suite - Please see the SpinCore Driver Suite Installation Guide

(http://www.spincore.com/support/spinapi/instructions/ for more information.

●National Instruments LabVIEW Run-Time Engine 2010

(http://www.spincore.com/support/PBLV/LVRTE2010std.exe - Note if you have

LabVIEW 2010 or later installed, this is not needed.

●LabVIEW PulseBlaster Extensions Stand-Alone executables located here.

Method 2: Customizable VIs

In order for PBLV-DDS-II customizable VIs to work, the following must be installed:

●SpinCore Driver Suite - Please see the SpinCore Driver Suite Installation Guide

(http://www.spincore.com/support/spinapi/instructions/ for more information.

●National Instruments LabVIEW 8.6 or later - If you do not have LabVIEW 8.6 or later

installed, you may download a 30-day evaluation

(https://lumen.ni.com/nicif/us/lveval/content.xhtml of the latest LabVIEW

development software.

(NOTE: Customizable VIs for versions of LabVIEW as old as LabVIEW 8.0 are

available. For customizable VIs older than LabVIEW 8.6 please contact SpinCore

Technologies via the web forum.

●LabVIEW PulseBlaster Extensions located here.

(NOTE: Customizable VIs use the C-calling convention. For customizable VIs that

use the WINAPI calling convention please contact SpinCore Technologies via the

web forum.

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PulseBlasterDDSII

LabVIEW Extensions

III. General Information

Instruction Description

Throughout the PulseBlasterDDS-II LabVIEW Extension,

the instruction word, corresponding to a given interval in

the pulse sequence, is given as shown to the left. The

instruction on the front panel (Figure 3 is broken up into

15 fields displayed from top to bottom:

●Comment space is an empty text box. This area is

used to annotate your instruction and is not

programmed onto the PulseBlasterDDS-II board.

●Time is the duration that the current instruction is to

be held in microseconds. Range and resolution

varies depending on what board is being used. This

corresponds to “length” in SpinAPI.

●Output Pattern determines the state of each TTL

output bit. If an LED is on then it's corresponding

output bit is high, and if the LED is off then it's

corresponding output bit is low. This corresponds to

“flags” in SpinAPI.

●DDS0 RF Output Enable tells the DDS-II board

whether the RF output for DDS0 should be enabled

during this instruction. This corresponds to “dds_en0”

in SpinAPI.

●DDS0 Phase Reset tells the DDS-II board to reset

the phase of all DDS0 channels to their time=0

phase. They will stay in this state until the value of

this bit returns to 0. This corresponds to

“phase_reset0” in SpinAPI.

●DDS0 Frequency Register Selects determines which

frequency register will be used for the RF output of

DDS0 during this instruction. Refer to your board

manual for the number of frequency registers

available. This corresponds to “freq0” in SpinAPI.

●DDS0 Phase Register Selects determines which

phase register will be used for the RF output of DDS0

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Figure 3: PulseBlaster

Instru tion

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SpinCore

PulseBlasterDDSII

LabVIEW Extensions

during this instruction. Refer to your board manual for the number of phase registers

available. This corresponds to “phase0” in SpinAPI.

●DDS0 Amplitude Register Selects determines which amplitude register will be used

for the RF output of DDS0 during this instruction. Refer to your board manual for the

number of amplitude registers available. This corresponds to “amp0” in SpinAPI.

●DDS1 RF Output Enable tells the DDS-II board whether the RF output for DDS1

should be enabled during this instruction. This corresponds to “dds_en1” in SpinAPI.

●DDS1 Phase Reset tells the DDS-II board to reset the phase of all DDS1 channels to

their time=0 phase. They will stay in this state until the value of this bit returns to 0.

This corresponds to “phase_reset1” in SpinAPI.

●DDS1 Frequency Register Selects determines which frequency register will be used

for the RF output of DDS1 during this instruction. Refer to your board manual for the

number of frequency registers available. This corresponds to “freq1” in SpinAPI.

●DDS1 Phase Register Selects determines which phase register will be used for the

RF output of DDS1 during this instruction. Refer to your board manual for the

number of phase registers available. This corresponds to “phase1” in SpinAPI.

●DDS1 Amplitude Register Selects determines which amplitude register will be used

for the RF output of DDS1 during this instruction. Refer to your board manual for the

number of amplitude registers available. This corresponds to “amp1” in SpinAPI.

●Program Flow determines the flow of program instructions after the bit pattern is

displayed. This corresponds to “inst” in SpinAPI. Available instructions are:

○CONTINUE - Program execution continues to next instruction.

○STOP - Stop execution of program.

○LOOP - Specify beginning of a loop. Execution continues to next instruction.

Instruction data used to specify number of loops.

○END_LOOP Execution returns to beginning of loop and decrements loop

counter. Instruction data used to specify beginning of loop.

○JSR - Program execution jumps to beginning of a subroutine. Instruction data

used to specify address of first subroutine instruction.

○RTS - Program execution returns to instruction after JSR was called.

○BRANCH - Program execution continues at specified instruction. Instruction

data specifies address of next instruction.

○LONG_DELAY - For long interval instructions. Data field specifies a multiplier

of the length field. Execution continues to next instruction.

○WAIT - Program execution stops and waits for software or hardware trigger.

Execution continues to next instruction after receipt of trigger. (Please see

SpinAPI documentation for more information on limits of certain Op Codes

●Instruction Data is the data to be used for certain instructions determined by the Op

Code. This corresponds to “inst_data” in SpinAPI. Note for certain instructions this

field is not used.

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PulseBlasterDDSII

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Figure 4 Below shows detail of the corresponding instruction word as depicted in

LabVIEW's block diagram.

Register Descriptions

In each PBLV-DDS-II program there are 6 banks of registers, 3 banks of registers for

each DDS core, which must be set before programming the board. There are frequency

registers, phase registers and amplitude registers for each DDS core as shown in Figure 5.

Frequencies are specified in MHz and can be programmed in the range specified in

your board manual. The registers shown on the front panel range from 0 at the top down

to 15 at the bottom, but the number of frequency registers available vary depending on the

board. See your board manual for the number of output frequency registers available. The

specific frequency registers must be set in the register bank in order to be used in an

instruction as described above. If the register box is white, then it will be programmed to

the board and can be used. If it is grayed out, it will not be programmed and therefore

cannot be used in an instruction. To make a grayed out register box white, simply click

inside the box and type the value you want. To gray out a white register box, right-click on

the box, select “Data Operations”, and then select “Delete Element.” The register chosen

by the “DDS0 Frequency Register Selects” instruction from Figure 3 corresponds to the

frequency registers under the heading, “DDS0 Registers” in Figure 5. Similarly the “DDS1

Frequency Register Selects” instruction corresponds to the frequency registers under the

heading, “DDS1 Registers”.

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Figure 4: Example of how the instru tion is reated and sent to the board in

the PBLV-DDS-II Blo k Diagram

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PulseBlasterDDSII

LabVIEW Extensions

Phases are specified in degrees and can be set from 0.0 to 365.0 degrees. The

registers shown on the front panel range from 0 at the top down to 15 at the bottom, but

the number of phase registers available vary depending on the board. See your board

manual for the number of output phase registers available. The specific phase registers

must be set in the register bank in order to be used in an instruction as described above. If

the register box is white, then it will be programmed to the board and can be used. If it is

grayed out, it will not be programmed and therefore cannot be used in an instruction. To

make a grayed out register box white, simply click inside the box and type the value you

want. To gray out a white register box, right-click on the box, select “Data Operations”, and

then select “Delete Element.” The register chosen by the “DDS0 Phase Register Selects”

instruction from Figure 3 corresponds to the phase registers under the heading, “DDS0

Registers” in Figure 5. Similarly the “DDS1 Phase Register Selects” instruction

corresponds to the phase registers under the heading, “DDS1 Registers”.

Amplitudes are specified as a percentage of full power and ranges from 0.0 to 1.0.

The registers shown on the front panel range from 0 at the top down to 3 at the bottom.

There are only 4 amplitude registers available. The specific frequency registers must be

set in the register bank in order to be used in an instruction as described above. If the

register box is white, then it will be programmed to the board and can be used. If it is

grayed out, it will not be programmed and therefore cannot be used in an instruction. To

make a grayed out register box white, simply click inside the box and type the value you

want. To gray out a white register box, right-click on the box, select “Data Operations”, and

then select “Delete Element.” The register chosen by the “DDS0 Amplitude Register

Selects” instruction from Figure 3 corresponds to the amplitude registers under the

heading, “DDS0 Registers” in Figure 5. Similarly the “DDS1 Amplitude Register Selects”

instruction corresponds to the amplitude registers under the heading, “DDS1 Registers”.

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PulseBlasterDDSII

LabVIEW Extensions

Path Terminals

All of the SubVIs have path input and output terminals. This is a reference to the

path where spinapi.dll is installed on the PC. The default is

C:\SpinCore\SpinAPI\dll\spinapi.dll however this may be changed depending on the

installation. All subVIs should have the “path in” connected. For ease of programming, the

path terminals can be daisy chained since all subVIs point to the same dll. See Figure 6

and Figure 7 for an example of chaining these terminals.

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Figure 7: Example of haining path and error

terminals

Figure 6: Path and error terminals

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Figure 5: Frequen y, Phase and Amplitude

Registers for both DDS ores

SpinCore

PulseBlasterDDSII

LabVIEW Extensions

Error Terminals

All of the SubVIs have error input and output terminals. When a VI is built, the “error

out” terminal of a subVI should be connected to the “error in” terminal of the following

subVI. These terminals are used to help facilitate sequential execution of the functions, as

well as provide debugging information to the user if an error occurs in the VI. See Figure 6

and Figure 7 for an example of these terminals. When chaining, the order of the subVIs

corresponds to the order in which the functions will be called.

LabVIEW Program Flow

The LabVIEW Block diagram is set up to independently control the four major

functions (start/restart, stop/reset, load, change using four while loops running in parallel.

Within each loop is another loop that continuously waits for the specified button to be

pressed. Once the button is pressed, the inner loop will exit and program flow will be

passed to the chain of subVIs. After the chain of functions complete, program flow will

return to the inner loop to wait for the button again. An example of this is shown in Figure

8.

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Figure 8: LabVIEW Program Flow Example

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PulseBlasterDDSII

LabVIEW Extensions

IV. VI descriptions

Main VI

PBLV_DDSII_Interface. i

The PBLV-DDSII Interface VI allows the user complete control of the

PulseBlasterDDS board.

To start the VI press the Run button at the top of the LabVIEW window (for stand-

alone programs, the program is run automatically when opened . First you must insert the

clock frequency value of the board into the “clock_freq (MHz ” field as well as the path to

spinapi.dll as described above. Next, make any instruction set you want by editing the

instruction fields. Use the “# of Instructions” field to increase or decrease the number of

instructions you want to program. Once you have your instruction set, you can edit the

frequency, phase, and amplitude registers for each DDS core to the values you want.

When the instructions and registers are set up correctly, you must first load the

board by clicking the “LOAD BOARD” button and then wait until the button becomes

inactive. To start the program click on the “START” button, and to stop the program click

on the “STOP” button. If there are multiple boards connected to your computer, the

“CHANGE BOARD” button will change the board that is being programmed to the one

specified by the “board_num” field. All four functions are independent and may be run at

any time, however an instruction sequence must be loaded into the board before it can be

started. Caution: After pressing STOP, all digital output bits may maintain their final state.

The RF output will return to 0V when the stop button is pressed.

See Figure 1 for a screen shot of the PBLV-DDSII Interface.

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PulseBlasterDDSII

LabVIEW Extensions

Example VIs

PBLV_DDSII_freq_test. i

This PBLV-DDS-II Frequency Example VI outputs a sine wave with DDS0, cycling

through 4 different frequencies which are set in the frequency registers. It also outputs a

sine wave with DDS1, cycling through the same 4 frequencies but in reverse order.

To start the VI press the Run button at the top of the LabVIEW window (for stand-

alone programs, the program is run automatically when opened . First you must insert the

clock frequency value of the board into the “clock_freq (MHz ” field as well as the path to

spinapi.dll as described above. Next, the appropriate frequency, phase, and amplitude

registers must be set. Both DDS cores initially have these values for their registers:

frequency registers 0, 1, 2, and 3 are set to 1, 5, 10 and 15 MHz respectively, phase

register 0 is set to 0 degrees, and amplitude register 0 is set to 1. Then the instructions

must be set up appropriately. This VI programs the PBDDS-II board with 6 instructions.

The first instruction resets the phase and the RF output is disabled for both DDS cores.

The next four instructions enable output for 2 μs and frequency register 0, 1, 2, and 3

respectively for DDS0 and frequency register 3, 2, 1, and 0 respectively for DDS1. All

instructions use phase register 0 and amplitude register 0. The last instruction disables the

output for 1 ms to allow for oscilloscope triggering. You may change these instructions,

and registers as desired.