NI CompactDAQ and M Series:

Under the Hood

Neil Stoddard
DAQ PSE
Presentation Adapted From 2007 NI Week
Presentation by Dan Balcauski
Why should you care?
 Why should you care?
You will get dates!
You will rule the world!
You will earn millions of dollars!

Or Maybe

You might just become the

best AE ever!
 WARNING!

Some of the following content is NI

Confidential. The content that
cannot be shared with customers will
be labeled NI Confidential at the
bottom of the slide.
Do NOT share information about
unreleased products with your
customers!
 Current Core Technologies
NI-STC 2

PCI M
USB M Series
Series NI Signal
Streaming
Integrated
Module
Controller

NI CompactDAQ Chassis Backplane

 NI Signal
NI-STC2 NI CompactDAQ
Streaming

Agenda
NI-STC 2
Analog input timing on M Series
C Series and CompactDAQ
Analog input timing with Integrated
Module Controller
Digital I/O with the NI-STC 2
NI Signal Streaming
High speed streaming over USB
 NI Signal
NI-STC2 NI CompactDAQ
Streaming

System Timing Controller

NI-STC 2 ASIC
 NI Signal
NI-STC2 NI CompactDAQ
Streaming
NI-STC 2 Analog Input
Engine
 NI Signal
NI-STC2 NI CompactDAQ
Streaming

M Series (Multi Channel)

Sample Rate = 1 / Sample Period
Questions?

Start Trigger
Shortest Sample Period

Sample Clock
Convert Period

Convert Clock

From NI-STC 2
 NI Signal
NI-STC2 NI CompactDAQ
Streaming

C Series Modules
Integrated DAQ and signal conditioning in
each module
Standardized interface
But, variable data width, number of channels,
data rate, ADC type,
Well suited for a microcontroller
 NI Signal
NI-STC2 NI CompactDAQ
Streaming

Simultaneous Input Module

NI 9215
4 channels, 16-bit data
100 kS/s on each channel
 NI Signal
NI-STC2 NI CompactDAQ
Streaming
Multiplexed (Scanned)
Modules
NI 9205
M Series AI in C Series
form factor
32 channels,16-bit data
250 kS/s
Analog and digital
trigger
 NI Signal
NI-STC2 NI CompactDAQ
Streaming

Sigma-delta Modules
NI 9233 (Audio/NVH), NI 9237 (Bridge)
4 channels, 24-bit data
Up to 50 kS/s
Simultaneous Integrating ADCs
Onboard Oversample Clock
Sample rates are integral divisors of oversample clock
Synchronization pulse resets ADCs
Fixed delay before returning first sample
 NI Signal
NI-STC2 NI CompactDAQ
Streaming

DC Modules
9211 -
Thermocouple
14 S/s

9217 RTD
1.25 S/s 100 S/s
per channel

9219 Universal
2-100 S/s/ch
 NI Signal
NI-STC2 NI CompactDAQ
Streaming

Mixed Module Demo

 NI Signal
NI-STC2 NI CompactDAQ
Streaming
Integrated Module Controller: Under
the Hood
Integrated Module Controller
Combines technologies

ADC AI Adapter
NI-STC 2
module

DAC AO Adapter
 NI Signal
NI-STC2 NI CompactDAQ
Streaming
Integrated Module Controller
Benefits
Multi-module
synchronization
Module Detection
Convert Pulse
Generation
Routing
 NI Signal
NI-STC2 NI CompactDAQ
Streaming
So what does the NI-STC 2 have to
do?
Sample Clock

Delay From Sample Clock

Read Clock
Convert Clock

1. Delay NI-STC 2 convert clock and speed it up

2. Convert clock renamed to read clock
3. Responsible for transferring converted samples
from module controller to the NI-STC 2 data
FIFO
 NI Signal
NI-STC2 NI CompactDAQ
Streaming
Simultaneous Input Module (Multi
Module/Multi Channel)
Sample Clock

Mod1 SPI ai0 ai1 ai2 ai0

Mod2 SPI ai0 ai1 ai2 ai0

Read Clock

Externally timed From NI-STC 2

NI-STC 2 provides sample
clock From IMC
 NI Signal
NI-STC2 NI CompactDAQ
Streaming
Multiplexed Input Module (Multi
Module/Multi Channel)
Sample Clock

Mod1 Convert

Mod1 SPI ai0 ai1 ai2 ai0

Mod2 Convert

Mod2 SPI ai0 ai1 ai2 ai0

Simultaneous module + convert clock From NI-STC 2

Convert rates may differ between modules
Externally timed
IMC provides per-module convert clock From IMC
 NI Signal
NI-STC2 NI CompactDAQ
Streaming
Two Sigma-Delta Modules: Mod1
(master), Mod2 (slave)
Oversample Clock

SyncPulse

Sample Clock
Mod1/Ready

Mod1 SPI ai0 ai1 ai2 ai3 ai0

Mod2 SPI ai0 ai1 ai2 ai3 ai0

Self-timed - Onboard
Oversample Clock
From IMC From Module
 NI Signal
NI-STC2 NI CompactDAQ
Streaming
Sigma-Delta, Simultaneous and
Multiplexed Modules (Multi Module)
Sample Clock
Mod3/Ready

Simultaneous SPI ai0 ai1 ai2 ai0

Multiplexed Convert

Multiplexed SPI ai0 ai1 ai2 ai0

Sigma-delta SPI ai0 ai1 ai2 ai3 ai0

From IMC From Module From NI-STC2

 NI Signal
NI-STC2 NI CompactDAQ
Streaming

DC Module Timing
NI-DAQmx repeats samples
Maximum Sample Clock rate can run
faster than the maximum rate for the
module.
 NI Signal
NI-STC2 NI CompactDAQ
Streaming

NI CompactDAQ Analog Input Timing

Handled automatically by the Integrated

Module Controller
System sampling rate depends on
Module sampling rates
Number of channels in a task
 NI Signal
NI-STC2 NI CompactDAQ
Streaming
How do I figure out my maximum
sampling rate?
Lookup tables
DAQmx driver
SampClk.MaxRate
Simulated devices
 NI Signal
NI-STC2 NI CompactDAQ
Streaming
Why do I have to use certain slots for
Digital ArchitectureOr
counters/timers and digital lines?
16 Static
DIO
32 Timed
DIO
16 PFI
Questions?
 NI Signal
NI-STC2 NI CompactDAQ
Streaming

What is Streaming?
Streaming is the rapid movement of
samples between the data
acquisition
device and the host computer
Data acquisition fits with USB
 NI Signal
NI-STC2 NI CompactDAQ
Streaming

Challenges of Streaming Over USB

USB has different requirements for

streaming than PCI
Host driven
No DMA
Higher latency
Differences have been handled different
ways
Compensated for them
Ignored them
Both less than ideal
 NI Signal
NI-STC2 NI CompactDAQ
Streaming
Traditional Approach to USB
DAQ
Inefficient use of a processor for
data management
 NI Signal
NI-STC2 NI CompactDAQ
Streaming
Fast Data Transfers with Custom
Controller
Host side - driver software
Device side - NI Signal Streaming
Controller and NI-STC2
 NI Signal
NI-STC2 NI CompactDAQ
Streaming
Message Based
Communication
 NI Signal
NI-STC2 NI CompactDAQ
Streaming

A More Intelligent Device

DAQmx
9472

9215
9263
9481

9233
9237

9211
 NI Signal
NI-STC2 NI CompactDAQ
Streaming

Streaming Demo
 NI Signal
NI-STC2 NI CompactDAQ
Streaming

The USB Family

 So now we must ask

What Comes Next?

NI Confidential
NIs Next Generation of DAQ
STC III ASIC NI Umber ASIC

NI Confidential
 When will these be
available?
Not in the next yearso dont bug
me about it now
Likely sometime late in 2009

NI Confidential
 STC III
Next generation system timing controller
Will integrate PCI Express technology
(boards will be PCIe or PXIe native)
Enhanced timing functionality
Timed DIO
Awesome counters (up to 4 available on the
ASIC)
More deterministic, improved HWTSP
More retriggerable functionality

NI Confidential
 Umber

Usb Miteio Bridge

Engineering Reference

NI Confidential
 Umber
Umber now

NI Confidential
Umber
Umber ASIC

NI Confidential
 Why the Umber ASIC?
Decreased COGS (Cost of Goods
Sold)
Decreased footprint
Increased flexibility
Added features from STC III
Designed from the ground up for the
cDAQ platform
Will allow for a single slot, a four slot,
an 8 slot, and a 14 slot chassis
NI Confidential
Summary
NI-STC2
Timing, triggering, digital back end
Front end acquisition to DMA to USB endpoints

Integrated Module Controller

Communication with different types of modules
Module synchronization

NI Signal Streaming
Fast data transfers
Reduced communication overhead
Increased device responsiveness