NIWeek: NI LabVIEW 2010 optimizes compiler for faster code execution

At NIWeek 2010, National Instruments announced LabVIEW 2010, the latest version of the graphical system design software platform for test, control, and design. An off-the-shelf compiler technologies that execute code an average of 20% faster. A new IP Integration Node that makes it possible to integrate any third-party FPGA IP into LabVIEW applications. User-submitted suggestions are included among the upgrades.

August 2, 2010

NI LabVIEW 2010 saves time, said National Instruments, with new features such as off-the-shelf compiler technologies that execute code an average of 20% faster. (Video: LabVIEW 2010 programs a beer fridge security system, with power and temperature monitoring as shown at National Instruments’ NIWeek.)

For FPGA users, LabVIEW 2010 delivers a new IP Integration Node that makes it possible to integrate any third-party FPGA IP into LabVIEW applications. It is compatible with the Xilinx CORE Generator. More than a dozen new features in the software were suggested by lead users through the LabVIEW Idea Exchange, an online feedback forum providing what the company called “a significant new level of collaboration between NI R&D and customers.”

Features particularly useful for control applications, NI suggested, include:

  • Time synchronization across distributed, real-time systems using the Timed Loop in LabVIEW and new NI TimeSync features;
  • Monitoring and configuration of networked, real-time targets including NI CompactRIO from any Web browser and with no installation required;
  • Direct configuration of NI EtherCAT motion drives from the LabVIEW project and a new NI SoftMotion API for custom motion application development;
  • Improved FPGA host VI edit time for programming FPGAs easier and faster;
  • Connectivity to additional industrial communications buses and protocols through the new CompactRIO Profibus master/slave module; and
  • Support for new FPGA based hardware such as the NI 9148 Ethernet expansion chassis and the new MXI-Express RIO platform for high-channel applications.

www.ni.com/LabVIEW

Also read:

NIWeek 2010: Explore technologies, gain competitive advantages

NIWeek: New Ethernet data acquisition platform

– Edited by Mark T. Hoske, Control Engineering, www.controleng.com