Pre-purchase question about FPGA boards and Waveforms

[DrK]

Hey everyone

 

I have the Analog Discovery Module and I can generate the timing signals easily using the GUI which I really like. However I need more signals and a standalone system, as well as an SPI communication capability. Would any of the boards available on your site be compatible with the Waveforms software and have more IO as well as SPI?

Thanks

[JColvin]

Hi DrK,

The Analog Discovery is the only module that we have that is compatible with the Waveforms software that we developed. However, the new version of the Waveforms software, Waveforms 2015, can support SPI communication through a script.

Let me know if you have any more questions.

Thanks,
JColvin

[DrK]

Thanks JColvin for the answer. While I'll keep in mind that my Analog Devices can now have SPI communication capability, it still is not the tool that would answer my IO needs. 

I need to be able to create clock synchronized timing diagram for control signals, and at some point enable SPI channels to read data from an SPI compatible A2D. The system should be scalable so as the system grows, so will the required SlaveSelect pin count I'll need. Signal pattern generation was easy on Waveforms for our simpler projects but now we need a standalone system with more capabilities. 

Do you have any FPGA boards that is capable of SPI communication and 20+ IO pins and can be programmed with LabView? I see that you have Nexys 3 board that has the hardware requirements met but it's a discontinued board and I'm not sure if I can use LabView. Is your only LabView compatible hardware solution the ChipKit WF32 with the Arduino architecture? 

 

Thanks

DrK

[JColvin]

Hi DrK,

All of our FPGA boards that Digilent currently offers are capable of SPI communication and have 20+ IO pins. At this point, (I'll confirm this and let you know otherwise if this isn't the case) I do not think NI nor LabVIEW MakerHub has designed any VI's or firmware to be able to program any of our FPGA boards. From what I can see on the LabVIEW MakerHub website, LINX only supports this list of Digilent boards, including the chipKIT WF32.

Let me know if you have any more questions.

Thanks,
JColvin