Open source compiler speeds code execution in LabVIEW 2010

Open source compiler speeds code execution in LabVIEW 2010 National Instruments has incorporated off-the-shelf compiler technologies that execute code an average of 20 percent faster in LabVIEW 2010. It also adds access to a marketplace for evaluating and purchasing add-on toolkits for integrating custom functionality into the platform.

It is compatible with the Xilinx CORE Generator as result of a IP integration node that makes it possible to integrate any third-party FPGA IP into LabVIEW applications.

National Instruments has also implemented more than a dozen features suggested by lead users through the LabVIEW Idea Exchange.

Key to the productivity delivered by LabVIEW is the compiler, which abstracts tasks such as memory allocation and thread management. The compiler hierarchy has evolved over the lifetime of LabVIEW to become smarter and more optimized.

With LabVIEW 2010, the compiler data flow intermediate representation has been further optimized, and low-Level virtual machine (LLVM), an open source compiler infrastructure, has been added to the software’s compiler flow to accelerate code execution.

With the release of LabVIEW 2010, the LabVIEW Add-On Developer Program is being launched to give thousands of partners the opportunity to expand the platform and introduce custom functionality into LabVIEW.

The program establishes an online marketplace as part of the updated LabVIEW Tools Network for developers to offer their free and paid toolkits and a comprehensive location for LabVIEW users to browse, download, evaluate and purchase the add-ons.

More than 50 add-ons from NI and third-party developers are available, including code reuse libraries, templates, UI controls and connectors to other software packages.

Users can also use the VI Package Manager from JKI to connect directly to the LabVIEW Tools Network from their desktop and manage add-on installations and updates.

The company is working with technology providers such as Xilinx to further open up the LabVIEW environment. The IP Integration Node added in LabVIEW 2010 makes it possible for users to integrate any third-party FPGA IP into the LabVIEW FPGA Module and offers direct compatibility with cores created with the Xilinx CORE Generator.

NI says increasingly, engineers without FPGA expertise want to use NI LabVIEW FPGA and NI FPGA-based custom hardware for unique timing and triggering routines, ultrahigh-speed control, interfacing to digital protocols, digital signal processing (DSP), RF and communications and many other applications requiring high-speed hardware reliability customization and tight determinism.

However, compiling FPGA code is an extremely long and resource-intensive process that can take hours or days to complete. To alleviate the need to dedicate a development machine to compiling FPGA code, NI is working to help LabVIEW users offload FPGA compiling to the cloud; in this process, LabVIEW users can seamlessly use powerful, dedicated remote computers to compile their LabVIEW FPGA code, freeing their development machines to be used for other purposes.

Fourteen popular submissions from the LabVIEW Idea Exchange were implemented in LabVIEW 2010 including many that improve code documentation and organisation. These include increasing the default maximum number of UNDO steps per virtual instruments from 8 to 99 and the automatic creation of wire labels as well as reducing the number of mouse clicks required to move switch items in the connector pane from 8 to 2.

LabVIEW now also provides a hardware configuration tool that makes it possible for users to access and configure their LabVIEW Real-Time targets remotely via a Web browser. Other features include a smart installer that automatically detects the software associated with a serial number for faster installation and an improved instrument driver finder that offers prebuilt project examples for specific instruments.

Interfaces have been improved to reusable code, group VIs and their hierarchy for faster build times and separate the VI source code from the compiled version to aid in source code management. These capabilities are suitable for large group development where code maintenance across many users, software versions and computer platforms is critical.

 

As featured in TES - The Electronic Supplier E-Zine, 2010 Vol 6, www.the-electronic-supplier.com/ezine/