National Instruments NI 781xR Introduction

Introduction

This chapter describes the NI 781xR, the concept of the Reconfigurable I/O

(RIO) device, optional software and equipment for using the NI 781xR, and

safety information about the NI 781xR.

The NI781xR devices are R Series RIO devices with 16 0 digital I/O (DIO)

lines and four DIO connectors.

• The NI 7811R has a one million gate Field-Programmable Gate Array

(FPGA).

• The NI 7813R has a three million gate FPGA.

A user-reconfigurable FPGA controls the digital I/O lines on theNI 781xR.

The FPGA on the R Series device allows you to define the functionality and

timing of the device. You can change the functionality of the FPGA on the

R Series device in LabVIEW using the LabVIEW FPGA Module to create

and download a custom virtual instrument (VI) to the FPGA. Using the

FPGA Module, you can graphically design the timing and functionality of

the R Series device. If you have LabVIEW but not the FPGA Module, you

cannot create new FPGA VIs, but you can create VIs that run on Windows

or on a LabVIEW Real-Time (RT) target to control existing FPGAVIs.

Some applications require tasks such as real-time, floating-point

processing, or datalogging while performing I/O and logic on the R Series

device. You can use the LabVIEW Real-Time Module to perform these

additional applications while communicating with and controlling the

R Series device.

The R Series device contains flash memory to store a startup VI for

automatic loading of the FPGA when the system is powered on.

The NI78 1xR uses the Real-Time System Integration (RTSI) bus to easily

synchronize several measurement functions to a common trigger or timing

event. The NI781xR accesses the RTSI bus through the PXI trigger lines

implemented on the PXI backplane. The RTSI bus can route timing and

trigger signals between as many as seven PXI devices in your system.