Synchronize NI-5421

[snuzzbff]

I am trying to synchronize two NI-5421 AWG's in LabView 8.  I'm trying to clear up a bit of confusion I have regarding different literature I've seen online.  Originally I thought I could use the TCLK feature to synchronize them - however that appears to require an external trigger source (which I will not have).  I've also seen that if the AWG's run off the same reference clock (for example the 10MHz backplane clock) then they generate at the same time and are therefore synchronized.  Any clarification would be appreciated.

I also noticed via the Signal Generators homepage that the Baseband Developer's Kit allows you to synchronize AWG's to produce an inphase signal (I) on one AWG and the complementary quadrature signal (Q) on another AWG.  However in looking at the examples provided, I'm either missing something in the code or I misinterpreted what the Kit allowed you to do or showed you how to do.  I see a TCLK VI in an example or two however it appears that only one RFSG is initiated, therefore I'm not seeing the "synchronization" to produce I on one AWG and Q on a second AWG. 

Thanks in advance.

- Eric

[TheWoost]

Hi Eric,

The nice feature of the 5421 and many of our other modular instruments devices is that they use the SMC core that provides for tight synchronization using TCLK.  You should not need to use an external trigger source to use the TCLK functionality; an immediate software trigger is sufficient as shown in the NI-FGEN synchronization shipping example niFgen_Arb_Synchronize_Example_(TClk).vi (in LabVIEW, go to Help>>Find Examples then browse in Hardware Input and Output>>Modular Instruments>>NI-FGEN>>Synchronization).

The Baseband Developer's Kit uses the Modulation Toolkit to provide a lot of its functionality.  If you have this toolkit installed, there is another shipping example that demonstrates how to generate the I and Q portions of a frequency-modulated signal.  This example is MT niFgen IQ Signal Generation_TClk.vi (in the Example Finder, browse Toolkits and Modules>>Modulation>>NI-FGEN).

Regards,
Andrew W
National Instruments