RF acquisition

[waciuri]

Hi!,

my question is i have an antenna attached to 5601 and i want to capture RF signals through it,do i have to configure MAX for a channel or by invoking the 5601 slot is enough as my resource?i would also appreciate code examples.

thanks,

moses

[Tunde_S]

Hi Moses,

The NI PXIe-5601 is a RF downconverter and it is one out of three components in the PXIe-5663 Vector Signal Analyzer (VSA). The digitizer is the part that captures the data, not the downconverter. If you have the PXIe-5601, you might also have the other components (digitizer and LO source). In order to configure the NI PXIe-5663E VSA correctly, you should follow the instructions in the NI PXIe-5663E Getting Started Guide.

Regards,

[tyr0ne]

Hi Tunde,

Oh thanks for your reply and actually am new to programming in labwindows and use of NI equipments.My setup is a 5663E and an antenna attached to RF IN.I want to sniff GSM signals through the antenna.So i thought it is the downconverter that captures signals?my other confusion is,how do you configure or call the RF IN port as the resource name?Any direction is welcomed and in due course i know i will catch up.

thanks,

Moses

[Tunde_S]

Moses,

Yes, you should have the antenna connected to the NI PXIe-5601 RF IN port. By capturing, I was referring to the component that digitizes the analog signal and transfers the data over the PXI bus to the controller. Since you have the PXIe-5663E, you should use page 8 of the Getting Started Guide as a guide for interconnecting the modules.

Before using CVI, you need to use NI MAX to associate the hardware that makes up the NI PXIe-5663E. The instructions for associating the modules are on page 18 of the Getting Started Guide. After associating the modules, NI MAX will provide a resource name for the group and you can rename it if you’d like. You’ll use this resource name in your CVI program to specify which Vector Signal Analyzer (PXIe-5663E) that the NI-RFSA driver should communicate with.

Regards,

[tyr0ne]

Tunde am appreciating your help and hope i dont tire you up.Yes am able to see all the modules in MAX and there is a GSM example am trying to run about modulation.Am using PXI1Slot3 as my resource name but when i run it,it times out at niRFSA_fetchIQSingleRecord function.I tries to add more time before timeout but still returns the same error.Where could i be going wrong?

Thanks,

Moses.

[Tunde_S]

Moses,

I believe this new question is being answered here. From the information that you provided at this thread, it may be that the input signal does not meet the reference trigger level that you specified through the niRFSA_ConfigureIQPowerEdgeRefTrigger function. As a result, the read function timeouts because the acquisition was never triggered. In order to prove if this is the issue, I would use the NI-RFSA Soft Front Panel to confirm that the amplitude of the signal meets the trigger level that you specified.

Since you provided details on this issue in a different thread, let’s address this question on that forum thread.

Regards,

[waciuri]

Hi Tunde,

After a short correspondence with you previously, i think you understand CVI GSM functions and you can assist me with my question in this link

http://forums.ni.com/t5/LabWindows-CVI/GSM-signal-acquisition/td-p/2922460

Thanks,