Application question about waveform generation and measurement using a USB-7856

[Etarkleson]

Hello, I have searched online and thought to ask the experts here about my application.

I want to do 1 or 2 channel waveform generation from 1khz to 500khz (or whatever the reasonable limit of the RIO hw) and then recieve a signal of the same frequency and measure the resulting phase shift and magnitude shift. 

So this is basically a lock-in amplifier set up, where I can measure magnitude and phase information on a signal compared to a reference. I would like to have hardware to generate and process the waveforms. I dont care about aquiring the waveforms, just their mag and phase information.

It seems the USB-7856 can perform this, but I am not sure how to guess what performance to expect in terms of bandwidth and aquisition rate. Any advice would be appreciated! Thanks!

As a side note, I have experience with LV FPGA and I suppose maybe I need to do some simulation. But I am hoping for some ballpark advice on what hardware fits.

[hafiz.sallim]

There are some lock-in amplifier examples that are available, which might be a good starting point. They seem to build on similar FlexRIO hardware, and you might be able to port it to your device. Here is an example that might help.

All the best!

-Hafiz

[Etarkleson]

Thanks Hafiz,

I actually have the NI lockin software and a NI-7856 Demo unit that I will be working on this week.

I will update as I make progress. Thanks for your help as well as the NI tech support which has been very helpful.

Best,

Eric