X410 USRP hardware setup for high data rate, interfaces: hardware/adapter/card/cable

[ni_hj]

Hello everyone,

For those of you operating USRP X410 with LabVIEW or GNU radio, What are the hardware setup you use to connect QSFP or iPass+zHD interfaces to your host PC.

As you may know, USRP X410 have following interfaces (QSFP28 and PCIe Gen3 x8) to support high data rate, 100GB:

2 QSFP28 (10/100 GbE, Aurora)

2 iPass+ zHD (cabled PCIe Gen3 x8)

I want to know what type of extra hardware/interface/adapter/card/cable that I need to install in both USRP X410 and host PC side that able to use QSFP or iPass interfaces.

I would appreciate if you could share the list of equipment in any form of name/list, picture, BOM number. Thank you.

[Seyong_Lee]

I set up USRP x410 with Labview 2022. 

The getting started was not matching perfectly by my experience.

Therefore I just made additional guide for it. 

Please see the doc attached. 

[afieguth]

Hi,

I am facing the same task. Did you ever find a working system?

[GDEV]

Hi,

if you want to use the USRP X410 with LabVIEW (and/or LabVIEW FPGA) then you need to follow the Getting Started Guide (GSG) instructions for 'Connecting the Device (NI-USRP)', which uses a PXI Bus Extension Module (MXI-Express Gen-3 x16 Ports) as high data rate interface to a host controller or PC.

The compatible PXI Bus Externsion Modules offered by NI are:

• PXIe-8394 for connecting to a PXI based host system,
  required NI PN are:
  • 785157-01, PXIe-8394 PXIe, x8, Gen 3 MXI-Express Daisy-Chain Interface
  • 785550-03, MXI-Express cable, GEN 3 X8, COPPER, 3M
• PCIe-8398 for connecting to a PC based host system,
  required NI PN are:
  • 788264-01, PCIe Gen3 Interface Kit for Ettus USRP X4xx
    (incl. the required 3m  MXI-Express cable to connect to the iPass+ zHD Ports)

P.S. In addition to this high data rate connection, the USRP X410 also needs to be connected to the host via a regular Ethernet connection. As indicated in the GSG, this does not need to be direct connection and can utilize network switches.

Regards,

[MarsXu]

Thank you for sharing. If I directly connect X410 and the PC using an Ethernet cable, will this work?

[MarsXu]

Hi Seyg,

Regarding the connection using LabVIEW + X410, in addition to the MXI-Express Gen-3X8 MXIe link between X410 and PCIe-8398, some users have mentioned that there is no need to connect the USB Type C on X410 to the USB Type A on the PC. Can you explain why this connection is necessary? Additionally, when connecting with an Ethernet cable, should it be a direct connection or through a switch?

Could your documentation provide some graphical illustrations? If possible, providing step-by-step instructions with both graphics and accompanying text would be greatly appreciated, especially for newcomers like us. Thank you very much!

[GDEV]

Hi MarsXu,

... some users have mentioned that there is no need to connect the USB Type C on X410 to the USB Type A on the PC. Can you explain why this connection is necessary?

This connection is needed to optionally configure the USRP X410 and functions as debug console if for example the ethernet connection between the host and the USRP is not working out of the box. To use this connection on WIndows, one also needs a terminal program for the serial connection, like for example putty.

Additionally, when connecting with an Ethernet cable, should it be a direct connection or through a switch?

Yes, this is supported, but may require changing the ethernet configuration on the USRP X410 from a dynamic DHCP to a static address. This requires the mentioned USB connections. Details on how to change the network configuration for this port (eth0) can be found here: https://files.ettus.com/manual/page_usrp_x4xx.html#x4xx_getting_started_network_connectivity_ifcs and is also described in the guide from Seyg-L.

Regards,

[MarsXu]

Hi GDEV,

Thank you for your guidance and support. I appreciate your time guiding me on these issues.
Regards,

Mars

[Mh-Hassan]

Hi every one. my device (NI USRP 2950R) is working ok with LabVIEW. Could you please guide me how can I make it work GNUradio? when I try to make reciever program using GNU radio. It does not work and gives an error of empty device address.

[szczupak11]

Hello

Could you please help me on the installation of my USRP X410.

At the stage of detecting the device in NI MAx I have a problem because I do not have the appropriate FPGA image.

I saw an image with the extension lvbitx (LV_400) in your guide. Could you tell me where I can find this FPGA image.

Best regards

 Mirek