National Instruments PXI NI 5401 - Manual (Page 15)

Chapter 1 Generating Functions with the NI 5401
NI 5401 User Manual 1-8 www.natinst.com
Software Options for Your NI 5401
This section describes the NI-FGEN driver software and development tools
that you can use to create application software for your NI 5401.
Software Included with Your NI 5401
Your NI 5401 kit includes several VirtualBench soft front panels to help
you get up and running quickly with your waveform generator. These soft
front panels are an onscreen interface similar to standalone instruments. An
NI-FGEN instrument driver is also included, which you can use with a
wide variety of development tools to build applications for your NI 5401.
These software tools are discussed in the following sections.
VirtualBench
Similar to standalone instruments, VirtualBench acquires, controls,
analyzes, and presents data. However, since VirtualBench operates on your
PC, it provides additional processing, storage, and display capabilities.
VirtualBench loads and saves waveform data in a form that popular
spreadsheet programs and word processors can use. It can also generate
reports—a complement to the raw data storage—by adding timestamps,
measurements, user names, and comments. You can print the waveforms
and the settings of VirtualBench to a printer connected to the PC.
VirtualBench has two components—VirtualBench-FG and Waveform
Editor—that you can use with your NI 5401. These components are
described in the following sections.
VirtualBench-FG
VirtualBench-FG transforms your PC into a fully featured function
generator that rivals desktop models by using the DDS capabilities of your
NI 5401. VirtualBench-FG emulates benchtop function generators, so you
can quickly learn to use computer-based instruments.
With VirtualBench-FG, you can generate a variety of waveforms, including
five standard waveforms: sine, square, triangle, rising exponential, and
falling exponential. Using VirtualBench-FG, you load waveforms from an
ASCII text file and generate them repeatedly. You can generate these
waveforms with a resolution of approximately 10 mHz and perform
frequency sweeps and shift-keying. As with all VirtualBench instruments,
you can load and save instrument settings.