Norman, Isn't this the way RT was first implemented on Windoze hosts. Just a RT PCI DAQ board and nothing else. These boards kept running even without the booted OS on the host machine. Obviously the line power was essential though.
I think as time passes NI's concept of actually downloading the code and have it run on all kinds of different RT targets is the way things will develop in the future. Within this framework a PXI chassis with a PharLap RT controller which is accessible through a network connection by any host is a good form factor. It might be an expensive solution at first sight but the possibility to target a stand alone array of a suitable mixture of PXI DAQ boards in a PXI chassis equipped with a controller can be a very good, robust and reliable solution for many industrial and such tasks. After all the PXI is a well known form factor to NI and this in contrast to the numerous constructs of office machines which dominate the common PC market. The idea to develop and debug the application on ones favorite PC platform (Win, Mac, Linux, Sun) and deploy it on robust devices capable to act in a deterministic RT-way is a good concept and NI has made it real already. No need for dreaming really, but of course like all dreams they have their prize. As I am getting more and more acquainted with the RT topology it makes more and more sense to me. To be able to disconnect from a given RT-target while the VIs keep running deterministically right at the locations where the measurements are taken to later hook again into the self made instrument through the same or other links is a fine way to do DAQ. I personally prefer a real RT controller over a gray PC box. However this of course could be a viable option too, a bit bulky maybe. Will the PharLap OS control any DAQ boards in the PC box the same way it does it on a PXI form factor chassis. Thanks Jeff for putting the thoughts and the creativity ahead of us. LabVIEW everywhere, even way down on small intelligent sensors is a very intriguing and far sighted roadmap. Regards and happy RT-wireworking Urs Urs Lauterburg Physics demonstrator Physics Institute University of Bern Switzerland >What would be a true milestone for the computer based RT world would be >a RT PCI card. A card that would not be a slave to the system that it is >connected to but rather running in parallel, simply using the PCI bus as >means to power it and to facilitate comms on a need basis. Then to top >it all off, give it a MXI interface to access a PXI chassis. > >Or maybe it's all just a pipe dream > >~,~ The Captain was here > >-----Original Message----- >From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] >[mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Scott Hannahs >Sent: Friday, June 11, 2004 9:00 AM >To: Info LabVIEW >Subject: New solution for OS X > > >Just to publicize a little known solution that lets one use the best >development environment with NI hardware. > >One can use a cheap PC as the host for all the hardware running the >PharLap RT/OS as the target machine. This gets around the extreme cost >of a PXI crate and embedded hardware. > >http://zone.ni.com/devzone/conceptd.nsf/webmain/2B20D544723C8F2D86256E8C >0071C201 > >With LabVIEW 7.1 the "host PC" can be an Apple MacIntosh running OS X! >The realtime target can be any cheap PC, though NI lists some systems as >recommended it seems that the RT/OS will boot and run on most hardware. > >Mac OS X and LV 7.1 now support cross compiling for the RT/OS. This can >be simply linked to the host thru ethernet. For a good solution one >should probably throw a second cheap ethernet interface in the host to >keep network problems isolated from data transfer and control. > >This will allow development in a clean, reliable and efficient >environment with compatibility to all of NIs hardware. The only real >drawback is supporting the hardware of a cheap wintel box and the time >labor associated with that. However the Pharlap OS has a reputation of >being fairly clean and robust to avoid the normal problems associated >with more common desktop OSs. > >I hope to get this info added soon to the OSX - Labview info page ><http://sthmac.magnet.fsu.edu/labview/LVonMacOSX.html> > >-Scott
