National Instruments has introduced LabVIEW Communications System Design Suite 2.0, a development environment specifically designed for prototyping wireless communications systems. This new version adds NI Linux Real-Time capability for all software defined radio (SDR) products including theie USRP RIO and FlexRIO products. The added capability empowers engineers to develop real-time algorithms for execution on the Linux Real-Time operating system, work with other tools to move up the protocol stack to MAC and network layers, and access the vast repositories of open source tools and technologies needed to build complete system prototypes - concepts critical to advance the 5G initiative.
This new version also introduces the multiple input, multiple output (MIMO) Application Framework targeting massive MIMO research and features new enhanced versions of the LTE Application Framework and 802.11 Application Framework with improved multicell and multiuser support. The MIMO Application Framework is a fully configurable, parameterizable physical layer written and delivered in LabVIEW application source code that helps researchers build massive MIMO prototypes.
Researchers can use the LabVIEW Communications LTE Application Framework physical layer with the upper layer stack available in open source Network Simulator 3 (NS-3) to go beyond PC-based network simulations to actual over-the-air wireless network experiments. This new Linux Real-Time capability in LabVIEW Communications makes the real-time execution of NS-3 possible in an over-the-air environment with real hardware to build true prototypes of 5G system concepts.
“NI tools have been vital to our success,” said Charlie Zhang, vice president of Samsung Research America in Dallas. “By using the LabVIEW Communications System Design Suite and NI’s SDR hardware, our engineers can be more efficient and have the time to focus on what we do best – creating new technologies and solutions for future 5G systems.”
The flexibility of NI’s integrated hardware and software platform can address a wide variety of 5G research interests spanning massive MIMO, new 5G waveforms and even upper-layer research including software defined networks (SDN).
