Buffered counter output in C

Hi everyone,
I am looking for a possibility to generate a finite buffered counter output with varying pulse widths, using the X-Series. I am working in C / Python.
I want to output two pulses triggered to an external signal. The first pulse should be short, the second pulse long.
The following code outputs only two identical pulses. How can I modify it to output two different pulses?
CreateCOPulseChanTicks(channel,"","100MhzTimebase",DAQmx_Val_Low,0,300,300)
CfgImplicitTiming(DAQmx_Val_FiniteSamps,2) #output two pulses
CfgDigEdgeStartTrig(src,DAQmx_Val_Falling) #external signal
SetStartTrigRetriggerable(True) #retrigger
Best Regards,
Stefan

It's good you found a workaround but the behavior doesn't seem right to me...
The default behavior in DAQmx (the C / LabVIEW / .NET APIs) is to regenerate data from the buffer. Perhaps the python wrapper you are using is disallowing regeneration somewhere? I tried this with regeneration disabled and it gives the same behavior you reported (though with regeneration enabled it does not).
You can use DAQmxGetWriteRegenMode to verify this theory and DAQmxSetWriteRegenMode to enable regeneration in case it is disabled.
Best Regards,
John Passiak

Similar Messages

How do I use the buffered counting mode at a fixed frequency?

Hi-
   I'm using a PCI-6259 M-series board with the Nidaq MX
drivers in Labview 7. I am trying to use one counter to do
buffered edge counting (eg. count how many pulses appear on one input
in 400 successive time bins of 10 uS each following a digital start
pulse). That is, my inputs are:
     Start Pulse (from experiment)
     Count Pulse (from a photomultiplier tube in the experiment)
And I want to know:
    # of pulses from 0 to 10 uS after the Start Pulse
    # of pulses from 11 to 20 uS after the Start
Pulse (or, equally good, # of pulses from 0 to 20 uS....I can
subtract later)
    # of pulses from 3991 to 4000 uS after the Start Pulse (or, # of pulses from 0 to 4000 uS...same thing)
   The Count Digital Events-Buffered-Finite-Ext Clk.vi sample
appears to do half of this. I can set this up CTR0 with the Count
pulse (and possibly add the start pulse as an Arm Start....I can't use
a Start Trigger, right?). However, I need to generate a Sample
Clock Source at 100 kHz (to trigger the card to buffer the counter
value and start counting in the next bin). So, I tried to set up
CTR1 along the lines of Gen Dig Pulse Train-Finite-Dig Start.vi for
generating a finite pulse train starting on a digital trigger, and
connecting the output from CTR1 to the Sample Clock Source on
CTR0. However, I get an error -50103 saying the specified
resource is reserved if I do both at the same time. But, I can't
see any resource conflicts...the pulse generation on CTR1 works fine
alone, as well as the buffered counting on CTR0, and all the PFI pins
are different. Is there some reason I can't use both counters at
the same time?
I think I can use the FREQOUT pin on the card to generate a Sample
Clock Source at 100 kHz, since I think this is independent of CTR0
& CTR1. However, I can't trigger the FREQOUT to always start
when I get a Start Pulse (as I can if I trigger a Digital Pulse Train
to start on a digital trigger...or can I?)...so my bins will move
randomly by up to 10 uS.
   This is an unrelated topic, but is there a discussion of
the relationship between the terminology in the manuals describing the
cards (SOURCE, GATE, OUTPUT terminals) and the terminology in NidaqMX
(Source Clock/SrcClk.Source, CI.CountEdges.Term, CO.Pulse.Term)?
Eg. is CTR0.GATE always the same thing as SrcClk.Source, or does it
depend on the mode of operation? If the M-series hardware manual
says to connect something to the SOURCE input, how do I assign an
alternate PFI pin to that SOURCE input in Labview? Does it depend
on the counter type, or is it always the same?

Dave,
Hi, you brought up several questions / issues -- let me see if I can help with some of them:
   I can set this up CTR0 with the Count pulse (and possibly add the start pulse as an Arm Start....I can't use a Start Trigger, right?).
Yes, you could set up this way. Also, as far as I know you're also correct that you need to configure for an "Arm Start" trigger using the DAQmx Trigger property node. The "Arm Start" trigger is used for counter input (measurement) apps while the regular "Start Trigger" can be used for counter output (pulse generation) tasks. I don't think I've experimented with recent versions of DAQmx though so it may have changed in 7.4 or 7.5
...I tried to set up CTR1 along the lines of Gen Dig Pulse Train-Finite-Dig Start.vi for generating a finite pulse train starting on a digital trigger, and connecting the output from CTR1 to the Sample Clock Source on CTR0. However, I get an error -50103 saying the specified resource is reserved if I do both at the same time
I highlighted the problem -- the FINITE pulse train. DAQmx uses CTR0 as a "helper" when you generate a finite pulse train on CTR1. It would generate a single pulse whose width corresponds to the exact amount of time needed for CTR1 to generate its specified # of pulses.
For your specific app, I think you could generate a triggered continuous pulse train with CTR1 -- this wouldn't need to use CTR0 as a helper.  The Start Pulse would arm CTR0 at the same instant that CTR1 is started.   If you set up CTR0 to acquire on the trailing edge of CTR1's pulses, then you'll get the time bins you want.
A final slight mod would be to setup CTR0 for measuring buffered periods (set units == "Ticks") instead of counting edges. In that mode, you wouldn't have to do the subtraction at the end.
   This is an unrelated topic, but is there a discussion of the relationship between the terminology in the manuals describing the cards (SOURCE, GATE, OUTPUT terminals) and the terminology in NidaqMX (Source Clock/SrcClk.Source, CI.CountEdges.Term, CO.Pulse.Term)? Eg. is CTR0.GATE always the same thing as SrcClk.Source, or does it depend on the mode of operation?
There's an NI app note and some discussion forum hits if you search the site for "daqmx terminology."
If the M-series hardware manual says to connect something to the SOURCE input, how do I assign an alternate PFI pin to that SOURCE input in Labview? Does it depend on the counter type, or is it always the same?
Usually, that choice would be available under the DAQmx Channel property node.   There'll be some place to define where the input signal is coming from, generally with "Term" or "Terminal" as part of its name.   Sorry I can't be more specific as I'm not at my LV computer now.
Happy counting!
-Kevin P.

Please help with C code to synchronize counter output to analog input

Hi All,
I am using NI DAQ USB-6353 with text-based C code to control it. I would like to send a continuous pulse train from the DAQ to pulse a power supply, which then activates an electron beam producing current to be read by the analog input port of the same DAQ. I would like to keep only the analog samples during the pulse peak and samples of a couple pulse widths right after. I am successfully to generate a pulse train using the sampled clock from a counter output channel, but fail to use the same clock to synchronize the pulse train with the analog input. DAQmxReadAnalogF64 is not called by the static function EveryNCallback set for the analog input task. Am I doing something wrong with the following codes? It would be great if it turns out only I am using the wrong sampled clock name of the counter ("dev1/PFI8") for the analog input. Or is something more fundamental that a counter cannot be sync. with an analog input?
Would someone be able to send me a link to an example in C or C++ or visual basic showing how to synchronize a buffered sample clocked digital pulse train from a counter output channel to an analog input? To simplify the post, the below codes do not include the static functions EveryNCallback and DoneCallBack, but I can send them if needed.
Many thanks in advance for your help,
Thuc Bui
//setting operation parameters
double initDelay = 0.0, freq = 10;
double dutyCycle = 0.0001;           //thus pulse width is 10 microsec
unsigned highTicks = 4;   //per period
unsigned numSamplesPerPeriod = highTicks / dutyCycle; //40000 samples/period
unsigned lowTicks = numSamplesPerPeriod - highTicks;      //per period
unsigned sampleRate = 2*numSamplesPerPeriod*freq;       //800000 samples/s
//create counter
TaskHandle counterTask;
int errCode = DAQmxCreateTask("", & counterTask);
errCode = DAQmxCreateCOPulseChanFreq(counterTask, "dev1/ctr0", "",
                                 DAQmx_Val_Hz, DAQmx_Val_Low,
                                 initDelay, freq, dutyCycle);
errCode = DAQmxCfgSampClkTiming(counterTask, "dev1/PFI8", sampleRate, DAQmx_Val_Rising,
                           DAQmx_Val_ContSamp, numSamplesPerPeriod);
//create analog input
TaskHandle aiTask;
double minVolt = 0.0, maxVolt = 1.0;
errCode = DAQmxCreateAIVoltageChan(aiTask, "dev1/ai0", "", DAQmx_Val_Diff,
                                 minVolt, maxVolt, DAQmx_Val_Volts, "");
unsigned bufferSize = 10* numSamplesPerPeriod;
errCode = DAQmxSetBufInputBufSize(aiTask, bufferSize);
errCode = DAQmxCfgSampClkTiming(aiTask, "dev1/PFI8", sampleRate, DAQmx_Val_Rising, DAQmx_Val_ContSamp, numSamplesPerPeriod);
errCode = DAQmxRegisterEveryNSamplesEvent(aiTask, DAQmx_Val_Acquired_Into_Buffer,
                                        numSamplesPerPeriod, 0, EveryNCallback, 0);
errCode = DAQmxRegisterDoneEvent(aiTask, 0, DoneCallBack, 0)
//start aiTask first
errCode = DAQmxStartTask(aiTask);
//then counterTask
errCode = DAQmxStartTask(counterTask);

Hi Xavier,
Thank you very much for getting back to me. I really appreciate it. I followed your advice with the option 2 and simplified my code by using one of the NI C example templates to generate the below codes (also attached). I was able to see the pulses generated with an oscilloscope, and on the same oscilloscope I could see the ouput pulses of the electron beam probe. Unfortunately, the below code via DAQmxReadAnalogF64 reports of no data read from the probe and finally times out. Below is the error message given by this function. I did check the connection of the analog input wires to make sure they were connected to pin 1 (A0+) and 2 (A0-) because I was using the terminal configuration DAQmx_Val_Diff. Do you see any obvious errors I have made in my codes?
Thanks a lot for your help,
Thuc Bui
Task started, waiting for trigger...
Acquired 0 analog samples DAQmx Error: Some or all of the samples requested have not yet been acquired.
To wait for the samples to become available use a longer read timeout or read later in your program. To make the samples available sooner, increase the sample rate. If your task uses a start trigger, make sure that your start trigger is configured correctly. It is also possible that you configured the task for external timing, and no clock was supplied. If this is the case, supply an external clock.
Property: DAQmx_Read_RelativeTo
Corresponding Value: DAQmx_Val_CurrReadPos
Property: DAQmx_Read_Offset
Corresponding Value: 0
Task Name: _unnamedTask<1>
Status Code: -200284
End of program, press Enter key to quit
********************** C Code **************************************************
#include <stdio.h>
#include "NIDAQmx.h"
#include <math.h>
#define DAQmxErrChk(functionCall) { if( DAQmxFailed(error=(functionCall)) ) { goto Error; } }
int main(void) {
int32 error = 0;
char errBuff[2048]={'\0'};
TaskHandle taskHandleDig=0;
TaskHandle taskHandleAna=0;
double  timeout=10;
double minVol = -1.0, maxVol = 1.0;
double initDelay = 0.0;
double freq = 10.0;
double pulseWidth = 1.0e-5; //10us
double dutyCycle = pulseWidth * freq;
unsigned hiTicks = 4;
double sampleRate = hiTicks/pulseWidth; //samples/s
unsigned lowTicks = ceil(sampleRate/freq) - hiTicks;
unsigned nSpPeriod = hiTicks + lowTicks;
unsigned numPulses = 1;
unsigned nSpCh = numPulses*nSpPeriod;
double sampleRate2 = ceil(2.0*sampleRate);
unsigned sampleMode = DAQmx_Val_FiniteSamps;
/*********************************************/ /*/ DAQmx Configure Code /*********************************************/
DAQmxErrChk(DAQmxCreateTask("", &taskHandleDig)); DAQmxErrChk(DAQmxCreateTask("", &taskHandleAna));
DAQmxErrChk(DAQmxCreateAIVoltageChan(taskHandleAna, "Dev2/ai0", "", DAQmx_Val_Diff, minVol, maxVol, DAQmx_Val_Volts, ""));
DAQmxErrChk(DAQmxCfgSampClkTiming(taskHandleAna, "/Dev2/Ctr0InternalOutput", sampleRate2, DAQmx_Val_Rising, sampleMode, nSpCh));
DAQmxErrChk(DAQmxCreateCOPulseChanFreq(taskHandleDig, "Dev2/ctr0", "", DAQmx_Val_Hz, DAQmx_Val_Low, initDelay, freq, dutyCycle));
DAQmxErrChk(DAQmxCfgSampClkTiming(taskHandleDig, "/Dev2/PFI12", sampleRate2, DAQmx_Val_Rising, sampleMode, nSpCh));
unsigned bufferSize = nSpCh;
DAQmxErrChk(DAQmxSetBufInputBufSize(taskHandleAna, bufferSize));
DAQmxErrChk(DAQmxSetBufOutputBufSize(taskHandleDig, bufferSize));
/*********************************************/ /*/ DAQmx Write Code /*********************************************/
DAQmxErrChk(DAQmxWriteCtrTicksScalar(taskHandleDig, 0, timeout, hiTicks, lowTicks, NULL));
/*********************************************/ /*/ DAQmx Start Code /*********************************************/
DAQmxErrChk(DAQmxStartTask(taskHandleAna)); DAQmxErrChk(DAQmxStartTask(taskHandleDig));
printf("Task started, waiting for trigger...\n");
/*********************************************/ /*/ DAQmx Read Code /*********************************************/
double* dataAna = new double[nSpCh];
int32 numReadAna = 0;
int errCode = DAQmxReadAnalogF64(taskHandleAna, -1, timeout, DAQmx_Val_GroupByChannel, dataAna, nSpCh, &numReadAna, NULL);
printf("Acquired %d analog samples\n",numReadAna);
if (numReadAna) {
    unsigned nPts = (numReadAna < hiTicks)? numReadAna : hiTicks;
   for (unsigned n = 0; n < nPts; ++n) {
         printf("%6.3f ", dataAna[n]);
    printf("\n");
delete [] dataAna;
DAQmxErrChk(errCode);
Error:
if( DAQmxFailed(error) )   DAQmxGetExtendedErrorInfo(errBuff,2048);
if( taskHandleDig!=0 && taskHandleAna!=0 ) {
/*********************************************/   /*/ DAQmx Stop Code   /*********************************************/
    DAQmxStopTask(taskHandleDig);
    DAQmxClearTask(taskHandleDig);
    DAQmxStopTask(taskHandleAna);
    DAQmxClearTask(taskHandleAna);
if( DAQmxFailed(error) )   printf("DAQmx Error: %s\n",errBuff);
printf("End of program, press Enter key to quit\n");
getchar();
return 0;
Attachments:
Correlated DIO AI_Sample_Clock Dig Start.c ‏6 KB

Retriggerable buffered counting edge task

Dear all,
I have been working on "Retriggerable buffered counting edge task" on a single counter input channel, let me describe what I want to achieve:
Create a CI to count finite rising edges with external sample clock (eg. Dev1/di/SampleClock) at certain sampling rate, and set CI.edge.Term at one PFI which is hardwired to another digital input channel. Furthermore, I'd like to set "retriggerable start trigger" to this CI by another PFI line.
It turns out that I can only set "arm start trigger" on this counter input channel, instead of "start trigger" since the error of 200452: attribute not supported in task context showed up at configuring digital edge start trigger. It seems that I can only set "retriggerable start trigger" on counter output task, and use two counters to achieve above, but I was wondering if there is a way to accomplish by single counter. Any suggestion is highly appreciated.
Solved!
Go to Solution.

Dear John,
I just tried and run into another issue with overflow. The idea is to synchronize this counter with finite DI and to read both buffers out when DI's buffer is filled. Since I am running CI in contineous mode, it seems to be reasonable to run into overflow on buffered CI after a couple of triggers; Error: -200279 when trying to read CI buffer. Is there a way to skip/ignore overflow but still read buffer with size that I specified at attribute of SamplePerChannel? or any better idea of design to achieve what I am trying to do? I was wondering how effective it would be by increasing buffer size to avoid overflow since no known pattern on the trigger signal.
Really appreciate your help. Thank you.

Buffered analog output puts out additional sample on aborting or stopping task

I'm using DAQmx and LV 8.2
I'm doing a buffered analog output operation where the sample clock is driven by pulses from ctr0 on the same device (PXI-6070E). When I end the analog output task, either with the DAQmx stop task or DAQmx control task (abort option selected), the AO puts out one additional point from the buffer. (I have checked by setting breakpoints and stepping through the code that the additional point is definitely generated when the analog ouput task is aborted)
I need the output to remain where it was before the stop task command is issued. How do I fix this?
Thanks,
Marc

I'm watching to see if there hasn't been a sample output in a certain length of time, then terminating the task if there hasn't been. Specifically, I have ctr0 outputting pulses to drive the task based on input from the AnalogComparisonEvent terminal. I'm using a counter on a different PXI device to count the number of pulses and monitoring this count to determine if another sample has been output. I'm outputting the ctr0 pulse to PFI3 as well, and I'm monitoring both the ctr0 output (which drives the ao clock) and the analog output itself on an oscilloscope.
Basically I'm sitting in a while loop waiting for the monitoring counter to fail to increment. Then I terminate the while loop and stop the analog output task. I can watch the analog output on the oscilloscope while I step through the program. Immediately before the daqmx control task - abort (or daqmx stop if I don't abort first, or daqmx clear, if I don't abort or stop) vi runs, the analog output remains outputting the last sample. Immediately after the abort, stop, or clear, the analog output advances one sample in the buffer.
During this time, ctr0 does not output another pulse, so the scan clock should not advance.
Thanks,
Marc

Synchronize buffered pwm outputs on Daqmx

I'm using Daqmx to produce two synchronized pwm outputs.
The pwm outputs:
a) have variable controllable frequecy, and therefore use buffered data as input to daqmx write vi. and also use 'implicit' as input to clock type in timing vi
b) have their beginning edges synchronized
The design I use uses two separate tasks to create the signals. The only way I could think of of synchronizing the pulses was by putting the 'start vi' and 'write vi' in two different sequential frames. The idea doesn't seem to work, the two pulses somehow drift apart on the oscilloscope. Even the start part does not work; there seems to be a delay.
Since I'm not using any clock to generate the signals (implicit), how can the two pulses be synchronized?

Hello lvuser111
You may take a look to this community example, it could give you a good idea how it may be implemented:
Synchronize Two Counter Output Tasks Using a Dummy AI Task
Regards
Mart G

Can I generate pulse trains on more than one counter output at the same time?

I have a PCI 6601 card with a BNC 2121 to connect the signals to two devices. The card is used as a trigger for both devices and I want to be able to generate pulse trains on two output channels at the same time, with a time delay between the two. How do I do that in Labview 7.1 Development with DAQmx?

I feel foolish for not being able to figure this out, but it still doesn't work. Attached is the VI I use now. Counter 0 generates a finite pulse train and I programmed Counter 1 to generate a retriggerable single pulse triggered by CtrOinternaloutput. I still get the same error message: -50103 The specified resource is reserved. The operation could not be completed as specified.
The same happens if I set the trigger for counter 1 at PFI36 (default output of counter 0) or any other PFI line. If I try a pulse train generation on only one of the counters, both work fine.
If I try the example in traditional DAQ for multiple counter outputs with phase delay, it works fine.
Can you tell me what I'm doing wrong?
Attachments:
Shutter_AND_lamp_trigger.vi ‏103 KB

Counter Output/Counter Input PXI Signals Behaving Erratically

Question for all your LabVIEW guru's out there,
I am running a frequency loopback test using the NI PXI 6229 MIO DAQ card. I am generating a "Counter Output" pulse train signal which feeds through my device under test and then back out of my device under test and back into the PXI 6229 for a "Counter Input" frequency measurement. Both the "Counter Output" and the "Counter Input" are assigned different PFI lines using DAQmx in LabVIEW.
I have 4 lines to test on my DUT. All four lines run this same frequency measurement but with different PFI lines on the PXI 6229. Each line is test independently.
This is my setup for the 4 lines:
Path 1: P2.0 (Counter Output - Pulse Train) -> DUT (Device Under Test) -> P2.1 (Counter Input - Frequency Measurement)
Path 2: P2.2 (Counter Output - Pulse Train) -> DUT (Device Under Test) -> P2.3 (Counter Input - Frequency Measurement)
Path 3: P2.4 (Counter Output - Pulse Train) -> DUT (Device Under Test) -> P2.5 (Counter Input - Frequency Measurement)
Path 4: P2.6 (Counter Output - Pulse Train) -> DUT (Device Under Test) -> P2.7 (Counter Input - Frequency Measurement)
where:
P2.0 = PFI8
P2.1 = PFI9
P2.2 = PFI10
P2.3 = PFI11
P2.4 = PFI12
P2.5 = PFI13
P2.6 = PFI14
P2.7 = PFI15
I have a LabVIEW VI which generates the "Counter Output" and reads the "Counter Input" frequency. I am seeing weird behavior from the PXI 6229 card. I can test "Path 1" and "Path 2" and the frequency I read is what I generated. No issue there. However, when I test "Path 3" and "Path 4" the frequency measurement is erratic. The readings are two different frequencies repeated over and over again and none of those frequencies are the expected frequency which was generated out of the "Counter Output." If I reset the card, and start by testing "Path 3" and "Path 4" the frequency readings are correct and the erratic behavior is gone. However, when I try to then test "Path 2" and "Path 1" now those lines have the erratic frequency issue. I can continue resetting the card and see same issue. The PFI lines that I test first will always pass.
To summarize:
Steps Taken:
1. Test Path 1 = SUCCESS
2. Test Path 2 = SUCCESS
3. Test Path 3 = Erratic Frequency (Two Frequencies repeated over and over again in my frequency results array)
4. Test Path 4 = Erratic Frequency (Two Frequencies repeated over and over again in my frequency results array)
5. Reset the PXI 6229 Card
6. Test Path 3 = SUCCESS
7. Test Path 4 = SUCCESS
8. Test Path 3 = Erratic Frequency (Two Frequencies repeated over and over again in my frequency results array)
9. Test Path 4 = Erratic Frequency (Two Frequencies repeated over and over again in my frequency results array)
I am wondering if Port 2 (P2.0-P2.7) on the 6229 card has certain dependecies and this is why I am seeing issues. I am trying to get around this issue so that I don't have to always reset the card.
Are P2.0-P2.3 (PFI8-PFI11) and P2.4-P2.7 (PFI12-PFI15) treated differently or require different setup? How do I resolve this issue?
Thanks so much!

I have a theory...
The DAQ card follows a policy called "lazy uncommit" wherein the terminal used for the output will continue to be connected to the counter even after the task has completed (until the terminal is needed for something else). So as you run more tests, the counter output will end up driving more lines. This behavior should be easy enough to confirm.
As the DAQ card drives more lines, I'd imagine this affects the actual signal. You could scope it to check, but it sounds like either the rise/fall times are becoming longer or some extra noise is being introduced on the line.
The readings are two different frequencies repeated over and over again and none of those frequencies are the expected frequency which was generated out of the "Counter Output."
This implies you are picking up an extra edge during transitions--this isn't too uncommon if the signal is noisy since there is no built-in hysteresis on the DAQ card. I would expect the measured frequencies to have periods that sum to either the full period or the semi-period of your actual signal (depending on how many duplicate edges are detected).
Suggestions are as follows:
To stop the DAQ card from driving multiple PFI lines, it would probably be easiest to just programmatically reset the device in between your tests (using DAQmx Reset Device). If you can't reset the device (e.g. because you are running some other task that can't be interrupted) then you can instead configure a dummy task that uses the PFI line in question as an input.
To stop the DAQ card from picking up multiple edges during transitions, you should configure a digital filter on the input terminals. If you reset the device it sounds like this might not be necessary... it's up to you if you want to configure this or not.
Best Regards,
John Passiak

How to filter starttrigger on counter output precisely

HW PCI6602
Measurement studio 2008 (C#)NI-DAQmx 9.02I’m trying to trig a camera using the output from a counter.
The camera should be trigged when the counter input pulse width is larger than approx (filterPulseWidth 10us).To do this a have set up the following tasktask.COChannels.CreatePulseChannelTime(counter, "TriggerTaskChannel", COPulseTimeUnits.Seconds, COPulseIdleState.Low, 0, 80E-6, 0.007); task.Triggers.StartTrigger.Type = StartTriggerType.DigitalEdge; task.Triggers.StartTrigger.DigitalEdge.Edge = DigitalEdgeStartTriggerEdge.Rising; task.Triggers.StartTrigger.Retriggerable = true;task.Triggers.StartTrigger.DigitalEdge.DigitalFilterMinimumPulseWidth = filterPulseWidth; task.Triggers.StartTrigger.DigitalEdge.DigitalFilterEnable = true;Unfortunatly this filter has the following behaviour”If the period of the filter clock timebase is tfltrclk, this filter guarantees topass pulse widths that are 2*tfltrclk or longer and to block pulse widths thatare tfltrclk or shorter. A pulse with a width between these two ranges may ormay not pass, depending on the phase of the pulse with respect to the filterclock timebase”.It means that I have no sharp distinction on my filter as one would when applying a filter to an ordinary pulse width measuring task. Implementing this with via the software in a callback is to slow.The bottom line is that I would like to generate a pulse on my counter output when the trigger/counter input is greater than say 10us. The output pulse could be predetermind as in the sample code above or as long as the filtered input (I.e counter just pass filtered input to my output).How can this be done? BR
Jongas
Solved!
Go to Solution.

Hi Jongas,
Is it OK if the trigger is sent once the pulse hits 10 us, rather than
on the exact falling edge? I'll assume the exact timing isn't as important, but you would like the trigger to occur very close to the falling edge (within a couple of us). The important thing is that we trigger as close as possible to when the PWM has hit 50% duty cycle.
Some brainstorming:
Digital Filtering on the 660x Isn't the Best for This:
Digital filtering might not be as practical here on your 6602 due to the region of uncertainty between 5 and 10 (or 10 and 20) us pulses. The TIO boards count two consecutive edges of a filter clock to determine when to pass a signal through so the guaranteed rejected pulse width is always half of your guaranteed passed pulse width (providing an external filter clock timebase that is synchronized with your external signal could potentially reduce this uncertainty but I honestly haven't tried this before and I would imagine it is not going to be very straightforward).
X Series Alternative:
Our X Series devices use a different method of digital filtering that would work better for you. If a hardware change is an option (and you can use PCIe) then you might consider this. You could use the 20 MHz timebase as your filter clock timebase and could guarantee to pass 10 us (200/20M) and reject 9.95 us (201/20M). The 6320 is currently our lowest cost X Series board. A couple of points about this solution:
1. To configure the PFI filter, you need to use some sort of dummy task to
access the property nodes. Here is an
example of this (although it is written in LabVIEW).
2. You can route the filtered PFI signal to be exported on another PFI line, but this will reserve Counter 3. This is documented in the Device Routes tab of Measurement and Automation Explorer.
3. The filtered output will be 9.95-10 us delayed from the input signal, so you could trigger the camera off of the rising edge of the filtered output directly and be fairly close to the actual falling edge.
External AND Gate Alternative:
You could configure a Counter Output to generate a re-triggerable pulse with a 10 us initial delay (to be triggered off of the rising edge of your PWM signal). Assuming the pulse is short enough to complete before the next period of your PWM signal, the counter output would only be high at the same time as the PWM signal if the signal was longer than 10 us. Use the external AND gate to combine these two signals and the result would be the trigger for your camera (the rising edge would correspond to 10 us after the PWM signal first goes high).
If you wanted to you could make the counter output pulse a little longer (say 8 us) and trigger the camera off of the falling edge out of the AND gate (a.k.a. rising edge out of a NAND gate) which would line up with the exact falling edge of the PWM signal. Don't make the CO pulse too long or it will overlap with the next period of the PWM.
Another Idea:
One idea that I keep coming back to is to use the internal rollover event of a counter input task (a pulse is generated whenever a counter rolls over on its Internal Output which can be routed to a PFI line). I don't think this will work, but the idea in theory would be to:
1. Set Default state to known value (e.g. 2^32-200).
2. Gate the Counter so it only counts during the time PWM is high. Have it count the 20 MHz timebase.
3. Reset the Counter to default state on the falling edge of the PWM signal.
4. The counter would rollover if 200 pulses occurred of the 20 MHz timebase (10 us), and the Counter Output could be routed to a PFI line to trigger the camera.
The problem is that there is no good way to reset the counter except for an encoder measurement (Kevin has already made a nice suggestion about this). A Pulse Width Measurement would technically reset the counter, but you cannot currently set the default value of a Pulse Width Measurement task so there is no way to make the rollover happen prematurely).
Configuring an encoder measurement and working with the multiple counters on the 6602 to produce appropriate A,B, and Z signals might be a method to look into further, but at this point I think you'd be better off with an external AND gate.
I don't want to say it's impossible with just the 6602, but I can't think of a straightforward way to go about it without external hardware (although maybe I can sleep on it and think of something later... how many counters do you have to work with?).
With your current NI Hardware, I think your best bet is to go with an external AND gate. If you're planning on purchasing an X Series card the digital filtering idea is actually not a bad way to go.
I hope this is helpful!
Best Regards,
John Passiak

How to Immediately Change Counter Output Rate?

I have a piece of code that largely works like this example: http://zone.ni.com/devzone/cda/epd/p/id/5493
In other words, I set up the Counter Output with some initial frequency and duty cycle, but then during the main loop of my program I continuously change the frequency to a new value based on other criteria.
I'm using an M-series PXI card and LabVIEW RT.
The problem I'm having is that the card waits for the next edge before changing the counter output rate. For instance, lets say it is going at a low frequency and I am upping to a high frequency. If the command arrives in the middle of the current pulse, it will wait to complete the low-rate pulse before starting the high frequency output. Is there a way to make it interrupt the current count and immediately start counting at the new rate?
Thanks,
Isaac

Hi Isaac,
I posted the code in LV 8.2 so you should be able to open it now (it sometimes takes several minutes to upload).
There are a few limitations to using the digital lines instead of the counters:
1. The digital lines are updated off of a sample clock which will be much slower than a timebase. For example, on the 6221 the maximum update rate is 1 MHz, while the counter output has a max timebase of 80 MHz. As a result, the number of frequencies you can generate are going to be more restricted (divide down from 1 MHz vs. 80 MHz).
2. On M series devices, the digital lines must be clocked from an external source. This could be generated from a counter
3. You have to build the digital waveform, which is a bit tricky (I think the example code should help out with that but I haven't had time to thoroughly test it).
4. If you are generating digital lines at fast rates, you will need to write quite a few samples at a time to the output buffer to ensure the data does not underflow. If the buffer includes multiple periods of the digital signal, you would have the case that using the counter output would still update more immediately.
Again, to determine the best course of action it would be useful to know what frequencies you want to generate and which exact hardware you are using. I just mentioned the digital lines as an alternative to the counters, but it might not be ideal for your situation.
-John
John Passiak

How to disable (turn off) a counter output

I have a similar question up on the the board but I thought I would ask it in another way to make it simple and straightforward.
Can an E-series counter output be disabled (and enabled) quickly through some software command? When I say " disabled" I mean switched off to a TTL low state. I have tried both the "disable" counter control command and gating the counter with a TTL signal. Both methods leave the output pin in whatever state the output happens to be in at the time of the command or gating. I need a disable function where "disabled" automatically sets an OFF or LOW on the output. I am using this to generate a pulse train where the pulse train switches off at certain times, and I cannot have the output remain high at these times.
I am using traditional DAQ but if there is a method in DAQmx that works I'd be willing to try it...

Have you tried using the following vi with a reset command (search in help, it works with the E series counters)
Counter Control
This VI controls groups of counters. Control operations include starting, stopping, and setting the state of active acquisitions. This VI works with DAQ-STC and NI-TIO-based devices.
Control code 1 (reset) reinitializes the counter back to the default settings.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"It’s the questions that drive us.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Variable frequency counter output

I found this example of how to vary the frequency of a counter output, but it appears this is not supported and i receive the following error. Can anyone tell me if there is an alternative method at all? my device is a usb6341 which has 4 COs
thanks
Attachments:
Capture.JPG ‏118 KB

If you found that code in an NI-provided example, it's probably more likely that the operation is not supported by your specific hardware.
What is the range of frequencies you want to create?
How accurate does the clock need to be?
How often will the frequency be changing?
Can the hardware receiving the clock tolerate and "discontinuities" in the pulse train?
You could momentarily stop the clock, change the setting and then restart it.
MIke...
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Display counter output on graph

I have two counters generating continuous digial pulse trains from my PCI 6010, and I'm trying to display the output on a graph. I've got the output of one counter connected to an AI line that leads to a waveform graph, but I can't get anything on the graph. I've measured the output via external means, so I know the counters are generating the appropriate pulses.
Eventually I'd like to have some sort of indicator for each counter that indicates whether the counter is in the 'on' or 'off' state, but I figured getting the counter outputs to diplay on a graph would be a good first step.
My VI is below; the display part that isn't working is at the bottom of the case structure.
Thanks.

Once your code goes into the inner while loop your graph will never be updated since it will only execute one time. In order to update the graph continually you will need a parallel which handles the graph updates. A good way to pass data between the parallel tasks is a queue.
Mark Yedinak
"Does anyone know where the love of God goes when the waves turn the minutes to hours?"
Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald - Gordon Lightfoot

If I configure a buffered pattern input and a buffered pattern output on the 6534 to both operate from the internal clock, will data be transferred out on the same rising edge as data is transfered in or are there two separate oscillators?

Basically, I want to perform a buffered pattern output synchronously with a buffered pattern input. If I configure the two groups to be internally timed from the same frequency, will the data in be transferred on the same edge as the data out or will the two groups use different oscillators?

Hi Joseph,
There are two clocking structures on the 653x boards, one for each group. This means, even if you specify the exact same frequency for both there is no guarantees that they will be synchronized exactly.
The workaround for synchronizing both groups is to have 1 group clocked internally and 1 group to be clocked externally. Then route the Req line from the internally clocked group to the Req line of the externally clocked group.
Hope that helps.
Ron

Synchronize hardware timed buffered counter acquisition with buffered analog input acquisition

LV7.1
DAQmx
PCI-6036E
SC-2345
Windows 2000
Greetings.
I am simply trying to synchronize AI readings with readings from one Counter.
I am trying to perform buffered analog input synchronized with buffered counter acquisition.
I'd like the AI acquistion to trigger the Counter acquistion.
I'm currently setting the Sample Clock Source for the CI Cnt Edges Task to "Dev1/ai/SampleClock" but when I try and set the source for the "DAQmx Trigger" I can't seem to select one that works. I assumed that the source should be the "Dev1/ai/StartTrigger" but that produces and error as does selecting any of the PFI's.
I'm new to DAQmx and didn't have any luck with the examples or what's been previously posted.
Thanks for your help.
Attachments:
Initialization.jpg ‏84 KB

Gentlemen-
All of your initial help was great. I had some noise on my counter lines so switched from an E-Series card to a PCI-6259 M-series card in order to use the counter digital filters.
Now I can't get a corellated buffered counter and buffered analog input acquistion to work. This same code worked fine on an E-series card but it doesn't on the M-series.
I verified that the source and gate of the counter are working properly using the test panel and a external function generator.
But when I run the attached code I get no data out of the "Counter 1D U32 NSamples", only an error saying that the timeout of the function was reached and no count data became available. Am I missing the specification of a another clock or something?
The counters also work fine using the M-series example code "Count Digital Events (M-Series DAQmx) but this is not a buffered acquisition.
Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Steve
Attachments:
Sample_Code.jpg ‏136 KB

Buffered counter output in C

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