Does the USRP SDR require LabVIEW Communications?

Question

I've recently installed LabVIEW 2013 on my machine, along with a whole bunch of toolkits:
LabVIEW 2013 English
VI Package Manager
LabVIEW 2013 Control Design and Simulation Module
LabVIEW 2013 Datalogging and Supervisory Control Module
LabVIEW 2013 MathScript RT Module
NI LabVIEW 2013 LEGO(R) MINDSTORMS(R) NXT Module (English)
NI Vision Development Module 2013
LabVIEW 2013 FPGA Module (English)
Xilinx Compilation Tools 14.4
LabVIEW 2013 Real-Time Module (English)
LabVIEW 2013 Touch Panel Module
LabVIEW 2013 Robotics Module
NI SignalExpress 2013
LabVIEW 2013 Sound and Vibration Measurement Suite
LabVIEW 2013 Statechart Module
LabVIEW 2013 for myRIO Module
NI Real-Time Execution Trace Toolkit 2013
LabVIEW 2013 System Identification Toolkit
LabVIEW 2013 Digital Filter Design Toolkit
LabVIEW Modulation Toolkit 4.3.4
LabVIEW 2013 VI Analyzer Toolkit
LabVIEW 2013 Database Connectivity Toolkit
LabVIEW 2013 Report Generation Toolkit for Microsoft Office
LabVIEW Spectral Measurements Toolkit 2.6.4
LabVIEW 2013 Advanced Signal Processing Toolkit
LabVIEW 2013 PID and Fuzzy Logic Toolkit
LabVIEW 2013 Adaptive Filter Toolkit
LabVIEW 2013 DataFinder Toolkit
LabVIEW 2013 Desktop Execution Trace Toolkit
LabVIEW 2013 Multicore Analysis and Sparse Matrix Toolkit
LabVIEW 2013 Electrical Power Suite
LabVIEW 2013 GPU Analysis Toolkit
LabVIEW 2013 Biomedical Toolkit
LabVIEW 2013 NI SoftMotion Module
NI Motion Assistant 2013
NI Vision Builder for Automated Inspection 2012 SP1
NI DIAdem Professional 2012 SP1 (English)
LabWindows/CVI 2013 Development System
LabWindows/CVI 2013 Real-Time Module
LabWindows/CVI Spectral Measurements Toolkit 2.6.4
LabWindows/CVI Spectral Measurements Runtime 2.6.4
LabWindows/CVI SQL Toolkit 2.2
LabWindows/CVI Signal Processing Toolkit 7.0.2
LabWindows/CVI PID Control Toolkit 2.1
LabWindows/CVI Execution Profiler 1.0
Measurement Studio 2013 Enterprise Edition for Visual Studio 2012
NI General Security Patch Q2 2013
NI TestStand 2013
NI ELVISmx 4.5
NI DAQmx 9.7.5
Xilinx Compilation Tools 10.1 (Requires Additional Xilinx Compilation Tools DVD)
NI Device Drivers - February 2013
I wanted to follow this tutorial with the USRP 2932, which will arrive soon, but I later found out that I don't seem to have any of the LabVIEW Communications. Will not having those prevent me from using the USRP radio? If not, then are there any restrictions on what I can do with the radio without Communications?

Answer 1

Hi BreadLB,
The link to the tutorial that you posted is based on LabVIEW Communications System Design Suite, a new software environment designed to accelerate algorithm prototyping and over the air testing.  It is a completely separate and independent environment from LabVIEW.  See my post here for more details.  You can also download a free 30 day evaluation copy here.  Your hardware is supported with both LabVIEW and LabVIEW Communications.
The NI 2932 is a network based USRP, and it has a small onboard FPGA.  Because of that, the FPGA on that specific product is not a LabVIEW FPGA target.  The NI 294x/5x family has a large Kintex 7 FPGA and can be programmed using LabVIEW FPGA or LabVIEW Communications, like in the tutorial that you posted.  The NI 2932 can be used with your host PC and LabVIEW for a wide variety of applications.  Unfortunately the tutorial that you linked in your post requires the NI 294x/5x hardware and LabVIEW Communications.  If you have questions about a specific application for your 2932, please post more details and we would be happy to help.