01-21-2015 11:12 AM
I am trying to test the timing and synchronization of a distributed system consisting of a NI-cRIO-9082 and two NI 9144 ethercat chassis. Is there some way to access the system absolute time on the 9144 from within the FPGA?
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01-22-2015 11:24 AM
dwcarr,
I'm not aware of any built-in way to get a timestamp on the 9144 FPGA. Is there any particular reason you need the absolute, rather than relative time? You could try to pass the system time from the RT controller using user defined variables. You would have to make a custom implementation, however. If you need a VERY precise system time, you could also use the 9467 GPS timing module. That will be able to give you the absolute time on your FPGA. It may be overkill, however, depending on your system.
01-22-2015 11:34 AM
Thanks for the response. Actually, I just figured this out a few moments ago. It is possible to add a timestamp to a user defined variable by selecting "Enable Timestamping" on the user defined variable properties dialog box. This timestamp does what I want, as it uses the absolute time of the 9144 (which is synchronized to the master clock), and this time can be read back on the Host/Master.
At least I think it does what I want. I am in the process of coding and testing right now.