PXI-8231 with LabVIEW RT

[pabr]

Hi,

I plan to use a PXI-8231 in a PXI-1042 chassis with PXI-8184 controller.  The controller doesn't run Windows, it runs LabVIEW RT 7.1.

Let's say that in my code I do a TCP Open Connection - since I can't specify what Ethernet adapter to use (8231 or the on of the 8184) how does that work?  Does the TCP layer looks for the specified address from both Ethernet adatpers and returns the right connection?

Now let's say I do the same thing with Open Application Reference (to use VI server), is the TCP layer looking for machine name from both Ethernet adatpers and return the right reference?

Patrick.

[eek]

Hi Patrick,

You can certainly configure multiple ethernet adapters in your RT controller (the port in your 8184 and the 8231). So before we get too tricky with the TCP layer and Open Application Reference, I would first suggest taking a look at this KnowledgeBase. It goes through the instructions on how to use the Advanced Ethernet Settings in Measurement and Automation Explorer to select the primary ethernet device by MAC address.

Hope this helps!

Cheers,

Emilie K | Applications Engineer | National Instruments

[pabr]

Hi Emilie,

I don't have the PXI-8231 yet, but I know how to configure it in MAX.  My team just need to be sure that it will do what we want in our application.  Also our design document needs to detail how to deal with to Ethernet adapters.  Each adapter will be connected to a different subnet.  The 8184 adapter would be connected to our company public network while the 8231 would be connected to a private subnet to use datasocket and maybe TCP reads and writes.  Looking at the functions in the TCP pallette, only TCP Listen.vi has an optionnal net address connector to specify the adapter to use.  With Open Application Reference, if there is a qway to specify the adapter, I don't know it.

Thanks,

Patrick.

[eek]

Hi Patrick,

So I would specify the IP address of the adapter you are attempting to communicate with. If you specified a static IP address for the 8231, then you would simply wire this as the input to your TCP or Open Application Reference vi's. If, on the other hand, you are using DHCP to specify the IP address, we can get a little tricky. I'll assume that you know the MAC address of both network adapters, since you verified that you know how to configure multiple adapters in MAX. You can then find out the IP address that is assigned to your network adapter by using the RT Ping Controllers.vi. This sends out a ping to your controller and returns a list of all devices that returned the communication, specifying both the MAC address and the corresponding IP address. So by knowing your MAC address, you can then see what IP address was assigned. Then simply use this as your input to your network communication vi's, as previously mentioned.

I hope this fleshes things out a bit.

Cheers,

Emilie