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Can NI-USRP be worked on GNU Radio?

HustLiliAn,

 

The FW and FPGA image that are written on the USRP definite the device's personality.  They allow the driver to communicate with the device and for the device to function.  There are specific firmware and FPGA images for each type of hardware.  A N200 motherboard uses different images than an N210 because the hardware is different.  

 

UHD and NI-USRP are both drivers that can be used to communicate with USRPs.  When the source code of the driver is updated, the FW and FPGA may also be updated.  Even if they are not updated, they are recompiled against the upated version of UHD/NI-USRP.  For example, if I am using UHD version 003.005.003, I should also be using images compiled against 003.005.003.  If I am using NI-USRP, I should be using the images that install with the driver (C:/Program Files(x86)/National Instruments/NI-USRP/Images on 64 bit Windows).  Using different versions of FW and FPGA images than the driver version you are using can cause an error.

 

UHD and NI-USRP are the drivers for USRPs and I mentioned above.  LabVIEW and GNURadio are the programming languages used to write your software that communicates with the USRP.  If LabVIEW is the language you are using, you will need the NI-USRP driver.  UHD is not compatible with LabVIEW.  If you would like to use GNURadio, you need to use UHD.  Here is a link to installers for GNURadio: 

 

http://code.ettus.com/redmine/ettus/projects/uhd/wiki/GNU_Radio_UHD

 

Depending on which version of UHD you install and plan on using, you may need to update the FW and FPGA image on your hardware.  If you are planning on using UHD and GNURadio, this link has more information:

 

http://code.ettus.com/redmine/ettus/projects/uhd/wiki

Sarah Yost
Senior Product Marketing Manager
Message 11 of 31
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Hi Sarah

 

Thanks a lot for your detailed explaination above. I understand that If I want to use GNUradio then I have to install the UHD compatable with it. How about the FW and FPGA images on the hardware, how can I edit these images on the USRP hardware itself?? Is installing the UHD does it for me or do I have to do something to update it on the hardware?

 

Thanks a lot

 

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Message 12 of 31
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@yasmine.hassan wrote:

Hi Sarah

 

Thanks a lot for your detailed explaination above. I understand that If I want to use GNUradio then I have to install the UHD compatable with it. How about the FW and FPGA images on the hardware, how can I edit these images on the USRP hardware itself?? Is installing the UHD does it for me or do I have to do something to update it on the hardware?

 

Thanks a lot

 


The UHD driver comes with FPGA images and a tool to flash the USRP firmware and FPGA image. However, it is not done automatically. You need to do this manually if you want to switch from using the USRPs with LabVIEW to GnuRadio. Similarly, you need to flash the images provided with the NI USRP driver manually once you want to use the USRPs with LabVIEW again. The process is usually straightforward and painless, just make sure to select the correct images for your USRP hardware.

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hey Sarah

I have a question that differs slightly from the disscussion here but I thinnk you might be able to answer. 
I am using a usrp 2930 and I want to know if it is possible to reconfigure the ethernet to a slower speed... as far as i can find it only runs at 1G but I would like to run it at 100M if possible.

 

~Zack49

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Message 14 of 31
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Hey Zack49,

 

Next time you have an unrelated question, please start a new forum thread.  This helps keep our forum more organized so others can find answers to questions easier.

 

Unfortunately, you cannot use any of the N series USPRs (Ettus N200 and N210, NI 292x, NI 293x) with a 100/10 Ethernet card.  You must use a 1 Gigabit Ethernet card.  PCIe 10 GigE cards are relatively inexpensive ($30-$100) if your system needs to be updated.

Sarah Yost
Senior Product Marketing Manager
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Message 15 of 31
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Dear Ms. Sarah,

 

We are trying to use NI USRP-2920 with GNURadio on Linux. I understand that we need to update the Firmware and FPGA Image using NI USRP Configuration Utility.

We tried looking for the FW and FPGA Images from following link but were not able to find it:

http://code.ettus.com/redmine/ettus/projects/uhd/wiki/UHD_build

 

Can you please let us know from where can we find the relevant FPGA and FW Image?

 

An early response would be greatly appreciated.

 

Thanks and Regards,

Karun

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Message 16 of 31
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Hi Karun,

 

The FPAG image and FW that you need is dependent on the version of UHD that you have installed.  When you install UHD, there is a utility called uhd_images_downloader.py that is installed in the following path:

 

/usr/local/share/uhd/utils/uhd_images_downloader.py

 

This utility will download the images you need based on the host code you have installed.  There are 2 more links of the page that you linked in your message that direct you to the images you need.  You need to know which version of UHD you installed in order to get the correct images.  If you installed the latest stable version, follow the link to master images.  If you are not using UHD 003.007.000-release, you can go to this link to find previous versions of the images.

 

Also, the NI USRP configuration utility is not supported on Linux.  You will need to use the UHD utilities to do this update.  You can use either usrp_n2xx_net_burner.py or usrp_n2xx_net_burner_gui.py.  Both of these utilities are installed with the UHD driver.

Sarah Yost
Senior Product Marketing Manager
Message 17 of 31
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Hi Sarah_Y,

 

I need a little bit of help. I am trying to use OpenBTS with an NI USRP-2932. If I understand correctly, I need to change the FPGA images FW to work.

 

I have tried installing UHD but I am not sure if it has installed correctly. I ran the stable [maint] code from this link:

 

http://ettus-apps.sourcerepo.com/redmine/ettus/projects/uhd/wiki/UHD_Linux

 

Is this enough to install the UHD fully? Also, is there any way that you can check to see if the UHD were installed correctly?

 

And when you say that a utility called uhd_images_downloader will be downloaded when I install the UHD, how exactly do I run it / find it?

 

Any help that you can provide is extremely appreciated! In addition, this is my first real experience working on a unix system, so please have patience with me and explain even the most minor of details! Thank you so much!

Message 18 of 31
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I am trying to execute a GNU radio flow graph containing a UHD block.

 

I am receiving the following error:

 

Error: LookupError: KeyError: No devices found for -----> Empty Device Address

 

I have entered the device IP address in the UHD block.

 

I can ping the E310 (USRP device connected to the laptop running GNU Radio).

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Hey! Can anyone tell me? How to configure NI USRP with PC? I am using GNU Radio for implementing FM Reciever ? Is it possible to use GNU Radio with NI USRP?

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