System and method for configuring a programmable hardware instrument to perform measurement functions utilizing estimation of the hardware implentation and management of hardware resources

• US 6,608,638 B1
• Filed: 02/07/2000
• Issued: 08/19/2003
• Est. Priority Date: 02/07/2000
• Status: Expired

• Current Assignee: National Instruments Corporation (Emerson Electric Company)
• Original Assignee: National Instruments Corporation (Emerson Electric Company)
• Inventors: Kodosky, Jeffrey L., Odom, Brian Keith, Butler, Cary Paul, Mihal, Andrew, Andrade, Hugo
• Primary Examiner(s): Cabeca, John
• Assistant Examiner(s): Hailu, Tadesse
• Application Number:
  US09/499,503
• Time in Patent Office: 1,289 Days
• Field of Search: 345/773, 345/839, 345/771, 345/967, 345/965, 345/964, 702/57, 702/66, 702/69, 703/22
• US Class Current: 715/771
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/2294 by remote test
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/2733 Test interface between tester and unit under test
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 30/30 Circuit design
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 30/34 for reconfigurable circuits, e.g. field programmable gate arrays [FPGA] or programmable logic devices [PLD]
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 30/343 Logical level

Abstract

A computer-implemented system and method for generating a hardware implementation of graphical code. The method may operate to configure an instrument to perform measurement functions, wherein the instrument includes a programmable hardware element. The method comprises first creating a graphical program, wherein the graphical program may implement a measurement function. A portion of the graphical program may optionally be compiled into machine code for execution by a CPU, and another portion of the graphical program may be converted into a hardware implementation on a programmable hardware element. The programmable hardware element is configured utilizing a hardware description to produce a configured hardware element. The configured hardware element thus implements a hardware implementation of the second portion of the graphical program. During generation of the hardware implementation, the computer system may operate to estimate and/or display one or more of size and cost of a hardware implementation of the graphical program. In one embodiment, the graphical program manipulates one or more hardware resources of an instrument, and an indication of usage of the one or more hardware resources are displayed during creation of the graphical program. Probes may also be inserted into the graphical program, wherein corresponding probe elements are placed in the hardware implementation to implement the probe function.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented method for configuring an instrument to perform measurement functions, wherein the instrument includes a programmable hardware element, the method comprising:

creating a graphical program, wherein the graphical program implements a measurement function;

the computer system estimating one or more of size and cost of a hardware implementation of the graphical program; and

the computer system displaying one or more of the size and cost of the hardware implementation of the graphical program to a user;

generating a hardware description based on at least a portion of the graphical program, wherein the hardware description describes a hardware implementation of the at least a portion of the graphical program;

configuring the programmable hardware element in the instrument utilizing the hardware description to produce a configured hardware element, wherein the configured hardware element implements a hardware implementation of the at least a portion of the graphical program;

the instrument acquiring a signal from an external source after said configuring; and

the programmable hardware element in the instrument executing to perform the measurement function on the signal.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the graphical program comprises a plurality of elements, the method further comprising:

storing a data structure including a listing of each of the elements and a corresponding cost of each element;

wherein said estimating uses said data structure.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the data structure stores cost in terms of one or more of gates and time of execution.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

determining if the programmable hardware element has sufficient capacity to implement the graphical program in response to said estimating, wherein said determining is performed prior to said generating the hardware description.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein said determining comprises:

totaling the amount of gates utilized with regard to each element being used in the graphical program, and

determining if the programmable hardware element has sufficient capacity to implement the graphical program based on the amount of gates.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

determining how fast the graphical program will execute in the programmable hardware element, wherein said determining is performed prior to said generating the hardware description.

7. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving user input regarding desired execution time of the hardware implementation of the graphical program;

determining if the hardware implementation can execute according to the desired execution time, wherein said determining utilizes the execution times of each of the elements;

displaying information to the user indicating whether the graphical program satisfies user input regarding time of execution.

8. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

storing in the memory of the computer system a plurality of components, wherein said plurality of components include a first component of a first type and a second component of the first type, wherein the first component requires a first number of gates and wherein the second component requires a second larger number of gates;

wherein said generating the hardware description includes selecting either said first component or said second component.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein either said first component or said second component is selected based on said estimating.

10. The method of claim 8, further comprising

receiving user input indicating desired execution information;

wherein either said first component or said second component is selected based on said user input.

11. The method of claim 10,

wherein said desired execution information includes one or more of number of gates comprised in the programmable hardware element and a desired time of execution.

12. The method of claim 8, further comprising:

storing in the memory of the computer system a library of components, wherein said library of components includes slower, less complex versions of components and faster, more complex versions of components;

wherein said generating includes selecting among said slower, less complex versions of components and said faster, more complex versions of components.

13. The method of claim 1, wherein the instrument is selected based on one or more of the size and cost of the hardware implementation of the graphical program.

14. A computer-implemented method for configuring an instrument to perform measurement functions, wherein the instrument includes a programmable hardware element, the method comprising:

creating a graphical program, wherein the graphical program implements a measurement function, wherein the graphical program manipulates one or more hardware resources of the instrument, wherein said creating includes displaying an indication of usage of said one or more hardware resources during creation of the graphical program;

generating a hardware description based on at least a portion of the graphical program, wherein the hardware description describes a hardware implementation of the at least a portion of the graphical program;

configuring the programmable hardware element in the instrument utilizing the hardware description to produce a configured hardware element, wherein the configured hardware element implements a hardware implementation of the at least a portion of the graphical program;

the instrument acquiring a signal from an external source after said configuring;

the programmable hardware element in the instrument executing to perform the measurement function on the signal, wherein said executing includes manipulating one or more of the hardware resources of the instrument.

15. The method of claim 14,

wherein said one or more hardware resources comprise non-reusable hardware resources;

wherein said displaying an indication of usage of said one or more hardware resources during creation of the graphical program is designed to prevent a user from erroneously re-using said non-reusable hardware resources.

16. The method of claim 14,

wherein said one or more hardware resources comprise non-reusable hardware esources;

wherein said displaying an indication of usage comprises displaying icons representing said one or more hardware resources on a palette during creation of the graphical program;

wherein said icons representing said one or more hardware resources disappear from said palette as said one or more hardware resources are used in the graphical program.

17. The method of claim 16, wherein, in said creating the graphical program, the icons representing said one or more hardware resources may be dragged from the palette into the graphical program.

18. The method of claim 14, wherein the one or more hardware resources include one or more of:

A/D converters, D/A converters, timers, counters, clocks, input channels, output channels, and filters.

19. A computer-implemented method for configuring an instrument to perform measurement functions, wherein the instrument includes a programmable hardware element, the method comprising:

creating a graphical program, wherein the graphical program implements a measurement function, wherein the graphical program manipulates a non-reusable hardware resource of the instrument a plurality of times, wherein said creating the graphical program includes;

constructing sequencing in the graphical program, wherein said sequencing prevents the non-reusable hardware resource from being used simultaneously within the graphical program;

generating a hardware description based on at least a portion of the graphical program, wherein the hardware description describes a hardware implementation of the at least a portion of the graphical program;

configuring the programmable hardware element in the instrument utilizing the hardware description to produce a configured hardware element, wherein the configured hardware element implements a hardware implementation of the at least a portion of the graphical program;

the instrument acquiring a signal from an external source after said configuring;

the programmable hardware element in the instrument executing to perform the measurement function on the signal, wherein said executing includes manipulating the non-reusable resource of the instrument a plurality of times according to said sequencing.

20. The computer-implemented method of claim 19, wherein said constructing sequencing is performed using a sequence structure.

21. The method of claim 19, further comprising:

exporting at least a portion of the graphical program into a hardware description, wherein the hardware description describes a hardware implementation of the at least a portion of the graphical program;

wherein said exporting includes utilizing at least one multiplexer to multiplex control and data inputs to the non-reusable hardware resource with signals to guarantee that simultaneous accesses are impossible, as indicated by the sequencing.

22. A computer-implemented method for configuring a programmable hardware element to perform a function, the method comprising:

creating a graphical program, wherein the graphical program comprises a plurality of interconnected nodes which visually indicate functionality of the program, wherein the graphical program specifies a function;

the computer system estimating one or more of size and cost of a hardware implementation of the graphical program;

the computer system displaying one or more of the size and cost of the hardware implementation of the graphical program to a user;

generating a hardware description based on at least a portion of the graphical program, wherein the hardware description describes a hardware implementation of the at least a portion of the graphical program; and

configuring the programmable hardware element utilizing the hardware description to produce a configured programmable hardware element, wherein the configured programmable hardware element implements a hardware implementation of the at least a portion of the graphical program.

23. The method of claim 22, further comprising:

the configured programmable hardware element executing to perform the function.

24. The method of claim 22,

wherein the programmable hardware element is comprised in a device, wherein the device includes an input for receiving a signal;

the method further comprising;

the device acquiring a signal from an external source after said configuring; and

the configured programmable hardware element in the device executing to perform the function using the signal.

25. The method of claim 22, wherein the graphical program comprises a plurality of elements, the method further comprising:

storing a data structure including a listing of each of the elements and a corresponding cost of each element;

wherein said estimating uses said data structure.

26. The method of claim 25, wherein the data structure stores cost in terms of one or more of gates and time of execution.

27. The method of claim 22, further comprising:

determining if the programmable hardware element has sufficient capacity to implement the graphical program in response to said estimating, wherein said determining is performed prior to said generating the hardware description.

28. The method of claim 27, wherein said determining comprises:

totaling the amount of gates utilized with regard to each element being used in the graphical program; and

determining if the programmable hardware element has sufficient capacity to implement the graphical program based on the amount of gates.

29. The method of claim 22, further comprising:

determining how fast the graphical program will execute in the programmable hardware element, wherein said determining is performed prior to said generating the hardware description.

30. The method of claim 22, further comprising:

receiving user input regarding desired execution time of the hardware implementation of the graphical program;

determining if the hardware implementation can execute according to the desired execution time, wherein said determining utilizes the execution times of each of the elements;

displaying information to the user indicating whether the graphical program satisfies the user input regarding time of execution.

31. The method of claim 22, further comprising:

storing in the memory of the computer system a plurality of components, wherein said plurality of components include a first component of a first type and a second component of the first type, wherein the first component requires a first number of gates and wherein the second component requires a second larger number of gates;

wherein said generating the hardware description includes selecting either said first component or said second component.

32. The method of claim 31, wherein either said first component or said second component is selected based on said estimating.

33. The method of claim 31, further comprising:

receiving user input indicating desired execution information;

wherein either said first component or said second component is selected based on said user input.

34. The method of claim 33,

wherein said desired execution information includes one or more of number of gates comprised in the programmable hardware element and a desired time of execution.

35. The method of claim 31, further comprising:

storing in the memory of the computer system a library of components, wherein said library of components includes slower, less complex versions of components and faster, more complex versions of components;

wherein said generating includes selecting among said slower, less complex versions of components and said faster, more complex versions of components.

36. The method of claim 22, wherein the graphical program comprises a data flow diagram.

37. A computer-implemented method for configuring a device to perform a function, wherein the device includes a programmable hardware element, wherein the device also includes one or more hardware resources, the method comprising:

creating a graphical program, wherein the graphical program comprises a plurality of interconnected nodes which visually indicate functionality of the program, wherein the graphical program implements a function, wherein the graphical program manipulates one or more hardware resources of the device, wherein said creating includes displaying an indication of usage of said one or more hardware resources during creation of the graphical program;

generating a hardware description based on at least a portion of the graphical program, wherein the hardware, description describes a hardware implementation of the at least a portion of the graphical program;

configuring the programmable hardware element in the device utilizing the hardware description to produce a configured programmable hardware element, wherein the configured programmable hardware element implements a hardware implementation of the at least a portion of the graphical program;

the device executing, wherein the device executing includes the configured programmable hardware element in the device executing to perform the function, wherein said executing includes manipulating one or more of the hardware resources of the device.

38. The method of claim 37, further comprising:

the device acquiring a signal from an external source after said configuring;

the configured programmable hardware element in the device executing to perform the function on the signal, wherein said executing includes manipulating one or more of the hardware resources of the device.

39. The method of claim 37,

wherein said one or more hardware resources comprise non-reusable hardware resources;

wherein said displaying an indication of usage of said one or more hardware resources during creation of the graphical program is designed to prevent a user from erroneously re-using said non-reusable hardware resources.

40. The method of claim 37,

wherein said displaying an indication of usage of said one or more hardware resources during creation of the graphical program is designed to prevent a user from creating the graphical program to use a hardware resource two or more times simultaneously during execution of the graphical program.

41. The method of claim 37,

wherein said displaying an indication of usage comprises displaying icons representing said one or more hardware resources on a palette during creation of the graphical program;

wherein said icons representing said one or more hardware resources disappear from said palette as said one or more hardware resources are used in the graphical program.

42. The method of claim 37, further comprising:

displaying a palette comprising icons representing said one or more hardware resources during creation of the graphical program;

wherein, in said creating the graphical program, the icons representing said one or more hardware resources may be dragged from the palette into the graphical program.

43. The method of claim 37,

wherein said displaying an indication of usage comprises displaying icons representing said one or more hardware resources on a palette during creation of the graphical program;

wherein said displaying comprises altering said icons in said palette to visually indicate the one or more hardware resources being used in the graphical program.

44. The method of claim 37, wherein the one or more hardware resources include one or more of:

A/D converters, D/A converters, timers, counters, clocks, input channels, output channels, and filters.

45. The method of claim 37, wherein the graphical program comprises a data flow diagram.

46. A computer-implemented method for configuring a device, wherein the device includes a programmable hardware element, wherein the device also includes at least one hardware resource, the method comprising:

creating a graphical program, wherein the graphical program implements a function, wherein the graphical program manipulates a first hardware resource of the device a plurality of times, wherein said creating the graphical program includes;

constructing sequencing in the graphical program, wherein said sequencing prevents the first hardware resource from being used two or more times simultaneously within the graphical program;

generating a hardware description based on at least a portion of the graphical program, wherein the hardware description describes a hardware implementation of the at least a portion of the graphical program;

configuring the programmable hardware element in the device utilizing the hardware description to produce a configured programmable hardware element, wherein the configured programmable hardware element implements a hardware implementation of the at least a portion of the graphical program.

47. The method of claim 46, further comprising:

the configured programmable hardware element in the device executing, wherein said executing includes manipulating the first hardware resource of the device a plurality of times according to said sequencing.

48. The method of claim 46, further comprising:

the device acquiring a signal from an external source after said configuring;

the configured programmable hardware element in the device executing to perform a function on the signal, wherein said executing includes manipulating the first hardware resource of the device a plurality of times according to said sequencing.

49. The method of claim 46,

wherein said generating a hardware description includes utilizing at least one multiplexer to multiplex control and data inputs to the first hardware resource with signals to provide that simultaneous accesses are not performed, as indicated by the sequencing.

50. The method of claim 46,

wherein the graphical program comprises a data flow diagram;

and

wherein said constructing sequencing operates to specify a sequence of execution of portions of the data flow diagram.

51. The computer-implemented method of claim 46, wherein said constructing sequencing is performed using a sequence structure.

52. The computer-implemented method of claim 51, wherein the sequence structure comprises a plurality of frames, wherein each of the frames includes a portion of graphical code that utilizes the first hardware resource;

wherein the sequence structure specifies a sequencing of the frames to prevent simultaneous execution of the portions of graphical code comprised within the frames.

53. The computer-implemented method of claim 51,

wherein the graphical program comprises a data flow diagram;

wherein the sequence structure comprises a plurality of frames, wherein each of the frames includes a portion of the data flow diagram that utilizes the first hardware resource;

wherein the sequence structure specifies a sequencing of the frames to prevent simultaneous execution of the portions of the data flow diagram comprised within the frames.

54. A memory medium comprising program instructions for configuring a programmable hardware element to perform a function,

wherein the memory medium stores a graphical program, wherein the graphical program comprises a plurality of interconnected nodes which visually indicate functionality of the program, wherein the graphical program specifies a function;

wherein the program instructions are executable to implement;

estimating one or more of size and cost of a hardware implementation of the graphical program;

displaying one or more of the size and cost of the hardware implementation of the graphical program to a user;

generating a hardware description based on at least a portion of the graphical program, wherein the hardware description describes a hardware implementation of the at least a portion of the graphical program; and

configuring the programmable hardware element utilizing the hardware description to produce a configured programmable hardware element, wherein the configured programmable hardware element implements a hardware implementation of the at least a portion of the graphical program.

55. The memory medium of claim 54,

wherein the configured programmable hardware element is operable to execute to perform the function.

56. The memory medium of claim 54,

wherein the programmable hardware element is comprised in a device, wherein the device includes an input for receiving a signal;

wherein the device is operable to acquire a signal from an external source after being configured; and

wherein the configured programmable hardware element in the device is operable to execute to perform the function using the signal.

57. The memory medium of claim 54, wherein the graphical program comprises a plurality of elements;

wherein the program instructions comprise a data structure including a listing of each of the elements and a corresponding cost of each element;

wherein said estimating uses said data structure.

58. The memory medium of claim 57, wherein the data structure stores cost in terms of one or more of gates and time of execution.

59. The memory medium of claim 54, wherein the program instructions are further executable to implement:

determining if the programmable hardware element has sufficient capacity to implement the graphical program in response to said estimating, wherein said determining is performed prior to said generating the hardware description.

60. The memory medium of claim 59, wherein said determining comprises:

totaling the amount of gates utilized with regard to each element being used in the graphical program; and

determining if the programmable hardware element has sufficient capacity to implement the graphical program based on the amount of gates.

61. The memory medium of claim 54, wherein the program instructions are further executable to implement:

determining how fast the graphical program will execute in the programmable hardware element, wherein said determining is performed prior to said generating the hardware description.

62. The memory medium of claim 54, wherein the program instructions are further executable to implement:

receiving user input regarding desired execution time of the hardware implementation of the graphical program;

determining if the hardware implementation can execute according to the desired execution time, wherein said determining utilizes the execution times of each of the elements;

displaying information to the user indicating whether the graphical program satisfies the user input regarding time of execution.

63. The memory medium of claim 54,

wherein the memory medium stores a plurality of components, wherein said plurality of components include a first component of a first type and a second component of the first type, wherein the first component requires a first number of gates and wherein the second component requires a second larger number of gates;

wherein said generating the hardware description includes selecting either said first component or said second component.

64. The memory medium of claim 63, wherein either said first component or said second component is selected based on said estimating.

65. The memory medium of claim 63, wherein the program instructions are further executable to implement:

receiving user input indicating desired execution information;

wherein either said first component or said second component is selected based on said user input.

66. The memory medium of claim 65,

wherein said desired execution information includes one or more of number of gates comprised in the programmable hardware element and a desired time of execution.

67. The memory medium of claim 63,

wherein the memory medium stores a library of components, wherein said library of components includes slower, less complex versions of components and faster, more complex versions of components;

wherein said generating includes selecting among said slower, less complex versions of components and said faster, more complex versions of components.

68. The memory medium of claim 54, wherein the graphical program comprises a data flow diagram.

69. A memory medium comprising program instructions for configuring a device to perform a function, wherein the device includes a programmable hardware element, wherein the device also includes one or more hardware resources, wherein the program instructions are executable to implement:

creating a graphical program, wherein the graphical program comprises a plurality of interconnected nodes which visually indicate functionality of the program, wherein the graphical program implements a function, wherein the graphical program manipulates one or more hardware resources of the device, wherein said creating includes displaying an indication of usage of said one or more hardware resources during creation of the graphical program;

generating a hardware description based on at least a portion of the graphical program, wherein the hardware description describes a hardware implementation of the at least a portion of the graphical program;

configuring the programmable hardware element in the device utilizing the hardware description to produce a configured programmable hardware element, wherein the configured programmable hardware element implements a hardware implementation of the at least a portion of the graphical program.

70. The memory medium of claim 69,

wherein the device is operable to execute, wherein execution of the device includes the configured programmable hardware element in the device executing to perform the function, wherein during execution the configured programmable hardware element manipulates one or more of the hardware resources of the device.

71. The memory medium of claim 69,

wherein said one or more hardware resources comprise non-reusable hardware resources;

wherein said displaying an indication of usage of said one or more hardware resources during creation of the graphical program is designed to prevent a user from erroneously re-using said non-reusable hardware resources.

72. The memory medium of claim 69,

wherein said displaying an indication of usage of said one or more hardware resources during creation of the graphical program is designed to prevent a user from configuring the graphical program.to simultaneously accessing a hardware resource from two or more locations in the graphical program.

73. The memory medium of claim 69,

wherein said displaying an indication of usage comprises displaying icons representing said one or more hardware resources on a palette during creation of the graphical program;

wherein said icons representing said one or more hardware resources disappear from said palette as said one or more hardware resources are used in the graphical program.

74. The memory medium of claim 73, wherein, in said creating the graphical program, the icons representing said one or more hardware resources may be dragged from the palette into the graphical program.

75. The memory medium of claim 69,

wherein said displaying an indication of usage comprises displaying icons representing said one or more hardware resources on a palette during creation of the graphical program;

wherein said displaying comprises altering said icons in said palette to visually indicate the one or more hardware resources being used in the graphical program.

76. The memory medium of claim 69, wherein the program instructions are further executable to implement:

displaying a palette comprising icons representing said one or more hardware resources during creation of the graphical program;

wherein, in said creating the graphical program, the icons representing said one or more hardware resources may be dragged from the palette into the graphical program.

77. The memory medium of claim 69, wherein the one or more hardware resources include one or more of:

A/D converters, D/A converters, timers, counters, clocks, input channels, output channels, and filters.

78. The memory medium of claim 69, wherein the graphical program comprises a data flow diagram.

79. A memory medium comprising program instructions for configuring a device, wherein the device includes a programmable hardware element, wherein the device also includes at least one hardware resource, the memory medium comprising:

creating a graphical program, wherein the graphical program implements a function, wherein the graphical program manipulates a first hardware resource of the device a plurality of times, wherein said creating the graphical program includes;

constructing sequencing in the graphical program, wherein said sequencing prevents the first hardware resource from being used two or more times simultaneously within the graphical program;

generating a hardware description based on at least a portion of the graphical program, wherein the hardware description describes a hardware implementation of the at least a portion of the graphical program; and

configuring the programmable hardware element in the device utilizing the hardware description to produce a configured programmable hardware element, wherein the configured programmable hardware element implements a hardware implementation of the at least a portion of the graphical program.

80. The memory medium of claim 79,

wherein the configured programmable hardware element in the device is executable to manipulate the first hardware resource of the device a plurality of times according to said sequencing.

81. The memory medium of claim 79,

wherein the device is operable to acquire a signal from an external source after said configuring;

wherein the configured programmable hardware element in the device is executable to perform a function on the signal, wherein said executing includes manipulating the first hardware resource of the device a plurality of times according to said sequencing.

82. The memory medium of claim 79,

wherein the graphical program comprises a data flow diagram.

83. The memory medium of claim 82,

wherein said constructing sequencing operates to specify a sequence of execution of portions of the data flow diagram.

84. The computer-implemented memory medium of claim 79, wherein said constructing sequencing is performed using a sequence structure.

85. The computer-implemented memory medium of claim 84, wherein the sequence structure comprises a plurality of frames, wherein each of the frames includes a portion of graphical code that utilizes the first hardware resource;

wherein the sequence structure specifies a sequencing of the frames to prevent simultaneous execution of the portions of graphical code comprised within the frames.

86. The computer-implemented memory medium of claim 84,

wherein the graphical program comprises a data flow diagram;

wherein said constructing sequencing is performed using a sequence structure, wherein the sequence structure comprises a plurality of frames, wherein each of the frames includes a portion of the data flow diagram that utilizes the first hardware resource;

wherein the sequence structure specifies a sequencing of the frames to prevent simultaneous execution of the portions of the data flow diagram comprised within the frames.

87. The memory medium of claim 79,

wherein said generating a hardware description includes utilizing at least one multiplexer to multiplex control and data inputs to the first hardware resource with signals to provide that simultaneous accesses are not performed, as indicated by the sequencing.