December 2020
This file contains installation instructions and compatibility information for NI-USRP.
You can find more release information on ni.com.
If you plan to use LabVIEW NXG, refer to LabVIEW NXG Support and Considerations.
Product Security and Critical Updates
Finding Examples, Lessons, and Sample Projects
LabVIEW NXG Support and Considerations
Automating the Installation of NI Products
Using NI Software with Microsoft Windows 10
Using NI Software with Microsoft Windows 8.1
This software installation provides support for customers using software defined radio (USRP) devices, software defined radio reconfigurable (USRP RIO) devices, and software defined radio stand-alone (USRP Stand-Alone) devices, as specified in the Supported Hardware section. To program your USRP, USRP RIO, or USRP Stand-Alone device, use the NI-USRP API or USRP RIO Instrument Design Library (IDL) included in the NI-USRP instrument driver.
The getting started guide for your device provides information about how to install, configure, test, and begin using a USRP, USRP RIO, or USRP Stand-Alone device.
NI-USRP 20.5 has the following requirements:
| Device | USB 2.0 or Higher | Gigabit Ethernet | PCI/MXI Express x4 |
|---|---|---|---|
| USRP-2900/2901 | √ | ||
| USRP-2920/2921/2922 | √ | ||
| USRP-2930/2932 | √ | ||
| USRP-2940/2942/2943/2944/2945 | √ | √ | |
| USRP-2950/2952/2953/2954/2955 | √ | √ | |
| USRP-2974 | √ |
Refer to the LabVIEW Readme for additional system requirements and supported operating systems for your version of LabVIEW.
USRP RIO devices support both 1G Ethernet (1 GbE) and 10G Ethernet (10 GbE) using the connectors on the device back panel. With the default FPGA image, port 0 is designated for 1G, and port 1 is designated for 10G. Users programming with LabVIEW, LabVIEW NXG, or LabVIEW Communications System Design Suite can use Ethernet.
The USRP-2974 is only supported through Ethernet using 1 GbE through RJ45 and 10 GbE through SFP+ connections.
Note The FPGA cannot be modified when the USRP RIO device is connected through Ethernet.
Note Refer to NI-USRP Drops Support for Windows 7 (32- and 64-Bit), Windows Server 2008 R2, and All 32-Bit Windows Operating Systems in 2021 for information about future OS support.
NI-USRP 20.5 supports the following operating systems:
1 NI software installs VC2015 Runtime and .NET 4.6.2. Windows 8.1 and Windows Server 2012 R2 require Microsoft updates to support these items. Refer to Microsoft KB2919442 and KB2919355 for more information about how to install these updates.
2 NI software is signed with a SHA-256 certificate. Windows 7 SP1, Windows Embedded Standard 7 SP1, and Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1 require Microsoft updates to support SHA-256. Refer to Microsoft KB3033929 and KB3125574 for more information about how to install this security update.
Note NI-USRP 20.5 does not support Windows Server non-R2 editions.
Note In 2016, NI-USRP dropped support for Windows Vista, Windows XP, Windows Server 2003, and installations of Windows 7 without any service packs. NI-USRP 20.5 will not install or run on an unsupported OS. You cannot deploy or distribute applications that use NI-USRP 20.5 to an unsupported OS. Additionally, after installing NI-USRP 20.5, you cannot use any installers built on this computer with any version of LabVIEW, LabWindows™/CVI™, NI TestStand™, or Measurement Studio on an unsupported OS.
For more information about the changes to our OS support for 2016, refer to NI Installer Fails on Windows XP/Vista and Windows Server 2003.
Note Support for Windows 32-bit operating systems may require disabling physical address extension (PAE). To learn how this might affect your system and what actions you might need to take, refer to NI Software Fails When Physical Address Extension is Enabled.
NI-USRP 20.5 supports the following application software versions, including service packs. If you are using LabVIEW, you should install it before installing NI-USRP. To add support for application software installed after installing NI-USRP, modify your NI-USRP installation or launch the NI-USRP installer again.
| Device | LabVIEW 2017, 2018, 2019, or 2020 | LabVIEW Communications System Design Suite 5.0 | LabVIEW NXG 5.0 |
|---|---|---|---|
| USRP-2900/2901 | √ | √ | √ |
| USRP-2920/2921/2922 | √ | √ | √ |
| USRP-2930/2932 | √ | √ | √ |
| USRP-2940/2942/2943/2944 | à | à | à |
| USRP-2950/2952/2953/2954 | à | à | à |
| USRP-2945/2955 | √ | ||
| USRP-2974 | √ |
† Support for the USRP RIO API and modifying the LV FPGA bitfile is only supported in LabVIEW NXG FPGA Module.
Download the NI-USRP installer from ni.com/downloads. NI software includes NI Package Manager to handle the installation. Refer to the NI Package Manager Manual for more information about installing, removing, and upgrading NI software using NI Package Manager.
Notes
Visit ni.com/security to view and subscribe to receive security notifications about NI products. Visit ni.com/critical-updates for information about critical updates from NI.
NI-USRP 20.5 adds performance and architectural enhancements.
NI-USRP 20.0 includes the following new features:
NI-USRP 19.5 includes the following new features:
NI-USRP 19.1 includes support for a bug fix.
NI-USRP 19.0 includes the following new features:
NI-USRP 18.5 adds support for LabVIEW NXG 3.0 and LabVIEW Communications System Design Suite 3.0.
NI-USRP 18.3 adds support for the USRP-2974 device with LabVIEW Communications System Design Suite 2.1.
NI-USRP 18.1 adds support for LabVIEW NXG 2.1 and LabVIEW Communications System Design Suite 2.1.
NI-USRP 18.0 adds support for LabVIEW 2018 (32- and 64-bit).
NI-USRP 17.2 adds support for the USRP-2974 device with LabVIEW Communications System Design Suite 2.0.
NI-USRP 17.1 adds support for several bug fixes.
NI-USRP 17.0 adds support for LabVIEW 2017 (32- and 64-bit).
The following hardware products are supported in all operating systems listed in the Supported Operating Systems section. Refer to the Application Software Support section for information regarding supported application software versions.
*The NI-USRP instrument driver supports TwinRX, UBX, CBX, CBX-120, WBX, WBX-120, SBX, SBX-120, XCVR2450
daughterboards. Other daughterboards may also be compatible, but they have not been tested.
Device-specific information about these modules is included in the NI-USRP Help.
The following are the behavior changes in NI-USRP 18.5 from NI-USRP 18.0:
You can access the NI-USRP known issues online at NI-USRP 20.5 Known Issues.
You can access the NI-USRP bug fixes online at NI-USRP 20.5 Bug Fixes. This list describes a subset of issues fixed in the NI-USRP 20.5. If you have a Bug ID, you can search this list to validate that the issue has been fixed.
Documentation for NI-USRP is located at Start»All Programs»National Instruments»NI-USRP»Documentation and online at ni.com/manuals. The documentation set is composed of the following documents.
| Document | Format | Location | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| NI-USRP 20.5 Readme | HTML (this document) | Start»All Programs»National Instruments»NI-USRP»NI-USRP Documentation and online at ni.com/manuals | Contains information about supported hardware and operating systems, new features, fixed issues, and legal notices. |
| NI-USRP Help | HTML/Windows Help | Start»All Programs»National Instruments»NI-USRP»NI-USRP Documentation and online at ni.com/manuals | The primary document for most USRP products used in LabVIEW. The help is an installed and online version of a traditional user manual that includes the following information:
|
| NI-USRP Manual | Online Help | Online at ni.com/manuals | The primary document for most USRP products. The help is an installed and online version of a traditional user manual that includes the following information:
|
| Basic Elements (NI-USRP and NI-579x) Manual | Online Help | Online at ni.com/manuals | Contains a complete programming reference for all Basic Elements nodes on the USRP RIO and NI-579x palettes in LabVIEW NXG and LabVIEW Communications System Design Suite. |
| Getting started guide for your device | Printed and PDF | Online at ni.com/manuals | Contains software and hardware installation, configuration, signal connection, and troubleshooting information for your device. |
| Specifications for your device | Online at ni.com/manuals | Lists technical specifications for your device. | |
| Manual for your device | Online Help | Online at ni.com/manuals | Contains information about supported hardware, including pinouts, block diagrams, and specifications. |
Access the latest LabVIEW Communications System Design Suite Manual for an introduction to LabVIEW Communications System Design Suite and information about how to get started with application development.
For the most recent revisions of documentation and for newly released documentation, visit ni.com/manuals.
Note To view PDFs, you need to have Adobe Acrobat Reader installed. You can install the viewer from www.adobe.com/reader.
NI-USRP examples, lessons, and sample projects are available in the following locations.
| Content Type | Description | LabVIEW | LabVIEW NXG or LabVIEW Communications System Design Suite |
|---|---|---|---|
| Examples | NI-USRP includes several example applications that serve as interactive tools, programming models, and building blocks in your own applications. NI-USRP includes examples for getting started and other software-defined radio (SDR) functionality. Note You can access additional examples from the Code Sharing Community at ni.com/usrp. |
|
|
| Lessons | NI-USRP includes lessons that guide you through the process of identifying and demodulating an FM signal with your device. | N/A | From the Learning tab, select Lessons»Getting Started»Demodulating FM Signals with the NI... and choose a task to accomplish. |
| Sample Projects | USRP RIO includes several sample projects that serve as starting points to build a USRP RIO streaming application. | From the Create Project dialog, select Sample Projects in the left pane and navigate to the NI-USRP Simple Streaming project. | From the Projects tab, select USRP RIO and choose the applicable sample project for your device and setup. |
The following sections detail considerations for using LabVIEW NXG 5.0 with NI-USRP 20.5.
Software support for LabVIEW NXG differs in the following ways:
All hardware listed in the Supported Hardware section is supported in LabVIEW NXG.
View context help in LabVIEW by pressing <Ctrl-H> and hovering over an object.
Search for items using the search bar in the upper right corner of the LabVIEW window. You can also view context help for the search results.
Additional documentation is available online at ni.com/manuals.
Refer to the Finding Examples, Lessons, and Sample Projects section to locate LabVIEW NXG Examples.
You can automate the installation of most NI products using command-line arguments to suppress some or all of the installer user interface and dialog boxes.
If the NI product you are installing uses Microsoft .NET 4.0, the .NET installer may run before any NI software installs and may require a reboot before the installation of NI software begins. To avoid a .NET reboot, install .NET 4.0 separately before you install NI software.
For more information about automating the installation of NI products, refer to the following KnowledgeBase articles:
Microsoft Windows 10 is the latest version of the Windows operating system and features significant changes compared to previous versions. Windows 10 introduces several new capabilities and also combines features from both Windows 7 and Windows 8. For more information about NI support for Windows 10, visit ni.com/windows10.
When you install NI software on Microsoft Windows 8.1, you will notice a few additional tiles in the Apps view, including shortcuts to NI application software products such as NI LabVIEW, Measurement & Automation Explorer (NI MAX), and NI Launcher. For more information about NI support for Windows 8.1, visit ni.com/windows8.
NI-USRP will drop support for Windows 7 (32- and 64-bit), Windows Server 2008 R2, and all 32-bit Windows operating systems starting in 2021. Versions of this product that ship after May 1, 2021, may not install or execute correctly on these operating systems. For detailed information about NI operating system support, visit ni.com/r/win32bitsupport.
Copyright
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End-User License Agreements and Third-Party Legal Notices
You can find end-user license agreements (EULAs) and third-party legal notices in the following locations after installation:
U.S. Government Restricted Rights
If you are an agency, department, or other entity of the United States Government ("Government"), the use, duplication, reproduction, release, modification, disclosure or transfer of the technical data included in this manual is governed by the Restricted Rights provisions under Federal Acquisition Regulation 52.227-14 for civilian agencies and Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement Section 252.227-7014 and 252.227-7015 for military agencies.
IVI Foundation Copyright Notice
Content from the IVI specifications reproduced with permission from the IVI Foundation.
The IVI Foundation and its member companies make no warranty of any kind with regard to this material, including, but not limited to, the implied warranties of merchantability and fitness for a particular purpose. The IVI Foundation and its member companies shall not be liable for errors contained herein or for incidental or consequential damages in connection with the furnishing, performance, or use of this material.
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Refer to the NI Trademarks and Logo Guidelines at ni.com/trademarks for information on NI trademarks. Other product and company names mentioned herein are trademarks or trade names of their respective companies.
Patents
For patents covering the NI products/technology, refer to the appropriate location: Help»Patents in your software, the patents.txt file on your media, or the NI Patent Notice at ni.com/patents.
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