July 2023
This file contains installation instructions and compatibility information for NI-RFSA 2023 Q3.
You can find more release information on ni.com.
Product Security and Critical Updates
Automating the Installation of NI Products
Using NI Software with Microsoft Windows 11
Unsupported Windows Operating Systems
NI-RFSA 2023 Q1 Patch 1 includes the following new feature:
NI-RFSA 2023 Q1 includes the following new feature:
NI-RFSA 2022 Q4 includes the following new feature:
Visit NI Hardware and Software Operating System Compatibility to view driver, desktop operating system, and real-time operating system support for individual hardware devices.
To view information for your device:
Note: Some compatibility information may only be available in the archive attached to the NI Hardware and Operating System Compatibility page. For historic driver and OS support information, refer to the readme for the relevant driver version.
MXI Express and MXI-4 are supported on Windows 10.
Note You must install the same version of the NI-RFSA/NI-RFSG Runtime for PXIe-5644/5645/5646 and NI-RFSA/NI-RFSG Runtime for PXIe-5820/5830/5831/5832/5840/5841/5842 if you choose to install the runtimes independently.
Note For best memory performance on the PXIe-5831/5832, NI recommends using only 64-bit applications.
NI-RFSA has the following requirements:
*Depending on the amount of data acquired and/or processed, a larger amount of memory may be required.
Note Guest accounts are not supported under any OS.
NI-RFSA 2023 Q3 and NI-RFSA SFP 2023 Q3 support the following operating systems:
NI-RFSA supports the following application software versions, including service packs. You should install application software, such as LabVIEW, LabWindows/CVI or Microsoft Visual Studio®, before installing NI-RFSA. To add support for application software installed after installing NI-RFSA, modify your NI-RFSA installation or launch the NI-RFSA installer again. If you are not using NI application software, refer to Microsoft Visual Studio Support.
| Application Software | Versions Supported by NI-RFSA |
|---|---|
| LabVIEW | 2020 and later |
| LabWindows/CVI | 2019 and later |
| LabVIEW Real-Time Module | 2021 and later |
Note Install any toolkits or add-on software you intend to use with the NI-RFSA instrument driver after NI-RFSA installation is complete. Refer to the getting started guide for your device for more information about software and hardware installation.
Note MXI users must install the software included with the MXI hardware.
If you are using the NI-RFSA .NET Class Library, .NET Framework 4.0 (minimum) is required. The NI-RFSA .NET Class Library can be used with Visual C# or Visual Basic .NET in any Visual Studio version that can target .NET Framework 4.0 or .NET Framework 4.5. For more information on .NET development using NI .NET drivers, visit ni.com/info and enter Info Code NETAPIdriversupport.
To install the NI-RFSA .NET Class Library, ensure that you select .NET Framework 4.5 Languages Support or .NET Framework 4.0 Languages Support in the NI-RFSA installer.
Download the NI-RFSA 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.
The "NI-RFSA Support for LabVIEW" package supports applications using NI-RFSA with LabVIEW 2023 Q1 or later. When installing NI-RFSA, this package will be recommended if you have already installed LabVIEW 2023 Q1 or later and installs to the LVAddons directory.
LVAddons directory location: C:\Program Files\NI\LVAddons
NI-RFSA VIs are available in LabVIEW from the Functions»Measurement I/O»NI-RFSA palette.
To access the LabVIEW sample projects and templates from the New Project dialog, select Sample Projects in the left pane and navigate to the project that best matches your application requirements.
NI-RFSA functions are available in LabWindows/CVI from the Instrument menu. To load the NI–RFSA function panel (.fp), select Instrument»Load, and navigate to IVI\Drivers\niRFSA\niRFSA.fp.
You can use the NI-RFSA .NET Class library by adding a reference to NationalInstruments.ModularInstruments.NIRfsa.Fx40 or NationalInstruments.ModularInstruments.NIRfsa.Fx45 and any dependent class libraries from within the Solution Explorer in Visual Studio.
You can use the NI-RFSA C dynamically linked library by adding a reference to: Program Files (x86)\IVI Foundation\IVI\Bin\niRFSA.dll for 32-bit development or Program Files\IVI Foundation\IVI\Bin\niRFSA_64.dll for 64-bit development.
To launch the NI-RFSA SFP, navigate to the following location: Start»All Programs»National Instruments»NI-RFSA»NI-RFSA Soft Front Panel
Select Help»Find Examples from LabVIEW or LabWindows/CVI to launch the NI Example Finder and navigate to Hardware Input and Output»Modular Instruments»NI-RFSA. You can also select the Search tab to search all installed examples by keyword.
You can access all the installed NI-RFSA examples at Start»All Programs»National Instruments»NI-RFSA»NI-RFSA Examples.
Documentation for NI-RFSA is located at Start»All Programs»National Instruments»NI-RFSA»NI-RFSA Documentation. This documentation set is composed of the following documents.
| Document | Format | Description |
|---|---|---|
| NI RF Vector Signal Analyzers Help | HTML/Windows Help |
Contains primary help content for NI-RFSA products. The help is an HTML version of a traditional user manual that includes the following information:
|
Other documentation for NI-RFSA can be found in Program Files\IVI Foundation\IVI\Drivers\niRFSA\documentation. This documentation set is composed of the following documents.
| Document | Format | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Introduction to NI-RFSA | HTML | Contains information about driver documentation, examples, connecting to your instrument, configuring instrument settings, and known issues. |
| NI-RFSA IVI Compliance Document | TXT | Contains information about IVI compliance. |
For the most recent revisions of documentation and for newly released documentation, visit ni.com/manuals.
Visit ni.com/security to view and subscribe to receive security notifications about NI products. For information about critical updates from NI, refer to Available Critical and Security Updates for NI Software.
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 4.6.2, 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 4.6.2 separately before you install NI software.
For more information about automating the installation of NI products, refer to Automating an Installer in the NI Package Manager manual.
Microsoft Windows 11 is the latest version of the Windows operating system and features significant changes compared to previous versions. For more information about NI support for Windows 11, refer to NI Product Compatibility for Microsoft Windows 11.
NI-RFSA no longer supports Windows Vista/XP/7/8.x, Windows Server 2003/2008/2012, or any 32-bit Windows operating system. 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 http://www.ni.com/r/win32bitsupport.