Vehicle Communication Toolkit (Full) 1.1 Readme

August 2022

This file contains important information about getting started with the Vehicle Communication Toolkit (Full) 1.1, including system requirements and installation instructions.

You can find more release information on ni.com.

Overview

System Requirements

Supported Operating Systems

Application Software Support

Installation Instructions

Product Security and Critical Updates

Accessing the Help

Finding Examples

Automating the Installation of NI Products

Using NI Software with Microsoft Windows 10

Legal Information


Overview

The Vehicle Communication Toolkit (Full), powered by AKKA, is a software add-on that allows you to monitor, send, and receive signals to a DUT. The Vehicle Communication Toolkit (Full) provides a LabVIEW API compatible with Windows and NI Linux Real-Time operating systems, a C/C++ API compatible with Windows, and a custom device for use with VeriStand. You can use the Vehicle Communication Toolkit (Full) with communication database files, such as AUTOSAR XML, to send and receive CAN, LIN, FlexRay, or automotive Ethernet signals to and from NI-XNET-supported PXI, PCI, CompactDAQ, and CompactRIO devices. The Vehicle Communication Toolkit incorporates intellectual properties and products such as PROVEtech:RBS from AKKA.

The Vehicle Communication Toolkit offers a base and a full option. The following table lists a comparison of features included in the Vehicle Communication Toolkit (Full) and (Base) versions.

FeatureVehicle Communication Toolkit (Base)Vehicle Communication Toolkit (Full)
C/C++ API (Windows only)
LabVIEW API (Windows and NI Linux-RT)
VeriStand Custom Device (Windows and NI Linux-RT)
Web UI Database Viewer
Web UI Configurator
CAN and CAN-FD .DBC database Support
LIN .LDF database support
CAN and CAN-FD .ARXML database Support
LIN .ARXML database Support
Automotive Ethernet .ARXML database Support
FlexRay .ARXML database Support

System Requirements

The Vehicle Communication Toolkit (Full) 1.1 has the following requirements:

  • At least 3 GB of disk space

Refer to the LabVIEW Readme for additional system requirements and supported operating systems for supported LabVIEW versions.

Supported Operating Systems

The Vehicle Communication Toolkit (Full) 1.1 supports the following operating systems:

  • Windows 10 (64-bit)
  • NI Linux® Real-Time

Application Software Support

The Vehicle Communication Toolkit (Full) 1.1 supports the following application software versions, including service packs.

Application SoftwareVersions Supported by Vehicle Communication Toolkit (Full) 1.1
LabVIEW 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021
VeriStand2018, 2019, 2020, 2021
Microsoft Visual C/C++2008 and later

Installation Instructions

Download the Vehicle Communication Toolkit (Full) 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 Package Manager.

Notes

  • If Windows Update is enabled, the installation process might hang if Windows Update interferes with the installation of Microsoft Visual C++ 2015 Run-Time. Visit ni.com/r/exjq43 for more information and steps to resolve this issue.
  • You must have a valid license to activate the Vehicle Communication Toolkit (Full). Use the serial number that is included with your software to activate the Vehicle Communication Toolkit (Full). For more information on activation, refer to Activating a Product.

Product Security and Critical Updates

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.

Accessing the Help

Refer to the Vehicle Communication Toolkit User Manual, available at ni.com/manuals, for more information about the Vehicle Communication Toolkit (Full).

Refer to Vehicle Communication Toolkit API Help, located in the C:\Program Files (x86)\National Instruments\LabVIEW 2020\help\Vehicle Communication Toolkit directory, for more information on using the Vehicle Communication Toolkit API.

Finding Examples

Select Help»Find Examples from LabVIEW to launch the NI Example Finder. LabVIEW examples for Vehicle Communication Toolkit (Full) are located in the labview\examples\NI-VCOM directory. You can modify an example VI to fit an application, or you can copy and paste from one or more examples into a VI that you create.

C/C++ examples and a demo ECU application for Vehicle Communication Toolkit (Full) are locatd in the C:\Users\Public\Documents\National Instruments\NI-VCOM directory.

Automating the Installation of NI Products

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.

For more information about automating the installation of NI products, refer to Automating an Installer in the NI Package Manager manual.

Using NI Software with Microsoft Windows 10

For more information about NI support for Windows 10, refer to NI Product Compatibility for Microsoft Windows 10.


Legal Information

Copyright

© 2022 National Instruments Corporation. All rights reserved.

Under the copyright laws, this publication may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, storing in an information retrieval system, or translating, in whole or in part, without the prior written consent of National Instruments Corporation.

NI respects the intellectual property of others, and we ask our users to do the same. NI software is protected by copyright and other intellectual property laws. Where NI software may be used to reproduce software or other materials belonging to others, you may use NI software only to reproduce materials that you may reproduce in accordance with the terms of any applicable license or other legal restriction.

The Demo ECU Application includes DQMH.

DQMH © 2022 DQMH Consortium, LLC. All rights reserved.

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:

  • Notices are located in the <National Instruments>\_Legal Information and <National Instruments> directories.
  • EULAs are located in the <National Instruments>\Shared\MDF\Legal\license directory.
  • Review <National Instruments>\_Legal Information.txt for information on including legal information in installers built with NI products.

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.

Trademarks

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.