NI increases IP availability with LabVIEW FPGA IPNet

AUSTIN, USA: National Instruments has introduced its new version of NI LabVIEW FPGA IPNet, an online resource that helps digital design engineers browse, download and share the latest intellectual property (IP) for field-programmable gate array (FPGA) design applications.

IPNet aggregates IP from many sources, including NI R&D, the community of LabVIEW graphical system design software users and third-party developers, into a single online location. The latest version incorporates new IP functions, a new user interface with enhanced search filtering and direct download capabilities as well as an updated look and feel that makes it easier for engineers to share information about all FPGA development areas.

"As more engineers use FPGAs in their designs, they are looking to leverage existing IP to speed up the development process," said Mike Santori, business and technology fellow at National Instruments.

"It can be difficult to find the right IP for the job, especially as development gets more complex. The rapid growth of IPNet participation indicates that it fills the much-needed role as a central resource for making FPGA design easier, and this all-new version will greatly enhance engineers' IP-integration experience."

IPNet includes hundreds of IP blocks and functions from NI and other companies, such as the Xilinx CORE Generator. It offers large collections of IP in categories such as control, data acquisition, generation, digital protocols, encryption, math, RF, signal processing and more. It also includes IP for SPI/I(2)C and Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) components as well as an NI peer-to-peer (P2P) streaming core for 800 MB/s FPGA I/O streaming across the PXI Express bus.

The new version features fully integrated global search including a filter that facilitates sorting results by category, supported versions and rating. Engineers can then download IP directly from a table view, which makes it easier to download.
Additionally, engineers seeking ways to share their own IP and FPGA examples can upload their blocks to IPNet.

IPNet also can serve as an effective distribution channel for NI collaborators who wish to sell their LabVIEW FPGA-related IP, whether their functions are personally custom-created or developed by an established organization.