The GXSW software includes a virtual panel program, which provides full access to the various configuration settings and operating modes. To fully understand the front panel operation, it is best to become familiar with the functionality of the board.
To open the virtual panel application, select GX6384 Panel from the Marvin Test Solutions, GXSW menu under the Start menu. The GX6384 virtual panel opens as shown here:
GX6384 Virtual Panel
Initialize – Opens the Initialize Dialog (see Initialize Dialog paragraph) in order to initialize the board driver. The current settings of the selected board will not change after calling initialize. The panel will reflect the current settings of the board after the Initialize dialog closes.
Reset – Resets the PXI board settings to their default state and clears the reading.
Apply – Applies changed settings to the board.
Close – Closes the panel. Closing the panel does not affect the board settings.
Help – Opens the on-line help window. In addition to the help menu, the caption shows a What’s This Help button (?) button. This button can be used to obtain help on any control that is displayed in the panel window. To displays the What’s This Help information click on the (?) button and then click on the control – a small window will displays the information regarding this control.
The Initialize dialog initializes the driver for the selected board. The board settings will not change after initialize is called. Once initialized, the panel will reflect the current settings of the board.
1. Use Marvin Test Solutions' HW – This is the device driver installed by the setup program and is the default driver. When selected, the Slot Number list displays the available GX6384 boards installed in the system and their slots. The chassis, slots, devices and their resources are also displayed by the HW resource manager, PXI/PCI Explorer applet that can be opened from the Windows Control Panel. The PXI/PCI Explorer can be used to configure the system chassis, controllers, slots and devices. The configuration is saved to PXISYS.INI and PXIeSYS.INI located in the Windows folder. These configuration files are also used by VISA. The following figure shows the slot number 0x10C (chassis 1 Slot 12). This is the slot number argument (nSlot) passed by the panel when calling the driver Gx6384Initialize function which is used to initialize the driver for the specified board.
Initialize Dialog Box using Marvin Test Solutions’ HW driver
2. Use VISA – This is a third party device driver usually provided by National Instrument (NI-VISA). When selected, the Resource list displays the available boards installed in the system and their VISA resource address. The chassis, slots, devices and their resources are also displayed by the VISA resource manager, Measurement & Automation (NI-MAX) and by Marvin Test Solutions PXI/PCI Explorer. The following figure shows PXI10::11::INSTR as the VISA resource (PCI bus 10 and Device 11). This is a VISA resource string argument (szVisaResource) which is passed by the panel when calling the driver Gx6384InitializeVisa function which initializes the driver for the specified board.
Initialize Dialog Box using VISA resources
The slot number in the Initialize dialog box refers to the PXI slot in which the GX6384 board is installed. Select the slot from the drop down list. The list displays the slots where GX6384 boards are installed. The specified slot number can also be reviewed or set by using the PXI/PCI Explorer applet that can be opened from the Windows Control Panel. Select the board slot number and click OK to initialize the driver for the specified board.
Reset: Resets all relays to an open state and sets panel parameters to the default state.
Close: Closes (exits) the GX6384 panel.
Help: Opens the GX6384 on-line help window.
After the board is initialized the panel is enabled and will display the current setting of the board. The following picture shows the Group page settings:
.jpg "GX6384 Virtual Panel Initialized (Switch Matrix configured as Two Groups with 32 columns each)")
GX6384 Virtual Panel Initialized (Switch Matrix configured as Two Groups with 32 columns each)
The following controls are shown:
Matrix Configuration (radio button): Set/Displays the current Matrix relays configuration. Configuration options are:
Two Groups: Two individual groups (A and B) with 32 columns each (see the figure above).
Single Group: Single group (group A) with 64 columns.
Matrix Group A and B Display Area: Displays the current relay setting (closed or open). When a box in the matrix is checked, the relay in that row/column is closed. Similarly, unchecked boxes mean relays are open.
GX6384 Virtual Panel Initialized with Switch Matrix configured as Single Group with 64 columns
Clicking on the About tab will show the About page as shown in the figure below:
GX6384 Virtual Panel – About Page
The following controls are shown in the About page:
The top part of the About page displays version and copyright of the GXSW driver. The bottom part displays the board summary.
The About page also contains a button Upgrade Firmware… which is used to upgrade the board’s FPGA firmware. This button maybe used only when the board requires upgrade as directed by Marvin Test Solutions support. The upgrade requires a firmware file (.jam) that is written to the board FPGA. After the upgrade is complete, you must shut down the computer to recycle power to the board.
Switch Time Compatibility Mode (checkbox): When checked switching time will be the same as it was in previous GxSw driver versions regardless of the board’s firmware or revision. If unchecked (default), switching time will be much faster using the faster switching algorithm.
Note: In GxSw driver versions 3.3 and above the switching time for all Gx6384 board revisions (B, C, D and above) were optimized to deliver faster switching time. Gx6384 boards revisions C and above with firmware 0xC022 and above deliver even faster switching time.