Table of Contents

• Table of Contents
• About
  • Documentation
  • Operating System Support
• Installation
• Upgrade
• License
• Support and Feedback
• Example

About

The nirfmx-python repository generates Python bindings (Application Programming Interface) for interacting with the RFmx Products.

nirfmx-python follows Python Software Foundation support policy for different versions.

RFmx Instr Python API Status

RFmx WLAN Generation Python API Status

Documentation

You can find the latest API documentation for the nirfmx-python package on Read the Docs

Refer to the RFmx User Manual for an overview of RFmx, system requirements, troubleshooting, key concepts, etc.

Operating System Support

nirfmx-python supports Windows systems where the supported drivers are installed. Refer to NI Hardware and Operating System Compatibility for which versions of the driver support your hardware on a given operating system.

Installation

You can use pip to download nirfmxwlangen and install it.

$ python -m pip install nirfmxwlangen

To also install gRPC support for remote NI gRPC Device Server communication:

$ python -m pip install "nirfmxwlangen[grpc]"

Upgrade

You can use pip to upgrade nirfmxwlangen package using following command:

$ python -m pip install nirfmxwlangen --upgrade

License

This project is licensed under the MIT License. While the source code is not publicly released, the license permits binary distribution with attribution.

Note: This Python driver depends on several third-party components that are subject to separate commercial licenses. Users are responsible for ensuring they have the appropriate rights and licenses to use those dependencies in their environments.

gRPC Features

For driver APIs that support it, passing a GrpcSessionOptions instance as a parameter to nirfmxinstr.Session.init() is subject to the NI General Purpose EULA.

SSL/TLS Support

The server supports both server-side TLS and mutual TLS. Security configuration is accomplished by setting the server_cert, server_key and root_cert values in the server's configuration file. The server expects the certificate files specified in the configuration file to exist in a certs folder that is located in the same directory as the configuration file being used by the server. For more detailed information on SSL/TLS support refer to the Server Security Support wiki page.

Support and Feedback

For support with Python API, hardware, the driver runtime or any other questions, please visit NI Community Forums.

RFmx WLAN Generation Example

import nirfmxwlangen
import nirfsg

num_tx = 4
resource_names = ["RFSG0", "RFSG1", "RFSG2", "RFSG3"]
waveform_name = "Wlan"
script = (
    "script GenerateWlan\n"
    "    repeat forever\n"
    "        generate Wlan\n"
    "    end repeat\n"
    "end script"
)

wlangen_session = None
rfsg_sessions = [None] * num_tx

try:
    # Create RFSG Sessions
    active_rfsg_sessions = []
    for i in range(num_tx):
        rfsg_sessions[i] = nirfsg.Session(resource_names[i])
        rfsg_sessions[i].power_level_type = nirfsg.PowerLevelType.PEAK
        rfsg_sessions[i].external_gain = 0.0
        active_rfsg_sessions.append(rfsg_sessions[i])

    # Create WLAN Generation Session
    wlangen_session = nirfmxwlangen.Session(
        nirfmxwlangen.CompatibilityVersion.Version060000, "WlanGenSession"
    )

    # Configure WLAN MIMO OFDM standard and parameters
    wlangen_session.set_standard("", nirfmxwlangen.Standard.STANDARD_80211AX_MIMO_OFDM)
    wlangen_session.set_channel_bandwidth("", 80e6)
    wlangen_session.set_number_of_transmit_channels("", num_tx)
    wlangen_session.set_mcs_index("", 0)
    wlangen_session.set_mapping_matrix_type("", nirfmxwlangen.MappingMatrixType.DIRECT)
    wlangen_session.set_number_of_space_time_streams("", num_tx)
    wlangen_session.set_lo_frequency_offset_mode(
        "", 
        nirfmxwlangen.LOFrequencyOffsetMode.AUTO
    )
    wlangen_session.set_rf_blanking_enabled("", nirfmxwlangen.RFBlankingEnabled.TRUE)

    # Configure Multiple Device Synchronization
    wlangen_session.rfsg_configure_multiple_device_synchronization(
        active_rfsg_sessions, "PXI_Clk", [0, 1]
    )

    # Configure Frequency using Single LO
    wlangen_session.rfsg_configure_frequency_single_lo(
        active_rfsg_sessions,
        nirfmxwlangen.LOSource.ONBOARD,
        rfsg_sessions[0],
        5.18e9,
        False,
        False,
    )

    # Create and Download MIMO Waveforms
    wlangen_session.rfsg_create_and_download_mimo_waveforms(
        active_rfsg_sessions, None, waveform_name
    )

    # Configure Script for each RFSG device
    for i in range(num_tx):
        wlangen_session.rfsg_configure_script(rfsg_sessions[i], "", script, -10.0)

    # Initiate Multiple Device Generation
    wlangen_session.rfsg_multiple_device_initiate(active_rfsg_sessions)

    # Print Results
    iq_rate, _ = wlangen_session.get_iq_rate("")
    iq_waveform_size, _ = wlangen_session.get_iq_waveform_size("")
    waveform_duration = iq_waveform_size / iq_rate if iq_rate != 0 else 0
    print("--------------WLAN Generate MIMO OFDM Waveform (Multiple RFSG)--------------")
    print(f"Waveform Duration {{s}}{waveform_duration}")
    print("Actual Headroom (dB)")
    for i in range(num_tx):
        actual_headroom, _ = wlangen_session.get_actual_headroom(f"channel{i}")
        print(f"\t{actual_headroom}")

except Exception as e:
    print("ERROR: " + str(e))

finally:
    # Stop Generation and Close Sessions
    for i in range(num_tx):
        if rfsg_sessions[i] is not None:
            rfsg_sessions[i].abort()
            rfsg_sessions[i].output_enabled = False
            rfsg_sessions[i].commit()

    if wlangen_session is not None:
        for i in range(num_tx):
            if rfsg_sessions[i] is not None:
                wlangen_session.rfsg_clear_database(rfsg_sessions[i], "", waveform_name)
        wlangen_session.close()
        wlangen_session = None

    for i in range(num_tx):
        if rfsg_sessions[i] is not None:
            rfsg_sessions[i].close()
            rfsg_sessions[i] = None

Numpy array size handling in RFmx APIs

The numpy arrays are passed in pre-allocated. If the pre allocated array size does not match the actual array size returned by the measurement, the array is automatically resized to fit the data, which may invalidate the previously created view. Passing an empty array (size 0) is fine; it will be resized as needed.