National Instruments today took
special aim at the issues facing developers of multi-core processor systems,
rolling out improved features in the latest version of its graphical system
design software.
Known as LabView
8.6, the new software adds a better math engine and optimized software
algorithms, both of which are targeted at dealing with complex, multi-processor
problems.
"In LabView
8.6, we went under the hood and adjusted our math engine to enable it to take
advantage of multi-core environments in a better way," says Chris Washington,
LabView product manager for National Instruments. "It gives developers the
ability to take advantage of higher fidelity models, or to develop their
applications faster using the same models they've used all along."
The company's engineers say they
went back and optimized at least 1,200 of the software's analysis functions in
an effort to make it perform more efficiently in applications using multi-core
processors.
"Using our old software, engineers
could do the (multi-core) data-splitting and manipulation themselves," Washington says. "But
now we've added new libraries that allow some of it to be done automatically."
NI engineers say they are
currently applying the graphical programming software to a massive telescope
project in Europe. The telescope, they say,
needs to use parallel computing to control 984 hexagonal mirrors by reading
6,000 sensors and operating 3,000 actuators. By splitting the problem up into a
parallel processing format, NI has been
able to prove that the telescope can read all the sensors and operate the
mirrors within a 1-kHz control loop.
NI also
said today LabView 8.6 will add support for the recently released
dual-core Blackfin
processor from Analog Devices and will
improve its ability to deal with field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs) and
wireless applications.
"We're
trying to help scientists and engineers leverage next-generation technology,
specifically in the areas of multi-core processors, wireless and FPGAs," Washington says.
National
Instruments says it will demonstrate LabView 8.6 this week at NIWeek, its annual technology conference
located in Austin, TX, which runs from Tuesday, August 5th
through Thursday, August 7th.
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