Using the Analog Discovery Pro 5000 Series Over Ethernet
Overview
Some of the ADP5000 Series devices have an Ethernet connector on the back of the device available for communication with WaveForms. This guide will demonstrate how to utilize this connection.
What to Expect
ADP5000 Series devices with an Ethernet port can be connected to and controlled by WaveForms over a different medium than USB, ideally allowing the devices to be controlled from a different room on the same network.
While ADP5000 Series devices are compatible with 1000 Base-TX as per the ADP5000 Series Specifications, some common use cases such as continuous streaming of data over Ethernet or connecting to a remote server are not possible due to hardware restrictions. Users interested in such features are recommended to check out the Analog Discovery Pro 3000 Series which does support Embedded Linux.
Inventory
This demo is written presuming you have following materials:
- A compatible ADP5000 Series device, either the ADP5470 or ADP5490
- An Ethernet cable
- A USB cable
- A semi-portable computer for initial setup and with WaveForms installed.
Hardware Setup
On the first power-up, the Analog Discovery Pro 5000 Series devices are not configured to be able to communicate over Ethernet, and must be connected to WaveForms on the host computer over USB first. Subsequent power ups on the same network will allow you to connect to the device over Ethernet without needing to use USB.
Set the ADP5470 or ADP5490 in the desired physical location, power it on, and connect it to a host computer over USB. If you have connected to the device before, it will likely show up as “USB&Ethernet”, even if there is currently no Ethernet cable connected.
To remove cached VirtualBench and ADP5000 Series network devices that are no longer valid delete the ..\Users\[USER]\AppData\Local\National Instruments\NI-VirtualBench\ni-virtualbench-devices.db file
Connect the ADP5000 Series device to the local network that the computer is on or directly to the host computer with an Ethernet cable.
Be sure to confirm that WaveForms can detect Network connected devices in the Filter.
If connecting directly to the host computer, ensure that the Ethernet port on the host computer is configured to be on the same subnet as the ADP5000 Series device. If a DCHP server does not assign an IP address to the ADP5000 Series device, likely because a direct Ethernet connection back to the host PC is being used, it will default to one in the link local address range (169.254.x.x).
A custom IP address can also be manually assigned to the device through the Network button in the WaveForms Device manager, as per Figure 3.
To reset the IP address to be assigned via DHCP (as well as the entire device back to factory default settings), push and hold the physical reset button located on the back of the device for 5 seconds. The device will reboot, though it may be a few minutes before it is properly detected by WaveForms over Ethernet or USB.
Confirm the WaveForms Device Manager shows a USB and Ethernet connection.
Disconnect the USB cable to confirm that you can still control the device over Ethernet. If required for your setup, move the computer and confirm you can still access and control the ADP5000 Series device over Ethernet.
Next Steps
Now that you can access the ADP5000 Series device from a more comfortable chair than is available in the laboratory down the hall, you're ready to start actually using it. The ADP5000 Series Resource Center has some tutorials on using each of the available instruments.
For technical support, please visit the Test and Measurement section of the Digilent Forum.