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The Windows PC on the left of figure 1 is where all of the programming is done. The PC must have LabVIEW installed (this guide assumes LabVIEW 2009 or later) as well as the LabVIEW Real-Time and FPGA modules, two software add-ons that are not part of the standard package. The PC is used to write and compile the VIs that make up your system, which LabVIEW then loads onto the cRIO module through an Ethernet connection. Within the module itself, there is a microprocessor running National Instruments' Instruments’ proprietary Real-Time Operating System (RT OS), this is known as the "Real“Real-Time Host"Host”. Also inside the cRIO is the FPGA itself. The FPGA is the only component with access to I/O operations from the installed I/O modules or from the cRIO chassis itself (status LEDs, internal clock, and chassis temperature behave as I/O channels). While the FPGA can be configured to perform almost any desired logic operations and can communicate with the Real-Time Host, it doesn't doesn’t have access to high-level communication protocols like the Real-Time Host does. Consequently, data acquisition must follow a path like that in figure 3.

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