MODELLING,

PROGRAMMING AND
SIMULATIONS USING
LABVIEW™ SOFTWARE
Edited by Riccardo de Asmundis
Modelling, Programming and Simulations Using LabVIEW™ Software
Edited by Riccardo de Asmundis

Published by InTech
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Modelling, Programming and Simulations Using LabVIEW™ Software,

Edited by Riccardo de Asmundis
p. cm.
ISBN 978-953-307-521-1
free online editions of InTech
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Contents

Preface IX

Part 1 LabVIEW in Monitoring and Controls Domains 1

Chapter 1 Advanced Total Lab Automation System (ATLAS) 3

Christoph Wagner, Andreas Genner,
Georg Ramer and Bernhard Lendl

Chapter 2 In-House Control System for

Medium Size Research Facility 21
Hideaki Ohgaki and Yoshitaka Iwasaki

Chapter 3 Electric and Nonelectric Quantities Measurement

in Power Engineering using LabVIEW 39
Jan Machacek, Jan Slezingr and Jiri Drapela

Chapter 4 Distance Process Monitoring

using LabVIEW Environment 67
Valentin Sgârciu and Grigore Stamatescu

Part 2 LabVIEW in Modeling 89

Chapter 5 Modeling and Simulation of Production

of Metallothionein and Red Fluorescent
Fusion Protein by Recombinant Escherichia Coli
Using Graphical Programming 91
Ling Gao, Yilin Ren, Yao Ma, Jianqun Lin and Jianqiang Lin

Chapter 6 Hysteresis Modeling of Soft

Magnetic Materials using LabVIEW 107
Septimiu Motoasca

Chapter 7 Modeling in Respiratory Movement

Using LabVIEW and Simulink 137
Zhonghai He and Yuqian Zhao
VI Contents

Part 3 LabVIEW for Specific Processes and Applications 161

Chapter 8 Automated MOS Transistor gamma Degradation

Measurements Based on LabVIEW Environment 163
Slimane Oussalah and Boualem Djezzar

Chapter 9 Time-Resolved Fluorescence

Spectroscopy with LabView 177
Edgard Moreno, Porfirio Reyes and José M. de la Rosa

Chapter 10 LabVIEW Applications for Optical Amplifier

Automated Measurements, Fiber-Optic
Remote Test and Fiber Sensor Systems 201
S. W. Harun, S. D. Emami, H. Arof, P. Hajireza and H. Ahmad

Chapter 11 Development of an Intelligent Bedsore

Prevention System 237
Runjing Zhou

Part 4 LabVIEW in the Educational Domain 263

Chapter 12 Web Based Real Time Laboratory Applications

of Analog and Digital Communication Courses
with LabVIEW Access 265
Aynur AKAR and Ayse YAYLA

Chapter 13 LabVIEW Remote Lab 275

Aurel Gontean and Roland Szabó
Preface

Released by National Instruments (Austin, Texas) for the first time in 1986 for the
Apple Macintosh, LabVIEW was conceived as a practical and original programming
environment for hardware control and interfacing with host computer. The main aim
was the introduction of an easy interface between a micro-computer and the instruments
controlled by it, with a graphical interface which simulates the actual instrument on
the computer screen: from this the derivation of the term “Virtual Instrument” and
the more general “Virtual Instrumentation”. The strong originality of LabVIEW as
a programming language, instead, came from the innovative way of programming
introduced since the beginning: a pure graphical way, in which the characters-based
program lines are replaced with one or more graphical schemes which take the role
of the human interface for the developer specialist. This way both “user interface”
(the windows with which the final user will interact) as well as the “source code” (the
actual program written by the developer) have high quality graphics aspects, carrying
the two different contents and purposes. A meta-language is internally generated
during development processes and is used as source for the LabVIEW Compiler for
the generation of the final executive object. This object runs under a specific “run time
engine” which is the real object handled by the Operating System and is automatically
installed with the LabVIEW development system.

The development system has undergone an enormous evolution in the years, with an
assessed regulation in terms of the new delivered versions today: a new version every
year which carries in its name the reference to the year itself, and at least two releases
in the same year. The latest version (LabVIEW 2010) represents the current evolution
of a long improvement process which never stops: it includes, for instance, among
many features, the straightforward control of NI-DAQ devices, several Protocols for
Instruments controls and driving, Advanced automatic code generation as “Express
Vis”, direct Web integration, real time development environment for RT processing,
FPGA code designing and integration, advanced graphical tools, high powerful
mathematical processing tools, direct integration with Matlab and Mathematica, tools
for modeling and industrial controls, and so on. The current philosophy related to the
use of most of these tools is a strong reduction of the development time as well as the
effective “designing time”: many Virtual Instruments are already there and “ready to
use”.

"For more than 20 years, NI LabVIEW graphical development has revolutionized the development
of scalable test, measurement, and control applications. Regardless of experience, engineers and
scientists can rapidly and cost-effectively interface with measurement and control hardware,
X Preface

analyze data, shared results, and distribute systems." This sentence was pronounced by
Jeff Kodosky, one of National Instruments founder and the LabVIEW inventor, in the
occasion of the 20th birthday of LabVIEW in 2006. Well, this should be the philosophy
to be carried on by each single developer who, to be considered a good developer,
should follow the product into its evolution along the years in order to be up to date for
the new features and possibilities and to use it in an effective way.

We divided the book into four parts, based on the field of applications of the presented
chapters.

The first Part is called “LabVIEW in Monitoring and Controls Domains” and includes
four Chapters: it is dedicated to one of the canonical ways of utilization of LabVIEW,
namely the control of instrumentation and experiments, even with distributed facilities
in some cases. The Applications presented here are characterized by a general and
common approach which is typical for LabVIEW in the control domain: this approach
is based upon a set of instruments and/or sensors read out by the controlling PCs;
data are then archived locally and optionally distributed to other control points over a
network. Such an approach can be very powerful for the improvement of the quality of
a laboratory, which can share resources and data, sometimes in a very flexible way.

The second Part, named “LabVIEW in Modeling” is dedicated to the Modeling

performed in LabVIEW often compared with a different modeling system. Modeling,
in general, is an approach to perform extended or complex calculations based on some
physical model for different applications: the results of such calculations are used
to fill tables or files and are susceptible to be presented in the appropriate graphical
form in order to obtain practical responses on the simulated model. These responses
are useful to continue the development of the research line involved from beginning.
Three Chapters compose this Part: an application in biological field which involves
Escherichia coli for protein production, a model for the hysteresis in magnetic materials
and a third for the respiratory movements.

In the third Part, “LabVIEW for Specific Processes and Applications”, we include
Chapters characterized by very specific application fields. The purpose of these
applications are similar to the ones presented in the first part, but with the main
difference of being not so general as designing approach but strictly tuned for the
application treated. Situations that lead to these solutions are the ones where the
measures can be difficult or can involve specific hardware sometimes specifically
developed for that. The development approach can be considered as limited to some
kind of particular files (i.e. low current measurement, very low voltage or high voltage
measurement, small dimensioned specimen, etc.). Four Chapters are included in
semiconductor, spectroscopy and optical fields and in the health field.

The last Part, named “LabVIEW in the Educational Domain”, includes two chapters
whose content is somehow related to the education. They present general purpose
applications for laboratory control but with an approach or a finality typical of the
educational environment.

We hope this book dedicated to LabVIEW and its aspects can strongly evolve in the
future, by including not only more Applications developed, but also by transmitting
 Preface XI

to the reader the likeness in the LabVIEW development without forgetting its power,
flexibility and the universality intrinsically existing in it.

Riccardo de Asmundis
National Institute of Nuclear Physics, Napoli
European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN), Geneva
Certified LabVIEW Developer and Instructor, National Instruments
 Part 1

LabVIEW in Monitoring and Controls Domains

 1

Advanced Total Lab Automation System

(ATLAS)
Christoph Wagner, Andreas Genner, Georg Ramer and Bernhard Lendl
Vienna University of Technology
Austria

1. Introduction
In modern analytical chemistry not only do new measurement principles have to be
investigated but newly found techniques also need to be developed into integrated and
more and more automated analytical solutions. Exploring new techniques in research and
development (R&D) environments mostly means designing different setups incorporating a
huge variety of different equipment. Whether this hardware is a pump, a valve or more
complex elements such as oscilloscopes, lasers or detectors, in one way or another they can
be controlled by a computer or the acquired data is digitized and evaluated afterwards.
Those setups, however, change frequently in R&D labs to evaluate new ideas or to improve
a current setup. Inevitably whenever the setup chances, the software controlling it will also
need adaptation. An ideal software platform, therefore, would reduce the time needed for
making those changes to a minimum, giving the researcher the possibility to focus on the
evaluation of new approaches and the characterization of new techniques. Especially for
small startup companies it might also be of great interest that the needed software packages
can be maintained and adopted by the scientist himself instead of the need to outsource it to
a software company. This would not only reduce the cycle time from a new idea to the first
prototype but also has the potential to decrease the associated costs.
One programming language ideally suited for such a software environment is LabVIEW
from National Instruments. Due to its graphical programming language all data flow is
visualized directly in the source code. This fact makes it easier to read and understand a
given program, especially for beginners without programming experience in classical
programming languages, such as C++ or Visual Basic. Another point where LabVIEW
outperforms other programming languages is it’s rich library of Graphical User Interface
(GUI) elements, for example XY graphs are predefined as well as 3D graphs. Another
advantage of LabVIEW is the very simple way to create parallel running tasks. In
combination with LabVIEW’s queues, which represent a "first in - first out" buffer system,
separating the readout of data and its evaluation can be separated easily. Using National
Instruments hardware for the data readout brings easy integration for the software
developer. Secondly interfaces for RS-232, GPIB, USB etc. are also provided for
communicating with third party hardware.
All these advantages make LabVIEW a good choice for developing software in R&D
laboratories. Generally speaking, laboratories focus on the development of software for their
4 Modelling, Programming and Simulations Using LabVIEW™ Software

current experimental setup ending up with a LabVIEW program built for this specialized
task. Dominguez et al. designed a LabVIEW program to control a Sequential Injection
Analysis (SIA) system (Dominguez et al., 2010) which consisted of a valve and a peristaltic
pump. Jitmanee et al. used a more complex liquid handling system consisting of three
valves and three pumps to automatically prepare samples for Inductive Coupled Plasma
Mass Spectrometry (ICP-MS) measurements (Jitmanee et al., 2007). Barzin et al. proposed a
spectrophotometric method for pH measurements in miniaturized systems where LabVIEW
handles data acquisition from a flowmeter and a spectrometer and is linked to a Matlab
feedback loop to calculate the appropriate flow rate which is sent to a syringe pump
afterwards via LabVIEW (Barzin et al., 2010). In all these examples the program is limited to
control the hardware it was designed for. In the first two examples automation tasks are
carried out whereas in the latter one a complex control feedback loop is realized. When we
started working with LabVIEW we wanted to create a software platform, which gives the
operator the freedom to combine different hardware elements in any imaginable way
without the need to make changes to the program code. Only adding new hardware to the
software platform should require software changes, which would be easier using LabVIEW
than any other programming language.
First we created a program that allowed the combination of valves, pumps and an high
voltage supply for the sample preparation with an UV detector and infrared spectrometers
from Bruker Optics to build different setups including SIA (Růzicka, 1992) and flow
injection analysis (FIA) (Růzicka, 1981) systems as well as capillary electrophoreses systems
(Wagner et al., 2010). To address all necessary components in a simple way we decided to
use a scripting language containing commands representing tasks including switching a
valve, applying voltages or starting measurements. The script was written manually and
afterwards started sending commands to the connected hardware consecutively. This
system allowed the easy combination of the integrated hardware into different analytical
systems. However, after adding support for additional hardware and the need for more
complex commands the GUI became too crowded with elements and writing the scripts
became more and more difficult due to the number of available commands.
Our first program allowed the scientist to combine all integrated components with ease but
adding new hardware components to the program became more and more sophisticated
due to the growing source code. Therefore, we decided to create a new platform based on a
client server approach, where every hardware component is controlled by a dedicated client
which can be controlled remotely by a server application. A schematic of this software
platform can be seen in figure 1. Each of the clients can be run in three different modes. The
local mode directly interacts with the connected hardware upon user input, the programming
mode sends commands to the server application and in the server mode the clients receive
commands from the server and execute them on their hardware. In that manner adding new
hardware is done by adding client specific program code to a provided client template,
containing all necessary code to handle the communication with the server. Additionally the
user doesn’t need to remember client specific commands because the programming of a
sequence can be done with the GUI of each client.
In the following we will describe our Advanced Total Laboratory Automation System (ATLAS),
including a list of existing clients as well as two examples of experimental setups controlled
by ATLAS.
Advanced Total Lab Automation System (ATLAS) 5

Data Acquisition

ATLAS Server
Lasers

Valves

Pumps

Others
Fig. 1. Schematic of our Advanced Total Laboratory Automation System (ATLAS). Each
hardware component is controlled by a dedicated client program which can communicate
with the ATLAS server to be remote controlled.

2. The ATLAS platform

The ATLAS platform consists of one server application and numerous client applications.
Each client controls connected hardware such as a pump, valves or a spectrometer. The
server is used to remote control connected clients by sending script commands over a
TCP/IP connection to the clients. Each client can be used in a local mode, as well, to control
connected hardware directly. The server application was designed so that adding new clients
can be done without modifying the server application.

2.1 Client server communication

2.1.1 Simple TCP/IP Messaging (STM)
The ATLAS software is based on the Simple Messaging Reference Library (STM)1 maintained
by National Instruments, which contains a set of VIs for developing server/client-based
applications. Beside the TCP Connection Manager VI, which handles connection informations,
the library contains also VIs for transporting data over TCP/IP connections.
First of all, a server, handling several clients, requires a New Connection Monitor2, which
creates a listener on a certain port (e.g. 8080) and waits until a client tries to establish a TCP
network connection. In the next step the server defines meta data, which basically define
data channels for data transportation. All information concerning a certain client connection
is stored using the TCP Connection Manager VI, which represents a Functional Global
Variable (FGV). All further communication between the server and the connected clients is
handled in a seperate loop, called the server loop, by accessing this FGV.
The TCP Connection Manager VI offers also the functionality for listing all established
connections. The resulting output is an array of connection-IDs which has to be indexed for
sending or receiving data to a specific client. If the communication to a client breaks down
due to hardware- (e.g. network cable is unplugged), or software problems (e.g. client
program crashes) it is necessary to remove the connection information of this client from the

1 http://zone.ni.com/devzone/cda/tut/p/id/4095
2 http://zone.ni.com/devzone/cda/tut/p/id/3055
6 Modelling, Programming and Simulations Using LabVIEW™ Software

FGV. Otherwise the server may try to send data to an unreachable client which would lead to
a timeout. All data between the server and the clients is transported by using the STM Write
Message and STM Read Message VIs. Beside the string that has to be sent, a cluster, containing
timeout settings, can be attached to the STM Write Message VI. At first, the meta data index,
containing the data channel names is obtained, flattened to a string and concatenated with
the data to send. In the next step the byte length of this data string is calculated and attached
to the beginning of the string. Finally, the complete string is written to the TCP connection.
The receiving program utilizes the STM Read Message VI to read the first four bytes of the
transported string. These four bytes are converted to an integer representing the length of
the remaining data string. In a second step this value is taken to read the residual data.
Finally, the transported string can be accessed for further processing.

2.1.2 Communication principle

The communication between the server and the connected clients is controlled by the server
only. This means that the server sends commands to the clients, which reply to the server
afterwards (for a typical communication sequence see figure 2). Every 50 ms the server queries
the status of the connected clients by sending the command status. Receiving the status request
for the first time after establishing the connection to the server a client replies with cmd:ID
identifying itself with its client identifier, where ID consists of two device depending
alphanumerical characters. Upon the reception of a cmd:ID string the server stores the new
client and the according STM connection ID. This data is accessed by the server to send client
specific commands only to the according client in any further communication.

status
initialize

cmd:XY

status
ready

status:ready

XY|do|sth.
ATLAS Server

Client

status:wait
execute

status

status:wait

status
ready

status:ready

XY|do|sth.
execute

Fig. 2. Simplified communication scheme between the ATLAS server and one client.
Advanced Total Lab Automation System (ATLAS) 7

Receiving further status queries from the server clients respond with either status:ready,
status:wait or status:error. status:ready means that the client is ready to accept instructions
from the server and that both, software and hardware, are working correctly. status:wait will
be sent if the client is executing a command, such as measuring a voltage or recording a
spectrum. In the case that a hardware failure occurred or an invalid command was sent to
the client, it will respond with status:error.
After the user starts the execution of the sequence by clicking the corresponding button, the
server checks whether all required clients are connected. If so, it will run the command
interpreter, described in section 2.2.2. Afterwards the server begins distributing commands
to the correct clients. After a command was sent the server goes on with polling the status of
the connected clients. The addressed client starts executing the received command and
answers status:wait to the server. The server will continue the execution of the script as soon
as its status requests are answered with status:ready instead of status:wait.
In case a device failure occurs (e.g.: a tubing is plugged, a device becomes disconnected) or
an invalid command was sent, the client controlling the according device will answer the
status request from the server with status:error. As a result the server terminates the running
sequence and executes the alias-command AL|error. As explained later in section 2.2.2 the
server notifies all connected clients of the error event. The clients will execute a special
protocol that contains commands for such an error case. Usually it is sufficient to abort the
experiment, but some devices have to be shut down in a special way to avoid further
problems.

2.2 Server application

2.2.1 Description
The central part of ATLAS server is a timed loop structure, further referred to as server loop,
and can be seen in the middle of the plotted code in figure 3. As already mentioned in
section 2.1.1 the TCP Connection Manager VI is used to list all connections established to
clients. The resulting array of connection IDs of connected clients is treated in a for-loop
structure. In this for-loop the server requests status information from the currently
addressed client. It can respond with one of the following strings which is evaluated by the
server in a case structure:
• cmd:ID: The client-ID is added to the list of available client commands.
• programming: The received string is added to the commands_list.
• status:ready: In that case the corresponding LED in the available client commands-list turns
green.
• status:wait: A variable is set to prevent sending the next command. In addition, the LED
next to the client-ID turns red, indicating that the client is currently executing a task.
• status:error: The command queue is flushed and therefore the command AL|error is
interpreted. As the software should also display an error message, the client-ID is
inserted into a queue. Outside of the communication loop is a while loop which is only
used for displaying error messages. This makes it possible, to go on with sending the
error information immediately to all clients instead of waiting for an user interaction.
If a time-out occurs while the server awaits the answer from the client because the
connection was interrupted, the TCP Check Connection VI removes the connection from the
Connection Manager VI and the client-ID is removed from the list of available clients. This
client list is displayed on the GUI to visualize the status of the connected clients. Finally, the
received string from the client is logged together with a timestamp for debugging purposes.
8 Modelling, Programming and Simulations Using LabVIEW™ Software

Fig. 3. Code of the ATLAS server application.

Advanced Total Lab Automation System (ATLAS) 9

This procedure is repeated in the for-loop for each client and after each client responds
status:ready the server takes the next available command from the script. The corresponding
client is identified by its client ID and the command is sent over the corresponding TCP
connection. In addition the timestamp and the sent string are logged and the progress of the
script execution is visualized.
User input such as loading, saving, starting and canceling of sequences, as well as saving the
server-send-log, is treated by an additional event handler structure. Whenever a script is
executed the server automatically saves the script sequence to be able to connect recorded
measurement data unambiguously with the used sequence.

2.2.2 Additional server features

Before the ATLAS server starts distributing the commands to the corresponding clients, the
sequence has to pass an interpreter. It enables three useful features which are a for-loop, a
mathematical formula solver and the use of aliases. Moreover, the software supports the
usage of comments, which have to start with a hash key. These features can be used to
program complex script sequences and are summarized in table 1.

feature code result

comment #this is a comment
loop loop($i=5|9|1) WA|5|sec
WA|$i|sec WA|6|sec
loop_end WA|7|sec
WA|8|sec
WA|9|sec
mathematics loop($i=0|2|1) WA|4.349|sec
WA|(5^$i+2^2-exp(0.5)+sin(1.5)) WA|8.349|sec
loop_end WA|28.349|sec
alias AL|name|sample_001 AA|name|sample_001
AB|name|sample_001
AC|name|sample_001
AD|name|sample_001

Table 1. Examples for the script-interpreter features. It is able to handle loops, formulas and
aliases.
2.2.2.1 Loop constructions in the script sequence
Often a part of a sequence has to be executed many times. For example, a scientist wants to
measure a large number of liquid samples by using valves and pumps. One way to solve
this problem is to enter every line of the sequence manually, which means that every change
of the valve-position and every operation of the pump has to be written down in the
sequence. As this way is inefficient and hard to adopt to further experiments, the ATLAS
server implements a function that is similar to a for-loop in conventional programming. In
C++, for example, a for-loop begins with for(int i=5; i<13; i++){ and ends with }
whereas the repeated code is located between the braces. Scientists, who want to use such a
function in their ATLAS sequence, have to write the repeated section between the lines
loop($i=5|13|1) and loop_end. The opening bracket is followed by $, a variablename,
= and the starting point for the variable. The next number is the last variable value and the
third number represents the increment. Nested loops are also allowed whereas different
variable names have to be used.
10 Modelling, Programming and Simulations Using LabVIEW™ Software

2.2.2.2 Solving mathematic formulas

It is important to mention that the loop-feature only allows for a constant increment. To
overcome this limitation the ATLAS server can solve formulas based on NI_Gmath.lvlib:Eval
Formula String.vi3. The mathematical expressions are defined by writing them between
brackets and the result will have a precision of 3 digits after the decimal separator. As the
loop-function is interpreted before any formula is solved, it is also possible to use loop-
variables in these mathematical expressions.
2.2.2.3 Aliases
Another feature in the ATLAS scripting language are aliases. These are abbreviations for
longer program sequences which are used frequently. For example, a cleaning procedure in
a liquid handling system, consisting of many single instructions, can be saved in the file
<ATLAS directory>\Server\alias\cleaning.txt. After that the cleaning procedure
is inserted in the script sequence by using the command AL|cleaning.txt, which
shortens the script sequence and makes it easier to comprehend the whole sequence.
Aside from custom built aliases, the ATLAS server can access the aliases
AL|name|measurement_name and AL|error. Their special characteristics are that the
server replaces the alias-indicator AL by all available client-identifiers. Using
AL|name|measurement_name will distribute a measurement filename to all connected
clients which will save their measurement data by this name. AL|error is used to distribute
the information, that an error has occurred, to all connected clients immediately.

2.3 Client applications

Each client can be operated in 3 different modes: The server mode, the programming mode
and the local mode. If a client is switched to the server mode, it tries to connect to the ATLAS
server over TCP/IP and after the connection has been established the device can be remote
controlled by the server. The programming mode offers a comfortable way to create a script
sequence on the server since every user event will be sent to the ATLAS server as the
according script command instead of executing it. In local mode the connected device is
controlled directly and user input is executed immediately.
The code structure is based on a state-machine4 and a simplified scheme of the state-
machine used is shown in figure 4. It consists of three states called init, state changed and
running. The init state is used for initializing the user interface, setting constants, configuring
a RS-232 connection etc. The state changed state is called if the user changes the client mode.
Depending on the selected mode the network connection to the ATLAS server is established.
If the connection initialization fails, the client automatically switches back to the local mode.
All other functionality of the client is located in the running case of the state-machine.
The running state contains code elements for communicating with the ATLAS server,
handling user inputs and controlling the connected device. An overview of the code can be
found in figure 5. To simplify the block diagram all client specific hardware functionalities
have been removed. The code inside the running state is based on a producer consumer
architecture5 consisting of three loops in our case. The first loop contains an event handler for
user interactions whereas a second loop receives script commands from the ATLAS server

3 http://zone.ni.com/reference/en-XX/help/371361G-01/gmath/advanced_formula_vis/
4 http://zone.ni.com/devzone/cda/tut/p/id/2926
5 http://zone.ni.com/devzone/cda/tut/p/id/3023
Advanced Total Lab Automation System (ATLAS) 11

init

switch: local
programming
running state changed server

exit

Fig. 4. Scheme of the client’s architecture, which consists of a state-machine. It enables the
software to switch between the different operating modes "client", "server" and local".
in server mode and passes them on to the third loop functioning as the consumer loop. In
programming mode, however, the second loop is used to send script commands to the
ATLAS server upon user interaction. The consumer loop interprets the script commands
and translates them into hardware interactions. The exchange of commands between these
three loops is realized by a queue (referred to as command queue) code structure. A second
queue (referred to as status queue), which can also be seen in figure 5 is used to transport
the status of the client from the consumer loop to the server loop and on to the ATLAS
server if the client is in server mode. The differences in program execution for the three
different states are explained in further detail below.
• local mode: The communication between the server and the client is deactivated. User
interaction on the front panel triggers the event handler which assembles a script
command, representing the user input from the GUI, and adds this script command to
the command queue triggering the consumer loop execution.
• programming mode: The server loop is used to send script commands received via the
command queue to the ATLAS server after receiving a status request from the server. The
consumer loop, however, does not pass on any command to the connected hardware.
• server mode: The server loop is used to receive script commands from the ATLAS
server and adds them to the command queue. The event handler structure, however,
can still add commands to the command queue on user input to enable the user to
interrupt automated script execution. The server loop is also used to reply to status
requests from the ATLAS server according to the current state of the client, which is
transported over the status queue as described above.

2.3.1 Available clients

At the moment 16 different clients are available and listed below. The list contains the client
identifiers and a short description of the client functionality.
AC: Self-developed 230V AC power socket.
The AC client can switch a power socket and is connected to the PC via a RS-232-port.
BC: Self-developed Boxcar-Integrator.
This client reads the data, whereas the gating- and trigger-delay have to be set manually
at the device.
BP: Beep client.
If the ATLAS server has to alert the user, the BP client can be used. It produces an audible
tone with a certain frequency for 100 ms and is already included in the ATLAS server.
12 Modelling, Programming and Simulations Using LabVIEW™ Software

server loop

consumer loop

event handler loop

Fig. 5. Block diagram of a simplified ATLAS client, showing the running state. See the text
for further information.
Advanced Total Lab Automation System (ATLAS) 13

CA: Syringe pumps by Cavro Scientific Instruments (Sunnyvale, CA, USA).

Liquids can be aspired and dispensed from two liquid connections at different speeds.
The ramping up and down to the programmed speed can also be programed.
DB: A digital board from TVE Elektronische Systeme GmbH (Vienna, Austria).
This board is a combination of a 16-bit-AD converter for a thermoelectrical cooled
infrared detector. The integrated CPU supports features such as trigger delay, internal
averaging and base line correction and is connected to the PC via USB.
DI: Micro dispenser from Picology AB (Sweden).
The piezo-element of the dispenser is controlled by burst signals from an Agilent
33120A function generator. The size of the dispensed drops and the number of drops
per second can be adjusted.
DL: External Cavity Quantum Cascade Laser from Daylight Solutions Inc. (CA, USA).
The wavenumber and the intensity of the emitted light can be set among other laser
parameters. The DL client also supports a scanning mode, where the emission
wavenumber of the laser is tuned automatically.
GI: Miniplus 3 peristaltic pump from Gilson Inc. (Middleton, WI, USA).
The speed as well as the pumping direction can be controlled.
HV: CZE 1000R high voltage supply from Spellman (NY, USA).
It is supported via an DAC module from National Instruments. The output voltage of
the module is transformed into high voltage output (10 V equal 30 kV).
LC: Waverunner 64-Xi oscilloscope from LeCroy Corp. (NY, USA).
Only the most important features such as setting V/div, timebase and trigger-
parameters are implemented. Single pulses can be read and stored.
OP: FTIR spectrometers from Bruker Optik GmbH (Ettlingen, Germany).
This client connects to OPUS over a DDE connection and can trigger measurements
utilizing predefined experiment files. Single and repeated measurements are supported.
TE: TDS 220 oscilloscope by Tektronix (OR, USA).
Only the most important features such as setting V/div, timebase and trigger-
parameters are implemented. Single pulses can be read and stored.
UV: Capillary UV-Detector from Dionex (Sunnyvale, CA, USA).
The client allows to set four wavelengths for absorption measurements. It can autozero
the absorbance values and record the absorbance over time.
VI: Valves from Vici AG (Switzerland).
Injection and selection valves are supported by this client.
WA: Wait client
The wait client allows a delay of the execution of the next command by a defined time
period. It is also included in the ATLAS server as the BP client.
XY: Custom-built XY stage.
The XY stage is operated by a Trinamic TMCM-610 stepper motor control, which is
controlled by the XY client. This client allows the user to move the stage for a certain
distance by a predefined speed.

3. Sample applications
3.1 Example I: Quantification of lactate in aqueous solution using an External Cavity
Quantum Cascade Laser
In clinical diagnostics numerous parameters, such as glucose, phosphate and lactate in
blood have to be measured with high precision and accuracy in short time intervals. One
14 Modelling, Programming and Simulations Using LabVIEW™ Software

measurement principle suitable for such requirements is infrared spectroscopy. Using

classical Fourier transform infrared spectrometry (Griffiths & Haseth, 2007) two approaches
can be chosen. Measuring the solution in transmission requires low path lengths typically
below 25 μm in the spectral region of 1000 – 1250 cm–1 due to the high absorbance of water
in the region of interest. The measurement cell can suffer from bio-fouling on the window
materials when biological samples are measured. Additionally, particles in the sample
solution can cause cell-clogging in such small path lengths. The second suitable
measurement method overcoming the clogging problem is attenuated total reflection (ATR).
Using the ATR technique the light doesn’t transmit through the sample solution but is
coupled into an IR transparent crystal (e.g. Germanium). At the surface between the crystal
and the sample total reflection of the light occurs and the evanescent field of the
propagating light is reaching into the sample. This evanescent field interacts with the
sample and is absorbed by the target molecules. Applying the ATR technique allows the use
of flow cells on top of the crystal with bigger dimensions since the light doesn’t need to
penetrate the whole sample thickness. This advantage comes with the tradeoff that the
penetration depth of the light into the sample is small compared to the transmission
measurement. Therefore, one must expect higher limits of detection limits of detection and
less sensitivity according to Lambert Beer’s law (1). Additionally bio fouling on the crystal
surface is an even bigger issue due to the low penetration depth.

⎛ I (cm −1 ) ⎞
A(cm −1 ) = − log ⎜ ⎟ = ε ⋅c ⋅l (1)
⎜ I (cm −1 ) ⎟
⎝ 0 ⎠
In this formula I0 denotes the measured intensity of the light reaching the detector without
sample whereas I gives the intensity after the light was absorbed by the sample. ε[L/cm] is
the molar absorption coefficient at a given wavenumber. c[mol/L] denotes the concentration
of the analyte and l[cm] gives the path length of the measurement cell.
Increasing the optical path length of the measurement cell would solve both drawbacks,
described above, at the same time. Larger cell dimensions would make the cleaning of the
cell easier, accompanied by better sensitivity because of the increased interaction length.
Replacing the IR spectrometer with a Quantum Cascade Laser (QCL) (Faist et al., 1994)
enables the penetration of higher path lengths at one wavenumber due to the higher energy
output of the laser compared to the light source of an IR spectrometer. Applying an External
Cavity Quantum Cascade Laser (EC-QCL), which can shift its emission wavenumber over a
range of 200 cm–1 gives a spectrum instead of a single absorbance value at a given
wavenumber.
Using an EC-QCL enabled us to use an optical path length of 130 μm for the measurement of
physiological relevant compounds in Ringer solution. Using ATLAS we realized an
experimental setup for the measurement of liquid samples and tested it on lactate samples
in Ringer solution.

3.1.1 Experiment
For our studies we combined an EC-QCL (tuning range: 1030 – 1230 cm–1) from Daylight
Solutions Inc. with a thermoelectrically cooled Mercury Cadmium Telluride (MCT) detector
and a Sequential Injection Analysis (SIA) system for sample preparation (Brandstetter et al.,
2010). The detector signal was digitized by a specially designed analogue to digital
Advanced Total Lab Automation System (ATLAS) 15

Proprietary Connection
RS-232

Teflon Tubing
Holding Coil EC-QCL
Flow Cell
Injection-Valve
14-Way-Valve wavenumber:
1160 cm^-1

Waste
Detector Laser-Driver
Peristaltic-Pump
Ethanol

DL
Digital Board
DB

Ringer Waste Samples

Syringe-Pump

Fig. 6. Experimental setup for the measurement of lactate in Ringer solution using an
External Cavity Quantum Cascade Laser.
converter (ADC) board which was read out by the digital board ATLAS client. Using a SIA
system improves on manual sample injection by means of reproducibility and repeatability.
Applying the SIA system also helps to reduce sample contaminations since the system can
be cleaned automatically before a new sample is injected for the next measurement.
For this setup, shown in figure 6, the ATLAS clients for the digital board, the EC-QCL from
Daylight Solutions Inc., the syringe pump from Cavro Inc., valves by Vici Inc. and the client
for the Gilson Miniplus 3 peristaltic pump were connected to the ATLAS server. All
hardware parts were connected to a notebook by RS-232 connections over USB-to-RS-232
converters. The peristaltic pump in the setup was only used if air bubbles were found in the
tubings. In that case the system was purged with ethanol first to drive the bubbles out of the
system and afterwards the ethanol flask was exchanged with Ringer solution manually and
the tubings were filled with Ringer solution again.
In a first experiment lactate in Ringer matrix was pumped through the measurement spot
repeatedly to examine the achieved flow profiles. Therefore, the whole system was filled with
Ringer solution first. The laser parameters were sent by the client to the laser control unit and
the emission wavenumber was tuned to 1130 cm–1. After initiating the emission of light the
data acquisition was started and the intensity of the detected signal was streamed onto the
hard drive continuously. In the meantime the syringe pump picked up the lactate sample
through the 14-way-valve into the holding coil. After switching the 14-way-valve back to
connect the holding coil with the measurement cell the syringe pump dispensed the lactate
sample through the measurement cell. The pickup and dispense procedure was repeated
while the data acquisition continued. In figure 7 the obtained flow profile for two repetitions is
plotted against time. Whenever the sample solution passes the measurement cell the measured
intensity on the detector decreases due to absorption taking place in the cell. The obtained flow
profiles are in good agreement with theory. Optimization of the pumped lactate volume and
the used flow rates allowed adjustments of the system in such a way that, at the maximum of
the absorption, undiluted sample was measured. Knowing the exact time when this maximum
reached the flow cell was crucial for the following experiment.
To obtain a calibration curve for lactate in Ringer solution a second command sequence was
programmed. Firstly Ringer solution was pumped through the measurement cell utilizing a
16 Modelling, Programming and Simulations Using LabVIEW™ Software

Time [min]
0,0 0,5 1,0 1,5 2,0 2,5 3,0 3,5
34500

34000
Detector Intensity [a.u.]

33500

33000

32500

32000

31500
0 25 50 75 100 125 150 175 200 225

Time [sec]

Fig. 7. Lactate solution was pumped through the measurement cell twice while the EC-QCL
emitted light at 1130 cm–1 and the digital board read out the detector values.
Cavro syringe pump. After the cell was purged the flow was stopped and the ATLAS server
sent a signal to the digital board to start recording. Afterwards the EC-QCL was started by
the server to scan over a wavenumber region ranging from 1030 to 1230 cm–1. This
measurement served as I0(cm–1) in equation (1). Then the valves switched positions allowing
the syringe pump to pick up a sample of lactate into the holding coil. After the 14-way-valve
was switched to connect the holding coil with the flow cell the sample was pumped into the
measurement spot. Subsequently, the flow was stopped at the absorption maximum
determined earlier. Now the EC-QCL received a trigger signal from the server to start
another measurement, which gave I(cm–1) in equation (1). Then the valve of the syringe
pump was switched to the opposite direction and picked up Ringer solution from the
storage flask. After switching the valve back the whole system was purged again. This step
was repeated twice to flush any possible remaining lactate out of the measurement spot.
The sequence described above was automatically repeated for all five sample concentrations
by changing the 14-way-valve to the appropriate position in each of the measurement runs.
Afterwards the absorbance spectra were calculated manually and the data shown in figure 8
were plotted in Origin. Calculating a linear calibration function for the measured
absorbances at the band maxima gave a R2 value of 0.996.
In conclusion we can report that setting up a SIA system using ATLAS can by achieved
easily. The integration of the EC-QCL and the data acquisition electronics into the SIA
sequences was simple too after the ATLAS clients for the laser and the ADC board had been
developed.

3.2 Example II: Using IR spectroscopy as a detector for liquid chromatography

Liquid chromatography (LC) is a widely used technique in analytical chemistry to separate
mixtures of substances before detecting and quantifying them. The sample is injected onto a
Advanced Total Lab Automation System (ATLAS) 17

0,040
0,040
1 mmol/l
0,035 5 mmol/l 0,035
10 mmol/l
0,030 15 mmol/l 0,030
20 mmol/l
0,025
0,025
Absorbance [AU]

Absorbance [AU]
0,020

0,015 0,020

0,010
0,015
0,005
0,010
0,000

-0,005 0,005

-0,010 0,000
1180 1160 1140 1120 1100 1080 0 5 10 15 20
-1
Wavenumber [cm ] Concentration [mmol/l]

(a) Recorded spectra (b) Calibration line

Fig. 8. 5 different concentrations of lactate in Ringer solution were measured and the
absorbance values at 1131. 7 cm–1 are plotted as a calibration curve giving a R2 value of 0.996.
separation column where different molecules in the analyte mixture are retained for a
varying time dependent on the nature of the column and the analyte itself. The analytes are
driven through the column by a single solvent mixture, called isocratic mode, or the
composition of the solvent mixture is changed during the elution, which is called gradient
mode. Classical detectors used for detection in LC are mass spectrometry (MS) and UV-VIS
spectroscopy. IR spectroscopy was not commercialized until today as a detection principle
for LC because the solvents used cause high absorption in the infrared spectral region and
overlap with the very small absorptions of the analyte molecules. However IR spectroscopy
has some advantages as detection principle. First it is a non destructive detection principle,
compared to MS. Second, the IR spectrum can be seen as a fingerprint of a target molecule
which simplifies the identification of target molecules compared to UV-VIS spectroscopy.
Using IR spectroscopy as the detection principle in LC can be done in two ways. In the
online method the exit of the separation column is connected to a flow cell and IR spectra
are recorded during the elution of the analytes. Since the time resolution of the
chromatogram depends mainly on the time needed to record a spectrum a tradeoff has to be
made here. Increasing the spectral averaging will give better signal to noise levels and
therefore better sensitivity. However, the time resolution of the chromatogram will decrease
and two peaks, which are eluted shortly after each other, might be not detected separately.
The strong absorption of the solvent can be easily subtracted in an isocratic eluation whereas
background correction algorithms have to be used in gradient elution (Quintás et al.,
2009a;b).
The second possible method is based on physically eliminating the solvent from the sample
and the IR spectra are measured afterwards as traces on an IR transparent substrate. This
method enables averaging of as many spectra as needed without decreasing the time
resolution of the chromatogram because the time resolution is mainly determined by the
deposition method of the eluents on the measurement substrate.
Using ATLAS we have coupled a Dionex Ultimate 3000 capillary LC system to a micro
dispenser (Laurell et al., 1999), which was used for eluate deposition on CaF2 windows
followed by subsequent IR detection. The setup described below was already used by
manually controlling all components before ATLAS became available and proved capable of
measuring pesticides down to concentrations of 2 μg/mL (Armenta & Lendl, 2010).
18 Modelling, Programming and Simulations Using LabVIEW™ Software

Proprietary Connection

RS-232 UV-Detector
HPLC-Column
Sample Ultimate 3000
Capillary burst
Piezoelectric
Dispenser
Agilent 0123
XY DI

UV

XY-Stage-Controller
Stepper-Motor

Stepper-Motor

Fig. 9. Experimental setup for the coupling of a liquid chromatography system with offline
IR detection utilizing a micro dispenser for sample deposition.

3.2.1 Experiment
Our system, as shown in figure 9, was built combining an Ultimate 3000 capillary LC system
(Dionex, Sunnyvale, CA, USA), which is not implemented in ATLAS yet, a Dionex UV
detector, a home built XY stage and a micro dispenser from Picology AB (Bjaerred, Sweden).
The UV detector was configured and read out via a RS-232 connection by an ATLAS client.
The stepping motors of the XY stage were connected to a controller board (Trinamic TMCM-
610) which was controlled by another ATLAS client. The piezo crystal of the micro
dispenser was actuated by a specially designed electronics board which amplified a burst
signal generated by an Agilent 33120A function generator. The burst period, giving the
number of droplets dispensed each second, and the burst amplitude, giving the volume of
each dispensed drop, were set by a dedicated dispenser ATLAS client. The droplets of the
eluent were dispensed onto a heated plate of IR transparent CaF2 mounted on the XY stage
moving the plate constantly during the deposition.
A typical experiment consisted of the following steps. First the injection of the sample onto
the LC column was initiated manually since the LC system is not implemented into the
ATLAS system yet. Immediately afterwards a preprogrammed ATLAS control sequence
was started containing the following steps:
• The desired wavelengths for the UV measurement are set
• The absorbance signal of the UV detector is set to zero
• The dispenser parameters are set
• The movement of the XY stage is initiated at a certain speed and a programmed
distance to travel
• The UV measurement is started
• The dispensing of the droplets is triggered
After the elution of the injected substances was completed the CaF2 plate was removed from
the XY stage and was analyzed on a Hyperion 3000 IR microscope from Bruker Optics
(Ettlingen, Germany). The plate was measured in transmission mode applying a line scan
along the deposited material.
Advanced Total Lab Automation System (ATLAS) 19

0,0150
0,016
UV trace at 210nm
0,12 IR trace at 1657cm
-1

0,014
0,0125
0,10
0,012
0,0100

Absorbance [AU]
UV Absorbance [AU]

IR Absorbance [AU]
0,08 0,010

0,008 0,0075
0,06

0,006
0,04 0,0050
0,004

0,02 0,0025
0,002

0,00 0,000 0,0000

0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16
2000 1800 1600 1400 1200 1000 800
Time [min] -1
Wavenumber [cm ]

(b) IR spectrum of caffeine at the maximum

(a) Traces of the eluted caffeine sample
of the eluted peak
Fig. 10. Measurement results from the coupling of a liquid chromatography system with
offline IR detection.
First results testing the ATLAS system were obtained by injecting 1 μL of a 60 ppm solution
of caffeine onto a C18 separation column. A mixture of water and acetonitrile (50:50 % v/v)
with 0.1% acetic acid served as the mobile phase flowing at a speed of 2 μL/min. The UV
detector was set to measure at 200, 210, 250 and 350 nm wavelengths every 500 ms for 15
min and the XY stage was moved with 25 μm/s for a distance of 3 cm. The dispense rate
was set to 25 drops/s.
The obtained chromatogram of caffeine is plotted in figure 10. The time delay between the
UV and IR measurement can be explained by the distance between the UV measurement cell
and the micro dispenser. The IR trace was obtained by integration of the caffeine band
located at 1657 cm–1. The plotted IR spectrum of caffeine represents the maximum of the IR
trace.
Concluding we can state that using ATLAS enabled us to setup a measurement system
coupling a LC system with online UV detection and offline IR detection. Inclusion of the
Dionex Ultimate 3000 chromatograph would allow for fully automated measurements with
this system eliminating the manual injection of the sample.

4. Conclusion and Outlook

In this chapter we introduced ATLAS, our LabVIEW programmed lab automation system.
While LabVIEW is routinely used in many labs to control laboratory equipment, usually
these programs are ad-hoc solutions which are used for one type of experiment only and are
never published. What sets our system apart from previously reported works are its
expandability and flexibility. Through its Server-Client layout the ATLAS system can easily
be expanded to be able to control a wide range of lab equipment – any instrument, that can
be controlled by LabVIEW, can be controlled by our program – and experiment parameters
can be easily changed.
To give the reader an idea of possible applications of ATLAS we described two ATLAS
controlled experiments, which would have been very inconvenient to do manually, but
were easily implemented with the help of the presented lab automation system.
In the future we plan to extend our program by the ability to send measurement data from
clients to the server and have the server make decisions based on this data. Furthermore, the
20 Modelling, Programming and Simulations Using LabVIEW™ Software

final version and the source code of ATLAS will be made available on our website
(http://www.cta.tuwien.ac.at/cavs), to allow other users to use and improve it.

5. Acknowledgment
The authors want to thank Eva Aguilera Herrador, Julia Kuligowski and Markus
Brandstetter for supplying us with their measurement data which are presented in section 3.

6. References
Armenta, S. & Lendl, B. (2010). Capillary liquid chromatography with off-line mid-ir and
raman micro-spectroscopic detection: Analysis of chlorinated pesticides at ppb
levels, Anal Bioanal Chem 397(1): 297–308.
Barzin, R., Shukor, S. & Ahmad, A. (2010). New spectrophotometric measurement method
for process control of miniaturized intensified systems, Sensors and Actuators, B:
Chemical 146(1): 403–409.
Brandstetter, M., Genner, A., Anic, K., Lendl, B. (2010). Tunable external cavity quantum
cascade laser for the simultaneous determination of glucose and lactate in aqueous
phase, Analyst, available online, doi: 10.1039/c0an00532k.
Dominguez, R., Muñoz, R. & Araiza, H. (2010). Automated analytical system based on the
sia technique, Pan American Health Care Exchanges, PAHCE 2010 pp. 117–119.
Faist, J., Capasso, F., Sivco, D., Sirtori, C., Hutchinson, A. & Cho, A. (1994). Quantum
cascade laser, Science 264(5158): 553–556.
Griffiths, P. R. & Haseth, J. A. D. (2007). Fourier Transform Infrared Spectrometry, Wiley-
Interscience.
Jitmanee, K., Teshima, N., Sakai, T. & Grudpan, K. (2007). Drc™ icp-ms coupled with
automated flow injection system with anion exchange minicolumns for
determination of selenium compounds in water samples, Talanta 73(2): 352–357.
Laurell, T., Wallman, L. & Nilsson, J. (1999). Design and development of a silicon
microfabricated flow-through dispenser for on-line picolitre sample handling, J.
Micromech. Microeng 9(4): 369–376.
Quintás, G., Kuligowski, J. & Lendl, B. (2009a). On-line fourier transform infrared
spectrometric detection in gradient capillary liquid chromatography using
nanoliter-flow cells, Analytical Chemistry 81(10): 3746–3753.
Quintás, G., Kuligowski, J. & Lendl, B. (2009b). Procedure for automated background
correction in flow systems with infrared spectroscopic detection and changing
liquid-phase composition, Appl Spec 63(12): 1363–1369.
Růzicka, J. (1981). Flow Injection Analysis, Vol. 62 of Chemical Analysis, Wiley, John & Sons,
Incorporated.
Růzicka, J. (1992). The second coming of flow-injection analysis, Analytica Chimica Acta
261(1- 2): 3–10.
Wagner, C., Armenta, S. & Lendl, B. (2010). Developing automated analytical methods for
scientific environments using labview, Talanta 80(3): 1081–1087.
 2

In-House Control System for

Medium Size Research Facility
Hideaki Ohgaki and Yoshitaka Iwasaki
Kyoto University, SAGA Light Source
Japan

1. Introduction
A medium size research facility has a difficulties to develop control systems for their own
special equipments, especially for accelerator facilities, because there is only few experts for
constructing the control system and the control objects are not mass-product ones in most
case. We have experienced such situation and we found a solution for a development in a
medium size accelerator complex, SAGA Light Source (SAGA-LS) by using distributed MS-
PC control system which is connected with a standard Internet protocol and is developed by
Labview.
The SAGA Light Source (SAGA-LS) (Tomimasu, et al., 2003), (Iwasaki, et al., 2003) is a
medium size synchrotron light research facility located at Kyusyu-Island, Japan. The
accelerator control programs have been developed in-house from the beginning of the
machine commissioning using Labview. At this stage almost all of the components of the
accelerator, for instance, magnet power supplies, radio frequency (RF) system, vacuum
monitoring and beam position monitoring system, are controlled and monitored by server
and client model with LabView. During the commissioning period integrated sub-systems
such as a feed-forward orbit correction system for insertion devices, a feedback power
supply control system, a beam based beam position monitor (BPM) calibration and the other
control applications have also been developed with Labview. E-mail services for alarm
information and Web server that delivers accelerator status for entire facility are also
developed by Labview. External codes are available to help the accelerator operation. For
example TRACY2 (Nishimura, 1988) is used for accelerator modelling to establish the
machine parameters in cooperate with Labview control system. In this chapter we describe
the SAGA-LS accelerator control system as an example of developments of the control
system for a medium size research facility using Labview.

2. Design
SAGA-LS accelerator consists of 255 MeV injector linac and 1.4 GeV electron storage ring.
The circumference of the storage ring is 75.6 m. Figure 1 shows the geometrical layout of
SAGA-LS facility. At this stage 10 beam lines are offered to user experiments.
The control system for the SAGA-LS accelerator, which consists of magnet power supplies, a
radio frequency, and a vacuum monitoring system, should be implemented with
communication interfaces, because those are distributed in wide area of the facility, and
22 Modelling, Programming and Simulations Using LabVIEW™ Software

operators have to manipulate these components from the control room. The Ethernet LAN is
standard communication interfaces and we can easily use it with MS-PCs and LabView
system with server and client model. We adopted Ethernet LAN as communication
interfaces with each accelerator devices and PCs, because of its high cost performance. For
the connectivity to the accelerator hardware, we selected commercial base off-the-shelf
distributed input output devices (I/O devices) such as PLC (FA-M3; YOKOGAWA), and
Fieldpoint (National Instruments). A serious issue on SAGA-LS facility is its tightly
restricted budget and, hence, the limited number of staff in the facility. Thus, the control
system for SAGA-LS should be simple and robust, while inexpensive, easy to develop, to
maintain and to be expandable. The solution of this problem in the view point of hardware
is the usage of the PC and the off-the-shelf products. On the other hand for the application
developments we use the Labview environment, because a few number of staff have to
develop the control applications with in-house efforts toward variety of demands from the
construction period to the use operation period. Other reasons of using Labview and its
merits are discussed in chapter 5.

Fig. 1. Geometrical Layout of SAGA Light Source.

The PC control system is widely used in many facilities because of a very high cost
performance of PC. On the other side, there are sophisticated and well-established control
systems based on workstations, such as EPICS. It is an efficient way to use those resources to
design a control system, because a many of hardware drivers and utility software
specialized for accelerator control are available in EPICS system. PC-based EPICS system
with the PC-UNIX operating system could also be an efficient way to design a control
system, because we can use plenty of the existing resources. However, it is difficult to
modify and expand the EPICS system with the limited number of accelerator staff,
especially in the case without EPICS specialists. Fortunately, the number of the control items
of the SAGA-LS is about 600 and there are very few demands for a real-time control. Only
In-House Control System for Medium Size Research Facility 23

exception is synchronous operation for power supplies for a quick energy ramping in the
storage ring. In this case a PLC with preloaded ramping pattern is available. Hence, we have
designed a MS-Windows PC-based control system, which uses the EPICS channel access
(CA) only for the purpose of utilization of the general EPICS utility code, and off-the-shelf
I/O devices. There are several manners to communicate with server PCs and client PCs. The
DataSocket, Shared Variables, which in built–in protocol in the Labview system, are one of
the methods for this purposes. But we use not only Labview, but also other programming
tools for accelerator control system such as Delphi. ActiveX CA can be used under the any
developing environment of MS-Windows OS. Thus we decide to use ActiveX CA as
communication protocol for accelerator control system. There are several excellent works to
develop CA components for the MS-Windows environment. ActiveX CA (Kay-Uwe
Kasemir, 2000) is one of such component. The PC running the ActiveX CA server with I/O
devices works as a standalone PC I/O controller which can communicate with the EPICS
CA through the Labview interface.
Figure 2 shows the schematic view of the architecture of the SAGA-LS accelerator control
system including beam line and office LAN. In figure 2, the RF powe supplies of linac,
electron gun and the many kinds of beam diagnostic equipments are omitted.
WAN
Groupware
DMZ
Router Of f ice LAN
I ntra-Web Server
Facility LAN Accelerator Status FireWall

Control Room FireWall

FireWall Beamline Users

Linac Magnet
CA Server Database CA Client CA Client CA Client
Accelerator LAN ActiveXCA Ring I nsertion
Ring Magnet Vacuum&BPM Ring RF Device
CA Server CA Server CA Server CA Server
Linac
Vacuum&LCW
CA Server
PLC PLC PLC
FA-M3 FP-1601 FA-M3 FA-M3 FP-1601 FP-1601 Stepping Motor PLC
Controller FA-M3

Linac Magnet Linac Vacuum LCW Ring Magnet Ring Vacuum Ring RF I nsertion
/BPM Device

Control/Monitoring Obj ects

Fig. 2. Schematic view of the architecture for SAGA-LS accelerator control system.
The accelerator, beam line and office LAN are separated by firewalls to secure the
accelerator cotrol network. To control the insertion devices from the beam line users, for
instance the operation of undulators, an exception of security policy is added in accelerator
firewall. Simple TCP/IP protocol is used for control method of insertion devices from the
beam line users. An intra-web server is placed in middle zone of facility LAN to deliver the
machine parameter in any location of the SAGA-LS facility. The intra-web server delivers
the status of the accelerator for the beam line users. The details of web system and E-mail
system are described in section 5.7.
24 Modelling, Programming and Simulations Using LabVIEW™ Software

3. System Implementation
3.1 Console PC
The machine commissioning of SAGA-LS accelerator was begun on 2004, and we selected
Window 2000 as operating system of server and client PCs because of its stability, and MS-
Windows OS is familiar environment for the facility staff. The cost performance of Windows
PC is one of the reasons for the choice. At the present stage the higher version of MS-
Windows OS, i.e., Windows XP, Windows Vista and Windows 7 is also used for new control
components of the accelerator.
Console applications are developed using Labview with ActiveX CA. The client PC
communicates with not only one server PC but also several servers for the purposes of cross
sectional applications: COD correction program, measurement of response matrix (R-
matrix), beam based BPM calibration and so on. A few example of console programs will be
described in section 5.2, 5.3 and 5.4.
The data archive system (Database; MySQL), which records accelerator parameters is
installed in the system. The logger programs and the trend viewers are constructed using
Delphi and Labview respectively. ODBC is used for connecting MySQL with Labview.

3.2 PC-IOC
Recent industrial IO devices are reliable and high-speed access via built-in Ethernet modules
can be available. Thus we construct the IOC only with such off-the-shelf industrial I/O
devices. We put PCs between the console computers and the I/O devices, because:
I. Industrial I/O device itself cannot directly communicate with consol PC with ActiveX
CA.
II. Server PC can be used as a local controller during installation and maintenance.
III. Server PC works as IOC for GPIB and non-Ethernet devices such as digital voltage
meter.
IV. The device LAN should be separated from the facility LAN to secure the network.
FieldPoints are a candidate for the I/O devices, because of its reliability and hot plug and
play operation, and good connectivity to the software environment of Labview. FA-M3s
(Yokogawa; PLCs) are used for the I/O devices for magnet power supplies, cooling water
system and insertion devices. Digital voltage meter, which monitors the beam current in
electron storage ring, is connected to a beam current monitor PC with GPIB. As the PC-IOC
works as a local control machine for the maintenance, i.e. repairing or conditioning, the PC-
IOCs should be located close to their control objects.
There are over 10 Windows 2000 or Windows XP PCs for PC-IOC that equipped with
ActeveX CA servers. The server applications have been also developed with Labview.
Almost all of the control applications have been developed in the facility. The only
exception is PLC program for magnet power supplies those are developed by Techno-AP
(Ibaraki, Japan) at first stage of installation. The PLC program has been modified by the
facility staff.

3.3 Performance
The data communications between the PC-IOCs (servers) and the consol PCs (clients) are
done via 100 Mbps LAN, which is isolated from the facility LAN and from the beam-line
users by firewall.
In-House Control System for Medium Size Research Facility 25

As the ActiveX CA only supports the polling data transfer method, the communication rate
between client and server is mainly limited by number of the process variable (PV). Further
more, we must combat with the data-synchronous problem in the multi-client system. To
resolve the problem we use “SET VALUE” and “READBACK VALUE” for “CA put.” In
figure 3, the method using “SET VALUE” and “READBACK VALUE” is illustrated.
Nominal communication rate for 144 variables of magnet power supply for storage ring are
about 5 Hz in the present system. Further improvement in the communication rate can be
expected by using the block data transfer method in the ActiveX CA. Feasible studies on the
block data transfer to the magnet power supply in the storage ring shows that the
communication rate can be achieved 9.5 ms/144 data. However, the block data transfer
method looses simplicity and flexibility in the development of the client applications.
Therefore we use block data transfer method only for the client PC which is required for a
synchronous operation between many power supplies, such as COD correction client. The
Windows PCs and ActiveX CA satisfy our demand with the communication rate of 1 to 10
Hz. The details of design, implementation, performance of the control system of SAGA-LS
are summarized in references (Ohgaki et al., 2003), (Ohgaki et al., 2005).

Fig. 3. PV configuration of the magnet control system using ActiveX CA.

4. Example of application programs

4.1 Magnet power supply
The purpose of control system for magnet power supply is simple: to switch on/off the
power supply; to change and monitor the output current; to indicate interlock alarms; to
inform the status: However there are 144 magnet power supplies in SAGA-LS electron
storage ring, and these must be controlled synchronously during the energy ramping
operation, otherwise, a large orbit shit of electron beam or a serious beam instability will be
occurred, and in worse case the stored beam will be lost.
26 Modelling, Programming and Simulations Using LabVIEW™ Software

To fulfil the requirement for the magnet power supply control sub-system, we adopted PLC
as a control device. PLC is used to guarantee the synchronous and rapid operation. The
synchronization accuracy of PLC is sufficient for our requirement (within 10ms
coincidence). For the energy ramping up, the ramping pattern whose step size are 10,000
points per each magnets are pre-loaded in the file registry of the PLC.
PC program, which is developed by Labivew, thus, have two main routines. One is for
connection to the PLC to control and to receive status from the power supplies. And the
other routine is to accept demands from the external client PC for the orbit correction, for
instance. As described before, the communication between server PC and client PC is done
by ActiveX CA. In Figure 4, front panel of control application for magnet power supply and
block diagram are shown.
Typical feature of this application program is that we use “Queue with Type Definition File”
so that many series of tasks are not conflicted each other. By using “Queue with Type
Definition File”, the drawn area of block diagram becomes to be compact compared to using
the other syntax. The scalability of “Queue” for new procedure is quite simple. Basically this
magnet program and ladder program of PLC is developed by Techno-AP (Ibaraki, Japan),
and modified by SAGA-LS staff for further development of machine operation. The
functions of the feed-forward control of power supply for insertion devices and feedback
control for stabilisation of power supply have implemented in the program as well. The
details of feed-forward and feedback system will be mentioned in section 5.5 and 5.6
respectively.

Fig. 4. Front panel and block diagram of the storage ring power supply control application.
We are sorry that some words are written in Japanese, because we use Japanese version of
Labview.
In-House Control System for Medium Size Research Facility 27

4.2 Vacuum monitoring

The electron beams circulating in the storage ring is scattered by residual molecules and
stored current is gradually degreasing. To maintain a long lifetime of the electron beam, the
pressure level of the accelerator must keep in an ultra-high vacuum. Hence the monitoring
of the vacuum level is important for a stable accelerator operation. The vacuum level is
measured by the vacuum gauge, and the analogue signal from the gauge controller is
collected using a Fieldpoint 16bit ADC. The vacuum server PC translates the analogue
signals to physical values and put the value as Process Variables (PVs). The sever PC and
Fieldpoint configured PC-IOC. There are 24 vacuum gauges in the storage ring and 3 gauges
in front end of beam lines where the beam profiles are measured. In the beam transport line
near the injection septum magnet there is a vacuum gauge as well. All of the vacuum levels are

CA Client CA Client ActiveXCA

Ring Vacuum Gauge

Vacuum&BPM
CA Server StorageRing

FP-1601
Gauge Conroller

Fig. 5. Schematic view of vacuum monitoring system of SAGA-LS accelerator.

Fig. 6. Front panel of vacuum monitoring system. The vacuum is indicated not only as digital
numbers but also trend graph. Vacuum levels of the ring are alarmed using colored indicator.
28 Modelling, Programming and Simulations Using LabVIEW™ Software

monitored from the control room and recorded into the database. Figure 5 shows the
schematic view of the vacuum monitoring system of SAGA-LS accelerator. The vacuum
server PC also serves the beam position to reduce the number of server PC. The trend of the
vacuum level is graphically indicated in the front panel of the client PC as illustrated in
figure 6. The easiness of construction of front panel and adequate graphical interfaces are
superior points of Labview environment.

4.3 Beam position monitoring and closed orbit distortion correction

Beam line users use the synchrotron light emitted from the bending magnet or from the
insertion devices. If the beam positions are not well defined, the path of the light would be
changed, and it causes the fluctuation of the exposure light on the sample specimen. Thus
the beam orbit should be corrected. Furthermore if the electron beams pass though the
peripheral part of the quadrupole magnet, the electrons are affected by the multipole
magnetic field, and it makes the accelerator parameter (such as twiss function) distorted,
and a beam instability would be arose. Therefore the beam orbit is fixed to the center of
magnetic field of the quadrupole magnets. The beam positions are measured using pick-up
electrode and the signals are processed using BPM electrical circuit. DC voltage signals are
read with Fieldpoint 16bit ADC, and the DC signals are translated to the physical values in
the BPM server PC.
G
Here Gwe briefly describe the principle of closed orbit distortion (COD) correction. If the x
and θ are the vector of beam positions measured by BPMs and the vector of kicks by G the
G
quadrupole magnets respectively, there is a linear relation with these quantities, x = Rθ . R
is called orbit response matrix. The matrix element of matrix R is the single kick response to
a BPM. If the inverse matrix
G of R is obtained, the kick angles to correct the orbit distortions
G
are represented as θ = R −1x . Although the response matrix can be calculated with a
simulation code by using the machine parameters (strengths of the quadrupole magnets and
kick angle of steering magnet), but the response matrix is directly measured by the beam
behaviour with kicks of the steering magnets and with monitoring by the beam positions in
our case. We obtained measured orbit response matrix as follows:
I. Measure the beam orbit without kicks
II. Excite a steering magnet;
III. Measure the orbit shift
IV. Turn off the steering magnet
V. Repeat these procedures until all of the steering magnets are excited.
After the measurement of orbit response matrix, the orbit distortions are corrected with the
corresponding steering kicks. The inverse of matrix R is driven using the method of Singular
Value Decomposition (SVD), of which procedure is included in Labview mathematical
library. This is also the great advantage to use Labview. The accuracy of correcting the COD
against the reference orbit is less than 20μm in both directions with 24 BPMs at SAGA-LS
storage ring. Figure 7 shows the front panel of COD correction program.

4.4 Beam based beam position monitor calibration

As is described in previous section, the electron beams circulating in the storage ring is
measured by BPMs. Usually BPMs are aligned to the center of the quadrupole magnet, but
the electric center of the BPM does not correspond to the center of the quadrupole magnetic
field by the initial setting of the installations. If the beams pass through the off-center of the
In-House Control System for Medium Size Research Facility 29

Fig. 7. Front panel of COD correction program. Any BPM and steering magnet can be
selected (or masked) for the correction.
quadrupole magnet, the beam is kicked with the multipole magnetic field. Such multipole
field causes the orbit shift and decreases the dynamic aperture, which limits beam lifetime.
Thus the calibration of the BPM to the magnetic center of the quadrupole magnet is
significantly important.
The method of beam based BPM calibration is follows;
I. Generate bump orbit near the BPM to be calibrated.
II. Change the excited current of quadrupole magnet close to the calibrated BPM.
III. Measure the orbit shift by the other BPMs in the storage ring.
IV. If the beam passes though the center of quadrupole, might become to be zero.
On these procedures, the steering and quadrupole magnets are sequentially exited and
beam positions are measured. The BPM offset is analysed using Labview on line. In the
analysis linear fitting routine included in Labview mathematical library is used. The
application of the beam based BPM calibration automatically change the value of the
steering and the quadrupole magnets, and monitors the beam position. Such complex and
multi-task application is performed by networking and multi-client architecture with
ActiveX CA data communication. Figure 8 illustrates the method of BPM calibration. By
using the beam based BPM calibration, it was found that over 1mm offset in maximum are
existed in the SAGA-LS storage ring.
30 Modelling, Programming and Simulations Using LabVIEW™ Software

Calibrated B PM

Monitored BPM BPM(i)

Monitored B PM
BPM(j') BPM(j)
ΔK
BPM center
ΔX' ΔX BPM Offset
Q center

Steering Steering Steering

Quadrupole Magnet
Fig. 8. Method of beam based BPM calibration.

4.5 Feed-forward correction of orbit, tune shift, skew correction

In SAGA-LS storage ring, there is a planner undulator and an APPLE-II undulator. The
APPLE-II type undulator is a kind of undulator, which varies not only the photon energy
but also the polarization of photon beams. Therefore, the control system should be prepared
to control the gap and the phase of undulator without changing the electron beam orbit and
size. The magnetic fields of the undulators are carefully measure and adjusted before
installation, but the residual dipole magnetic field and quadrupole and skew quadrupole
magnetic field are not completely compensated in general. The residual dipole field causes
the orbit shift and quadrupole and skew quadrupole component change the beam size. For
the free operation from the undulator users during the machine operation, these magnetic
fields should be automatically compensated by an external magnetic field. The residual field
is a unique function to the gap and the phase of the undulator, hence we have constructed
feed-forward magnetic compensation system. The server PC of the magnet power supply
reads the gap and the phase in the interval of 0.1 sec, and automatically produces the
corresponding exciting current to the dipole magnet, the quadrupole and the skew

Ring Magnet Ring Control Room

CA Client Undulator
CA Client
Accelerator LAN

ActiveXCA
I nsertion
Ring Main Undulator Device
Magnet Sidepole Magnet CA Server
CA Server CA Server
PLC PLC Stepping Motor
FA-M3 FA-M3 Controller PLC
Power Supply Room FA-M3

Power Supply&
Normal/Skew
Quadrupole Undulator APPLE-I I
SidePole Power
Supply&Magnet Storage Ring

Fig. 9. Feed-forward dipole, quadrupole, and skew quadrupole magnet against gap height
and phase position of the APPLE2.
In-House Control System for Medium Size Research Facility 31

0.1 0.1

0.08 0.08
)

)
0.06 0.06
σ_ CO D ( mm

σ_ CO D ( mm
0.04 20 0.04 20

)
mm

mm
0.02 0.02
0 0

se (

se (
0 0

Pha

Ph a
50 -20 50 -20
100 100
150 150
Gap ( 200 Gap ( 200
mm ) mm )

Fig. 10. Result of feed-forward dipole correction. The figure shows the horizontal COD:
before; right, after; left. The COD have been reduced less than 10 μm by feed-forward
correction system, and this result confirms the free operation of the undulator from the
beam line users.
quadrupole magnets. In that case, the magnet server PC acts as a client PC for undulators.
The magnet currents have been determined from the experimentally measured values.
However the experimental data are the discrete set against the gap and the phase, the feed-
forward correction application program calculates the exciting current with an arbitrary
point by the linear and the polynomial interpolation of the measured data. Figure 9 shows
the schematic view of the feed-forward system, and figure 10 is the correction result of the
horizontal orbit shift. Before the correction, the standard division of the COD against the
reference orbit is larger than 100 μm. After the correction it was reduced to be less than 10 μm.

4.6 Feedback system of magnet power supply

Magnet power supplies excite the magnets to produce required magnetic field. When the
exciting current of the power supplies are drifting, we observe the tune shift and it causes,
variation of the beam size and the beam lifetime. Although the output current is monitored
through Digital Analogue converter (DAC) in the power supplies and PLC, the accuracy of
the DAC is not sufficient for the beam diagnostics at the early stage of the user operation. To
prevent these fluctuation we have installed an external DC current transformer (DCCT) to
monitor the current with an accuracy of ±1×10-4, whose uncertainty dominantly comes from
the accuracy of the Fieldpoint 16bit ADC. By measuring the output currents of the power
supplies, we clearly found the source of the tune shift.
After constructed the monitoring system of the output current of power supplies, we
developed a slow feedback system of the magnet power supply. The output currents are
measured external DCCT, and the signals are processed by DCCT electric circuit. The
output voltages from the DCCT electric circuits are collected by the Fieldpoint ADC in 1Hz.
Figure 11 shows the configuration of the slow feedback system for the magnet power
supply. With this system the accuracy of the set point and the drift is ±2×10-4. In figure 12
measured fluctuations of the output currents of the quadurapoles are shown. There still
exist unexpected tune shifts in SAGA-LS storage ring. The fluctuation of the cooling water
temperature of the magnets and the room temperature of the storage ring could be a
possible source of the unexpected tune shift.
32 Modelling, Programming and Simulations Using LabVIEW™ Software

Cont r ol Room
Client PC Client PC

Set t ing & Monit or ing

Out put Cur r ent
Act iveXCA Acceler at or LAN

I = I + ⊿I / 10.

Power Suppies
Cont r ol Ser ver
Labview+Act iveXCA
PLC Power Supply St at ion Field Point 1601
FA- M3 AI - 110 ( 16bit ADC)
Power Supplies
DCCT Cor e HI TEC STACC
HI TEC STACC
HI TEC STACC
HI TEC STACC

Magnet s DCCT Amplif ier

Fig. 11. Schematic view of slow feedback system of magnet power supplies. .
0.4
Feed-Back OFF Feed-Back ON
0.2
ΔI/I 0 ( % )

QFW
0

QDW
-0.2

Beam dump Ramp up

-0.4
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70
Time ( min )

Fig. 12. The trend graph of output current of magnet power supplies (QFW and QDW). With
the feedback system, the drifts of the power supplies are clearly reduced.

4.7 Web system, FTP, and E-mail system

In the present system we offer the accelerator status, such as the stored current, the electron
energy, the position of the insertion devices, the mode of operation and so on, by using an
inter-web server installed in the intermediate zone of the facility LAN. We use “APACHE”
server as the web server, and Labview is used for generating the html file with NI Report
Libraries. The trend of the stored current is drawn by the MySQL database. Figure 13
illustrates the web image of the intra-web.
The inter-web server also produces quasi-real time (1Hz) status services within our facility
for the beam line experiments and alarm monitors. An exception of firewall policy is added
to the accelerator firewall. Simple TCP/IP protocol is used for such application programs,
because ActiveX CA uses several ports and it might be dangerous for the accelerator LAN.
For delivering the major parameter of the accelerator to the public via World Wide Web, we
are prepared the external web server with the global IP address. To send the front panel
image (jpeg image), we use an FTP client program, which was downloaded from the NI
In-House Control System for Medium Size Research Facility 33

Developer Zone (National Instruments) and was modified for our demands. A lot of sample
programs are bundled in the Labview package and further sample programs are stored in
the NI Developer Zone where we can discuss about our problems in the Labview
developing environment and the development of applications.

Fig. 13. Image of intra-web service at the machine study mode.

At present day, almost all people have their own mobile phone. The E-mail system also is
developed for users to get the details of the accelerator status, for instance, the vacuum
levels, the temperature of cooling water, etc. The procedures of the E-mail application are
follows: when users send the message to the E-mail server, the E-mail client quickly
receives the mssage from the E-mail server and resolves the mail subject, and replies to the
address with required accelerator parameter as a message. Figure 13 is the block diagram of
the E-mail application and sub VI. Basic program of the E-mail receiver and sender are also
downloaded from the NI Developer Zone. In our E-mail sending the authentication method
of MD5 is required from the E-mail server. Thus, we implement the function to the E-mail
sender via RFC configuration scheme. Alarm system of the accelerator is also implemented
in the E-mail application program.

5. Accelerator model calibration with external code TRACY2

The method of accelerator modelling by fitting the measured response matrix with
calculated orbit response matrix is well known and widely adopted to many light sources
for stable operations (Safranek, 1997), we also examined the procedure to diagnose the
machine optics and to restore the periodicity of the twiss functions. In the analysis we use
the tracking code TRACY2, and Labview can call this code as an external code in the
application programs.
34 Modelling, Programming and Simulations Using LabVIEW™ Software

Fig. 14. Block diagrams of the E-mail application and its sub VI.
The orbit response matrix is defined by a variation of COD, which results from unit kick by
a steering magnet. The matrix element Rij represents the orbit shift at the i-th BPM caused
by a unit kick from the j-th steering magnet. The subject is finding best-fit parameters of
which maximum likelihood reproduce the experimentally obtained data. Such parameters
could be found by minimizing the quantity χ 2 . In our problems χ 2 is defined as follows,

( R[model ]i , j − R[measu]i , j )2
χ2 ≡ ∑
i, j σ ij 2 (1)
i = 1, 2," , M , j = 1, 2," , N

where R[model ]i , j , R[measu]i , j and σ ij 2 are the calculated and the measured response matrix
elements and the standard deviation of the measurement errors in the beam position,
respectively. M and N denote the numbers of the BPMs and the steering magnets. In such
fitting problems the SVD method is a standard solving technique (William, et al.,). SVD is
also used to resolve the COD as already mentioned in section 5.3. Here, we will resolve 168
parameters with 1872 conditions.
Although it is not mathematically clear that the all parameters can be exactly resolved or have
unique solution in principle, because the response matrix is not a linear function of the
quadrupole strength. To confirm whether the fitting procedure could derive a unique solution
or not, and exactly reproduce the parameters under the condition of the SAGA-LS lattice
In-House Control System for Medium Size Research Facility 35

formation, firstly we simulated the ideal case in which the measurement errors are neglected.
At the simulation, we prepared the calculated response matrix with randomly distributed
parameter sets. Then we adopted the fitting to the calculated response matrix. Figure 15 shows
the result of the simulation of the fitting for the quadrupole strength of QF1. After 5 iterations
all parameters of QF1 was completely converged to originally setting values.

5.5

Initial Sets
5.4 Original Sets
K (m-2 )

1st Fitting
2nd Fitting
5.3 3rd Fitting
4th Fitting
5th Fitting
5.2
2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16

Number of QF1
Fig. 15. Fitting transition of the QF1 K-values. After 5th iteration the fitting procedure
completely reproduce the original set points.

Calc Beta X Measured (from Rmt) Beta X Measured (from Δtune) Beta X
After Q Correction Calc Beta Y Measured (from Rmt) Beta Y Measured (from Δtune) Beta Y
16 Calc 10×Eta X Measured 10×Eta
MACHINE FUNCTIONS ( m )

12

0
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70
DISTANCE ( m )

Fig. 16. Calculated and measured twiss functions after the quadrupole correction.
Figure 16 is the correction result of twiss function after the parameter fitting. We confirmed
that there was no significant distortion in the twiss function in the storage ring and a good
periodicity in the twiss function was observed. This method is useful for the accelerator
diagnostic, because if one of the quadrupole magnet the irregularity of the twiss function is
observed, and this response matrix fitting procedure can indicate the wrong component.

6. Future plan
6.1 Present status of the control system and its problems
The in-house Labview based control system stably works. The communication speed of the
control parameter is about 10 Hz which is high enough for daily operation of the facility.
Almost all accelerator components are integrated into the present system except for timing
system which will be included in 2011.
36 Modelling, Programming and Simulations Using LabVIEW™ Software

Partially we use Labview8.5 running on Windows 7 and there is no problem between the
old version of Labview (7.1) and the Windows XP including ActiveX CA communication.
However, we still have problems, as;
1. client PCs for the data communication between the MySQL database and Labview
sometimes hung up.
2. AD conversion speed of the Fieldpoint 16-bit ADC (1 Hz) is the bottleneck of the system
performance of BPMs and vacuum monitor.
3. The number of the control PCs (server PCs and client PCs) are increased rapidly and
this causes heavy maintenance load for operator. This also causes human errors in
operation.
Therefore we are going to improve our system in the following cares.
I. Selection of database system including Labview DSC system
II. Replacement of the Fieldpoint to CompactRIO
III. Development of integrated client program
IV. Integration of server PCs to reduce the number of the control PC.

6.2 Improvement of user interfaces

In this section we will describe our recent improvement concerning to the III listed in the
previous section.
From the commissioning period the number of the accelerator components has been
increased rapidly. Especially the increasing the number of the client PC makes the operation
complex. At the present stage we have to do 20 steps to offering the synchrotron radiation
light to the experimental users. The complexity of machine operation sometimes causes
human errors. Therefore we intend to improve the interface of the machine operation.

Fig. 17. Front panel of multi-purpose client PC. The program is running on Windows 7 and
touch panel display. User can access each button intuitively without using a mouse.
In-House Control System for Medium Size Research Facility 37

We are developing a multi-purpose client program to integrate the client PCs to avoid
human errors based on the operation complexity. The multi-purpose client program also
adopted sequential programming which automatically sets accelerator parameters. We
employed a touch panel display for an intuitive manipulation of operation of the accelerator
as well. Figure 17 is the front panel of the newly developed multi-purpose client PC running
on Windows 7. In this program “Tab button” is used for the individual programs. To reduce
the operation procedure, the radiation interlock system is also integrated into this system.
Although some parts of component concerning to the interlock system, such as master
trigger, is not included in the system at this stage, the operation is significantly improved.
After the all accelerator components are integrated into one, we expect that we can offer the
synchrotron light to beam line users with only one-touch. The shutdown process will be also
simplified. Sequential programming is done with Labview “stuck sequence structure” and
with local variables. The easiness of multi-threads programming and sequential
programming is also one of advantage of Labview.

6.3 Model based control system

The idea of model based control system is that operator controls accelerator with desired
physical values calculated from a simulation code. At the beginning of the machine
commissioning the first purpose of the control system is to put on/off the switch, change the
machine parameters from remote location (control room). The machine parameters are
manipulated so that the accelerator working as the desired manners. But we have
mentioned in chapter 6 the measurement parameters of the accelerator are sometimes
different from the designed values. The reasons of differences are, the measurement errors,
calibration error of the power supplies of magnets, the non-linearity of the BPM gain,
rotation of the BPM, misalignment of the magnets, the coupling of magnetic field that is
caused by the adjoining magnet, and so on, that varies the accelerator parameter. Thus the
beam based accelerator calibration is important to estimate the actual machine parameters
and thus to estimate the machine status.
After the machine parameters are fixed and the machine works stably, usually the machine
parameters do not need to be changed in daily operation at light source facilities. However,
when the new operating point of the accelerator is required, the model based control system
is useful. Because corresponding new machine parameter can be derived with the model
calculation. We will develop the model based control system with Labview, which can
execute external code and dynamic link library for beam behavior simulations in the
accelerator. GOEMON (Nishimura) is the dynamic link library for the simulation code of
storage ring, and ELEGANT (Borland) is for linac.

7. Conclusion
We have been developed in-house PC based control system for the medium size accelerator
facility, SAGA-LS. The control program has been developed by Labview with ActiveX CA
for distributed client-server system. With the easiness and flexibility environment of PC-
Labview, daily control tools for the facility have been rapidly constructed by in-house
resources. The successful improvements of the Labview application programs are helped by
the sophisticated sample program bundled with Labview and also sample programs in the
NI Developer Zone. Multi-thread and sequentially procedure, mathematical library, report
generation library greatly reduces the development time. Multi-purpose CA client program
38 Modelling, Programming and Simulations Using LabVIEW™ Software

has been developed with touch panel display on Windows 7 to improve the user operation
interfaces. In the model calibration of the accelerator program the external code TRACY2 is
also implemented. We are intending to implement the accelerator code GOEMON, which is
the DLL version of TRACY2, to our control system.

8. References
Tomimasu, et al., (2003). The SAGA Synchrotron Light Source in 2003, Proceedings of particle
accelerator, pp. 902-904, Portlrand, May 2003.
Iwasaki, et al., (2003). Lattice Design of SAGA Synchrotron Light Source, Proceedings of
particle accelerator, pp. 3270-3272, Portlrand, May 2003.
Nishimura, (1988). TRACY, A Tool for Accelerator Design and Analysis, Proceedings of
European particle accelerator, pp. 803-805, 1988.
Kay-Uwe Kasemir, (2003). http://ics-web.sns.ornl.gov/kasemir/axca/index.html.
Ohgaki, et al., (2003). Design of Control System for SAGA Synchrotron Light Source,
Proceedings of particle accelerator, pp. 2387-2389, Portlrand, May 2003.
Ohgaki, et al., (2005). PC-LabView BASED CONTROL SYSTEM IN SAGA-LS, Proceedings of
particle accelerator, pp. 3976-3978, Knoxville, 2005.
William H. Press, Saul A. Teukolsky, William T. Vetterling, and Brian P. Flannery, Numerical
Recipes in C, The Art of Scientific Computing Second Edition, Cambridge University
Press, ISBN 0-521-43108-5, Cambridge.
Safranek, (1997). Experimental determination of storage ring optics using orbit response
measurements, Nucl. Instr. and Meth., Vol.A388, pp. 27-36 (1997).
NI Developer Zone. http://zone.ni.com/devzone/cda/tut/p/id/5053.
Nishimura, (2001). GOEMON, A C++ LIBRARY FOR ACCELERATOR MODELING AND
ANALYSIS, Proceedings of particle accelerator, pp. 3066-3068, Chicago, 2001.
ELEGANT, (2000). Borland, APS LS-287 (2000).
 0
3

Electric and Nonelectric Quantities Measurement

in Power Engineering using LabVIEW
Jan Machacek1 , Jan Slezingr2 and Jiri Drapela3
Brno University of Technology
Czech Republic

1. Introduction
We need to measure both electric and nonelectric quantities solving the series of problems
in power engineering. Graphical programming environment of the program LabVIEW seems
to be useful helper and provides good tool for measuring both an automatic independent
measurements of specific tasks, using measuring cards and instruments. The LabVIEW
belongs to widely used measuring tools at Department of Electrical Power Engineering,
Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Communication power engineering, Brno University of
Technology. Since the LabVIEW is used to solve a number of projects at our department and
there is only limited space in this article, we decided to mention only the most interesting
ones. The first project deals with measuring operating characteristics of the photovoltaic
cell. It consists of standard interconnection of measuring devices (producer Metex), which
measure data that are transferred by program LabVIEW to the computer. Next, the data
are mathematically and graphically processed. Different projects in LabVIEW offer a wide
spectrum of front panels in the framework of this program allowing to connect each
measuring device by its specific way. Some of them are listed here.
Another of the many tasks developed at our department is an autonomous measurement of
electric and non-electric quantities of photovoltaic and wind power installation. A specific part
of this project included the connection of meteorological station VIASALA which required
a particular set of control interfaces created by LabVIEW. The LabVIEW environment has
also created a comprehensive measurement system for detection of resistance of modern light
sources to interference in the voltage supply, as well as a system to test and develop devices
to measure the flickering of light sources. The system is implemented on the PXI platform.
First describes control of serial communication in LabVIEW software here, because serial
communication is a popular means of transmitting data between a computer and a peripheral
device such as a programmable instrument or even another computer. Serial communication
uses a transmitter to send data, one bit at a time, over a single communication line to a
receiver. You can use this method when data transfer rates are low or you must transfer
data over long distances. Serial communication is popular because most computers have
one or more serial ports, so no extra hardware is needed other than a cable to connect
your instrument to the computer (or two computers together). In many applications, the
electronics takes advantage of the LabVIEW program provides. It is mainly the fact that
LabVIEW is a graphical programming language that uses icons instead of lines of text to create
applications. In contrast to text-based programming languages, where instructions determine
40 Modelling, Programming and Simulations Using LabVIEW™ Software

program execution, LabVIEW uses dataflow programming, where the flow of data determines
execution. In LabVIEW, you build a user interface with a set of tools and objects. The user
interface is known as the front panel. You then add code using graphical representations of
functions to control the front panel objects. The block diagram contains this code. In some
ways, the block diagram resembles a flowchart.

2. Serial communication between LabVIEW and simple meter

Serial communication requires that you specify four parameters: the baud rate of the
transmission, the number of data bits encoding a character, the sense of the optional parity
bit, and the number of stop bits. Each transmitted character is packaged in a character frame
that consists of a single start bit followed by the data bits the optional parity bit, and the stop
bit or bits. A typical character frame encoding the letter “m”is shown here Lab (2006).

Fig. 1. Typical character frame encoding the letter “m”Lab (2006).

Baud rate is a measure of how fast data is moving between instruments that use serial
communication. RS-232 uses only two voltage states, called MARK and SPACE. In such
a two-state coding scheme, the baud rate is identical to the maximum number of bits of
information, including “control”bits, that are transmitted per second.
MARK is a negative voltage and SPACE is positive; the previous figure shows how the
idealized signal looks on an oscilloscope. The truth table for RS-232 is:
Signal > +3 V = 0
Signal < -3 V = 1
The output signal level usually swings between +12 V and -12 V. The “area dead”between
+3 V and -3 V is designed to absorb line noise.
A start bit signals the beginning of each character frame. It is a transition from negative
(MARK) to positive (SPACE) voltage; its duration in seconds is the reciprocal of the baud rate.
If the instrument is transmitting at 9600 baud, the duration of the start bit and each subsequent
bit will be about 0.104 ms. The entire character frame of eleven bits would be transmitted in
about 1.146 ms.
“Data bits”are transmitted “upside down and backwards”. That is, inverted logic is used and
the order of transmission is from least significant bit (LSB) to most significant bit (MSB). To
interpret the data bits in a character frame, you must read from right to left, and read 1 for
negative voltage and 0 for positive voltage. For the figure above, this yields 1101101 (binary)
or 6D (hex). An ASCII conversion table shows that this is the letter “m”.
An optional parity bit follows the data bits in the character frame. The parity bit, if present, also
follows inverted logic (1 for negative voltage and 0 for positive voltage.) This bit is included
as a simple means of error checking. You specify ahead of time whether the parity of the
transmission is to be even or odd. If the parity is chosen to be odd, the transmitter will then
Electric and Nonelectric Quantities Measurement in Power Engineering using LabVIEW 41

set the parity bit in such a way as to make an odd number of 1’s among the data bits and the
parity bit. The transmission in the figure above uses odd parity. There are five 1’s among the
data bits, already an odd number, so the parity bit is set to 0.
The last part of a character frame consists of 1, 1.5, or 2 stop bits. These bits are always
represented by a negative voltage. If no further characters are transmitted, the line stays in the
negative (MARK) condition. The transmission of the next character frame, if any, is heralded
by a start bit of positive (SPACE) voltage.

2.1 Serial port (RS-232)

The RS-232 is a standard developed by the Electronic Industries Association (EIA) and other
interested parties, specifying the serial interface between Data Terminal Equipment (DTE)
and Data Communications Equipment (DCE). The RS-232 standard includes electrical signal
characteristics (voltage levels), interface mechanical characteristics (connectors), functional
description of interchange circuits (the function of each electrical signal), and some recipes
for common kinds of terminal to modem connections. The most frequently encountered
revision of this standard is called RS-232C. Parts of this standard have been “adopted”(with
various degrees of fidelity) for use in serial communications between computers and printers,
modems, and other equipment. The serial ports on standard IBM compatible personal
computers follow RS-232 Lab (2003).
Devices that use serial cables for their communication are split into two categories. These
are DCE (Data Communications Equipment) and DTE (Data Terminal Equipment.) DCE
are devices such as your modem, TA adapter, plotter, etc., while DTE is your computer or
terminal. RS-232 serial ports come in two “sizes”, the D-Type 25-pin connector and the D-Type
9-pin connector. Both of these connectors are male on the back of the PC; thus, you will require
a female connector on your device. Below is a table of pin connections for the 9-pin and 25-pin
D-Type connectors Lab (2006).

(a) DB-9 connector and pinouts. (b) DB-25 connector and pinouts.

Fig. 2. Serial connectors

The 9 pin’s connector is occasionally found on smaller RS-232 lab equipment. It is compact,
yet has enough pins for the “core”set of serial pins (with one pin extra). Important: The DB-9
pin numbers for transmit and receive (3 and 2) are opposite of those on the DB-25 connector (2
and 3). Be careful of this difference when you are determining if a device is DTE or DCE. The
29 pin’s connector is “standard”RS-232 connector, with enough pins to cover all the signals
42 Modelling, Programming and Simulations Using LabVIEW™ Software

Function signal 9 pin 25 pin DTE DCE

TxD 3 2 Output Input
Data
RxD 2 3 Input Output
RTS 7 4 Output Input
CTS 8 5 Input Output
Handshake DSR 6 6 Input Output
DCD 1 8 Input Output
DRT 4 20 Output Input
Common Com 5 7 - -
Other RI 9 22 Input Output

Table 1. Lines of serial interface Lab (2006).

specified in the standard. The table shows only the “core”set of pins that are used for most
RS-232 interfaces Lab (2003).

2.2 Control of serial port in LabVIEW

The LabVIEW Instrument I/O Serial subpalette contains functions and VIs used for serial
port communication. You should notice that some of the functions in this subpalette are the
VISA functions you used previously for GPIB communication. The VISA Write and VISA Read
functions will work with any type of instrument communication and are the same whether
you are doing GPIB or serial communication. However, because serial communication
requires you to configure extra parameters, you must start the serial port communication with
the VISA Configure Serial Port VI.

Fig. 3. VISA configure serial port Lab (2006).

The VISA Configure Serial Port VI initializes the port identified by VISA resource name to
the specified settings. Timeout sets the timeout value for the serial communication. Baud rate,
data bits, parity, and flow control specify those specific serial port parameters. The error in
and error out clusters maintain the error conditions for this VI Lab (2003).
The example above shows how to send the identification query command *IDN? to the
instrument connected to the COM2 serial port. The VISA Configure Serial Port VI opens
communication with COM2 and sets it to 9600 baud, 8 data bits, odd parity, one stop bit, and
XON/XOFF software handshaking. Then the VISAWrite function sends the command. The
VISA Read function reads back up to 200 bytes into the read buffer, and the error condition is
checked by the Simple Error Handler VI.
Electric and Nonelectric Quantities Measurement in Power Engineering using LabVIEW 43

Fig. 4. The example of configuration. Lab (2006).

2.3 Specific application of serial communication in LabVIEW

The aim of the study was to create a measurement programme within a Lab VIEW
programming environment for a laboratory task of “efficiency measurement of photovoltaic
conversion”. The use of the programme has brought the following benefits:

– digitalization of measurement,
– automation of measurement,
– archiving of measured values,
– easy further processability of values,
– immediate graphic processing,
– speed of measurement,
– and others.

2.3.1 Analysis of laboratory task

The programme should read the values of current and voltage on a photovoltaic cell. This is
done with two Metex multimeters, one connected as a Voltmeter, the other as a Amperemeter.
The values measured by the devices should be displayed on the computer. A good solution is
to connect the measuring devices to the computer by means of a serial port. As there was not
a computer available equipped with two RS-232 serial ports, it was necessary to use a Delock
converter from a RS-232 interface to a USB for one device. Although the communication via
the RS-232 interface compared to the more advanced USB is rather slow, it is wholly sufficient
for this task.
The value from the measurement devices is displayed on the computer screen at once, without
delay, and that is why the programme meets another requirement for the measurement,
namely the recency of the values displayed. Data should further be processed in the structure
of tables and simple charts. This requirement has been met by using appropriate blocks in the
programme which as a result saves data in three columns of a table and then plots the current
dependency charts: P = f(I), U = f(1) and P,U = f(I).
44 Modelling, Programming and Simulations Using LabVIEW™ Software

Another requirement for the programme function was to provide a option of saving or
exporting the measured data into a different programme. The measured data programme.
This is enabled by one block that asks the user to enter the file name and path to the file. The
data is saved in the way as shown in the table. The LabVIEW programme creates files with a
LVM suffix (LabVIEW Measurement), that can be opened in any text editor, e.g. NotePad, MS
Word.

2.3.2 Programme analysis

As mentioned above, programmes are created within Lab VIEW through merging blocks. In
the programme for measurement only some of the great amount of those prepared in advance
were used. Serial communication surely belongs to the essential parts of the programme.
There is more than one way within Lab VIEW to effecting serial communication within
the measuring device and the computer. Within the Functions -> Instrument I/O -> Serial
palette we will find nodes for communication with a serial port. These are now referred to
as “old-fashioned”. Their use is no longer recommended at present. They are included in
the palette to provide compatibility with the earlier applications. The author had difficulty
operating the control lines of the serial port using these functions. The other possibility of
operating the port is to use e.g. library .dll which exports the relevant functions. The author,
though, has not used the mentioned procedure either.
The National Instruments company has developed a higher level comprehensive interface
for the control of peripheries, named NI-VISA. This is basically a set of what is called “API
functions”, that can be generally called from almost any programmable language and that
can use a wide range of differing instruments, i.e. by far not just the serial port. There is also a
VISA interface for LabVIEW, i.e. for the language G. National Instruments recommends using
the latter interface for the new applications.

2.3.3 Communication with the measuring device

The serial port is a system means. In order to be able to use it, we need to designate it for use
in our application. This phase of the port use is called “opening”of the port and in the block
diagram it will be realized by the Functions ->Instrument I/O -> VISA -> VISA Advanced ->
Visa Open node.
VISA Open (see Fig. 5) - opens sessions for equipment specification and returns a session
identifier which can be used to call some other operations of this equipment.

Fig. 5. VISA Open with VISA Resource Name constant.

Electric and Nonelectric Quantities Measurement in Power Engineering using LabVIEW 45

Relevant input parameters:

A VISA resource name - indicates category and source of the open VISA sessions. The session
does not have to be the correct one. Only the category of sessions and the resource name are
relevant.
The relevant output parameters:
A VISA resource name - is the source where a session and its category are opened. The
category has to match the input VISA resource name.
A VISA Resource Name constant will be created through right-mouse clicking on the node
and selecting the Create Constant option on the menu that will appear. Then we will define the
value of the constant in the pulldown menu. We will be able to choose from several options,
depending on what interfaces are installed in the system at that moment. ASRL1::INSTR is the
code for the first serial port, and similarly ASRL2::INSTR codes the other serial port.
Next the communication parameters will need to be set, i.e. the Baud Rate (speed of
communication) to 1200, the number of Data Bits to 7, the number of Stop Bits to 2.0, and
the level of RTS State control line to Unasserted. We will set the parameters for the open port
using the Functions - Instrument I/O -> VISA - VISA Advanced -> Property Node.
The Property Node (see Fig. 6) - This node has an adjustable number of input and output
terminals. In the individual Property Node arrays the required property can be set up. Each
array is either designed for reading or for entry. We will set this property in the menu by the
right - mouse clicking (“Change to Read”, resp. “Change to Write”items). To summarize, we
will choose the needed properties, set them for writing and assign values to them using the
constants.

Fig. 6. Property Node with the set transmission parameters.

After that we will use the WHILE cycle and repeatedly execute entering of the CD command
to the port and reading of the string (fourteen symbols for the Metex multimeters) from the
port. The Functions -> Instrument I/O -> VISA -> VISA Read node is used for reading and
the Functions -> Instrument I/O -> VISA -> VISA Write node for writing.
VISA Read (see Fig. 7) - the function is reading the prescribed number of bytes from the
designated device or interface.
46 Modelling, Programming and Simulations Using LabVIEW™ Software

Fig. 7. VISA Read.

Relevant input parameters:

A VISA resource name - determines which interface will be opened. This parameter has the
defined values of the ports named COM1, COM2 and LPT1.
Byte count - is the amount of bytes to be loaded to the buffer - 14 in our case.
Dup VISA resource name is a copy of the VISA resource name and is transmitted to the next
VISA function.
Relevant input parameters:
Read buffer - transmits the symbols read from the entered interface.
VISA Write (see Fig. 8). Enters data from the “write buffer”to the device or interface specified
in the VISA resource name.

Fig. 8. VISA Write.

Relevant input parameters:

write buffer - contains data to be entered in the device.
Dup VISA resource name is a copy of the VISA resource name and is transmitted to the next
VISA function.
The WHILE cycle ends once the user has clicked the Stop button which is a representation of
the terminal of the same name in the block diagram. The node D is responded by the Controls
-> String & Path -> String Indicator (see Fig. 9) on the front panel, where the received string is
displayed.

Fig. 9. String Indicator.

Electric and Nonelectric Quantities Measurement in Power Engineering using LabVIEW 47

When using the port is at an end, it should closed for other applications to be able to gain
access to it if they request to. The closing of the port is done through the Functions ->
Instrument I/O -> VISA ->VISA Advanced -> Visa Close node.
VISA Close (see Fig. 10) closes the specified session of the device or the resulting object. VISA
Close accepts all the available categories.

Fig. 10. Visa Close.

The general view of the serial port operation:

We have two measuring devices connected to the computer over two serial ports. Within
the programme the serial port operation has to be executed twice. The simplest serial
communication will be activated by just connecting of all the aforementioned blocks in a row.
The block connection of the serial port operation for the COM2 port is shown below (see Fig.
11):

Fig. 11. Operation of Serial Port.

2.3.4 Data processing, calculations

We have activated the serial port in the Lab VIEW environment and the measuring devices
have already been sending data to the programme in regular intervals. The data is, however,
of the String data type which cannot be used for calculations and so the data type needs to be
changed. Moreover, the string sent by the multimeter also contains an abbreviation relating
to the measured quantity and a unit of the given quantity, blocks for the transmission of the
data type would not be able to convert the values and it is therefore necessary to remove all
symbols except for digits from the string.
Match Pattern (see Fig. 12) is an appropriate block for removing of selected symbols from the
string. The input parameters of the block include a string, where a string is loaded for filtering,
and a regular expression that contains symbols that will be retained in the string. In our case
we wish to leave all the digits and a sign in place, the regular expression therefore contains a
48 Modelling, Programming and Simulations Using LabVIEW™ Software

string of the necessary symbols. The resulting output is a match substring which only contains
digits and a sign.

Fig. 12. Match Pattern.

In order to convert a string to a “double”data type used by all the computing blocks, we will
use the Fract!Exp String To Number block (see Fig. 13). We will send a string to the string input
and on the number output we will obtain a value of the measured quantity in the numerical
form that we can already use for calculations.

Fig. 13. Fract/Exp String to Number.

From the serial ports’ outputs we have obtained the Voltage U and Current I values, flowing
through the FV (photovoltaic) cell. We will calculate the Performance P value by using the
Multiply block (see Fig. 14) which can perform multiplication between the numbers brought
to the input x and y, and their product then appears on the output.

Fig. 14. Blok Multiply.

We will set the value of an impact performance Pdopad , to be calculated based on pyranometer
sensitivity and pyranometer output voltage, using the Numeric Control (see Fig. 15) block.
This we will find within Controls - Numeric Controls - Numeric Control on the Front Panel.
Similarly, we will also set the size of area S.
Before calculating efficiency a maximum performance Pmax of a FV cell yet needs to be
determined. We will obtain the maximum value by using a Max&Min block (see Fig. 16). The
Electric and Nonelectric Quantities Measurement in Power Engineering using LabVIEW 49

Fig. 15. Numeric Control on the Front Panel and Block Diagram.

Fig. 16. Max&Min.

Max&Min block downloads the values transferred to its inputs, which results in the value on
the Max output.
Using the Multiply block (see Fig. 14) we will determine the area capacity rating Pplon as the
product of a maximum performance Pmax and a cell area S.
The values Pdopad and Pplon are known to us, and using the Divide block we can determine
the efficiency of a FV cell. The Divide block (see Fig. 17) executes the quotient of two values
transferred to its inputs, and the output shows the quotient as the result. The quotient and
the product could also be determined using the Formula block, but the Multiply and Divide
blocks are sufficient for calculations this simple.

Fig. 17. Blok Divide.

The immediate value of efficiency η, along with the values of Current I, Voltage U,
Performance P, Cell Area S and Impact Performance Pdopad can be displayed on the front panel
(see Fig. 18).
The front panel further consists of a table to which we enter the measured values. The block
for the table is placed in Controls -> Text indicators -> Table (see Fig. 19). In order to be able to
write at the same time the values of current, voltage and performance to the table, we need to
use the Merge Signals (see Fig. 19) block which will merge the signals into a single one which
we will bring to the single input of the table. We can set the number of columns and rows in
the table, in our case 3 columns and 20 rows. The options further provide for the display of
headings for columns and rows and of a scroll-bar.
50 Modelling, Programming and Simulations Using LabVIEW™ Software

Fig. 18. Current values on the Front panel.

Fig. 19. Table of values with Merge Signals block and tabs for entry and deletion.

On the front panel of the table we can see the values of current, voltage and performance in
the columns (see Fig. 20). We will enter values into the table by bringing Log 1 to the Enable
input, and perform the table deletion by bringing Log 1 to the Reset input. These operations
are executed by means of two tabs on the Front panel, to be found in the Controls -> Buttons
& Switches -> Text Button (see Fig. 20).
We can plot the measured values in charts; there were three dependence charts needed for
this task, specifically VA - characteristic U = f(I), Performance characteristic P = f(I) and
Performance as well as VA characteristics in a single chart U,P = f(I). To create the charts
we chose three Build XY Graph blocks (see Fig. 21), to be found in the Controls -> Graph
Indicators ->XY Graph. Each block of the chart has two inputs for the values x and y on the
axis and further inputs for enabling Entry and Deletion, that we will connect similarly as for
the block of the table, to the tabs ENTER and DELETE.
Electric and Nonelectric Quantities Measurement in Power Engineering using LabVIEW 51

Fig. 20. Table with measured values, tabs for entering values and deletion on the right.

Fig. 21. Build XY Graph block with entry and deletion tabs.

The window of the chart on the front panel is displayed as shown (see Fig. 22). In order to be
able to display multiple courses on the chart U,P = f(I), we need to again use the Merge Signals
block and select two axes and two courses in the chart setup. The chart options include the
setting of the cursor and further the setting of colours of the courses/curves and the cursor.
The chart can connect points (values) in several ways, though any connecting line of a trend
(linear, logarithmic) cannot unfortunately be used here, as provided e.g. within the MS Excel
programme.
After the measurement of data the next step involves its saving. The Write LabVIEW
Measurernent File block (see Fig. 23) was used to save the data in a file. This block is located
in the Function -> Output -> Write LabVIEW Measurement File in the Block diagram. I have
connected the writing to the table, to the charts and the file to a single tab, since these
operations should be started at the same point in time. The programme should save data
52 Modelling, Programming and Simulations Using LabVIEW™ Software

Fig. 22. Grafy na pøedním panelu.

to a single file, give the user a possibility of choosing a path to the file and the file name, and
that is why I have chosen to use t’Action -> Save to one file -> Ask user to choose file -> Ask
only onet’ in the block setting. During the first measurement a dialog box appears to save a
file (see Fig. 23). Within the block setting you can further select display of a heading for a file
and time of measurement. To delete the content of a file we use the DELETE tab, which is
common for the table and the chart. The LabVIEW programme creates files with a LVM suffix
(LabVIEW Measurement), that can be opened in any text editor.

Fig. 23. Dialog box for writing to a file.

Overall view of the front panel and the block diagram is shown below.
Electric and Nonelectric Quantities Measurement in Power Engineering using LabVIEW 53

Fig. 24. General view of the front panel of a virtual device.

54 Modelling, Programming and Simulations Using LabVIEW™ Software

Fig. 25. Block diagram of a virtual device.

Electric and Nonelectric Quantities Measurement in Power Engineering using LabVIEW 55

This is an example of a functioning virtual device which communicates through a serial line
with a real measuring device, visualizes the measured values and further processes them.
This is one of the basic uses of Lab VIEW for the construction of a practical application.
A device constructed in this way, or a source code, can be further compiled to form a separate
application independent of the LabVIEW programming environment.
The following picture is just a sample design of Metex, a simple virtual device communicating
through a serial port.

Fig. 26. Block diagram of a Metex 4560 cr. virtual device.

VISA configurator module is used again for communication via a serial port, which is,
however, part of a “sub vi”application. The other blocks are just the means to process, control
and display data. A detailed analysis of this application, however, is not the focus of this
paper.

3. Flickermeter in the LabVIEW environment

3.1 Introduction
One of the major problems in regard to the quality of electric power involves quick changes
in the voltage, i.e. its fluctuation, causing flickering of the light flow from the light sources.
The light flow flickering may subsequently create an undesired perception of flickering which
adversely impacts visual performance. This is a subjective visual impression initiated by a
light stimuli, whose brightness or spectral distribution changes in time. The flickering of light
sources may cause mental or physical fatigue or major physiological discomfort in people.
Voltage fluctuation may be caused by interference during the generation, transmission,
distribution and consumption of electricity. The voltage fluctuation in the grid may be due
especially to the fluctuation of active and reactive power of some appliances.
In order to measure the degree of perception of flickering was developed a UIE/IEC
flickermeter which based on the measurement of voltage fluctuations evaluates the
corresponding level of perception of flickering. The flickermeter models the transmission
56 Modelling, Programming and Simulations Using LabVIEW™ Software

Fig. 27. Block diagram of a virtual device.

function of the light source and eye and the memory effect on the brain. The function of
flickermeter is based on two critical activities: simulation of the light source - eye - brain chain
and the statistical analysis of the output signal in real time. The light source modelled within
the construction of flickermeter is a light bulb with a 60 W power and double coiled filament,
rated for 230 or 120 V voltages.
The flickermeter is typically implemented as a function in the measuring devices designed for
monitoring of the quality of electricity in the electrical networks. For the research purposes
regarding the development of new types of flickermeter, a standard flickermeter has been
implemented in the Labview environment at the Department of Electrical Power Engineering.
The meter is used as a reference instrument for the new development constructions of
flickermeter.

3.2 Implementation of the flickermeter in the LabView environment

The flickermeter construction is based on the study of human brain reaction to flickering light.
The description of a flickermeter function and its detailed specification is included in the EN
61000 - 4 - 15 standard, see IEC (1997). The flickermeter function has been described in the
introduction. It evaluates the course of voltage and provides a Pst value for the output, which
expresses the degree of flicker perception by the normalized observer.
Electric and Nonelectric Quantities Measurement in Power Engineering using LabVIEW 57

The flickermeter described in the standard is an analogue measuring device. The present-day
digital measuring devices use a modified version of the standard flickermeter. S-transmission
functions of analogue filters, used for describing the device in the standard, have been
transformed into a digital form using bilinear Z-transformation.
UIE / IEC flickering-meter model was constructed as a virtual device within LabView. It is
made up of the following basic blocks:

– voltage measurement,
– input signal normalization,
– filtration and weighting,
– statistical analysis.

Fig. 28. Block diagram of a virtual device.

3.3 Voltage measurement

The voltage measurement uses the NI-PXI 4472 measurement card which is able to measure
voltage in the range +-1OV. To measure the mains voltage it is necessary a ballast that will
modify the magnitude of voltage; Slezingr et al. (2009).
The card’s inputs are galvanically separated and properly isolated so it is possible to bring the
mains voltage potential to the input terminals. This allow for using the voltage modification
with a resistance voltage divider proven to provide the highest accuracy and linearity in the
broad frequency range.
Voltage measurement for the flickermeter in the LabView block diagram is taken by means
of express VI DAQ Assistant from the Input palette. The assistant automatically finds the
measurement cards connected to the computer and mediates their configuration by the user.
The measurement card is then represented by a single block in the block diagram, whose
output is a data flow with an excessive quantity.
The measurement card connection is detailed in the LabView Help. For the purpose of
flickermeter operation it was necessary to set an “Acquire Continuously”option in the Task
Timing tab. A sampling frequency is set for the required 3200 S/s. The sampling frequency
selection has to be made right at the start of flickermeter designing as all the filters used are
specified using constants that depend on the sampling frequency.

3.4 Simulation of the light source - eye - brain chain

The block of signal normalization includes the measurement of input voltage effective value
and calculates a maximum value. The input signal is normalized to a unit-amplitude signal.
58 Modelling, Programming and Simulations Using LabVIEW™ Software

The simulation of the light source -ėye - brain chain is performed as a cascade of filters. The
filters used in the flickermeter are designed as a cascade of digital filters. There is IIR Filter
used from the Signal Processing -> Filters -> Advanced IIR Filtering menu. The transmission
function of this filter is specified using Forward Coefficients and Reverse Coefficients in the
form of array of coefficients. The array is set up using the Build Array block.
A “TRUE”signal to the init/cont input is also transferred to the input of the TIR Filter block,
for the signal filtering to go on continually for the whole period of the programme run,
Hanzelka & Bien (2000).
The complete solution of one of the filters is shown in (see Fig. 29).

Fig. 29. Block diagram of the constructed filter.

3.4.1 Problems relating to filter stability

The practical implementation of the digital filters within LabView has indicated an increased
likelihood of filters becoming unstable if the transmission function of the filter is higher than
the second order of magnitude. It is therefore useful to transform transmission functions of
the higher orders to a product of transmission functions of the lower orders of magnitude.

3.4.2 The programme run

The complete flickermeter is created as a programme loop named WhileLoop with 1
s programme delay using the TimeDelay block. Within each step of the loop a block of 3200
samples is read from the measurement card and data is transformed from the DynamicData
type to the Array data type which is processed by individual filters. The filters’ output is a
single value for each block, denoted as Pf, of immediate degree of perception of flickering. Pf
values are saved in an accumulator designed as Express VI Collector, during each individual
passage of the loop. It accumulates values for a period of time required for calculation of
the PST value (typically 10 minutes, though the programme allows for different times of
accumulation. too).
Electric and Nonelectric Quantities Measurement in Power Engineering using LabVIEW 59

3.4.3 Statistical signal analysis

An array of values is again placed on the accumulator output, administered in a statistical
classifier whose block diagram is represented here below. The classifier function is consistent
with the description within the standard. The number of classes required by the standard is
minimally 64, the constructed algorithm uses 10000 of them.

Fig. 30. Statistical evaluation of data.

3.4.4 The flickermeter control

START and STOP pressbuttons and Pf and Pst indicators are placed on the front panel. The
input voltage curve, Pf current value and Pst measured results are displayed on the graphic
displays.
The text indicator displays information about the current status of the meter. Three possible
states may take place:

– starting the meter with counting-down the time-period for which it has to wait for the
initial transient performance to pass,
– “Wait”status when the flickermeter stands by and waits for the START button to be
pressed. This status takes place after the set time for the meter’s starting lapsed, or after
the STOP button is pressed,
– status of data accumulation for subsequent calculation of Pst value while counting down
the remaining time of accumulation. This state stays active after pressing the START button
until the STOP button is pressed, or the time of accumulation has lapsed, and the Pst
calculation is made. The Pst value will always be overriden with the latest value on the
display after the time of accumulation lapsed.
60 Modelling, Programming and Simulations Using LabVIEW™ Software

The flickermeter is programmed so as to enable using of the measured values also as a

data source for further VI running on the same computer. The flickermeter is part of a
comprehensive measurement system that can remote start the flickermeter and read the
measured results using global variables.

Fig. 31. Block diagram of the timer.

The general view of the user interface of the flickermeter is as shown on the following page.

Fig. 32. Block diagram of the timer.

The flickermeter has been verified by the tests required by the standard. Its response to the
test signals is fully compliant with its requirements and it now used within the development
of the new types of the meter.
Electric and Nonelectric Quantities Measurement in Power Engineering using LabVIEW 61

The described meter is now used as a reference device in the research of new constructional
solutions of the flickermeter and in the development of a generator of different kinds
of disturbance voltage fluctuations. It can be operated on any kind of computer with a
measurement card connected. It can be built into comprehensive systems focusing on the area
of electric power quality, based on virtual instrumentation.

4. Communication and control of Viasala WXT520 meteostation in LabVIEW

environment

Finally the communication of LabView and a Viasala WXT520 meteostation is described. The
meteostation is part of an extensive measurement system which on a long-term basis monitors
electrical and physical quantities of the system of solar panels. A picture of a meteostation is
shown in 33.
The meteostation delivery also included configuration software which, though, can only be
used for meteostation configuration and testing of meteostation. With regard to the needs of
the considered system of long-term online monitoring of data from solar panels the delivered
software was inadequate as it did not enable digital access to the measured data. It was
therefore needed to define and create our own application that would allow for integrating
the WXT52O meteostation into the measurement system.
The core of the problem thus was to create an application within LabVIEW, that would
be able to communicate with the meteostation using the RS-232 serial interface and would
transfer the measured data further on, making it available for further processes within
the measurement system that has also been programmed in the LabVIEW development
programme environment.
The unique feature of this application is that it enables connection of a device to LabVIEW
which does not have a primary support within LabVIEW in the form of measurement card,
proving universality of the LabVIEW software environment. The only supported common
communication standard is the serial port RS-232 interface.
The meteostation includes numerous detectors and sensors (see Fig. 33) measuring
temperature, pressure, speed of wind, rainfall etc.
where:
1 wind transducers (3 pcs)
2 precipitation sensos
3 pressure sensor inside PTU module
4 Humidity and temperature sensors inside the PTU module
The basis for the communication configuration is the table of wiring of screw terminal pins on
the meteostation terminal block, based on which the VISA block was set in the block diagram
of the measurement application.
62 Modelling, Programming and Simulations Using LabVIEW™ Software

Fig. 33. Meteostanice WXT520 Viasala VIA (2008).

Fig. 34. Cut away view VIA (2008).

Electric and Nonelectric Quantities Measurement in Power Engineering using LabVIEW 63

Fig. 35. Connection of pins for different VIA communication interfaces VIA (2008).

As can be seen from the block diagram of the application (see Fig. 37), it was necessary to
configure a number of further variables to ensure the correct function, such as the following:

– channel selection,
– measurement interval,
– input port,
– communication protocol.

Subsequently the complete programme was created, whose user interface is shown below (see
Fig. 36). The logic of the programme is roughly outlined by the following:

– setting of inputs
– on/off measurements
– definition of channels, ports etc.
– definition and configuration of individual sensors,
– repeated reading of data from the meteo-station in set intervals,
– display and entry of values.

5. Conclusion

The paper describes a few examples of using LabVIEW for the measurement of electric
and non-electric quantities in electro-energy applications. The most frequently involved is
evidently the LabVIEW communication with a measuring device using a serial port, but
there are also applications putting it to good use, such as the described flickermeter which is
constructed directly on the NIPXI platform, distributed by the National Instruments company.
Through virtual instrumentation and launching of LabVIEW the simplification and greater
effectiveness of the design have been achieved, and the same has in turn been applied in the
construction of new laboratory tasks and research measurements. The described examples
64 Modelling, Programming and Simulations Using LabVIEW™ Software

Fig. 36. User interface.

indicate possible use of LabVIEW as a concentrator of individual measuring devices and

peripheries, which can be customized based on user requirements. Its operation is based on a
single measurement interface which combines all the varied instruments used, and visualizes,
archives and processes the measured data and if necessary also transmits it to another part of
the measurement system. An integral part of the programme is the possibility of creating an
effective user interface, from which the system can be administered as a whole. The final part
of the paper also deals with a possibility of connecting LabVIEW to and its communication
with a non-standard instrument which is not primarily designed for the communication with
LabVIEW. As it has turned out, provided that standards of the communication interface are
complied with, in our case the RS 232 protocol, the connection can be basically made without
difficulty. This makes LabVIEW a universal software in the sphere of virtual instrumentation.

6. Acknowledgment

This paper includes the results of research funded by the Ministry of Education, Youth and
Sports of the Czech Republic as part of project No.MSM 0021630516 and project No. CZ.1.05
/2.1.00/01.0014 Centre for Research and Utilization of Renewable Energy.

7. References

Hanzelka, Z. & Bien, A. (2000). Guide to quality of electrical supply for industrial installations,
part 5, flicker and voltage fluctuations, Technical report, Power Quality - Working
Group WG2, Tomsk.
Electric and Nonelectric Quantities Measurement in Power Engineering using LabVIEW 65

Fig. 37. Block diagram of the communication and control programme .

66 Modelling, Programming and Simulations Using LabVIEW™ Software

IEC (1997). 61000-4-15 - cem - part 4: Testing and measurement techniques - section 15:
Flickermeter - functional and design specifications, International Electrotechnical
Commission.
Lab (2003). LabVIEW User Manual, edition - part number 320999e-01 edn.
Lab (2006). LabVIEW™Basic I Introduction Course Manual, edition edn.
Slezingr, J., Drapela, J. & Tezky, J. (2009). Flickermeter implementation in labview, Proceedings
of the 15t h International Scientific and Practical Conference of Students, Post- graduates and
Young Scientists MODERN TECHNIQUE AND TECHNOLOGIES MTT 2009, Tomsk,
pp. 11–13.
VIA (2008). User’s Guide, edition - m210906en-a edn.
 4

Distance Process Monitoring using

LabVIEW Environment
Valentin Sgârciu and Grigore Stamatescu
University POLITEHNICA of Bucharest
Romania

1. Introduction
Technological process supervision assumes acquisition, processing and returning the
commands for a big number of parameters. At the same time, it is necessary to monitor the
investigated parameters, because the history is needed in guaranteeing the performances,
but also establishing the causes which lead to malfunctions.
Communication technologies and we refer here to Internet, which is mainly spread, allow
data, acquired from long distances, to be concentrated in high performance servers. In the
same time, following the temporal evolution of acquired parameters can be done from any
computer, connected to Internet. This issue is suited both in technological processes, but also
in education process, where a laboratory with high performance acquisition equipments and
an Internet connection can be used by other laboratories less equipped. We have focused on
a solution of data acquisition/distribution, using Lab VIEW framework, designated for
remote process control and long distance learning.
The chapter is organised as follows: Section 2 presents arguments in favor of remote data
aquisition and ways it can benefit the industrial operator. Section 3 shows our general view
on such a system and a laboratory implementation of a simulation environment. Section 4 is
dedicated to the client applications, each running on a dedicated network-connected
workstation. Section 5 describes the main server application, the communication
technologies we have used and an analysis of network performance in the current scenario.
Section 6 presents the conclusion we can draw from our work, further developments and
improvements.

2. Why remote data aquisition?

In many of industrial processes, the control at a distance of the equipments based on the
received parameters is preferred. Sometimes, this process is absolutely necessary because of
some high risk elements, or because of the conditions that do not allow the user to access it.
As an example, one can mention the atomic piles where because of the high degree of
radiations, the watch and control of the parameters must be done at a distance. Another
example can be the watch of the furnaces, especially in the foundry works where because of
the high temperatures, the user cannot physically stay in those areas.
More than this, an advantage of the watch/ control at a distance is the possibility to watch
more over than one equipment with a single acquisition server. This aspect allows the
68 Modelling, Programming and Simulations Using LabVIEW™ Software

taking over of the data from more sensors connected to various industrial equipments and
also the transmission of the controls to them. The process can be developed from more than
one host in the same time. Thus, there can be a client host that commands through Internet
the parameters modification of an installation, relying on a pressure sensor, while another
client modifies the working characteristics of a thermal system, both sensors being
connected to the same server. To sum up, one can say that the advantages of control at a
distance of the industrial equipment, relying on the watch/control of the parameters are:
• people should not have to work in the risk areas;
• the possibility to control more than one equipment in the same time from different
hosts;
• the possibility to watch from a larger number of stations, without extra investments.. It
should be mentioned that the control of a sensor can be done by a single terminal, while
the watch can be developed from many such terminals;
• the possibility of making some statistics in real time of the functioning of the
equipment. This can be done even by the management department of a company.

3. Distributed system architecture

This section describes the distributed system, set up in an laboratory environment. It
includes the following components:
• 3 workstations: PCs running Windows XP Professional SP3 and different versions of
LabVIEW (higher than 8.2). Common hardware configuration Pentium 4 processor 3.06
GHz, 512MB RAM, 80GB HDD.
• 1 workstation acting as application server: PC running Windows XP Professional SP3
and LabVIEW 2009. Superior hardware configuration Pentium DualCore processor,
2GB RAM, 250GB HDD.
• network infrastructure: network server, routers, ethernet cables;
• always-on internet connection: required by the application server to share information
with the outside world.
A diagram of the proposed system is shown in Figure 1.
In order to prove the feasability of the distance monitoring application, we have used
multiple processes - developed in LabVIEW and running on the corresponding
workstations. For this chapter, three applications have been chosen:
• Temperature Monitoring and Control: based on the plug-in data aquisition board NI
PCI-6014E (produced by National Instruments), which focuses both on the continous
aquisition of analog temeperature samples and on the generation of digital commands
for a heating element with the possibility of dynamic adjusting of the temperature
limits (lower and upper limit) for the desired operation of the system;
• Acquisition/Generation of Digital Signals: based on the plug-in KPCI-3102 (produced
by Keithley) board which targets mainly the acquisition of digital signals and the
generation of numeric commands to the exterior;
• Environmental Monitoring throughWireless Sensor Networks: based on IRIS 2,4GHz
wireless sensor nodes (produced by Memsic Inc.) forming a self-organizing, self-healing
wireless mesh network and a MIB520 USB gateway as a data sink. The gateway is then
connected with LabVIEW thorugh appropiate drivers and the environment data
(temperature, humidity, pressure, light, acceleration) is passed on to the server for
processing, analyisis and storage.
Distance Process Monitoring using LabVIEW Environment 69

Fig. 1. Proposed Diagram of the Distributed System

For the chosen applications, the data acquisition boards/serial gateway represent the core of
the local hardware system. The selection of hardware components was made in order to
demonstrate the good integration with LabVIEW and the remote communication in the local
network or Internet even if we are dealing with products from different manufacturers.
The principle scheme of the NI PCI-6014E is shown in Figure 2 and we then make short
comments on the different blocks:
• I/O Connector: the connector to which the inputs and outputs from real world are
brought up; the connector is prolonged through a ribbon cable next to a connection
board where, through screw terminals, electrical links with real world are made;
• Analog Input: analogical inputs block; its components are: the analogical multiplexer
MUX, the instrumental amplifier NI-PGIA with programmable amplification factor, the
numerical-analogical converter ADC, the temporary memory for numerical equivalents
of input signals AI FIFO and the trigger modes for input signals Analog Trigger;
• Analog Output: the analogical outputs block; its components are: two numerical-
analogical converters (DAC0 and DAC1) and a memory (AO FIFO) where the
numerical equivalents of analogical output signals are brought, as well as the necessary
controls for choosing the working domain and the polarity of the output tension;
70 Modelling, Programming and Simulations Using LabVIEW™ Software

Fig. 2. Principle scheme of National Instruments PCI-6014E

• Digital I/O: numerical inputs/outputs block composed of 8 pins for general usage that
can be individually configured, through software, as numerical inputs, respective
numerical outputs;
• Counters: contains two counters of 24 bits, each one having two inputs (Source and
Gate), one output (Out) and two software registers capable of different operations;
• PFI (Programmable Function Interface): contains 10 connections with the outside of the
board through which one can collect temporary signals from outside and can generate
different kinds of internal board signals, inclusively the signals in relation with the
operation mod for the two counters of 24 bits;
• Digital Routing: contains all the circuits which manage the data flow between PCs
pipe-line and the acquisition subsystems (analog and digital inputs/outputs, counters).
The numeric routing circuits use FIFO memory in each subsystem to ensure an efficient
flow of data. Also, through these circuits pass temporal and control signals which
synchronize the acquisition;
• RTSI (Real-Time System Integration Bus): an additional pipe-line through which you
can achieve synchronization for specific measuring functions, when there are more than
one acquisition board installed on the same PC, making use of the same time events;
• Bus Interface: contains the hardware components through which the acquisition board
connects to the PCs pipe-line, also it requires a driver which is included with the
product.
The multifunction plug-in KPCI-3102 board, produced by Keithley Instruments, has the
block diagram described in Figure 3, where:
• 16 Channel Mux: represents the 16 analog inputs fed into the Gain Amp through an
analog multiplexer;
• ADC: analog to digital converter which allows for the control of the conversion clock;
• Tristate Buffers: tristate memory units with the possibility of selection for the
corresponding analog inputs or their digital equivalents on two 8bit ports;
• 1 kSample Input FIFO: temporary FIFO memory of 1k of memory on each input
sample;
• Bidirectional 8bit Latch: programmable bidirectional memory units for the digital
input/ outputs (DIO), ports A and B;
• 4 User Counter/Timers 16bit each: four 16bit counter/timers, available to the user;
• Multiplying DAC: digital to analog converters with multiplication (two);
• Trigger Clock Logic; A/D Counter 24bits; TScan Counter 24bits: logical circuits for
external synchronization of the acquired analog channels;
Distance Process Monitoring using LabVIEW Environment 71

Fig. 3. Block Diagram of the Multifunction Digital Analog I/O Board KPCI-3102
• CGL Reg., Channel Parameter Reg.: registries for external configuration;
• PCI Bus Interface: connection to the computer PCI Bus.
Connecting the workstation with the installed KPCI-3102 board to the physical process, a
wide ribbon cable is used 1:1 and a screw terminal board (see Figure 4).

Fig. 4. Connecting the Data Acquisition Boards through 1:1 Cable to the Screw Terminal
Finally, we use the MIB520CB USB Interface board for USB connectivity to the IRIS wireless
sensor network we have deployed throughout the laboratory. This provides communication
capabilities as well as in-system programming for the processor/radio boards of the nodes.
It is supplied with power via USB bus. Our model CB employs a female connector. The
board uses a FTDI FT2232C chip to use USB ports as virtual COM ports which are later used
for data acquisition. Therefore the appropiate drivers have to be installed on first use. It will
install two COM ports. The lower one is used for mote programming which we will not
handle in this paper and the higher number one for data communication via USB. A top
view photo of the MIB520CB is shown in Figure 5.
72 Modelling, Programming and Simulations Using LabVIEW™ Software

Fig. 5. Photo of top view of an MIB520CB

4. Client applications
4.1 Temperature monitoring and control
Many real applications, often encountered in process automation practice, require
maintaining the process variables between certain limits, realising therefore a bipositional
control of the investigated parameters. For example, an air conditioning unit for a HVAC
application should maintain room temperature around 24ºC ± 0.1ºC. This means that,
during winter, the heater is switched on until the room temperature reaches the upper limit
of 24.1ºC, turning it off until the temperature reaches the lower limit of 23.9ºC and repeating
the sequence. This happens also in summer conditions (heat) when the system controls the
cooling element of the unit. This simple example can be accompanied by many others such
as: keeping the liquid level in a tank between certaing values using level sensors,
mantaining the pressure in a container using pressostats, which prove the variety of
applications which employ bipositional control. Electronic control units can use signal from
analog transducers with unified current output (4mA ÷ 20mA) and there are also models
which allow connection directly to the sensitive element for the investigated variable.
The goal of this application is to demonstrate the usefullness of multifunction data
acquisition boards for monitoting and bipositional control. This is achieved by using the
LabVIEW environment to acquire and process signals, generating commands and
displaying the progress of the process variables to the user.
For the monitoring and bipositional temperature control, we employ the laboratory set-up
shown in Figure 6:
• Thermostatic Bath: metallic enclosure with lid, thermoresistance Pt100 and water
heater, filled with water;
• SA: power supply;
• ATr: Pt100 thermoresistance adapter, calibrated for the 0ºC ÷ 100ºC range;
• INTr: numeric measured temperature indicator (000 for 0ºC to 999 for 100ºC);
• Heater control unit (top-right corner): relay block, REED intermediate relay and power
relay type RI33, used for controlling the water heater element;
• Connector block: external connection terminal board CB-68LP shipped with the PCI-
6014 board;
• C: 220μF capacitor;
• K: single pole switch;
Distance Process Monitoring using LabVIEW Environment 73

Fig. 6. Laboratory Set-Up for Temperature Monitoring and Control Application using NI
PCI- 6014E Board
• PC: personal computer workstation with appropiate data aquisition board drivers for
the NI PCI-6014E and software for application development according to the
requirements: monitoiring and bipositional control of the temperature in a thermostatic
bath by aquiring the analog voltage value on a 250 Ω resistance inserted in the current
loop of a temperature transducer with thermoresistance and the numeric control of the
electric heater including the analysis of passive filtration (capacitive) and software
filtration on the quality of the control system.
Operating within the LabVIEW environment, we first have to install appropiate drivers for
the NI PCI-6014E board, following the procedure described by the user manual. This being
performed, we go on to the actual programming of the LabVIEW virtual instrument. This
application has been initially developed under LabVIEW 6.1 but has been kept up-to-date
and the current version is compatible with the LabVIEW 2009 version to accomodate the
reader with the benefits brought upon by newer versions of the software.
Figure 7 shows the block diagram and Figure 8 shows the front panel/user interface of the
monitoring and bipositional control application using the multifunction data aquisition
board NI PCI-6014E.
Before starting with deploying the LabVIEW code, the following clarfications have to be made:
• the top section of the block diagram implements the data acquisition on the ai0 analog
input channel, using DIFF configuration mode of the NI PCI-6014E board and generating
the digital command on the 0 digital output port; It should be mentioned that the newest
versions of the DAQmx drivers for National Instruments hardware components include a
configuration wizard which reduces the complexity of the written code to a single block,
however the configuration steps decribed at this stage remain valid.
74 Modelling, Programming and Simulations Using LabVIEW™ Software

Fig. 7. Block Diagram for Temperature Monitoring and Control Application using NI PCI-
6014E Board
• the acquired values represent voltage samples in the 1 ± 5 V range, considering the fact
that we are measuring the voltage on a 250Ω resistance in a 4mA ÷ 20mA current loop,
we show this values to the user as voltage and as degrees on the front panel;
• to better symbolize to the operator the state of the process (between or outside the
lower/upper limit interval) the dedicated temeperature indicator turns blue when the
temperature is between the limits and red when it is outside this interval; also when the
temperature value is detected to enter the interval a LED indicator signals the good
functioning of the installation;
Distance Process Monitoring using LabVIEW Environment 75

Fig. 8. Front Panel for Temperature Monitoring and Control Application using NI PCI-6014E
Board
• the limits, the current temperature value and the median temperature value are
illustrated on a Waveform Chart indicator; the median temperature value for the chart
representation is reduced by 2 units in order not to be overwritten on the current value
(the code implementing this is shown in the lower left corner of the block diagram);
• the While loop in the lower right corner of the block diagram plays a double role: it
implements a logical hysteresis comparator, that means a LED indicator changes value
76 Modelling, Programming and Simulations Using LabVIEW™ Software

when the temperature value is out of the interval set by the two limits, and calculates
the mean over the last 5 temperature values in a recursive way; the mean temperature
indicator will offer a correct reading only after the first 5 samples have been acquired.
In order to rapidly delpoy the block diagram and the front panel the user can reffer to
Figures 7 and 8 and also the LabVIEW User Manual can provide valuable references and
therefore we will not go into any more details.
The virtual instrument operates when pressing the Run control on the upper toolbar and the
application should be saved in the appropiate folder using a relevant name. The system
operation will be described next.
After deploying the laboratory set-up according to Figure 6, with the switch K opened, the
power supply SA is turned on and the heater control block is powered. We then launch the
application into execution by pressing the Run continuosly button on the toolbar. Correct
values for the lower and upper temperature limits should be entered on the front panel (with
regard to at least a 3°C difference between the two in order to insure a smooth operation of the
system) and the Waveform Chart indicator should be adapted to clearly notice the evolution of
the values on the chart. The sample rate and sample number should be set to a 1:1 relation. If
the Chart rate is too fast, the user should modify the Time scale of the chart.
Because, upon the first running of the application, the temperature in the thermostatic bath
is low (according to the room temperature), the ON/OFF and New State LEDs will be on
and the temperature color indicator will be red. Upon first reaching of the inferior
temperature value, the LED indicating the good operation of the system will be switched on,
the temperature indicator will become blue and the ON/OFF and New State LEDs will
continue to be on. They will switch off upon reaching the upper limit.
During the operation of the application, the influence on the reaching of the upper limit
with increasing temperature and on the reaching of the lower limit with decreasing
temperature of the time constant of the thermoresistance will be noticed. Also, when
modifiying the scale of the Y-Axis of theWaveform Chart in order to have a better view of
the signals, the user will be able to quantitatively determine the acquisition noise on the
analog channel and the impact of digital filtering through recursive software mediation.
While running the application, the K switch should be closed and one can notice the impact
of passive filtering on the analog signal. When the exepriments are over, the application is
stopped using the Abort Execution control on the toolbar.

4.2 Digital signal acquisition, processing and generation

Many real-world situation present us with signals, which carry information, in a digital
form. They come from physical measures with two stable states, indicating the
presence/absence of the studied measure. There are also many transducers which act as
detectors for the presence of the investigated measure, which supply an output signal in
binary logic (absence means 0, presence means 1).
Another important category of measures commonly associated with binary signals are
switches which offer two states (for example a push button closes a contact which can bring
a constant voltage to a circuit, equivalent to a "1" logic state and when it is left loose the
circuit is open and the corresponding state is "0"). Classic and modern automation systems
often employ digital signals because many applications require mantaining the controlled
parameters between certain limits and not their continuos measurement. There are also
situations when the transducers generate series of impulses proportional to the investigated
measure (for example, in the case of rotation speed transducers) which requires digital data
Distance Process Monitoring using LabVIEW Environment 77

acquisition. In conclusion, the data acquisition systems are realized in such way that they
allow the acquisition of binary logic voltages, compatible to the standardized voltage levels
type TTL or CMOS.
Our application aims at acquiring digital TTL signals coming from a reversible counter,
processing them internally in the PC and generating numeric signals which are displayed on
a 7-segment display using functionality offered by the LabVIEW environment.
The laboratory set-up is described in Figure 9 which includes the following components:
• GS: rectangular TTL signal generator;
• PCL: logic circuit board which includes the counter, decoder for the 7 segments and the
7 segments display;
• SA: power supply 5V, 1A;
• K: monopolar switch for applying the TTL input to ND (direct counter) or NI (reverse
counter);
• STP-68: external connector board, connected to the KPCI-3102 PCI Board through the
1:1 CAB-305 cable;
• PC: workstation with software suite installed.
The producer of the plug-in board provides appropiate drivers for the use with Windows
and LabVIEW and by installing the drivers a additional user library shows up in the
Functions palette of the LabVIEW interface. This allows the developers to access the specific
blocks for programming application with this data acquisition board. It includes blocks such
as analog input/output, digital input/output etc. We will assume that all the steps
necessary for installing of the Keithley board have been followed according to the user
manual provided by the manufacturer.
The first step to be taken before writing the application is the configuration of the board
through the DriverLINX Configuration Panel (Start>Programs>DriverLINX). Here the user
has to create a new device, Device 0, and using the configuration option setting port0 as
digital input and port1 and port2 as digital outputs. The first use case is acquiring digital
signals from the SN74190 reversible counter on port A (0) of the KPCI-3102.

Fig. 9. Set-Up for Digital TTL Signals Acquisition, Processing and Generation using KPCI-
3102 Board
78 Modelling, Programming and Simulations Using LabVIEW™ Software

Figure 10 shows the block diagram for the applicatin for direct/reverse counter and Figure
11 illustrates the front panel in the case of direct counting.

Fig. 10. Block Diagram for Direct/Reverse Counter

In order to quickly realize the front panel and block diagram, indications from the LabVIEW
user manual can be used. The most important element is this case is the Keithley "dio read
port" subVI which can be found in the Functions>User Libraries>Keithley DAQ VIs palette.
After the correct wiring of all the elements of the block diagram, the structural integrity of
the application is confirmed by the transformation of the Run indicator on the top toolbar
into a continuos arrow.
Performing the experiment takes place as follows. The K switch is set in the ND position and
the power supply SA and the GS TTL signal generator are turned on. After running the
application the user observes 7 binary signals on the Waveform Chart of amplitude 0V and
1V, which have been modified with the constant values shown before the Build Array
element in the block diagram. The signal generator frequency should be set at 10Hz and the
sampling rate, modified via the milliseconds to wait control, must be chosen such as the
Waveform Chart should clearly illustrate all waveforms.
Running the application will show that there is a relation between the counter input and the
state of the four bistables of which the counter consists of (Qa, Qb, Qc, Qd) and the transport
command CND. If K is switched, the chart will show plot 7 - CNI and plot 6 -CND will be
permanently set to "1" according to the operating mode of the reversible counter NT. The
application is aborted via the Stop button and can be saved under a relevant name.
In order to complete the second part of the experiment we have to realize the virtual
instrument as shown in Figure 12 (block diagram) and Figure 13 (front panel).
Upon the carefull analysis of the block diagram it can be seen that it uses standard LabVIEW
blocks, two subVI’s built specifically by the authors (a binary counter and a 7 segment
decoder) and an external control component built around the Keithley provided DAQ VI
dio write port. After wiring the blocks together and placing all the elements on the front
panel, the application should present no compile errors and be saved.
Distance Process Monitoring using LabVIEW Environment 79

Fig. 11. Front Panel for Direct Counting Application

Having the set-up described in Figure 9, the user sets port B(1) for the digital output in the
digital channel front panel control by giving it the value 1. The power supply SA is then
switched on and the application is started and the single impulse operating mode is
selected. The binary counter is set to 0 by pushing the boolean controls Reset and J-K in 0
and then in 1. At this moment all the 4 LEDs corresponding to the NB outputs (Qa, Qb, Qc,
Qd) are inactive which represent an initial 0 stage as well as the segments of the SN7545
display. By each activation of the single impulse ("Monoimpuls") button the user can see
that one binary unit is added to the counter and in the display. The coherence between the
80 Modelling, Programming and Simulations Using LabVIEW™ Software

simulated display in LabVIEW and the real 7 segment display SN7545 is checked. The
switch is then moved to the Generator position with an amplitude of 8 and a frequency of
around 0.0020. That will result in an automatic operation of the counter in one second
increments. The Waveform Chart will show small disruptions of the waveform
corresponding to the modification of the values of the NB counter. The application can be
aborted by pressing the Stop button on the front panel toolbar.

Fig. 12. Block Diagram for Controlling the Numeric Display SN7545 thorugh Port B(1) of the
KPCI-3102 Board
Distance Process Monitoring using LabVIEW Environment 81

Fig. 13. Front Panel for Controlling the Numeric Display SN7545 thorugh Port B(1) of the
KPCI-3102 Board

4.3 Environmental monitoring through wireless sensor network

Wireless sensor networks have represented, especially in the last decade a booming field of
study and represent an interdisciplinary research area for the academic community.
Although that wireless sensor networks are facing slower than expected adoption in the
industry due to concerns regarding reliable communication protocols and standardization,
they are a viable solution for environmental monitoring applications. In this kind of
scenarios many small sized nodes should be able to provide accurate data about the
investigated environmental parameters. The nodes would be powered from batteries or
energy harvesting techniques and would have a lifespan ranging from months to even
years.
For our experiments, we have used wireless sensor nodes produced by Memsic Inc. (former
Crossbow). The experimental scenario consists of 3-4 IRIS 2.4GHz nodes deployed in the
laboratory which feed data to a MIB520 USB gateway connected to the PC. The nodes
consist of XM2110 radio/processing modules with MTS400 sensor boards and are battery
powered from 2 x AA batteries. They are able to offer data for the following environmental
parameters: temperature, humidity, pressure, light, 2-way acceleration along with health
information about the network and battery voltage. The nodes run a proprietary firmware
on top of TinyOS (a small scale open-source operating system for such resource constrained
devices) and they form a self-organizing, self-healing wireless mesh network. MoteView
and MoteConfig are the Windows applications with the help of which data is read from the
gateway which finally receives all packets from the nodes and commands such as
configuration information are send to the nodes.
82 Modelling, Programming and Simulations Using LabVIEW™ Software

Fig. 14. MIB520 USB Gateway and IRIS Sensor Node

The application we are describing in this section is based on a LabVIEW driver developed
for this wireless sensor network product by the manufacturer. This is available at ni.com as
a free download and after being installed in the system it offers all the necessary subVIs
which allow the developer to read data from the MIB520 USB Gateway. Our customized
application with block diagram (Figure 15) and front panel (Figure 16) is shown below.
The block diagram includes elements to configure the data acquisition from the USB
gateway such as COM port, data buffer size and resource access. The main while loop
performs the actual read of the packets and parses them acording to the known message
format for the corresponding sensor board (MTS400). Data is then available for further
processing. In this case we create arrays of enivronmental measurements for the parameters
mentioned above and they are linked to the shared variables which are pushed through the
network, displayed and stored on the server. This application includes also a boolean shared
variable which controls the data acquisition, meaning that the server operator has the
possibility of remotely starting/ pausing the process. The front panel of this application is a
simple representation of the list of nodes identified in the network, the parsed numeric data
from the on-board sensors and simple graphical representations for two of the parameters
(humidity and light).
Our main goal is to replicate and extend the functionality of the original MoteView
application, this not being supported on newer operating systems such as Windows Vista or
Windows 7 under the form of a stand-alone LabVIEW executable application which would
enable easy distribution. This should include the virtual instrument and variable library but
also the Crossbow XMesh drivers an the necessary run-time for computers without any
installation of the development environment. The main functions should be database
storage, custom graphs, node configuration and mapping the sensor network. The first steps
have been described in this section.
Distance Process Monitoring using LabVIEW Environment 83

Fig. 15. Block Diagram of WSN Monitoring Application

84 Modelling, Programming and Simulations Using LabVIEW™ Software

Fig. 16. Front Panel of WSN Monitoring Application

5. Server application
5.1 Communication technologies
The applications described until now in this chapter were initially designed to function as
stand alone experiments on dedicated workstations. The main idea behind this chapter is to
link them together under the umbrella of a single network server which collects all the data.
The advantages of this distributed approach comes from the fact that the system can use
dedicated workstations, each with their on specific hardware and software which are
connected by a network. The server represents a more capable hardware configuration for
data processing, storage and can also act as a gateway between the process and the Internet.
The technology chosen to implement this concept of sharing data between tasks running on
different systems is that of LabVIEW Shared Variables. The shared variables are a feature
which appeared in LabVIEW since version 8 was released and have been steadily improving
since. The shared variable abstracts network communication from the LabVIEW block
diagram and makes it easy to share data between networked systems. The type of shared
variables we are using for our deployment is networked-published shared variables of
different types such as double, arrays of doubles, booleans or integers. After being added to
the project library of a certain LabVIEW application, the shared variables take the form of a
terminal which can be dropped onto the block diagram to be written or read from. They also
offer error input and output terminals to notify the user of communication errors and a
timestamp output that informs about when the value read was written. Behind all this is a
custom UDP protocol to send data to a server called the shared variable engine, which then
publishes the data to all clients on the network reading the shared variable. Because a
Distance Process Monitoring using LabVIEW Environment 85

publish-subscribe architecture is used to transfer data, many clients can read and write to
the same variable without writing additional code. An important feature is buffering, which
can be used for accounting for temporary fluctuations between read/write rates of a
variable. Readers that occasionally read a variable slower than the writer can miss some
updates. If the application can tolerate missing data points occasionally, the slower read rate
does not affect the application and you do not need to enable buffering. However, if the
reader must receive every update, enable buffering. The SVE (Shared Variable Engine) can
be hosted on Windows PCs and real time targets. In our practical experiments we found out
that the custom UDP protocol needed specific ports to be opened (depeding on the
implementation of the Logos architecture of LabVIEW) in order for the data to pass through
the Windows firewall.
For our system the following table for shared variables was employed. The three client
applications feed data into the network in the form of the shared variables. These are the
read by the server which displays them on a local monitoring panel. The server also
publishes its own shared variable, a boolean variable which controls the data acquisition
from the wireless sensor network connected to workstation 3.

No. Name Type Data Published By

1 temp double Current temperature Application 1
2 tempmed double Median temperature Application 1
3 tempv double Acquired voltage value Application 1
4 comanda boolean Digital output state Application 1
5 limsup double Upper limit Application 1
6 liminf double Lower limit Application 1
7 obiectiv boolean Functioning between limits Application 1
8-15 channel8_15 boolean Digital input states Application 2
16 nodeid array of integer List of detected nodes Application 3
17 voltage array of double Battery voltage Application 3
18 therm_temp array of double Thermistor temperatures Application 3
19 humid array of double Humidity values Application 3
20 light array of double Ambiental light values Application 3
21 accx array of double X Axis acceleration Application 3
22 accy array of double Y Axis acceleration Application 3
23 achizitie boolean Start/Pause WSN monitoring Server
Table 1. List of Shared Variables
During our experiments, the network traffic was not affected by the 23 shared variables
being transmitted at high sample rates between the workstations and the server. However
LabView offers several customization options in order to insure a reliable data stream
between stations with very large numbers of shared variables (buffering, variable sample
rate).

5.2 Description
The remote monitoring server application is made up of the block diagram and the front
panel, like it can be seen in Figure 17 and Figure 18. The project for this application includes
86 Modelling, Programming and Simulations Using LabVIEW™ Software

the virtual instrumes and the library which contains references to all the shared variables
being read through the network. The values are being read in a while loop which ensures
continous operation fron the push of the Run button on the toolbar until the Stop button on
the front panel or the Abort execution button on the toolbar have been pressed. The loop is
timed at 200ms, a value which we considered insures maximum performance of the system
and doesn’t load the network with unnecessary samples. The shared variable read blocks
are wired to the corresponding indicators in order to show the data on the front panel. The
front panel represents the user interface and the most important part of this application. It is
divided into three parts, each corresponding to a certain application: temperature
monitoring and control, digital signal acqusition system and wireless sensor network
monitoring application. The operator can view the data in near real-time, control the
aqusition for the wireless sensor network through the switch button. The application can be
expanded by creating a local database to store the data, generate reports and also by linking
it to even more different systems. The server can also act, using the functionality provided
by the LabVIEW web server as a gateway between the local network and the internet.

Fig. 17. Block Diagram of the Server Application

Distance Process Monitoring using LabVIEW Environment 87

Fig. 18. Front Panel of the Server Application

6. Conclusion
The application was designed and developed to prove a couple of concepts about the data
acquisition in general and some notions about the possibility of adding remote
controlling/monitoring. This has a teaching purpose: it is being used for a series of
experiments between several laboratories, at the moment. From one point of view one can
process the experimental data gathered from a real process, but one can also see the result of
one remote command sent to industrial equipment in the real time. The main part is, as we
mentioned earlier, the server with the data acquisition board. The first application presented
in this paper handled the process of remote controlling of the temperature of a precinct, the
workstation can deal with more than one application in the same time. Thus it can monitor
parameters provided by 16 sensors and it can lead till four industrial equipments in the
same time, using the data acquisition board NI PCI 6014E.
The second application we have described concerns the handling of digital signals which
can be found in large numbers in today’s discrete automation systems. We have used a
Keithley Instruments KPCI-3102 PCI board to acquire, process and generate numeric signal
from/to the outside world. The integration with the LabVIEW environment has been done
through appropiate drivers offered by the manufacturer which appear under the form of
blocks in the instrument library, ready to be placed and wired on the block diagram.
The third application realised connectivity between the PC (with LabVIEW) and a wireless
sensor network gateway. The gateway received packets from all the nodes of the network
88 Modelling, Programming and Simulations Using LabVIEW™ Software

which included environmental data from integrated sensors such as temperature, humidity,
light, pressure. Our VI parsed the packets for useful data, displayed it locally and then
forwarded the information to the application server.
Finally, the application server is acting like a data sink in our scenario. It receives all the
process variables from the distributed system under the form of shared variables. The data
is displayed, process or stored all also through LabVIEW WebServer the possibility of
remote monitoring via the Internet.
Future developments will highlight the scalability of the system as we are able to add new
workstations handling various processes to the network. We will focus more on reaching the
communication limits of the network through a high number of shared variables with
higher sample rates. The results of the experiments should give insight concerning the
deployment of the LabVIEW Shared Variables for large industrial processes involving
hundreds or even thousands of such network values.

7. References
Vlad, M. S. & Sgârciu V. Distance Process Monitoring using LabVIEW Environment, In:
Proceedings of the IEEE AQTR 2006 Conference, Cluj-Napoca, Romania.
National Instruments LabVIEW 2009 User Manual, Available online at:
http://www.ni.com/pdf/manuals/371361f.zip, checked August 2010.
National Instruments Using the LabVIEW Shared Variable, Available online at:
http://zone.ni.com/devzone/cda/tut/p/id/4679, checked August 2010.
Garcia, G. Create Distributed Applications with LabVIEW Shared Variables, In: Q2 2006
issue of the Instrumentation Newsletter.
Luis Felipe Herrera-Quintero et al. Wireless Smart Sensors Networks, systems, trends and
its impact in environmental monitoring, In: Proceedings of the IEEE LATINCOM
2009 Conference, Medelin, Columbia.
Rancea I. & Sgârciu V. & Stamatescu G. Remote Acquisition Processing and Generation of
Digital Signals for a Reversible Counter through LabVIEW Environment, In:
Proceedings of the DAAAM 2009 Conference, Vienna, Austria.
Stamatescu G. & Sgârciu V. & Stamatescu S. PC-Based System for Level Transducer
Interfacing, In: Proceedings of the SENSORDEVICES 2010 Conference, Venice,
Italy.
 Part 2

LabVIEW in Modeling
 5

Modeling and Simulation of Production of

Metallothionein and Red Fluorescent Fusion
Protein by Recombinant Escherichia Coli Using
Graphical Programming
Ling Gao1, Yilin Ren2, Yao Ma3, Jianqun Lin3 and Jianqiang Lin3
1School of Information Science and Engineering, Shandong Normal University, Jinan 250014
2School of Life Science, Shandong Normal University, Jinan 250014
3State Key Lab of Microbial Technology, Shandong University, Jinan 250100

China

1. Introduction
Metallothioneins (MTs) are a family of low molecular weight, cysteine rich, metal binding
proteins, and exist in a variety of organisms ranging from bacteria to mammals (Moffatt &
Denizeau, 1997). MTs play significant roles in clearance of free radical against oxidative
damage (Masters et al., 1994), trace element metabolism and heavy metal detoxification
(Feldman & Cousins, 1976), cell metabolism (Cherian & Apostolova, 2000), disease processes
(Sens et al., 2001; Velázquez et al., 1999), rare metal accumulation (Nordberg, 1998), heavy
metal removal and environment protection et al. (Nordberg, 1998; Elinder et al., 1981). The
important applications stimulate the interest of large scale production of MT. Compared
with the conventional method by extraction from animal organs, MT production by using
recombinant E. coli has obvious advantages in reducing cost, increasing efficiency and
product quality. However, recombinant MT is easily hydrolyzed and unstable for the thiol
group of cysteine when produced by recombinant microorganism (Saito & Hunziker, 1996).
By integrating the MT gene with fusion tags, MT was successfully expressed in E. coli (Hong
et al., 2001; Yang et al., 2007). On the other hand, rapid measurement of MT production is
important for optimization of fermentation process. MT was reported to have light
absorption at the wave length of 250 nm after binding with Cd (Onosaka & Cherian, 1982),
which could be used for MT measurement. But, according to our experience, this method
has low accuracy and poor reproducibility. In order to detect MT production in an easy and
rapid way during fermentation process, in this study, MT gene is fused with red fluorescent
protein (RFP) gene and coexpressed in recombinant E. coli. Modeling and simulation is a
powerful tool for the analysis of the mechanism and dynamic responses of the fermentation
process, and for process optimization and automatic control. The production of recombinant
protein using recombinant E. coli involves the regulations of aimed gene transcription and
translation, which process can be well described by using the white box structured model
involing operon regulation and is done in this research. But, the structured model has the
disadvantage of extreme complex not suitable for the purpose of process optimization.
92 Modelling, Programming and Simulations Using LabVIEW™ Software

Therefore, a grey box unstructured model is also constructured, which model is simple
enough for process variable prediction in real applications but still sufficient for modeling
the major regulation effects on the aimed genes of the recombinant strain. LabView is a data
driven and graphical programming software tool, widely used in process simulation, data
acquisition and automatic control. The MT production mathematical model developed
using LabView is easily incorporated into the model based on-line optimization and
automatic control system of MT fermentation process developed using LabView in the
future. In this research, the structured and unstructured mathematical models and computer
simulation of MT production and RFP fluorescence are made. The final developed
mathematical model includes substrate consumption, the growth of the recombinant E. coli
cells, the repression and induction of the aimed genes, the production of the aimed protein,
and the maturation of the expressed RFP. The mathematical model consists of two levels:
the intracellular level for the expression and induction of the aimed genes and the reactor
level for the dynamic changes of substrate and cell concentrations as well as the
fluorescence. This research shows the advantages and the usefulness of the data driven and
graphical programming software of LabView in modeling and simulation of biological
phenomena.

2. Experimental production of MT fusion protein

The human MT (hMT-1A) gene sequence was obtained from Genebank. Some rare codons
for E. coli were modified, and the sequence was synthesized chemically (Su et al., 2009). The
plasmid pGHM-RFP was used for MT production (Fig. 1). DsRed2 gene was cloned and
ligated with hMT-1A gene to construct the fusion protein expression vector. In order to
minimize the conformational change and final clearence of RFP, a Gly-Gly-Gly tri-peptide
and thrombin restriction site were designed and inserted between DsRed2 and hMT-1A
genes in pGHM-RFP construction. E. coli BL21(DE3) (Novagen, Germany) was used as the
host cell to construct E. coli(pGHM-RFP). The plasmid pGHM-RFP has a tac promotor (Ptac),
which is a combination of -10 reagion of lac promotor and -35 reagion of trp promotor (DE
Boer et al., 1983).
Cultivations of E. coli(pGHM-RFP) were made at 37ºC, shaken at 180 r/min. The volume of
250 µl of seed culture was inoculated into 40 ml of flask containing 300 ml of LB medium
(10 g/l tryptone, 5 g/l yeast extract, 10 g/l NaCl, pH 7.0) and 100 μg/ml of ampicillin.
Isopropyl-β-D-thiogalactoside (IPTG) was added to the final concentration of 0.2 mM when
OD600 reached 0.9~1.1. Samples were made every hour and the cells were harvested by
centrifugation at 7000×g for 10 min at 4ºC. Proteins were analyzed using 12% SDS_page, and
stained by 0.25% Coomassie brilliant blue R250. The amount of MT produced was analyzed
by ImageQuant TL (GE Healthcare, USA) using BSA (bovine serum albumin) as the
standard. Fluorescence intensity was measured using RF-5301PC (Shimadzu, Japan). The
results were shown in Fig. 2. The results showed that the fusion protein of GST-MT-RFP
expressed immediately after IPTG induction, but the fluorescence was detected about 6
hours after the induction (Fig. 2). The fluorescence was detected about one hour after MT
production reached the maximum, and then increased. It indicated that RFP fluorescence
could be used as the suboptimal indicator for termination of MT fermentation process. In
addition, the fluorescence intensity of RFP was quite strong, which ensured the accuracy of
the detection. The possible reason for the delay of the appearence of RFP fluorescence
should be that the maturation of red chromophore undergoes a period of oxidation, which
costs some time (Verkhusha et al., 2004). The time delay of the RFP fluorescence made it
Modeling and Simulation of Production of Metallothionein and Red
Fluorescent Fusion Protein by Recombinant Escherichia Coli Using Graphical Programming 93

unsuitable for online monitoring and optimization of MT fermentation process, but could be
used as the suboptimal indicator for termination of the MT fermentation process.

Fig. 1. The structure of plasmid pGHM-RFP.

Fig. 2. The time courses of cell growth, MT fusion protein production and RFP fluorescence.

3. Structured model for plasmid based MT production

3.1 Modeling of operon regulation
The detailed structure and regulation mechanism of tac promotor-operon was shown in Fig.
3. From Fig. 3 for the control mechanism, it shows that the operon is coordinately controlled
by two regulatory sites positioned upstream of the aimed genes, which are the regulatory
sites of cAMP-CAP complex and the lacI repressor protein (Fig. 3). For the lacI repressor
mechanism, when the active lacI repressor protein is binding to the operator gene, mRNA
polymerase can not pass through the operator gene to transcribe the aimed gene. When the
inducer molecules (lactose or its structure analogue IPTG) binds to lacI to inactivate the lacI
repressor and make it get off from the operator, the mRNA polymerase can pass through the
94 Modelling, Programming and Simulations Using LabVIEW™ Software

operator gene to transcribe the aimed gene. On the other hand, the operon is also controlled
by the mechanism of carbon catabolite repression. The binding of mRNA polymerase to the
promotor gene (at the -10 and -35 reagions) is loose, needs to be strengthened by the cAMP-
CAP complex. The catabolite activator (CAP) protein is activated when it binds to cAMP to
form the complex. When glucose concentration is high in the medium, the intracellular
cAMP concentration is low, as a result, the concentration of cAMP-CAP complex decreases,
and the binding of mRNA polymerase to the promotor becomes loose and the aimed gene is
untranscribed (Fig. 3).

Fig. 3. The structure and regulation mechanism of the operon of pGHM-RFP (adapted from
Abeles et al., 1992).
The induction and repression control mechanism of the operon ensures that the genes under
control will not be transcribed without induction by the inducers. The binding of the
repressor protein (lacI) to the inducer (lactose) or to the operator gene is described by Eqs.
(1-2). The binding of the inducer to the repressor-operator complex is described by Eq. (3).

k1
Xr + nSlac ↔Xr nSlac (1)
k−1

k2
X o + Xr ↔X o Xr (2)
k−2

k3 k4
X o Xr + nSlac ↔X o Xr nSlac → X o + Xr nSlac (3)
k −3
Modeling and Simulation of Production of Metallothionein and Red
Fluorescent Fusion Protein by Recombinant Escherichia Coli Using Graphical Programming 95

Where, Xr , the repressor protein; Slac , lactose; X o , the operator gene; n , the number of the
lactose binding sites of the repressor protein. Eq. (3) shows that the inducer-repressor
complex of Xr nSlac has low binding affinity to the operator X o , quickly falls off. Therefore,
⎣⎡ X o Xr nSlac ⎦⎤ can be neglected in the following balances. Balances for the repressor, operator,
and inducer are

⎡⎣ Xr ⎤⎦ t = ⎡⎣ Xr ⎤⎦ + ⎡⎣ Xr nSlac ⎤⎦ + ⎡⎣ X o Xr ⎤⎦ (4)

⎡⎣ X o ⎤⎦ t = ⎡⎣ X o ⎤⎦ + ⎡⎣ X o Xr ⎤⎦ (5)

⎡⎣Slac ⎤⎦ t = ⎡⎣Slac ⎤⎦ + n ⎡⎣ Xr nSlac ⎤⎦ (6)

Where, the index t refers to the total concentration. As there are more free lactose molecules
than that combined in the complex, the last term in Eq. (6) can be neglected:

⎡⎣ Xlac ⎤⎦ t = ⎡⎣Slac ⎤⎦ (7)

From above equations, the following equations can be obtained:

dXr
= k−1 ⋅ Xr nSlac − k1 ⋅ Xr ⋅ nSlac − k2 ⋅ X o ⋅ Xr + k−2 ⋅ X o Xr (8)
dt

dXr nSlac
= k1 ⋅ Xr ⋅ nSlac − k−1 ⋅ Xr nSlac + k4 ⋅ X o Xr nSlac (9)
dt

dX o
= k−2 ⋅ X o Xr − k2 ⋅ X o ⋅ Xr + k4 ⋅ X o Xr nSlac (10)
dt

dX o Xr (11)
= k2 ⋅ X o ⋅ Xr − k−2 ⋅ X o Xr − k3 ⋅ X o Xr ⋅ nSlac + k−3 ⋅ X o Xr nSlac
dt

dX o Xr nSlac (12)
= k3 ⋅ X o Xr ⋅ nSlac − k−3 ⋅ X o Xr nSlac − k4 ⋅ X o Xr nSlac
dt
As there are more repressor molecules than there are operators, and in this case the last term
in Eqs. (4) and (8) can be neglected. The fraction of repressor-free operators,Q1, is obtained:

⎡X ⎤ Xo
Q1 = ⎣ o ⎦ = (13)
⎡⎣ X o ⎤⎦ t X o + Xr

The carbon catabolite repression control mechanism of the operon ensures that the genes
under control will not be transcribed when a preferred substrate is available, e.g., glucose.
The mechanism of operator activation by CAP-cAMP complex can be described by reactions
of (14) and (15):

k5
XCAP + mXcAMP ↔XCAP mXcAMP (14)
k −5
96 Modelling, Programming and Simulations Using LabVIEW™ Software

k6
X p + XCAP mXcAMP ↔X p XCAP mXcAMP (15)
k−6

The balances for CAP and promotor are

⎡ ⎤
⎣⎡ XCAP ⎦⎤ t = ⎣⎡ XCAP ⎦⎤ + ⎣⎡ XCAP mXcAMP ⎦⎤ + ⎣ X p XCAP mXcAMP ⎦ (16)

⎡ X p ⎤ = ⎡ X p ⎤ + ⎡ X p XCAP mXcAMP ⎤ (17)

⎣ ⎦t ⎣ ⎦ ⎣ ⎦
From Eq. (14) to (17), Eq. (18) to (21) can be obtained.

dXCAP
= k−5 ⋅ XCAP mXcAMP − k5 ⋅ XCAP ⋅ mXcAMP (18)
dt

dXCAP mXcAMP
= k5 ⋅ XCAP ⋅ mXcAMP − k−5 ⋅ XCAP mXcAMP
dt

− k6 ⋅ X P ⋅ XCAP mXcAMP + k−6 ⋅ X P XCAP mXcAMP (19)

dX p
= k−6 ⋅ X p XCAP mXcAMP − k6 ⋅ X p ⋅ XCAP mXcAMP (20)
dt

dX p XCAP mXcAMP
= k6 ⋅ X p ⋅ XCAP mXcAMP − k−6 ⋅ X p XCAP mXcAMP (21)
dt
From the above equations, the fraction of promoters being activated can be obtained:

⎡ X p XCAP mXcAMP ⎤
Q2 = ⎣ ⎦ = X p XCAP mXcAMP (22)
⎡X p ⎤ X p + X p XCAP mXcAMP
⎣ ⎦t
The intracellular level of cAMP in Eq. (22) can be described by the empirical equation
correlating XcAMP and the extracellular concentration of the preferred energy source (S), eg.
glucose:

K
XcAMP = (23)
K +S

3.2 Modeling of plasmid copy number and mRNA polymerase limiting effect
The plasmid copy number (NP) in the host cell is variant, which is reversely corelated with
the specific growth rate (μ). The more plasmids it contains the slower it grows. The cell
grows fastest (μ =μmax) when it contains no plasmid. On the other hand, it is regarded that
when NP increases towards its maximum value of NP.max, the plasmid replication rate
decreases. Then, the plasmid replication rate can be described by Eq. (24), which is
decreased with the increases of the plasmid copy number and the specific growth rate.
Modeling and Simulation of Production of Metallothionein and Red
Fluorescent Fusion Protein by Recombinant Escherichia Coli Using Graphical Programming 97

⎛ NP ⎞ ⎛ μ ⎞
rP = kP.max ⋅ N P ⋅ ⎜⎜ 1 − ⎟⎟ ⋅ ⎜⎜ 1 − ⎟⎟ − μ ⋅ N P (24)
⎝ N P⋅ max ⎠ ⎝ μ max ⎠
Where, k P.max , the maximum plasmid replication rate; μ , the specific growth rate; μmax ,
the maximum specific growth rate.
In the recombinant srtain that contains multicopy plasmid, the promotors in the plasmids
and in the chromosome will compete for the mRNA polymerase. Therefore, the
transcription rate is not increased linearly with the increase of gene copy number but in a
decreased manner. The mRNA polymerase competing effect can be described by Eq. (25)
(Lee & Bailey, 1984).

α
⎛ NP ⎞
Q3 = ⎜⎜ 1 − ⎟⎟ (25)
⎝ N P.max ⎠

3.3 Modeling of mRNA transcription and aimed protein synthesis

The intracellular aimed mRNA synthetic rate and degradation rate can be described by Eq.
(26):

rmRNA = k+ mRNA ⋅ Q1 ⋅ Q2 ⋅ Q3 ⋅ N P − ( k− mRNA + μ ) ⋅ XmRNA (26)

Where, XmRNA , the intracellular aimed mRNA; k+ mRNA , the constant for aimed mRNA
synthesis; k−mRNA , the constant for aimed mRNA degradation. The last term of Eq. (26)
describes the degradation and cell growth dilution effects on intracellular mRNA. Then, the
intracellular plasmid based MT fusion protein synthesis rate can be described by Eq. (27):

rMT = k+ MT ⋅ XmRNAk − ( k− MT + μ ) ⋅ X MT (27)

Where, X MT , the intracellular MT fusion protein concentration; k+ MT , the intracellular MT

fusion protein synthesis rate; k− MT , the intracellular MT fusion protein degradation rate.
The structured model developed above is based on the mechanism of biological reactions
and signal transductions, and is useful in analysis of the molecular and physiological
dynamics and mechanisms. But, the structured model involved too many model parameters
of intracellular reactions and signal transductions that are difficult to measure, which makes
the model difficult for practical uses.

4. Unstructured model and simulation of MT production

As discussed in last section, the structured model is too sophisticated for bioprocess
modelling and simulation in practical applications. In contrast, unstructured models
without detailed intracellular mechanisms are convenient and widely used in this field. But,
one major drawback of the unstructured model is that the unstructured black box model
sometimes can not reflect the real dynamics of the bioprocess. For example, the Monod
model and the Luedeking-Piret model are most often used unstructured models for the cell
growth and product production, which are not sufficient to model the gene induction and
repression effects. In this section, an unstructured model will be constructed for
recombinant MT fusion protein production, and improvements are made in this model so
98 Modelling, Programming and Simulations Using LabVIEW™ Software

that it can describes the induction and repression effects on the aimed genes exerted by the
bioreactor level process variables of the concentrations of related substrates in the culture
medium.
In last section, the inducer and repressor control mechanism of the operon is summarized
into Q1, and the carbon catabolite repression control mechanism is summarized into Q2 by
using several intracellular reactions and signal transductions. Hear, unstructured model will
be constructed for Q1 and Q2. In the experiments described in section 2, IPTG is used in
replace of lactose as the inducer, which is unable to be degraded and has strong inducing
effect than lactose. Therefore, the induction effect exerted by IPTG is in the extremes, which
can be regarded as “1” or “yes” with IPTG induction, and “0” or “no” without IPTG
induction. In addition, the signal transduction of the induction and repression effects have a
time scale of several seconds from on-state to off-state or vise versa. Therefore, Q1 can be set
to “1” or “0” for the cases of IPTG addition or not described by Eq. (28), which is much
simpler than the development of Eq. (13).

⎧⎪0 no IPTG
Q1 = ⎨ (28)
⎪⎩1 IPTG

The carbon catabolite repression control mechanism is related with the concentration of
cAMP, which is an activator of CAP protein and is reversely correlated with the energy
charge of the cell. The relationships between substrate concentration and intracellular cAMP
concentration can be described by Eq. (23). Similar with Q1, Q2 has the activated or non-
activated states under high or low cAMP conditions. But, unlike IPTG which has an almost
constant concentration during the cultivation process, the intracellular cAMP concentration
is always changing with the changes of the substrate concentration resulted from the cell
consumption or the feeding of the substrate. Therefore, different from Q1 that has the
discrete states of “0” or “1”, Q2 is described using unstructured Hill equation for activator as
a function of intracellular cAMP concentration:

β ⋅ XcAMPγ
Q2 = (29)
kcAMPγ + XcAMPγ

Where, kcAMP , β and γ are the constants. Combining Eq. (23) and (29), Q2 becomes the
function of substrate concentration (S) of the cultivation medium. The sharpness of Q2
function can be adjusted by the parameters. With the consumption of substrate as shown in
Fig. 4A, Q2 increases from about 0.3 to 1. The intracellular plasmid replication rate is
described by Eq. (24). Combing with Eq. (24), the total plasmid copy number can be
described by Eq. (30).

d ⎣⎡N P ⎦⎤T
= rP ⋅⎡⎣X ⎦⎤T (30)
dt
Where, X, the cell concentration; the footnote “T” indicates the total concentration in the
fermentation broth. As discussed earlier, the transcription rate is not increased linearly with
the increase of plasmid copy number, as the promoters of the plasmid and the chromosome
compete for the mRNA polymerase. The effect of plasmid copy number on the transcription
Modeling and Simulation of Production of Metallothionein and Red
Fluorescent Fusion Protein by Recombinant Escherichia Coli Using Graphical Programming 99

rate is described by Q3 of Eq. (25). Then, combining with Eq. (26), the total mRNA can be
described by Eq. (31) using the unstructured model.

d ⎡⎣ XmRNA ⎤⎦T
= rmRNA ⋅⎡⎣X ⎦⎤T (31)
dt
Similarly, total MT production can be modelled by Eq. (32):

d ⎡⎣ X MT ⎤⎦T
= rMT ⋅⎡⎣X ⎤⎦T (32)
dt
The equations for the specific growth rate, cell growth, and substrate consumption are:

μmax ⋅⎡⎣S ⎦⎤T ⎛ ⎣⎡X ⎦⎤T ⎞

μ= ⋅⎜1 − ⎟ (33)
km + ⎣⎡S ⎦⎤T ⎜ ⎡
⎣ max ⎤⎦T
X ⎟
⎝ ⎠

d ⎡⎣X ⎤⎦T
= μ ⋅⎡⎣X ⎤⎦T (34)
dt

d ⎣⎡S ⎦⎤T 1 d ⎣⎡X ⎦⎤T 1 d ⎡⎣ X MT ⎤⎦T

=− ⋅ − ⋅ (35)
dt YX /S dt YMT /S dt

Where, Xmax , the maximum cell concentration; km , the substrate affinity constant; S , the
substrate concentration; YX /S , the cell yield from the substrate; YMT /S , the product yield
from the substrate. The RFP fluorescence intensity curve is almost proportional to the MT
production curve except that a time delay for the maturation of RFP, which can be modelled
by Eq. (36):

d ⎣⎡F ⎦⎤T d ⎡⎣ X MT ⎤⎦T

= kF ⋅ (36)
dt d ( t − tL )

Where, kF, the constant; tL, the time delay for the fluorescence. By using the unstructured
model constructed in this section and the experimental data of section 2, some of the model
parameters are calculated and the other unknown model parameters are optimized using
genetic algorithm (GA) by minimizing the aimed function calculated from errors between
model predictions and the measured data. The details of model parameter optimization
using GA is introduced in section 5. By using the unstructured model constructed in this
section and the model parameters, the production process of MT fusion protein is simulated,
and the results are shewn in Fig. 4.
From Fig. 4, it shows that the model fits the experimental data very well, and is suitable for
modelling the recombinant protein production. With the increase of cell concentration, the
substrate concentration decreases (Fig. 4A). During the simulation, the initial and the
maximum plasmid copy numbers are set to 10 and 30, respectively. The initial value for
aimed mRNA is set to 0 with the aimed gene under non-induced state. As shown in Fig. 4B,
the plasmid copy number decreases with the increase of cell growth before 5th h of
100 Modelling, Programming and Simulations Using LabVIEW™ Software

5 10
S A
4 8

Substrate (g/L)
OD600
OD600 (-) 3 6

2 4

1 2

0 0
0 2 4 6 8 10 12
Time (h)

15 7
Plasmid copy number (molecules/cell)

B
plasmid copy number 6
12
5

mRNA (molecules/cell)
9
4

mRNA
3
6

2
3
1

0 0
0 2 4 6 8 10 12
Time (h)

10 0.8
C
8
Fluorescence intensity ¡Á1000 (-)

0.6
MT
MT (mg/L)

6
0.4
4

0.2
2 fluorescence

0 0.0
0 2 4 6 8 10 12
Time (h)

Fig. 4. Simulation of the production process of MT fusion protein. Lines, model predictions;
dots, measured data.
Modeling and Simulation of Production of Metallothionein and Red
Fluorescent Fusion Protein by Recombinant Escherichia Coli Using Graphical Programming 101

cultivation (Fig. 4.A), which is modelled by Eq. (24). The number of intracellular aimed
mRNA molecules increases immediately after the addition of the inducer of IPTG at 3rd h of
the cultivation (Fig. 4B), modelled by Eq. (26). From Fig. 4, it shows that the aimed mRNA
time profile is not proportional to the time profile of plasmid copy number, resulted from
the effects of aimed gene regulation, mRNA polymerase competition, mRNA degradation et
al.. The MT fusion protein production and the RFP fluorescence time courses are shown in
Fig. 4C. MT production increases after addition of IPTG at 3rd h of cultivation and reaches
the maximum value at 7th h, then decreases because of degradation. The RFP fluorescence is
6 h delay than MT production (Fig. 4C). The reason for the time delay of RFP fluorescence
should be the time consumed for maturation of red chromophore which undergoes a time
period of oxidation (Verkhusha, 2004).

5. Model parameters and the optimization using genetic algorithm (GA)

Some of the model parameters have clear physiological meanings and can be obtained by
theoretical calculation or by experimental measurements. Xmax and tL can be obtained
directly from Fig. 2; μmax can be calculated from the growth curve of Fig. 2; YX /S can be
calculated from the measured data; YMT /S can be estimated from the biochemical pathways
of protein synthesis; N P⋅ max is obtained from general knowledge about the plasmid copy
number of E. coli; k P.max is chosen arbitaryly as 2.5 times of μmax . The other model
parameter values are optimized using GA. The differential equations are solved using 4th
order Runge-Kutta method.
Genetic algorithm is a search heuristic that mimics the process of natural evolution, which is
proved useful in solving sophisticated optimization problems as well as in optimization of
biological model parameters (Lin et al., 2004). A standard GA is used in the optimization,
which has the operations of coding, initialization, mutation, hybridization, decoding, fitness
calculation, selection, and reproduction procedures exerted on individuals (or
chromosomes) in a population. The potential solution (individual) is coded as a binary
vector, called a chromosome, the elements of which were called genes and situated in
predefined positions, indicated as alleles (Fig. 5). One gene codes for one model parameter.
The gene number n of one chromosome equals to the number of model parameters, so that
each chromosome codes for all parameters of the model and enable to calculate the model
prediction error with the set of model parameters coded by the chromosome. In GA, one
population contains m individuals (or chromosomes) so that m model prediction errors can
be calculated for the m chromosomes, and the fitness of each chromosome can then be
calculated and used for the selection procedure. In this study, one gene is coded by a binary
string of 10 bits. Then, n parameters are represented by a binary string of n×10 bits (Fig. 5).
The population of m chromosomes can be represented by a m×10n array. The initialization
procedure is performed to randomly assign initial values of “0” or “1” to the m×10n array.
The hybridization procedure is applied to two randomly selected chromosomes called
parents, and two new chromosomes created by the exchange of one or more parts randomly
selected from the parent chromosomes, which occurred based on a probability called the
hybridization rate. The mutation procedure is applied by turning over one or more
randomly selected bits in the m×10n array from “0” to “1” or from “1” to “0”, which
occurred based on a probability called the mutation rate. Decoding was performed to
102 Modelling, Programming and Simulations Using LabVIEW™ Software

transform the binary number of each gene in the chromosome to a decimal system using the
following equation:

Bmn
Dmn = Dmin + ⋅ ( Dmax − Dmin ) (37)
2Z − 1
Where, m, the ordinal rank of the chromosome; n, the ordinal rank of the gene in the
chromosome; Z, the digits of the binary vector for one gene; B, the binary value coded by the
corresponding gene; D, the decimal value transformed from B; and Dmax and Dmin, the
decimal values of the maximum and minimum limits of the corresponding parameter.
Selection and reproduction are performed to select individuals (chromosomes) to create a
mating pool for reproducing offspring. The selection procedure is stochastic with the fitted
chromosomes, judged by fitness (or objective function J), indicating a better chance of being
selected. A low value of J is defined as a high fitness, with J defined as follows:

2
R K L ⎛ * ⎞
1 Y − Yrkl
J= ⋅ ∑∑∑ ⎜ rkl ⎟ (38)
R ⋅ K ⋅ L r k l ⎜⎝ Yrkl ⎟
⎠
Where, R, the number of experiments; K, the number of measured variables; L, the number
*
of measured points of one variable; Yrkl , the model output; and Yrkl , the measured value in
the experiments. In order to give each variable the same importance in the optimization, the

( *
relative error Yrkl )
− Yrkl / Yrkl is used so that J had no unit. Another advantage using the

(*
relative error instead of the absolute error Yrkl − Yrkl ) in calculating J is to enable the data
points of one variable at different sampling time have the same importance in the
optimization. A flow diagram of the GA used for the model parameter optimization is

Fig. 5. The structure of the chromosome and the m×10n array for m chromosomes of n
genes.
Modeling and Simulation of Production of Metallothionein and Red
Fluorescent Fusion Protein by Recombinant Escherichia Coli Using Graphical Programming 103

Fig. 6. The flow diagram of GA calculation in model parameter optimization.

shown in Fig. 6. In this research, the 4th order Runge-Kutta method is used to solve the
differential equations and GA is used to minimize J in Eq. (38). A population size of 50,
hybridization rate of 0.2, and mutation rate of 0.05 are used in GA optimization. GA
programming using LabView for model parameter optimization was reported (Moore,
1995). In LabView, there are sub VIs of GA (located in: Control toolkit for LabView, ICTL)
and also the 4th order Runge-Kutta method (located in: Functions/Mathematics/
Differential equations) (Fig. 7). In addition, the softwares written in MatLab, VisualBasic et
al. can also be linked with LabView and used for the same purpose.
In optimization of the unknown model parameter values using GA, the known value model
parameters are also refined in the mean time to eliminate the possible errores made in the
measurements. Each of the measured value is set as the middle value of a small range and
the value is searched within the small range by GA in the refining process to minimize the
aimed function.
104 Modelling, Programming and Simulations Using LabVIEW™ Software

(A)

(B)

Fig. 7. (A) The VI of GA and (B) the VI image of 4th order Runge-Kutta method from the
manuals of LabView.

6. Conclusion
The production of MT fusion protein is modelled using structured and unstructured
models. The unstructured model developed in this research is suitable for bioprocess
prediction and optimization. The data driven and graphical programming software of
LabView has the advantages of high efficiency in programming, having many handy sub
VIs for various applications, and especially easy in constructing data acquitation and on-line
monitoring and control system. The mathematical models developed in LabView is easily
incorporated into the future developed on-line model based predictive control system.
Modeling and Simulation of Production of Metallothionein and Red
Fluorescent Fusion Protein by Recombinant Escherichia Coli Using Graphical Programming 105

7. References
Abeles, R.H.; Frey, P.A. & Jencks, W.P. (1992). Biochemistry. Jones & Bartlett Publishers,
Boston, Mass, p.383
Cherian, M. G. & Apostolova, M. D. (2000). Nuclear localization of metallothionein during
cell proliferation and differentiation. Cell Mol. Biol., 46, 347-356.
DE Boer, H.A.; Comstock, L. J. & Vasser, M. (1983). Proc Natl Acad Sci USA, 80:21-25.
Elinder, C. G.; Jönsson, L.; Piscator, M. & Rahnster B. (1981). Histopathological changes in
relation to cadmium concentration in horse kidneys. Environ. Res., 26, 1-21.
Feldman, S. L.& Cousins, R. J. (1976). Degradation of hepatic zinc-thionein after parenteral
zinc administration. Biochem. J., 160, 583-588.
Hong, S. H.; Toyama, M.; Maret, W. & Murooka, Y. (2001). High yield expression and single
step purification of human thionein/metallothionein. Protein Expr. Purif., 21, 243-
250.
Lee, S. B. & Bailey, J. E. (1984). Genetically structured models for lac promotor-operotor
function in the Escherichia coli chromosome and in multicopy plasmids: lac
promotor function, Biotechnol. Bioeng., 26,1381-1389.
Lin, J.; Lee, S. M. & Koo Y. M. (2004). Model development for lactic acid fermentation and
parameter optimization using genetic algorithm, J. Microbiol. Biotechnol., 14(6),
1163–1169.
Masters, B. A.; Kelly, E. J.; Quaife, C. J. ; Brinster, R. L. & Palmiter, R. D. (1994). Targeted
disruption of metallothionein I and II genes increases sensitivity to cadmium.
PANS, 91, 584-588.
Moore, J. H. (1995). Artificial intelligence programming with LabVIEW: genetic algorithms
for instrumentation control and optimization, Computer Methods and Programs in
Biomedicine., 47, 73-79.
Moffatt, M. and D. Denizeau (1997) Metallothionein in physiological and physiopathological
processes. Drug Metabolism Reviews 29: 261-307.
Nordberg, M. (1998). Metallothioneins: historical review and state of knowledge. Talanta, 46,
243-254.
Onosaka, S. & Cherian, M. G. (1982). Comparison of metallothionein determination by
polarographic and cadmium-saturation methods. Toxicol. Appl. Pharmacol., 63, 270-
274.
Saito, S. & Hunziker P. E. (1996). Differential sensitivity of metallothionein-1 and-2 in liver
of zinc-injected rat toward proteolysis. Biochim. Biophys. Acta, 1289, 65-70.
Sens, M. A.; Somji, S.; Garrett, S. H.; Beall, C. L. & Sens, D. A. (2001). Metallothionein
isoform 3 overexpression is associated with breast cancers having a poor prognosis.
Am. J. Pathology., 159, 21-26.
Su, Y.; Lin, J.; Lin, J. & Hao, D. (2009). Bioaccumulation of arsenic in recombinant Escherichia
coli expressing human metallothionein. Biotechnol. Bioprocess Eng., 14, 565-570.
Velázquez, R. A.; Cai, Y.; Shi, Q. & Larson, A. A. (1999). The distribution of zinc selenite
and expression of metallothionein-III mRNA in the spinal cord and dorsal root
ganglia of the rat suggest a role for zinc insensory transmission. J. Neurosci., 19,
2288-2300.
106 Modelling, Programming and Simulations Using LabVIEW™ Software

Verkhusha, V. V.; Chudakov, D. M.; Gurskaya, N. G.; Lukyanov, S. & Lukyanov, K. A.

(2004). Common pathway for the red chromophore formation in fluorescent
proteins and chromoproteins. Chem. Biol., 11, 845-854.
Yang, F.; Zhou, M.; He, Z.; Liu, X.; Sun, L.; Sun, Y. & Chen Z. (2007). High-yield expression
in Escherichia coli of soluble human MT2A with native functions. Protein Expr. Purif.,
53, 186-194.
 6

Hysteresis Modeling of
Soft Magnetic Materials using LabVIEW
Septimiu Motoasca
Transilvania University of Brasov
Romania

1. Introduction
This chapter deals with analytical modeling of hysteresis cycle using the powerful
mathematical tools from LabVIEW. For magnetic materials one of the most important
characteristics is the hysteresis cycle. In numerous technical applications it is necessary to
have a mathematical representation of magnetic characteristics in form M = f(H) or B = f(H)
in order to calculate magnetic field especially in various rotating machines or
electromagnetic apparatus.
There are many physical models used for modeling the hysteresis cycle. Many of them are
not so easy to implement, require too many data to be introduced or are time consuming.
Two models are most used in practice: Preisach model and Jiles-Atherton model. In this
chapter is presented the way to realize the program using LabVIEW VI’s for these two
models and comparison between the modeled data and measured ones.
A new simple analytical model using straight-line segments and arcs of circle to express the
hysteresis cycle is also presented. This program for modeling the hysteresis cycle having the
smallest amount of input data possible is suitable for soft magnetic materials. The easiness
of using this model consists in the fact that it uses only nine parameters as input data, is
very quick computed and give a good approximation of the measured hysteresis cycle.
There are two variants of the program used for this model one using the LabVIEW VI and
MatLab script block and other using only LabVIEW VI’s.

2. Preisach model
2.1 Theoretical aspects of classical Preisach model
In this model, the ferromagnetic material is considered a basic set of fields called elementary
dipoles, Preisach dipoles or Preisach operators. Each dipole is characterized by a rectangular
hysteresis cycle and asymmetric [30] (Figure 1).
Each dipole can be in any time in a positive saturation state (1) or negative saturation (-1).
Transition between states is determined by the magnetic field value H compared with
values hof = of, hb = b Field called critical or tipping.
If a state of saturation dipole is negative (-1) and the value of H increases above the H = ha =
a it toggles the state (1). To return to its original state, the field will be decreased to below
H = hb = b (b <a).
108 Modelling, Programming and Simulations Using LabVIEW™ Software

Fig. 1. Elementary Cycle (dipole) Preisach.

The problem to characterize the actual material is finding a statistical distribution of
elements according to the values of variables of and b. This distribution is represented in the
plane (a, b) and is called the Preisach distribution p(a, b) . With this distribution function is
determined the global flux (magnetization), at a time of material.
Physical interpretation of the model can be given for weak fields, in agreement with the
Neel theory of magnetism that consider that energy of moving Bloch wall has a stepped
profile.
The idea can be extended to more intense fields, considering the lock-release mechanism
walls cvasistationary regime.
Some properties of classical Preisach model are listed below:
- Property removal: each maximum (respectively minimum) local input size erase all
maxims (respectively minima) above that are lower (respectively higher) value;
- Matching property of the minor cycles: minor cycles measured between the same
extreme values of the magnetic field are equaled (congruent);
- Symmetry property that results from cyclical developments of H between values -H1
and +H1 produces symmetrical cycles. So symmetrical cycles obtained are one inside
another, with no intersections.
Subsequent studies led to the conclusion that removal properties and the matching is
necessary and sufficient conditions for a hysteretic system are properly represented by the
classical Preisach model.
Must be mentioned the limitations imposed by this model, which means, eventually, an
approximation of a real phenomenon:
- Model is static, not taking into account how variables change over time. The model
need only the extremes of input size;
- Reversible magnetization phenomena are not taken into account;
- Phenomenon of habituation is ignored; reptation phenomenon of minor cycles is not
modeled, closing cycles are minor points well established as the clear property.
Hysteresis Modeling of Soft Magnetic Materials using LabVIEW 109

For calculation of magnetic induction or magnetization is using the formula:

B(t ) = ∫∫ p( a , b ) ⋅ sign ⎡⎣m ( a , b ) ⎤⎦ da db (1)

where:
p(a, b) represent the Preisach function which will be represented as a triangle in the space (a, b)
sign[m(a, b)] is the sign of Preisach elementary operator m(a, b). This operator changes sign
in concordance with the magnetic field strength variation.
The identification operation for classical Preisach model involves determining the distribution
function of the dipole unitary p(a, b). For this goal it can be proceed in two ways:
- Search function is divided in small rectangles of points (ai, bj) like a mesh and in each
rectangle a value p(ai, bj) is inserted resulting from the experimental data;
- Is assumed to known an analytical form of function (eg. Gaussian distribution) and
identified based on measurements only the needed function parameters.
For determining a mesh function p(ai,bj) based on experimental data, two main methods are
known:
- Biorci method [9] (requires 3N points for determining probabilities: the 1N from first
magnetization curve and 2N on the descending major hysteresis cycle unless the cycle is
considered symmetric, otherwise requires 5N points and additionally are needed
another 2N points on the ascending branch of a major hysteresis cycle).
- Mayergoyz method (method requires more experimental data than the method Biorci (
2N2 instead of 3N ), but accuracy is improved).

2.2 LabVIEW program using Preisach model

As previously mentioned, modeling hysteresis cycles were done using LabVIEW program,
given the possibility of modular programming, using scripts in MatLab, obtaining handy
charts and ported to other applications and the possibility to change inputs in real-time
when program run continuously. The full program is presented in Annex 1.
The first step in modeling program using Preisach hysteresis cycle was to make a triangle in
the Preisach space (a, b) which have a predefined number of points and create some Preisach
function (also called weights) in each cell (ai, bj), respecting model properties listed above .
For this step, the block presented in Figure 2 was done, using the LabVIEW programming
environment, in the block diagram. At the end of this block is obtainded a Preisach triangle
with a simple analytical form of distribution so as to obtain symmetrical distribution of
weighting point’s ai, b j.

Fig. 2. Block performing Preisach triangle.

110 Modelling, Programming and Simulations Using LabVIEW™ Software

In this block , two cycles for was used to create space (ai,bj) , and in each element of the cell is
introduced an analytical value of the Preisach function.
The result of this block may be highlighted on a chart is shown in Figure 3.
This analytical model was made only as a demonstration but the analytical form which must
be inserted in each cell need much more calculations for real case tacking account of great
number of data needed as input which must be inserted manual in each cell.
In figure 3, it can be seen Preisach distribution weights for N=100 points and arrangement
according to two variables a andr b. It can be observed that is respected the principle of
symmetry that is set for the Preisach model.
Next step that should be done is tilted fields according to an incremental or decremented
change as a input function corresponding change in magnetic field strength H of a certain
shape.

Fig. 3. Preisach triangle obtained at the exit of the first block.

For example, I used a saw-tooth function in which the amplitude is reduced to simulate the
phenomenon of demagnetization. Function used as entry can be of another form (eg.
sinusoid). It also may be introduced from an external file, like the change of the shape of a
magnetic field strength as experimentally measured.

Fig. 4. Shape variation of the magnetic field intensity H.

For this case, the function used is shown in Figure 4, it was highlighted on a chart obtained
from the LabVIEW environment. This function was created using LabVIEW environment by
introducing the function values in a column matrix.
Hysteresis Modeling of Soft Magnetic Materials using LabVIEW 111

This waveform obtained is used as input in a block, shown in Figure 5, which carries out
basic fields tilted to plus to minus and vice versa depending on the passage above a certain
value of H. Also on that block entry is placed the previously obtained Preisach triangle.

Fig. 5. Block tilting elementary Preisach domain.

This block has three loops for in which the Preisach triangle is decomposed in each
elementary area. The first loop's is for H input waveform decomposition in the values for
each step of time and is designed to save the final after making Preisach triangle areas in
other two loops for.

Fig. 6. Demagnetization triangle after having gone through the entire cycle.
In the first loop for was introduced a timer which makes the program to run in a given time
to be able to see in the graphs in front panel the application of tilted fields on Preisach
112 Modelling, Programming and Simulations Using LabVIEW™ Software

Triangle. Preisach triangle undergoes changes during each step and the final position can be
seen on a graph shown in Figure 6.
The other two loops for are used for the Preisach triangle decomposition in elements and the
value of each element is tilted from plus to minus or vice versa taking into account the
variation of input waveform.
Using the results obtained from this block and summing Preisach elements is obtained a
waveform for magnetic induction or magnetization. Introducing the waveform of Magnetic
field and obtained waveform for magnetic induction as input to a XYgraph is obtained the
hysteresis cycle shown in Figure 7.

Fig. 7. Hysteresis cycle obtained using the program developed in LabVIEW .

The most difficult part of the Preisach model is the calculation of Preisach elementary
functions (weights). In our theoretical model we not used the experimental data because is
very difficult to calculate and populate the triangle considering 300 points on first
magnetization curve and descending branch of hysterezis cycle. We tried several options for
calculating the weighting coefficients using analytical methods but the appearing equations
are very difficult to solve for experimental data.
Therefore, we made another Preisach modeling program that has as input the experimental
measured values and weights were calculated using only the descending branch of the
major hysteresis cycle considering that is a symmetrical cycle. This program is presented in
the next subchapter, the method of calculating the weights being a personal contribution to
this model.
It can be concluded that this model is quite easy to implement but requires finding a large
weighting calculation and correlation with experimental data. The Preisach analytical
functions that calculate weights can not give a sufficiently good approximation for the
model. The full program is presented in Annex 2.

2.3 Modified Preisach method

To calculate the weights have been proposed several methods [4], [7], [15], [35], [38], [65]-
[72]. In this chapter, is presented a method for calculating weights using only the
descending branch of the major hysteresis cycle.
For this case, first builds a Preisach triangle that initially will have only half the amount of
space populated with + 1 value and 0 otherwise.
Hysteresis Modeling of Soft Magnetic Materials using LabVIEW 113

Fig. 8. Making Preisach triangle.

This first triangle will be changed in a block shown in Figure 9. As input for this block is
used the triangle made in the block shown in Figure 8 and measured data values for the
descending branch of major hysteresis cycle.
Before making the calculation of the weights of Preisach triangle, was an interpolation of
experimental data for descending branch of hysteresis cycle so that the number of
experimental data to correspond to the value of the n points chosen to achieve Preisach
triangle.

Fig. 9. Calculating the weights of block cells Preisach triangle .

Operation is performed for calculating the weights in n steps. Using data for the magnetic
flux density was measured dividing the weights so that each step is calculated weights for a
whole range of values of hb and all possible values of ha. Considering that the hysteresis
cycle is symmetric around the origin can be considered the same values and ascending
branch of a major hysteresis cycle. To first step considered in the first cell is obtained by
subtracting the value derived from the saturation value (Bs = B0) the following item (B1) on
the downward curve. The rest of the remaining cells, the total amount will be B1. In the next
step, the first cell remain as previously calculated. Cells of the next line (hb = ct.) for the next
step will be the total value B1-B2 and the remaining cells are considered the overall value
B2. This reasoning is repeated until reaching a negative saturation value.
114 Modelling, Programming and Simulations Using LabVIEW™ Software

By reversing these values are inserted upward branch of the same values and thus
succeeded in dividing each line (hb = ct.) component weights in their cells, taking into
account the ascending branch.
The block in Figure 10 is tilted out of the cells for varying Preisach triangle field obtained in
this case the measured values.

Fig. 10. Preisach triangle block tilting for varying magnetic field strength .
For example, were used as input values measured using the DC to determine first order
return curves . Figure 11a is shown as the variation of the magnetic field and in Figure 11b ,
is shown as the variation of magnetic induction measured .

Fig. 11a. Shape variation of the magnetic field intensity.

Hysteresis Modeling of Soft Magnetic Materials using LabVIEW 115

Fig. 11b. Shape variation of magnetic induction measured.

Fig. 11c. Hysteresis cycle obtained from measured data.

In Figure 11c is shown the hysteresis cycle as obtained from measured data.
In Figure 12 is presented the modeling results using this method for calculating the
weighting Preisach.
116 Modelling, Programming and Simulations Using LabVIEW™ Software

Fig. 12. Cycle Preisach modeling method using the computer program presented
For better illustration, in Figure 13, 3D representation was achieved resulting Preisach
triangle.

Fig. 13. 3D representation of the Preisach triangle

It appear that the modeling approach may not exactly follow the measured curve but if is
choose more points for Preisach triangle the modeling cycle will be closer to the
experimentally obtained one. It should be noted that the Preisach method is evident
shortcomings in this case, some places having predetermined cycle end which cannot follow
the experimental measurements.
Hysteresis Modeling of Soft Magnetic Materials using LabVIEW 117

This way of modeling is good for a fairly large number of entry points. This shortcoming
can be overcome using software interpolation between the points and we obtain the
descending branch.
Interpolation method also introduces its errors in the program. Very small variations around
a value, as is apparent in our case around positive saturation will stop all at the same point.
Full program in block diagram and the front panel results are presented in Annex 3.

3. Jiles - Atherton model

3.1 Langevin model his eyesis the paramagnetism
The first microscopic model of magnetic materials was presented by Langevin. He takes m
total magnetic moment moment of an atom including spin and orbital moment of
movement . If the magnetic field strength H, then the potential energy is calculated using
the formula:

wm = − μ0 mH = − μ0 mH cos Θ (2)

where: Θ is the angle made between vectors: magnetization and applied magnetic field
strength.
Langevin assumed that the atomic magnetic moments m in paramagnetic materials do not
interact. Using the classical Maxwell-Boltzmann statistical probability that an atom to have
energy wm has the expression:

wm
−
p ( wm ) = e kT
(3)

where : - k = 1.381 10-23 J / K is Boltzmann's constant and

- T is absolute temperature.
When the electric field intensity vector will have the same direction as magnetization vector
can talk about inner model describing the relationship between these two sizes. If the
directions of the two components differ then be considered a model vector.
Eddy current losses are dependent by the frequency excitation field and are not negligible. If
these addition losses and other types of losses may be neglected then the proposed model
can be a model independent of frequency.

3.2 Theoretical aspects on Jiles - Atherton model

Model proposed by Jiles and Atherton in 1983 presents a series of equations to determine
the magnetization of ferromagnetic materials taking into account the principles of physics.
After this the model has been continually improved by other authors. This model is widely
used to achieve hysteresis cycles and required to calculate or identify only five parameters.
It seems that this way of identifying the parameters is the great shortcoming of this method.
Tried to identify parameters based on measured data is not so easy at it seems. Ideal is to
find a mathematical system to calculate the parameters in order to obtain a minimum error
between measured and simulated curves.
The Jiles - Atherton model are the two mechanisms underlying the magnetization:
- domain wall displacement;
- growth areas in the direction of the magnetic field is applied against those who are
pointing in other directions .
118 Modelling, Programming and Simulations Using LabVIEW™ Software

In the Jiles - Atherton model the magnetization is composed of two terms: reversible
magnetization and irreversible magnetization.

M = M irr + M rev (4)

The irreversible component is given by the irreversible movement of domain walls.

Magnetizaţia reverse is reversible once the growth areas.
Hysteresis cycle can be drawn based on the equilibrium energy density within the material.

w = wmag + whys (5)

Energy density which is generated by the irreversible movement of domain walls can be
calculated using the formula:

dw = μ0 kdMirr (6)
where: k - is a pinning factor.
Ferromagnetic materials interact in neighboring areas, so it is introduced the concept of
effective magnetic fields acting on unit volume.
Consequently, the magnetization will be regarded as a function of magnetic field strength
actually considering moving energy loss generated by irreversible domain wall:

dMirr
dwbloh = μ0 kδ dH e (7)
dH e
where: δ = sign( dH e / dt ) .
Modification of irreversible magnetization can be obtained from the calculation of energy.
Energy consumed by the material is divided into two parts: the exchange energy and energy
loss through hysteresis.

dM
μ0 ∫ M an ( H )dH = μ0 ∫ M( H )dH + μ0 ∫ kδ dH (8)
dH
hence:

dM
M an ( H ) = M ( H ) + kδ (9)
dH
If during the process of magnetization, the anhisteretic magnetization has values lower than
this leads to a solution for irreversible magnetization physically impossible, as if the domain
walls can not move.
Solution of differential equation is:

⎧ 1
⎪ ( M an − Mirr )dH e if M an > Mirr
(10)
dM irr = ⎨ kδ
⎪ 0 if M an < Mirr
⎩
Reverse magnetization may be taken into account by introducing the coefficient c. which
defines the equation as:

M rev = c( M an − M irr ) (11)

Hysteresis Modeling of Soft Magnetic Materials using LabVIEW 119

Hence the total magnetization became:

M = cM an + (1 − c )Mirr (12)

If its value is inserted M the differential equation is obtained

⎧1 − c
⎪ ( M an − Mirr )dH e + cdM an if M an > Mirr
dM = ⎨ kδ (13)
⎪ cdM an if M an < Mirr
⎩
Each step can be determined from the previous value of the magnetization using formula:

⎧ 1
⎪ ( M an − M j )dH e + cdM an if M an > Mirr
(14)
dM j + 1 = ⎨ kδ
⎪ cdM an if M an < Mirr
⎩
This formula is used for numerical implementation of the model proposed by Jiles and
Atherton.
In the literature [56]-[59], [89], [93], are proposed several methods of identification of
parameters but it seems that no procedure is too easy, requiring input rather difficult and
experimental features. To determine the values of input parameters need to know more
points on the hysteresis cycles obtained by experimentally means:
- coercive magnetic field strength (Hc) ;
- remnant magnetization (Mr) ;
- saturation coordinates (Hs, Ms) ;
- susceptibility in coercitivity point
- susceptibility at point of remanance
- susceptibility at the saturation point
- anhisteretic susceptibility
- initial susceptibility
- maximum susceptibility
Parameter identification procedure based on these initial data is described in [15]. There is
an easy procedure and therefore no result is as expected, the cycle obtained with large
deviations from the shape obtained experimentally. For this reason we opted for a process
for identifying the parameters by calculating the error between the curves obtained
experimentally and modeled by the method of Jiles - Atherton.

3.3 LabVIEW modelling program using the Jiles - Atherton model

Jiles-Atherton model was implemented using LabVIEW programming environment for the
reasons listed before. In figure 14 is presented in the LabVIEW program. As can be observed
in Figure 14 the model was implemented in a cycle for to make the calculation of
magnetization in each step, and can implement equations (14) for recurrence.
Magnetic field intensity values can be obtained using a generator as a sine wave or taking
data from a file containing the actual measured values, which are find using block for
retrieving data from files from virtual instruments and accessing the PATH of the file. To
calculate total magnetization the cycle must be brought to saturation point. It is obtained
from measured data or can be inserted in a parameter input box Bs from front panel of the
program.
120 Modelling, Programming and Simulations Using LabVIEW™ Software

Fig. 14. Block diagram of LabVIEW program for modeling Jiles-Atherton.

Hysteresis Modeling of Soft Magnetic Materials using LabVIEW 121

Fig. 15. The front panel of LabVIEW program for modeling Jiles - Atherton .
In figure 15 are presented the waveforms for H and M and hysteresis cycle as a graphic
M(H).
To give validity to the model this was compared with measured data and a program to
minimize errors between modeled and measured cycle was proposed. This program is
presented in Annex 4.

4. Analytical-geometric model
4.1 Theoretical aspects of analytical-geometric modeling
According to the Nicolaide model presented in [68]-[70], the major hysteresis cycle can be
modeled using arcs of circle and straight-line segments in a satisfactory manner. To achieve
the design it must be made several simplifying assumptions on the hysteresis cycle like the
hysteresis cycle is considered symmetrical and centered at the origin.
In the present study taking into account the special characteristics of soft magnetic
materials, we have adapted the method from [68]-[70] to studied case and obtain a much
more simplified model requiring a small amount of input data.
Based on these simplifying assumptions one can construct a cycle branches, other details are
obtained automatically by reversing field and magnetic induction or magnetization values,
depending on the cycle shape.
As can be seen in Figure 16, for modeling downward branch is necessary to know some
reference points as follows:
1. saturation point in quadrant I, characterized by the magnetic field saturation value HS
and magnetic induction BS and slope tangent to the cycle at this point;
2. point 2 between two arcs , characterized by values H2 and B2;
122 Modelling, Programming and Simulations Using LabVIEW™ Software

3. remnant induction Br (which implicitly means that Hr = 0);

4. coercive magnetic field strength Hc (which implicitly means that Bc = 0);
5. coordinates of point 5 where the loop starts tilting cycle (which will be calculated);
6. coordonates of point 6 at joint of two arcs characterized by coordinates H6, B6;
7. negative saturation point, characterized by -HS-BS.
In addition to work [84]-[86] where was used 11 parameters we considered that under
appropriate conditions for soft magnetic materials, some of these parameters can be
obtained from other conditions, and we restrict the number of parameters to only nine.
These parameters are: HS, BS, nS (slope of the tangent at the point of saturation) H2, B2, Br, Hc,
H6, B6. Accurate representation is given on how to choose the coordinates of points 2 (H2, B2)
and 6 (H6, B6). We try to develop a program to change the position of point 2 and 6 in order
to have the smallest error between the cycle of measured and modeled in this way.

B[T]

H[A/m]

Fig. 16. Considered reference points for modeling hysteresis cycle

In Figure 16 is shown that between point 1 and point 2 is traced an arc of circle which is
tangent to the point (HS, BS), tangent slope is known ns and passing through point 2, whose
coordinates are known (H2, B2).
Finally knowing the arc of a circle can be calculated from the slope of the tangent to the arc
of a circle in section 2. Between point 2 and point 3 is plotted a different arc. The slope of the
tangent point 3 is calculated using the coordinates of two points 3(0, Br) and 4(Hc, 0). 2-3 arc
is tangent to the slopes calculated previously in arc 1-2 and to straight-line segment 3-4.
Between 3 and 5 point is a straight-line segment passing through 4 and has previously
calculated slope with points 3 and 4. Coordinates resulting from the calculations forc arc 5-6
as the date of the intersection points between straight line which passes from points 3 and 4
and intersect the arc 5-6 in point 5. For this reason the point 5 is obtained intersecting a circle
Hysteresis Modeling of Soft Magnetic Materials using LabVIEW 123

obtained from point 6 which must be tangent to the slope in point 6 and to the straight line
determined by point 3 and 4. In the arc 6-7 is calculate the slope in point 6 as in case in
which is calculated in point 2. Coordinates of point 7 is obtained taking into account the
symmetry condition. Linking the arcs and straight-line segment we obtain the descending
branch and using an inversion technic taking into account the symmetry principle is btained
the ascending branch of hysteresis cycle.

4.2 LabVIEW program for modeling hysteresis cycle

Figure 17 is shown modeling program using LabVIEW software. For solving analytical
equations of circular arcs and straight segments, we used a MatLab script window.
LabVIEW program was used because of its flexibility to integrate scripts in MatLab and the
ease with which experimental data can be stored in text files.
It is noted that block entry into MatLab scripts are 10 input parameters of the nine
parameters are input parameters above and the tenth is a step that gives the number of
points needed for representation.

Fig. 17. LabVIEW program wish to use analytical modeling by arcs and line segments .
To see how well the program approximates the experimental data was achieved overlap
values obtained by modeling with experimental values stored in text file in the location
given by the block "path". The result of this representation can be seen in Figure 18.
As can be seen in the window each spring MatLab script was treated separately and has
developed a sampling interval between two field values considered for early and late spring
using variable step introduced by the operator as input parameter.
Using this step each spring is obtained by a column matrix for magnetic field strength and
magnetic induction value. These matrices are concatenated, achieving one matrix with
different values of magnetic field strength magnetic flux density values. Using these two
matrix representation can be achieved descending branch of the hysteresis cycle.
124 Modelling, Programming and Simulations Using LabVIEW™ Software

To obtain the upward branch of the hysteresis cycle is made denying the two columns
values obtained previously, given the condition of symmetry and centering the zero major
hysteresis cycle. Resulting cycle is shown in Figure 18. For comparison, measured using a
cycle using the Epstein and installation of measurement in Brockhauss Messtechnik. This
measurement cycle was extracted from an excel file obtained by exporting data from MPG
program.
The program, using the call block file path and measured data are collected and induction
magnetic field strength values and shown on the same graph shown in Figure 51.
It should be noted that the two cycles overlap quite well in the saturation, with sharp
differences in the curves around May remanence. These errors can be minimized if they
choose the optimized values of point 2 and 6 but the difference would be too small to be seen.

Fig. 18. Comparison between modeled and the hysteresis curve obtained experimentally .
Improvements are possible by introducing a modeling program to calculate the error
function and place most convenient choice for points 2 and 6 so that the error between
modeled and actual cycle does not exceed a certain value.
To achieve the return cycle of orders 1 and 2 were used repezentare auxiliary functions.
Program used for these representations is given in Annex 5. It may be noted that the
program to achieve major hysteresis cycle remained the same.
In addition to this program were also made blocks MatLab script that calculates the return
of the first order curves upward and downward.
For easy use, I used buttons for choosing points that reversing the upward branch downward.
In this way can choose any point on these branches. In the event that they want certain points,
well defined, these buttons can be replaced by dialog boxes for entering a numerical exact
values. Full program and graphics on the front panel are presented in Annex 5.

5. Acknowledgement
This paper is supported by The National University Research Council of Romania (CNCSIS)
under the contract number 848/2009
Hysteresis Modeling of Soft Magnetic Materials using LabVIEW 125

Annex 1 Preisach classical method

126 Modelling, Programming and Simulations Using LabVIEW™ Software
Hysteresis Modeling of Soft Magnetic Materials using LabVIEW 127

Annex 2 Method modified Preisach

128 Modelling, Programming and Simulations Using LabVIEW™ Software
Hysteresis Modeling of Soft Magnetic Materials using LabVIEW 129

Annex 3 Method Jiles - Atherton

130 Modelling, Programming and Simulations Using LabVIEW™ Software
Hysteresis Modeling of Soft Magnetic Materials using LabVIEW 131

Annex 4 Analytic-geometric method

132 Modelling, Programming and Simulations Using LabVIEW™ Software
Hysteresis Modeling of Soft Magnetic Materials using LabVIEW 133

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Neural-Network Vector Hysteresis Model for Electrical Steel Sheets, Journal of Applied
Physics, Vol. 93, No. 10, 2003, pp. 6738-6740.
[68] Nicolaide, A., Magnetism and Magnetic Materials, Transilvania University Press, Brasov,
Romania, 2001.
[69] Nicolaide, A., A New Approach of Mathematical Modelling of Hysteresis Curves of Magnetic
Materials, Rev. Roum. Sci. Techn. – Electrotechn. Et Energ., Vol. 48, No. 2-3, 2003,
pp. 221-233.
[70] Nicolaide, A., An Approach to the Mathematical Modelling of the Hysteresis Curves of
Magnetic Materials: The Mirror Curves, Rev. Roum. Sci. Techn. – Electrotechn. Et
Energ., Vol. 52, No. 3, 2007, pp. 301-310.
 7

Modeling in Respiratory Movement Using

LabVIEW and Simulink
Zhonghai He and Yuqian Zhao
Department of automation engineering, Northeastern University at Qinhuangdao
Qinhuangdao,
China

1. Introduction
The rapid pace of change in modern medicine makes training on simulation platforms an
absolute necessity. With the microprocessors the sophistication of simulators exploded.
More recently medicine has developed simulators that are becoming increasingly
sophisticated, especially in anesthesia training but also to train intensive care personnel.
This is an area that will rapidly advance in the future and will have great impact on medical
education medical. Unfortunately, the current state of development for simulated
procedural environments remains rather limited and the availability of validated metrics of
skills acquisition is just beginning. There are two impulse to push respiration simulation
forward, as list following.

1.1 Optimize mechanical ventilation

Mechanical ventilation is on the one hand the lifesaving therapy in intensive care medicine
by all means. On the other hand this therapy can even aggravate the pulmonary status of
the critically ill patient. Mechanical damage of the lung tissue is the predominant reason for
ventilator induced lung injury (VILI). To avoid VILI, the physicians make great efforts to
develop lung protective ventilation strategies (Grinnan, 2005). Lung protective ventilation
considerably improves the outcome of mechanically ventilated and critically ill patients as it
avoids extensive mechanical stress of the lung tissue and hence its irreversible damage. A
valid analysis of respiratory mechanics is a prerequisite for lung protective ventilation. This
analysis is always based on mathematical models. The equation of motion is the commonly
accepted mathematical model of the respiratory system which provides the basis for the
most clinically applied methods of respiratory mechanics analysis.

1.2 Medical patient simulator

Learning through hands-on experience is the best teaching method, but when reality is
dangerous, events are rare and errors are costly, for instance in medical training, simulators
are the preferred tools for teaching. The medical patient simulator (MPS) is one such tool
used to train medical students and anesthesia residents. Sophisticated physiological and
pharmacological mathematical models control mechanical actuator embedded in and adult-
sized mannequin to create life-like physical signs and symptoms that health care personnel
138 Modelling, Programming and Simulations Using LabVIEW™ Software

use to make clinical diagnoses and to guide therapeutic interventions. As respiration is one
of the most important physiology, the MPS has a self-regulating spontaneous breathing
system that used pressurized gases in appropriate concentrations the enhance realism.

2. History of model construction

It has been long known that the mechanical properties of the airways and respiratory tissues
exhibit different types of nonlinear behavior. In 1915 Rohrer suggested that the frictional
pressure loss across the airways is a quadratic function of the volume flow rate. This Q
dependence, originating from the nonlinear fluid mechanical aspects of gas flow in the
airways, causes airway resistance to increase with increasing flow amplitude. Alternatively,
in 1939, Bayliss and Robertson found that most of the viscous energy dissipated in the lung
tissues during cyclic deformation did not depend on the flow rate but did depend on the
amplitude of excursions, or tidal volume.
The first modern model as we know is described by Otis et al (1956) used to systematically
examine the behavior of an inhomogeneous lung from a theoretical point of view. They
assumed that the pressures to which the lungs are subjected are sine waves and inferred that
time constant inequality could be responsible for the decrease in apparent compliance and
resistance. Based on some reasonable approximations a single pulmonary pathway is
regarded mechanically as consisting of a volume-elastic part having a compliance C, and a
part having a resistance R, in series, which is the fundamental model of latter more
complicated respiratory model. The success to this model is due to its simplicity, its
immediate physiological interpretation, and its sensitivity to changes in lung mechanics.
The practical lung simulator is introduced by Clare E. Barkalow (1974, 1984). He invented a
pneumatic lung analog for simulating spontaneous breathing and for testing of ventilatory
devices used with spontaneously breathing patients and a kit for modifying training test
lungs. The lung analog is comprised by mechanical parts and is the prototype of PneuView
lung simulator of Michigan Instruments Inc.
The introduction of computers has made it possible to change quickly between different
simulator settings. Meyer (1983) designed a microcomputer-controlled respiratory servo
system, using a hydraulically operated cylinder-piston and solenoid valve assembly. The
flexibility in selecting different breathing patterns allowed the implementation of complex
sequences of breathing manoeuvers. Myojo (1989) described a breathing simulator with a
split/cam valve without a piston/cylinder or bellows, the opening of the split/cam valve
was controlled by a stepper motor under microcomputer control. This system allowed
inspiratory flow patterns to be simulated as seen during spontaneous breathing, although it
was not reported whether it was possible to change breathing patterns during simulation.
Jansen (1989) described a computerized ventilator system for animal studies. Instead of the
hydraulic system of Meyer, they used an electromechanical system, which was relatively
small and easy to implement in the construction of a ventilator.
Verbraak adapted the idea of computer control and published series papers (1991, 1995,
2001, 2003) to drive a physical lung model for use in the pulmonary function laboratory to
test lung function equipment. They use this computer-controlled mechanical lung model to
perform pulmonary function tests on special breathing patterns in a body plethysmograph.
The extended integration of hardware and software offers many new possibilities and
advantages over the former simulators. The properties of components which simulate
elastance and airway resistance of the lung are defined in software rather than by the
Modeling in Respiratory Movement Using LabVIEW and Simulink 139

mechanical properties of the components alone. The lung model consists of three
components: the actual lung model, an electromechanical servo system and a computer
system to control the model.
Meka (2004) present a new bellow-less lung simulator utilizing a fixed-volume pressure
controller to simulate spontaneous breathing as an alternative to the traditional bellows-
driven mechanical lung system in the human patient simulator. The lung simulator
simulates carinal pressure, which allows for simulation of actively breathing or ventilated
patients. The bellow-less lung simulator drives up the precision of model because more
action must be calculated by software.
It is well known that the large airway resistance is a nonlinear function of flow, and that
total respiratory resistance depends on tidal volume, and is different on inspiration and
expiration, being a continuous function of time during the respiratory cycle. It is a nonlinear
phenomenon coupled with the airway collapse mechanism, seen as effort independence of
flow for driving pressure exceeding a threshold value. Bernhard Quatember (2003) creates a
mathematical nonlinear pressure-flow model with the following characteristic: avoid
oversimplification model, airway partition by dynamic relationship, some mechanic
parameters variation caused by pathology, and tries to model very precisely the
tracheobronchial tree. However, there are still some points should be added in his model:
first, airway collapse sometimes plays an important role; second, turbulent characteristic in
large bronchi can not be neglected; third, more comprehensive pathology should be taken
into account in modelling.
In 1998 Adam G. Polak (1998) has been constructed a complex, nonlinear forward model,
including exciting signal and static recoil pressure lung volume descriptions and 132
parameters. In this case, the structural complexity is achieved at the expense of model
linearization. It has been shown that lung heterogeneity plays an important role in
respiratory system pathology and influences results of lung examinations. Experimental and
model studies on the respiratory system demonstrate that heterogeneous constriction of
airways accompany asthma and can be a crucial determinant of hyper-responsiveness via an
increase in lung impedance.
In 2003 Adam G. Polak presented a computational model to predict maximal expiration
through a morphometry-based asymmetrical bronchial tree. A computational model with
the Horsfield-like geometry of the airway structure, including wave-speed flow limitation
and taking into consideration separate airflows from several independent alveolar
compartments has been derived. The airflow values are calculated for quasistatic conditions
by solving a system of nonlinear differential equations describing static pressure losses
along the airway branches. Then in 2006 he (Polak, 2006) use the nonlinear model to analyze
the characteristic of lung mechanical ventilation.
In 2008 Adam G. Polak again investigated a model-based method for flow limitation
analysis in the heterogeneous human lung. Flow limitation in the airways is a fundamental
process constituting the maximal expiratory flow-volume curve. Its location is referred to as
the choke point. In this work, expressions enabling the calculation of critical flows in the
case of wave-speed, turbulent or viscous limitation were derived. Then a computational
model for the forced expiration from the heterogeneous lung was used to analyse the regime
and degree of flow limitation as well as movement and arrangement of the choke points.
The conclusion is that flow limitation begins at similar time in every branch of the bronchial
tree developing a parallel arrangement of the choke points.
140 Modelling, Programming and Simulations Using LabVIEW™ Software

3. Fluid dynamics theory used for respiratory model

3.1 Flow and resistance
Flow (Q) is the movement of air. Flow is dependent on a pressure gradient (Δp) and is
inversely related to the resistance to flow (R). This relationship is described in the following
equation: Q= Δp /R. In the lungs, two types of flow are present – laminar flow and
turbulent flow. In general, turbulent flow is present in large airways and major bifurcations,
whereas laminar flow is present in the more distant airways.
The steady flow is parabolic flow with radius and obtain Poiseuille theorem. In airways
governed by laminar flow, resistance is related to the radius (r), airway length (l), and gas
viscosity (η) through Poiseuille’s Law (R=8 ηl/π r 4). This equation highlights the strong
relation of the radius on resistance. The turbulent flow shape is equal in center pipe and
flow equation described by Rohrer’s equation.
In a normal individual maximal inspiratory flow is limited only by muscle strength and
total lung and chest wall compliance. Resistance to flow is minimal and does not limit
inspiration. Maximal expiratory flow is initially limited only by expiratory muscle strength
(when the airway radius is large and resistance is minimal). However, as the airway lumen
decreases, resistance to flow will increase and flow is limited by resistance.
The wave speed theory of flow limitation is derived from fluid mechanics. When airflow
approaches the speed of wave propagation within the airway wall, flow will be limited.
According to this model, the cross-sectional area of the airway, the compliance of the airway
and the resistance upstream from the flow limiting segment all contribute to flow limitation.
This theory has been well validated during expiration, when vital capacity is between 0% and
75% of the total lung capacity. At a vital capacity greater than 75% of total lung capacity, it has
been difficult to limit flow by increasing pleural pressure in normal individuals. Therefore,
traditional teaching indicated that early expiration is primarily limited by effort dependent
muscle strength. However, a recent model in normal individuals showed that peak expiratory
flow was limited by mechanical properties of the lung (in accordance with the wave speed
mechanism), and not by muscle strength (Tantucci, C., 2002). As peak flow normally occurs at
around 80% of total lung capacity, the wave speed theory can be used to explain expiratory
flow limitation from a vital capacity of 80% and less.

3.2 fluid theorems

A. Generalized Navier-Stokes equation
The basic equation of fluid dynamic is Navier-Stokes equation, as equation (1):

1 ∂p dux
X− + ν∇ 2 ux = (1)
ρ ∂x dt
where p is pressure, ux is velocity vector in x direction, x is body force, ρ is density, ν is
kinetic viscosity.
B. Bernoulli energy equation
From classic fluid mechanics we obtain the following energy equation for a respiratory
system in a closed loop pipe system with varying diameters

p u2
z+ + =C (2)
ρg 2g
Modeling in Respiratory Movement Using LabVIEW and Simulink 141

where z is spatial position, C is a constant value.

C. Conservation of mass
In steady flow, flow is continuous, mass conversation requires that

Qm1 = Qm2 , Qm1 = ρ1Q1dt (3)

Compliance with mass conservation law requires that flow rate in parent vessel must equal
the total flow rate in children vessels on each branching level. Assuming that flow rate is
constant for individual airway the continuity equation is expressed by

Q0 = Q1 + Q2 (4)

At a lung bifurcation the flow in the parent vessel Q0 equals the sum of flow in two children
segments Q1 and Q2 respectively.
D. Poiseuille theorem
Laminar flow is smooth, with molecules moving in parallel, concentric streams without
eddies, and the molecules at the edge of the tube move more slowly than those in the
middle. Laminar flow in Newtonian fluids (fluids with constant viscosities) is governed by
Poiseuille’s law. Poiseuille’s law relates the air flow Q [ml/s] through airway with the
difference in airway segment pressure at the two ends of vessel segment Δp created by the
respiratory muscle, radius r, length L, and viscosity µ of the air:

8μL
R= (5)
π r4
The resistance of air through vessels is most strongly dependent on radius, with the fourth
power relationship. Because of fluid friction air flow velocity within vessel varies from none
in wall proximity to maximum value in the center of the vessel creating parabolic velocity
profile. Average velocity (with respect to cross-section) inside air vessel segment is
determined as:

Δp ∗ r 2
Um = (6)
8μ ∗ L
E. Rohrer’s equation
When flow rate through a tube reaches a critical velocity, turbulent flow occurs. In
turbulent flow, the molecules swirl in eddies and vortices rather than in an orderly way, so
that the molecules have a rotational as well as a linear velocity. Irregularities and corners in
the tube facilitate turbulence. Conversion from laminar flow to turbulent flow
approximately halves the flow for a given pressure drop.
If the flow is in high speed, the composition is altered, or if the internal part of the conduit is
modified, the flow will become turbulent, and the equation to describe this phenomenon
will be the following second–grad equation, as described by Rohrer (1915):

Δp = K 1 × Q + K 2 × Q 2 (7)

where K1 is the linear coefficient and K2 is the angular coefficient of the straight line.
142 Modelling, Programming and Simulations Using LabVIEW™ Software

F. General pressure loss

The airflow values are calculated for quasistatic conditions by solving a system of nonlinear
differential equations describing static result in the semi dynamic maximal expiratory flow-
volume (MEFV) curve. This phenomenon has been described by Lambert et al. (1982) using
the conservation of momentum (static, incompressible flow case):

dP − f (x) − f (x)
= = (8)
2
dx 1 − Sws (x) 1−
ρ q 2 ⎛ ∂A ⎞
⎜ ⎟
A3 ( x ) ⎝ ∂Ptm ⎠

Where dp/dx is the gradient of lateral pressure along the bronchus, Sws = u c is the local
speed index equal to the ratio between flow (u) and wave (c) speed, q is the volume flow in
the bronchus, ρ denotes gas density, A is the cross sectional area, and ∂A ∂Ptm is the
elementary compliance of the airway wall dependent on transmural pressure Ptm . The
elementary dissipative pressure loss f (pressure drop per unit distance) is described by the
following empirical formula (Renolds, D.B., 1982):

(
f ( x ) = a + bRN ( x ) ) A8πμ q
(9)
2
( )
x

Where a and b are scaling coefficients, RN the local Reynolds number and μ is gas viscosity.

4. Anatomical and physiology knowledge of airway and lung

4.1 Physiological characteristic
One of the most important problems in all the respiratory passageways is to keep them open
to allow easy passage of the air to and from the alveoli. To keep the trachea from collapsing,
multiple cartilage rings extend about five sixths of the way around the trachea. In the walls
of the bronchi, less extensive cartilage plates also maintain a reasonable amount of rigidity
yet allow sufficient motion for the lungs to expand and contract. These plates become
progressively less extensive in the later generations of bronchi and are gone in the
bronchioles, which usually have diameters less than 1.5mm (Guyton, 2002). The bronchioles
are not prevented from collapsing by the rigidity of their walls. Instead, they are kept
expanded by the same transpulmonary pressures that expand the alveoli. That is, as the
alveoli enlarge, so do the bronchioles.
Under normal respiratory conditions, air flows through the respiratory passageways so
easily that less than 1 cm of water pressure gradient from the alveoli to the atmosphere is
sufficient to cause enough airflow for quiet breathing. The normal airway resistance of an
adult is 0.1-0.3 kPa.s/L. The greatest amount of resistance to airflow occurs not in the
minute air passages (diameter<1.5mm) of the terminal bronchioles but in some of the larger
bronchi (diameter>1.5mm) near to the trachea, typically 80% in larger bronchi to 20% in
minute passages in health physiology. The reason for this high resistance is that there are
relatively few of these larger bronchi in comparison with about 65,000 parallel terminal
bronchioles, through each of which only a minute amount of air must pass. Yet in disease
conditions, the smaller bronchioles often do play a far greater role in determining airflow
resistance, for two reasons: (1) because of their small size, they are easily occluded; and (2)
because they have a greater percentage of smooth muscle in the walls, they constrict easily.
Modeling in Respiratory Movement Using LabVIEW and Simulink 143

4.2 Morphometric model of the lung and the corresponding fluid dynamic

Fig. 1. Typical airway resistance value for every generation

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
0.0701 0.0732 0.0788 0.0856 0.0769 0.0620 0.0459 0.0360
9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16
0.0248 0.0161 0.0118 0.0074 0.0056 0.0037 0.0031 0.0025
17
0.0019
Table 1. Resistance for passage airway, same value with Fig. 1
The morphometric model used to describe the behavior of the respiratory system is based on
the symmetrical model proposed by Weibel (1963). In this model the tracheobronchial tree is
divided into 24 generations, where generation 0 is the trachea, generation 1 is extrapulmonary
bronchus, generations 2 to 6 are larger intrapulmonary bronchi with cartilage, generations 7 to
16 are bronchioles with smooth muscle, generations 17 to 22 are all respiratory bronchioles,
and generation 23 corresponds to alveolar sacs. The airways multiply by regular dichotomy.
Starting from the trachea, each branch of a given generation divides into two identical
daughters, therefore generation n has 2n branches. In a spontaneous breathing, normal person,
the medium-sized bronchi are the site of greatest resistance (Ball, Wilmot C., 1996), see the data
(table 1) and graph (figure 1) of airway resistance.

4.3 Collapsible tube model and flow limitation

Limitation of flow is caused by airway wall collapsing, which follows the drop of
transmural pressure (i.e. the difference between internal lateral and external pressure) along
a bronchus. There are a few mechanisms influencing the decrease of transmural pressure in
quasi-static conditions. The first of them is the loss of pressure due to frictional and
turbulent dissipation of gas energy. It entails the drop of internal pressure and then
narrowing of an elastic airway. This change in the cross-sectional area of the bronchus forces
increase of gas velocity, thus enlargement of the kinetic component of gas energy. This
144 Modelling, Programming and Simulations Using LabVIEW™ Software

convective acceleration absorbs a part of potential energy (thus also of lateral pressure),
producing additional decrease of transmural pressure. It was theoretically discussed and
shown that these two processes can produce flow limitation themselves. Additionally,
when flow velocity approaches wave-speed of pressure disturbance propagation along the
airway wall, the loss of lateral pressure is strongly amplified, and the airway narrows much
quicker than in case of frictional or turbulent dissipation alone. In effect, increasing driving
pressure tries to develop faster airflow, but any growth of flow would have produced faster
airway collapsing, overcoming the expansion of pressure, and finally, flow remains
constant. The wave-speed theory predicts flow over most of vital capacity (VC, the maximal
volume of air that can be expired after deep inspiration), but the other mechanisms may
limit flow at low lung volumes.
The wave velocity in fluid-filled collapsible tube is the following equation:

12
⎛ A dp ⎞
c=⎜ ⎟ (10)
⎝ ρ dA ⎠
where A is the mean cross-sectional area of the tube, p is the transmural pressure in the tube
(the inner minus the outer pressure), and ρ the fluid density. The equation crops up in the
study of wave propagation in pulmonary passages.
The principal characteristic of pliable, collapsible tubes is that, as the pressure therein
changes, so does the cross sectional area. Similarity of Eq. (10) to that for propagation of
waves in a compressible gas is evident once it is realized that such waves involve variations
in density rather than the cross-sectional area; so, if A is replaced by r, this results in

c = ( dp d ρ )
12

An interesting phenomenon arising in collapsible tubes with internal flow is that of flow
limitation. As the upstream pressure p1 is increased relative to the downstream one p2, thus
as p1− 2 = p1 − p2 is increased, there exists a limit in the flow-rate Q; if p1− 2 is increased
further, no further increase in Q is possible. This, obviously, is very counter-intuitive from
the point of view of rigid-pipe hydraulics.

Fig. 2. The relationship between the upstream-to-downstream pressure difference p1–2 in a

collapsible tube conveying fluid
Modeling in Respiratory Movement Using LabVIEW and Simulink 145

As seen in Fig. 2, obtained from experimental measurements by Bertram (1995), for a

constant transmural pressure at the upstream end of the tube, denoted by p1− e (e standing
for external), and varying p2 − e , as p1− 2 increases there is a limit for Q, a maximum value;
three such cases are shown in the figure for three different values of p1− e . In fact, the flow
rate decreases somewhat with increasing p1− 2 beyond that yielding the maximum Q. This
corresponds to the so-called “negative effort dependency” in maximal flow expiration. In an
appealing analogy, flow limitation is likened to flow over a waterfall, where the flow-rate is
independent of the level of the downstream reservoir. One of the mechanisms associated
with flow limitation in collapsible tubes is the so-called wave-speed mechanism, with strong
analogy to gas dynamics. One may calculate

dQ A ⎛ U2 ⎞
= ⎜1 − 2 ⎟ (11)
dp ρU ⎜⎝ c ⎟
⎠
where Q is the volumetric flow-rate in the collapsible tube, p the transmural pressure, A the
cross-sectional area, U the flow velocity corresponding to any particular A (both A and U
vary along the tube), and c the wave speed as in Eq. (10).
It is obvious that as

U
→1
c
There is a discontinuity associated with a maximum flow rate in the collapsible tube. This is
also associated with so-called elastic jumps. Thus, in all this, the analogy to choked flow and
shock waves in gas dynamics is quite strong.

4.4 Airway segment based on different fluid dynamic performance

Based on anatomical structure the entire respiratory system (including airway and lung) can
be divided into two zones: conductive zone (generation 0 to 16) and respiratory zone
(generation 17 to 23). In conductive zone the airway resistance is the main effective factor.
At the same time in respiratory zone the compliance is the dominant parameter. The last 7
generations (respiratory zone) are modeled as a single viscoelastic element with constant
values; chest wall is combined in lung compliance value.
A. Thoracic cage and respiratory muscles
The lung and airways were assumed to be enclosed within a rigid-walled thoracic cage, with
the airways open to the atmosphere. The intrapleural space was assumed to be subject to a
time-varying, spatially averaged driving intrapleural pressure [Pp l(t)], which was assumed
to be equivalent to the average pressure in the pleural space acting on the lungs and
produced by the muscles of respiration. Excursion in Ppl was dictated by the effort
generated by the subject.
B. Alveolar region
Alveolar region (of volume VA) was assumed to exhibit nonlinear, time-varying viscoelastic
behavior. Static elastic behavior of the lung (Pelvs.VA) was described by a hysteretic
pressure-volume (P-V) relationship. The extent of hysteresis in Pel was presumed to be a
function of breathing effort, which, in turn, was assumed to be proportional to Ppl (reflecting
muscular effort). Hence, the dependence of Pel on Ppl served to define the well-known
146 Modelling, Programming and Simulations Using LabVIEW™ Software

hysteretic path. Viscous dissipative characteristics exhibited by lung tissue were

characterized by using a constant lung tissue resistance RL.
C. Peripheral airways
Peripheral airways were characterized by a resistance ( Rs ) that was inversely proportional
to VA . Airway closure during forced expiration causes occlusion of these airways at low
alveolar volumes. Because of the effect of large intrathoracic pressures generated during the
effort-dependent portion of forced expiration, Rs was modified to be a function of both VA
and Ppl .
D. Collapsible airways region
Collapsible airway region (of volume Vc ) was characterized in terms of a volume-
dependent resistance and a volume-pressure relationship (VC − Ptm ) . The functional
importance of this collapsible segment has since been confirmed by analyze the input
impedance spectrum vs. frequency and demonstrated that adequate reconstruction of
pressure-flow data could not be achieved with a conventional single-compartment resistive-
compliant model. Previous studies have demonstrated that in lumped models expiratory
flow limitation during the FVC maneuver cannot be simulated without the presence of this
collapsible segment. Verbraak et al. (1991) modeled the elastic properties of the
compressible segment as a family of curves dependent on the lung elastic recoil. This more
complex approach proved to be of little benefit in achieving good fits to subject data.
E. Upper airway region
Upper airway region (of volume VD) was assumed to be rigid, with its resistance to airflow
characterized by a nonlinear, flow-dependent Rohrer resistor.
Summarized from fluid dynamic analysis the conductive zone can be segmented into two
parts, i.e., the larger airway and the small airway, which have different flow behaviors. For
lung simulator aim we segment the airway by fluid dynamic performance of different
generations. Existed analysis (Polak, 2006) reveals three sections of the bronchial tree with
distinct resistive properties. Generations 0–6 are characterized mainly by turbulent
dissipation of the head pressure, laminar flow and airways collapsing dominate in
generations from 7 to 16 (Mauroy, 2004), and lastly, flow in generations from 17 to 23 is
approximately laminar, where compliance, not resistance, is the main parameter.

4.5 Different pathology and segments they influenced

The respiratory ventilation functional obstruction can be divided into two main types:
restrictive hypoventilation and obstructive hypoventilation. The restrictive hypoventilation
is mainly cause by two factors: respiratory muscle activation decrease and compliance
decrease of lung. The disease such as fibrosis, pneumothorax, pulmonary overventilation,
lung edema, can cause compliance decrease. In simulation model, the muscle decrease can
be simulated by muscle driven pressure, and the aforementioned lung diseases have
influence on lung compliance. The obstructive hypoventilation is mainly caused by airway
stricture or obstacle. The disease typically emphysematous, asthmatic lung and larger
airway occluded are obstructive.
The obstructive hypoventilation can also be divided into two types: central airway obstacle
and peripheral airway obstacle. The central airway obstacle can further divided into
extrapleural and intrapleural obstacle. The extrapleural obstacle locate in trachea and main
bronchi which extrapleural, correspond to generations 0 and 1. The extrapleural obstacle
shows inspiration difficult. The intrapleural central airway obstacle locate in bronchi
Modeling in Respiratory Movement Using LabVIEW and Simulink 147

intrapleural and is expiration difficult. To show this different localization obstacle, we must
subdivide the upper airway into two segments: the extrapleural segment and intrapleural
segment which have different symptom in respiratory disorders.
For the purpose of modeling, the pulmonary system has to be simplified to elements which
represent specific physical features of the lung. The lung model was restricted to serial
inhomogeneity with respect to both resistance and elastic properties of the airways. The
currently prepared mathematical model is based on serial model consists of one alveolar
compartment connected to ambient air by a tube representing the airways. All alveoli were
lumped to one compartment VA, which was connected to ambient air by a tube representing
the lumped airways. This tube consisted of four parts in series: one for the small airways, a
compressible segment in between, one for the large airways intrapleural, and the last one for
large airways extrapleural. The alveolar compartment and the intrapulmonary airways were
influenced by the intrathoracic pressure, which was equal to pleural pressure Ppl. In
preliminary result, the serial model of lung can be schemed in figure 3.

pleura

alveolar

Fig. 3. Serial lung model with airway segment

5. Respiratory model with different complication

5.1 Simple linear model
There are many models describe breathing movement with different complication. It is
possible to construct a model with a single volume-elastic unit and a single flow-resistance
unit (e.g. a rubber bellows connected to a glass tube) which conforms mechanically to
simple linear model.
The simplest and fundamental model consisting of a volume-elastic part having a
compliance C and a resistance R in series. These equations are analogous to equations which
define electrical capacitance and electrical resistance, respectively. If the total pressure
across the system at any moment is Δp , then

1
Δp = V + RQ (12)
C
Since the compliance and resistance of a single pathway are constants, the total pressure will
be determined at any instant by the volume of the unit and the rate and direction of flow at
that instant.
148 Modelling, Programming and Simulations Using LabVIEW™ Software

Recent studies have shown that this first-order model is, however, an oversimplified
representation of nonlinear, multicompartment respiratory mechanics. In fact, it is well
known that the large airway resistance is a nonlinear function of flow, and that total
respiratory resistance depends on tidal volume, and is different on inspiration and expiration,
being a continuous function of time during the respiratory cycle. Parameter estimates based
on the first-order model, therefore, do not depend solely on patient condition but also on
experimental condition, because the model involves linearization around the working point.

5.2 Complicated compliance nonlinear model

The numerically simulated model features a two component resistance, representing the
series association of a linear resistor with a flow-dependent resistor. The latter models
nonlinear tracheal tube characteristics, and the former lumps the linear part of the tracheal
tube resistance together with the equivalent linear resistor of the respiratory system. The
model of elastance was proposed with a volume-independent and a volume-dependent
component. The equation of motion that represents this model is:

( ) ( )
Paw = K 1 + K 2 Q ( t ) Q ( t ) + E1 + E2V ( t ) V ( t ) + P0 (13)

where Paw(t) is the pressure measured at the airway opening at time t, Q(t) the flow, V(t)
the volume and P0the constant.
The basic model values used in this work ( E1 = 50cmH 2OL−1 , E2 = −80cmH 2OL−2 ,
K1 = 10cmH 2OL−1s , K 2 = 5cmH 2OL−2 s 2 ) lie within the range observed in data obtained from
animal experiments described elsewhere (Jandre et al., 2004). The negative E2 suggests
alveolar recruitment throughout the respiratory cycle.

5.3 Nonlinear simulation model of breathing mechanics with airway segment

In this model, the viscoelastic properties of the tracheobronchial airways are characterized
by nonlinear relationships, whereas the behavior of the alveolar space and chest wall are
assumed to be linear. The airway behavior is described by a physiological representation,
incorporating a mechanism causing expiratory flow limitation, which has proved useful for
the clinical interpretation of lung function tests and for describing the dependence of total
respiratory resistance on frequency and tidal volume, in line with experimental evidence.
Airway resistance was divided into the following three components:
1. upper airway resistance, Ru, modeled by a nonlinear Rohrer resistor depending on flow:

Ru = K 1 + K 2 Q (14)

where the constant K1 represents resistive properties for laminar flow, and the constant
K2characterizes an additional resistive term, significant at higher flow rates when
turbulence may occur;
2. intermediate airway resistance Ri, depending on the airway compression due to
transmural pressure. This segment was modeled as a cylinder of constant length, the
radius and hence volume (vc) of which vary with transmural pressure. On the basis of
Poiseuille’s law, the corresponding resistance is described by
2
⎛v ⎞
Ri = K 3 ⎜⎜ c max ⎟⎟ (15)
⎝ vc ⎠
Modeling in Respiratory Movement Using LabVIEW and Simulink 149

where the constant K3 represents the value of Ri when airway volume reaches its
maximum admissible value vcmax; and
3. lower airway resistance Ri , depending on lung volume (v). Since Ri decreases with
increasing lung volume, it was described by the following relationship:

K4
Rl = (16)
v
Where K4 is a positive constant.
On the basis of experimental data the elastic characteristic of the intermediate airway
segment is approximated by the relationship:

vc 1
= (17)
vc max 1 + exp ⎡ − a ( ptm − b ) ⎤
⎣ ⎦
where a and b are constants and Ptm is the transmural pressure. Differentiating vc
with respect to ptm , we obtain the intermediate airway compliance C aw .
Finally, since this chapter is aimed at establishing respiratory model have the nonlinear
mechanical properties of the tracheobronchial airways, the alveolar space and chest wall
were assumed to have a constant, purely elastic behavior and were represented by the
constant elastance respectively.

6. Simulation method
6.1 General description
LabVIEW and Matlab are the two main programs used widely by engineer. LabVIEW is a
well opened virtual instruments platform and widely used in automatic control and
measuring technology. LabVIEW simplify development procedure of process control and
testing software. Now, LabVIEW has become the main trend of measuring and testing
technologies and instruments. With the strong hardware interface capability, LabVIEW can
communicate with other hardware and acquire data easily. But LabVIEW has limited
toolboxes which confine the using field to large application program, in the case of complex
applications having large data processing and complicate control algorithm, LabVIEW is not
competent. Conversely, Matlab has very strong computing functions and stable algorithm
library. Matlab provides precision and high efficiency toolboxes in almost all engineering
computing fields. But it is not proficiency for interface compile. And data input, net
communication, hardware control are also shortcoming of matlab. Because the two
languages have complimentary specialties, we can combine the advantage by mixture
programming. The data collected by LabVIEW can be sending to matlab for computing, and
then processed data transfer back to LabVIEW for output control and display. Calling
matlab in LabVIEW can control hardware easily and realize complex algorithm
concurrently.
The Simulation Interface Toolkit provides methods for creating a LabVIEW user interface
for a Simulink model, converting a Simulink model into a dynamic link library (DLL), and
running a simulation model on an RT target. By combining the capabilities of Simulink and
Real-Time Workshop with LabVIEW, the Simulation Interface Toolkit helps you import
simulation models into LabVIEW.
150 Modelling, Programming and Simulations Using LabVIEW™ Software

6.2 Simplest model simulation

There are two distinct approaches to generating the simulated respiratory movement. The
first is a simulation script and another one is model-driven simulation. The state-of-the-art
medical patient simulator is physiological model driven simulator, so generating suitable
physiological signal is the key task of medical patient simulator.
In order to describe the spontaneous respiratory model fundamentality in a simple and
direct way, the following principles are adopted: structure of respiratory system is described
by the simplest model, i.e., only lung compliance (C) and airway resistance (R) are taken
into consideration; respiratory muscle pressure is used as input of model. With the above
hypothesis, the constructed model can reflect the basic characteristic in general.

Pmus PA V V
C d/dt

Fig. 4. Respiratory model based on muscle pressure driven

muscle pressure curve with respiratory time

6
total muscle pressure

0
0 0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5 3 3.5 4
respiratory time
Fig. 5. Pressure waveform generated by respiratory muscle
The simplest mathematical model of respiratory system is linear model:

1
Pmus = V (t ) + RV (t ) (12)
C
Which Pmus is respiratory pressure, generated by respiratory muscle, C is compliance, R is
airway resistance, V(t) is air volume breathed in lung, V (t ) is air flow of respiratory, being
the derivative of volume to time. In the model the compressibility of air is neglected as
usual. There are two basic parameters in describing the respiratory system: compliance C
and airway resistance R. Based on the linear model described above, the simplest
respiratory model we established is shown in figure 4. The merits of the model are listed on
Modeling in Respiratory Movement Using LabVIEW and Simulink 151

the following: (1) simple model, most details are neglected; (2) from distinct principle,
spontaneous respiratory can be concluded from the model; (3) extensive expansibility, every
component can be complicated if needed, so that complexity of model’s study can be
selected as requirement.
The parameters of R and C in model can be selected as normal human; while the respiratory
muscle pressure can be acquired precisely from the data of Jodat et al.(1966) image
processing, as shown in figure 5. In Simulink the muscle pressure used as input, the breath
mechanical parameters (R and C) is the linear response system, then the spontaneous
respiratory waveform can be computed.

Fig. 6. Spontaneous respiratory model simulated by Simulink

Fig. 7. Respiratory flow waveform by muscle pressure driven using Simulink

Typical parameters of human respiratory system is used in simulation, parameters being
R=0.18kPa.s/L, C=1.84L/kPa (Tang, 1995). Particular Simulink model is shown in figure 6,
and the simulation result shown in figure 7.
Compared with the respiratory flow given in reference (Bachy, 1986), it can be concluded
that the two flow waves are very similar. They both have smooth inspiratory flow wave and
152 Modelling, Programming and Simulations Using LabVIEW™ Software

rather sharp expiratory flow wave, but have the same volume in the two breath phase. The
expiratory flow is originate from the relax of breath muscle, together with the delay of
respiratory system to airflow. The two main facts make the expiratory flow being a sharp
flow at the beginning and then a long time without airflow. Change the parameters of
respiratory system, the shape of flow variate, and so is the frequency spectrum of flow
waveform, which is in accordance with Benchetrit’s (2000) conclusion. Because respiratory
pressure waveform is not single frequency sine wave, change the pressure waveform will
change the frequency spectrum of respiratory flow wave too, so pressure waveform
generated by respiratory muscle is an influence factor to flow frequency spectrum. The
frequency of the breath system can also be changed by variation of the mechanical
parameters, which is similar to one-order RC circuit. The linear system can not create the
non-existing frequency, however, the input (muscle pressure) of the linear system (breath
system) the muscle pressure contain abundant frequency, as a result the output (airflow)
also include harmonic frequency. Once the input and mechanical parameters do not change
abruptly, the output will remain a suitable stable frequency content.

6.3 Adjustable respiratory mechanical parameters lung system

In our simulation, all mechanical parameters of the lungs (pressure, compliance, resistance,
volume) can be reduced to airflow, which is the most important variable to be measured in
clinical. We design a new approach to simulate the lung system, which has the following
characteristics. First, the basic hardware structure of the lung is similar to Meka’s (2004).
Second, breath flow is tracked in stead of carinal pressure, which is the most important
parameter in respiration and calculated by respiratory model. Third, the resistance and
compliance are adjustable in the simulation model. The influence of the two facts, i.e.,
compliance (C) and resistance (R), to the breath can be observed distinctly in our model.
Four, the entire system is small size as the advantage of bellows-less lung simulator.
Current simulator models the flow in and out the lung to simulate physically character of
respiratory system. We design the lung simulator based on the breath principle. This paper
construct normal human respiratory system model, combined the widely used respiratory
model and muscle pressure driven power. Then the breath flow wave is tracked by
proportional valve controlled by calculated output voltage.
There are two main methods for simulation that are widely used, one is Simulink in matlab,
and another is control design and simulation module in LabVIEW. Compared with matlab,
LabVIEW not only easy to realize parameter collection and control parameter output, but
also convenient to realize in hardware. As to Simulink in matlab, after the realization on
algorithm, it is usually needed to transform to C language in order to combine with
hardware, compile language is necessary sometimes. We have done the simulation in
Simulink (He, 2009(a)), and we met the foregoing difficulty, i.e., how to realize the algorithm
on hardware. In this chapter, we give the simulation method based on LabVIEW. Because
of different simulation way between the two programs, different models are used base on
same principle.
Not similar to the Simulink model, the convenient way to construct the respiratory model in
Control Design and Simulation module in LabVIEW is to use linear system theory. An
electro-acoustic analogy (Ma, 1983) is used to develop an electric model of the respiratory
system in despite of its exact anatomical structure. In order to describe the spontaneous
respiratory model fundamentality in a simple and direct way, the following principles are
Modeling in Respiratory Movement Using LabVIEW and Simulink 153

adopted: structure of respiratory system is described by the simplest model, i.e., only lung
compliance (C) and airway resistance (R) are taken into consideration; respiratory muscle
pressure data is used as input of model into the linear system; transfer function is generated
by first-order RC circuits. With the above hypothesis, the constructed model can reflect the
basic characteristic in general. Then the output is calculated by linear system theory and
realized in LabVIEW by CD linear simulation.vi located in Control Design and Simulation
module. The final output represents the volume variation of every breath. After differentiate
the volume, respiratory flow is gained that can be traced by hardware.
The simplest mathematical model of respiratory system is linear model (Otis, 1956):

1
Pmus = V (t ) + RV (t ) (12)
C
Then the transfer function of volume of compliance can be calculated as

1
F (S ) = (18)
RCS + 1
Which Pmus is respiratory pressure, generated by respiratory muscle, C is compliance, R is
airway resistance, V(t) is air volume breathed in lung, V (t ) is air flow of respiratory, being the
derivative of volume to time. In the model the compressibility of air is neglected as usual.
Typical parameters of human respiratory system is used in simulation, parameters being
R=0.18kPa.s/L, C=1.84L/kPa (Tang, 1995). The related LabVIEW program is shown in
figure 8, and the simulation result shown in figure 9.
Compared with the respiratory flow given in (Bachy, 1986), it can be concluded that the two
flow waves are very similar. Change the parameters of respiratory system, the shape of flow
change, and so is the frequency spectrum of flow waveform, which is in accordance with
Benchetrit’s (2000) conclusion. Because respiratory pressure waveform is not simple sine
wave, changing the pressure waveform will change the frequency spectrum of respiratory
flow wave too, so pressure waveform generated by respiratory muscle is an influence factor
to flow frequency spectrum.

Fig. 8. Block diagram of respiratory simulation using transfer

154 Modelling, Programming and Simulations Using LabVIEW™ Software

(a) (b)
Fig. 9. The simulation results calculated by transfer function of the respiratory
(a) flow waveform of one breath cycle (b) volume curve of one breath cycle
We used a fixed volume flow controller to generate the required airway flow. The flow
controller is based on the ideal gas law. Air compression is neglected in this model, which is
common practice. Flow is generated inside a fixed volume at a constant temperature by
adjustment of the orifice of proportional valves. In flow is generated when gas is pumped
into the fixed volume, and likewise out flow is generated when gas is removed from the
volume. The airway resistor was constructed in the direction of Mecklenburgh (1988). The
flow system consists of a fixed-volume vessel (FVV), a positive pressure source, a negative
pressure source, two proportional flow valves (PFV), a flow sensor, a computer with data
acquisition card. The entire setup is illustrated in Fig.10. The two pressure sources are
implemented by air pump and vacuum respectively.
The fixed-volume vessel is a cylindrical-shaped polyvinyl chloride (PVC) structure. The
cylindrical shape reduces turbulent gas flow inside the container, and the PVC material
allows for inexpensive, quick and easy assembly of the structure. The vessel has three
openings to allow the flow of gas in and out of the FVV to simulate ventilation. The outlet
also facilitates the fitting of standard clinical airway resistors. The vessel is sealed airtight
using PVC cement to prevent any air leaks from the container.
The volume of the FVV was determined experimentally by measuring the flow rate for
various vessel volumes. The size of the volume was chosen to balance time delay and
controllability. Time delay increases for larger vessels, because the vessel needs to fill
completely before the flow starts to rise. Controllability is affected mainly by the volume of
the vessel. It is easier to control the flow in a larger vessel, because compressibility of gas
increases the total vessel compliance. It is difficult to control the flow in a very stiff vessel,
because a small addition of volume increases the flow rapidly. With the available materials,
a volume of 0.64 l was realized.
Two proportional flow control valves (IQ valves co., P/N: 209090) were used for control
flow in and out of FVV. Pulse width modulated (PWM) solenoid valve drivers (Burr-Brown
Company, DRV101) were used to run the proportional flow valves. An added advantage of
the PWM waveform was that it reduced valve magnetic hysteresis and minimized power
loss and component overheating at high current levels. The duty cycle of the pulse width
determined the amount of power delivered to the valve. A 16-bit DAQ card (NI, PCI-6221M,
with 16 analog inputs and 2 analog outputs, all in 16-bits resolution) supplied the signal to
adjust the duty cycle of the pulse width.
Modeling in Respiratory Movement Using LabVIEW and Simulink 155

Pressurized Vacuum
air

Valve A Valve B

Fixed Volume Vessel

Proportional Proportional
valve driver A valve driver B
Flow
sensor

A/D
PCI-6221M
D/A D/A
(PC)

Fig. 10. Block diagram implementation of flow track design. Solid arrow lines illustrate
electrical signal, hollow arrow lines illustrate airflow
A flow sensor (Honeywell, AWM5104) that outputs an analogue signal proportionally
scaled to the applied flow was used to sample the flow of mouth. The analogue flow signal
is conditioned and low-pass filtered using a 2nd-order digital Butterworth filter with a 50
Hz cutoff frequency to remove high-frequency noise due to turbulent flow inside the FVV.
The analogue flow pressure signal was sampled with a 16-bit ADC, i.e., analog input in PCI-
6221M.
There are many methods for the PID adjusting. The PID parameters were selected based on
the extended step response curve methods. The steps for the PID parameters adjustment
were as following:
1. digital controller does not worked in system, the process variable of controlling object
was adjusted to the values near setpoint. The variable values were stabilized, and then
unit step response curve was measured.
2. a tangent at inflexion in response curve is located. Delayed time τ and time constant
Tm and ratio of the two parameters Tm τ were calculated.
3. controlling degree was selected.
4. parameters T, Kp, Ti and Td were calculated based on table (Gao, 2007).
The final parameters we selected were listed: P=3, I=0.8, D=0. The controller can be more
efficient if adaptive-tuning scheme based on adaptive signal processing techniques was
implemented to tune automatically.
Tracking result was shown in figure 11. It can be concluded that in the normal breath
pattern the practical flow was very much alike to the theoretical flow curve. More details
are to be exploited in future. And more pathology breath options should be studied to get a
more complicated understanding to the flow tracking method.
156 Modelling, Programming and Simulations Using LabVIEW™ Software

Fig. 11. Measured flow waveform by flow tracking algorithm using PID, which is very
similar to the calculated wave.

6.4 Simulation of spontaneous respiration nonlinear model

There are two methods that we can use to simulate the respiratory system. First, simulink
toolkits in matlab are the commonly used tool for simulation. But the simulink can not
interface control system real-time, although it is powerful in model simulation. Second, the
control design and simulation module in LabVIEW can also be used. On advantage of
LabVIEW’s interface convenience, the model design by control design and simulation
module can be used in real actuator control very easy. But the disadvantage of the module is
it can not design model by block. If the model is somewhat complicate, the control design
and simulation module will become powerless. Fortunately, the National Instruments
Company realize the problem, they provide a tool, i.e., simulation interface toolkits, used to
transform Simulink model to LabVIEW program. Combine the advantage of powerful
model construction of simulink and interface convenience with peripheral actuator of
LabVIEW and the bridge tool simulation interface toolkits (SIT), we design a program based
on LabVIEW with SIT interface with simulation model generated by simulink. The program
can control actuator and designs the simulation model complicate, which take advantage
while eliminate disadvantage of the two languages.
The equation of motion that represents the nonlinear model is (Jandre, 2005):

( )
P = K 1 + K 2 V ( t ) V ( t ) + E ⋅ V ( t ) (19)

The respiratory muscle pressure data from Jodat (1966) is used as input of model. We
construct the nonlinear model of breath system using simulink, the following block in Fig.
12 being the model, parameters were selected from Tang (1995). The LabVIEW 8.6 and SIT
5.0 is used in the main program, DAQ is configured to output signal with PCI-6221M card
equipped. The calculated flow wave is to be tracked by proportional flow valve. Fig.13 is
part of front panel when SIT is used interface with simulink. Fig.14 is the simulated flow
using the aforementioned simulation condition: respiratory muscle used as input, nonlinear
parameter of resistance that flow-dependent is used, and compliance is fix number.
Modeling in Respiratory Movement Using LabVIEW and Simulink 157

Compared with the flow wave generated with fixed resistance (He, 2009(b)), the inspiratory
flow part has little change, but the expiratory flow parts are smoother. In general, the flow is
more similar to the real curve. We have tried the two foregoing methods both respectively
(He, 2009(a, b)). But we can not realize the simulation construction and output simulated
result by one program. If the model is simple, the control design and simulation module in
LabVIEW can competent for the task, as we have done in previous work. With the
complicate of respiratory model, by practice, we conclude that the combination of simulink
and LabVIEW bridged by simulation interface toolkits is the optimum option.
There are three main key points in the chapter: (1) the respiratory muscle pressure is used as
system input, which is accorded with spontaneous breath principle; (2) respiratory model is
more complicated and precise with resistance flow-dependent parameterized, and the
computed flow is even similar to real breath; (3) LabVIEW is used as the main program to
interface with peripheral equipment, simulink is used as model construction program to
cope with model complication, SIT is used to bridge the two program efficiently. The
mentioned program method should be the optimum solution by our practice.

Fig. 12. Simulink model with muscle pressure as input and linear compliance nonlinear
resistance varied with flow

Fig. 13. Part of front panel of LabVIEW program when simulation interface toolkits are used
to embed simulink mode
158 Modelling, Programming and Simulations Using LabVIEW™ Software

Fig.14. Simulation result of flow using muscle pressure as input and nonlinear airway
resistance

7. Conclusion
In this chapter, respiratory model is studies including simple model and complicated
nonlinear model. The realize method is introduced that have can control output flow. Two
main simulate way, i.e., simulink and LabVIEW, are used to model the respiratory
movement. The combined method that can integrate the advantage of the two method is
illustrated for control aim. In general, this chapter provide a through introduction for
respiratory modelling and control design.

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 Part 3

LabVIEW for Specific

Processes and Applications
 8

Automated MOS Transistor gamma Degradation

Measurements Based on LabVIEW Environment
Slimane Oussalah and Boualem Djezzar
Centre de Développement des Technologies Avancées (CDTA)
Algeria

1. Introduction
In recent years, the study of the effects of ionizing radiation in thin gate oxides has received
increasing attention. This is due not only to the appearance of new lithography tools for
ultra low scale integration (ULSI) technologies, that use X- rays or e-beams, but also for the
interest of space, medical, military or high-energy applications, where the complementary
metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) read-out circuitry will be subjected to a very hostile
radiation environment.
A major concern in the reliability of metal-oxide-semiconductor field effect transistor
(MOSFET) devices is the formation of interface traps and near-interface oxide traps; called
also border traps; under hot carrier injection, irradiation and processing. Traps at or near the
semiconductor/gate dielectric interface can cause degraded transconductance (Doyle et al.,
1990), the shifting of threshold voltage (Tsuchiya et al., 1987) and may lead to dielectric
breakdown (Chen et al., 1985). In order to improve the resistance of MOSFET devices to
these effects, it is necessary to have a reliable method of determining the densities of both
interface traps and oxide traps (Djezzar et al., 2004).
The reliable test procedure to predict radiation response of integrated circuits (IC’s) from
standard test laboratory, for example in space, is very important and requires a
development of simple and rapid electrical characterization techniques easily mountable in
production line. Therefore, intensive works have been carried out on the electrical
characterization techniques for MOS gate oxide and Si/SiO2 interface degradation caused by
radiation (Schwank et al., 1993). The charge pumping (CP) technique (Groeseneken et al.,
1984) is a valuable tool for all kind of traps characterization.
In this article, we present an automatic measurement bench programmable by the IEEE-488
bus that permits to characterize MOSFET device degradation induced by gamma radiation
at low doses. This characterization permits to extract threshold voltage and flatband voltage
for virgin and irradiated samples. Moreover, the determination of the breakpoint frequency
that represents the limit between interface and border trap contributions to the charge trap
is automatically extracted. The measurement bench is managed by a program, written by a
graphical language LabVIEW. LabVIEW is a powerful, platform-independent, graphical
programming development system which is ideally suited for data acquisition, storage,
analysis, and presentation.
164 Modelling, Programming and Simulations Using LabVIEW™ Software

2. The LabVIEW environment

LabVIEW (short for Laboratory Virtual Instrumentation Engineering Workbench) is a
program development application from National Instruments, much like various C or
BASIC software development tools. It is, however, different from those applications in one
important respect. LabVIEW uses a graphical language (G), to create programs in block
diagram form while other programming tools use text-based languages. LabVIEW includes
libraries of functions and development tools designed specifically for instrument control. It
has application specific libraries for data acquisition, serial instrument control, data analysis,
data presentation and data storage.
Nowadays, not only is LabVIEW everywhere (Fig. 1), but it offers something for every
scientist and engineer. All levels of users, ranging from experienced to non-programmers,
will benefit from the interactive, configurable tools, enabling LabVIEW to be used as a one
integrated tool for measurement and automation throughout the design process.
The LabVIEW system provides an intuitive, graphical interface for the automated control of
laboratory equipment. For each specific type of measurement, a virtual instrument (VI) is
created. A VI can be regarded as the software equivalent of a single piece of laboratory test
equipment, even though the measurement it represents may involve any number of
different laboratory units.

Sensor
Embedded
(FPGA)
Handheld
Wireless

Networked I/O

PC Boards

Industrial Computer (PXI)

Tektronix Open Windows

Oscilloscopes

PC, Mac, Linux, Sun

Workstation

Fig. 1. LabVIEW is everywhere.

Each VI contains three main parts:
- Front Panel: how the user interacts with the VI.
- Block Diagram: the code that controls the program.
- Icon/Connector: Means of connecting a VI to other VIs.
Automated MOS Transistor gamma Degradation Measurements Based on LabVIEW Environment 165

All of the measurement parameters can be varied by manipulating a front panel (Fig. 2)
which is the graphical equivalent of the push buttons and knobs on a test set, allowing a
user who is not familiar with the programming to operate the setup easily
The Front Panel is used to interact with the user when the program is running. Users can
control the program, change inputs, and see data updated in real time. Stress that controls
are used for inputs- adjusting a slide control to set an alarm value, turning a switch on or
off, or stopping a program. Indicators are used as outputs. Thermometers, lights, and other
indicators indicate values from the program. These may include data, program states, and
other information.
On the front panel of a VI, we place the controls and data displays for our system by
selecting objects from the Controls palette, such as numeric displays, buttons, knobs,
switches, meters, gauges, thermometers, tanks, LEDs, tables, arrays, charts, and graphs.
When we complete and run the VI, we use the front panel to control our system whether we
move a slide, zoom in on a graph, or enter a value with the keyboard. The front panel also
serves to document the experiment; a hard copy yields results as well as all of the input
parameters on one sheet.

Fig. 2. LabVIEW front panel window.

The programming which coordinates the operation is accomplished graphically in the
diagram panel Window using a dataflow language described by an example in Fig. 3.
To program the VI, we construct the block diagram without worrying about the syntactical
details of text-based programming languages. We do this by selecting objects (icons) from
the Functions palette and connecting them together with wires to transfer data among block
diagram objects. These objects include simple arithmetic functions, Programming
Structures, Signal Processing, advanced acquisition and analysis routines, network and file
I/O operations, and more.
166 Modelling, Programming and Simulations Using LabVIEW™ Software

Fig. 3. LabVIEW block diagram window.

3. Set-up and experimental procedure

3.1 Device and irradiation details
Samples investigated in this work are test structures, which were designed in Microelectronics
and Nanotechnology Division of CDTA (Centre de Développement de Technologies
Avancées) and fabricated in ES2 (European Silicon Structure) foundry. The different NMOS
transistors within test structures were fabricated using a conventional (soft process) dual layer
metal CMOS 2 µm N-well technology on p-type silicon <100> substrate with normal
concentration of 7.6x1015 boron/cm3, N+-poly-silicon gate, and 40 nm thick gate oxide layer
grown in dry O2. The gate capacitance per area unit, COX is about of 8.6 10-8 F.cm-2.
The radiation was performed at the CRS (Centre de Radioprotection et de Sureté)
Laboratories, Algeria. Irradiation is performed at low doses up to 250 krad on non-packaged
samples with gate lengths varying from 2µm to 20µm and width of 80 µm and 300 µm by
using 1.25 MeV γ-rays at room temperature. The γ -ray was produced by 60Co cell with low-
dose-rate of 200 rad/min. We have characterized the radiation effects at low doses on
NMOS transistors. Thereafter, the electrical characterization is achieved by using standard
charge pumping technique (CP) at high frequencies.

3.2 Experimental set-up

The experimental set-up details of the standard CP technique are shown in Fig. 4. The
MOSFET source/drain terminals have been grounded, the gate terminal has been pulsed by
applying a triangular pulse train with amplitude ΔVG of various frequencies, and the
substrate terminal has been grounded via a pico-ammeter. The measurements have been
performed at room temperature and by using a sensitive Keithley 617 electrometer, Keithley
3940 multifunction synthesizer, and Karl Suss PA300 micro-manipulator semi-automatic
probe station.
Automated MOS Transistor gamma Degradation Measurements Based on LabVIEW Environment 167

For all measurements, a reverse bias is applied to the source and the drain diodes. When the
gate is pulsed between inversion and accumulation conditions (from above the threshold

Fig. 4. Experimental setup for charge pumping measurement.

Data Computer Graphical

Input GPIB card board
Results

IEEE 488 BUS

Frequencies Digital
Multimeter
Generator Oscilloscope

Fig. 5. Description of the automatic measurements bench.

168 Modelling, Programming and Simulations Using LabVIEW™ Software

voltage to below the flatband voltage), trapping and recombination of carriers under these
non equilibrium conditions gives rise to a net DC current that can be measured at the
substrate. For relatively high frequency pulses (1 MHz), the CP current is proportional to the
average density of interface traps which are physically located within 1 nm of the
semiconductor –dielectric interface (Paulsen et al., 1992).
The test circuit chip within the probe station were isolated from vibration and enclosed in a
grounded faraday box to avoid both RF and light effects. A computer has been programmed
to control the measurement system, record the data, and extract the parameters. The control
of instruments has been realized by a program developed with the LabVIEW software via
the GPIB IEEE-488 bus.
Since the whole system is in this case based on computer (Fig. 5), the data is easily ported in
ASCII form to other programs or even shared via networking with other machines.

4. Theoretical background
A commonly used definition of threshold voltage is that gate voltage for which the surface
potential (φS) in the semiconductor below the gate oxide is given by:

φS = 2φF (1)

where φF (V) is the Fermi level potential.

Thus, the threshold voltage (Schroder, 1998) is given as follows:

2 qε si N A ( 2φF ) Qtotal
Vth = φMS + 2φF + − (2)
C ox C ox

where,
q (C) is the electron charge,
εsi (F/cm) is the permittivity of silicon,
NA (cm-3) is the substrate doping,
COX (F/cm2) is the gate oxide capacitance per area unit,
φMS (V) is the metal-semiconductor work function difference,
QT (C/cm2) is the total charge density in SiO2/Si system.
According to the Deal nomenclature (Deal, 1980), there are four general types of charges
associated with the SiO2/Si system. Fleetwood (Fleetwood, 1992) has completed this picture
of charges by introducing a new charge type termed border trapped charge (QBT) as
illustrated in Fig. 6. Thus QT is given by (Djezzar et al., 2004):

QT = QF + QM + QOT + QIT + QBT (3)

where,
QF (C/cm2) is the fixed charge density,
QM (C/cm2) is the mobile oxide charge density,
QOT (C/cm2) is the oxide-trapped charge density,
QIT (C/cm2) is the interface-trapped charge density,
Unlike fixed oxide charge, oxide trapped charge, and mobile oxide charge, interface trapped
charge is in electrical communication with the underlying silicon. by substituting eq. (3) in
eq. (2), VTH can be written as:
Automated MOS Transistor gamma Degradation Measurements Based on LabVIEW Environment 169

Mobile charges
Poly-Si
Oxide charge
H+ Na+ K+
SiO2
Fixed charge

SiOX
Border charge
• • • • • • • Si
Interface charge
Fig. 6. Schematic illustration of different charges in MOS devices.

2qε Si N A ( 2φF )
VTH = φMS + 2φF +
COX (4)
1
− (QF + QM + QOT + QIT + QBT )
COX

When MOS transistors are exposed to various types of stress such as ionizing radiation, FN
injection, or hot carrier injection, the gate oxide and SiO2/Si interface are damaged. This
degradation is induced by the creation of oxide-trapped charge (ΔQOT) and interface trapped
charge (ΔQIT). The different charge increments are shown in fig. 2. Contrary to QOT, QIT, and
and QBT, QF and QM are not affected by these ionizing stresses. Consequently, the threshold
voltage shift caused by uniform stresses (FN stress or radiation effect) is given by:

ΔQIT ΔQOT ΔQBT

ΔVTH = − − − (5)
COX COX COX

where,
ΔQIT (C.cm-2) is the radiation-induced interface trapped charges,
ΔQBT (C.cm-2) is the radiation-induced border trapped charges,
ΔQOT (C.cm-2) is the radiation-induced oxide trapped charges.
Generally, the net radiation-induced oxide and border charges, ΔQOT and ΔQBT respectively,
are positive and induce a negative shift in VTH. However, ΔQIT can contribute either a net-
negative or net-positive charge, depending on the position of the Fermi level at the silicon
surface in inversion mode. Usually, the interface-trap is considered like an acceptor state for
NMOS transistor and like a donor state for PMOS transistor. Therefore, ΔQIT is negative for
n-channel (ΔQIT =-q ΔΝIT ) and positive for p-channel (ΔQIT = q ΔΝIT ) devices (Oldham,
1999). On the other hand, ΔQOT = q ΔΝOT and ΔQBT = q ΔΝBT. Where ΔΝIT, ΔΝOT, and ΔΝBT
are positive numbers per area unit.
So, ΔVTH reads:

ΔVTH = ΔVIT + ΔVOT + ΔVBT (8)

where,
170 Modelling, Programming and Simulations Using LabVIEW™ Software

ΔVIT = -ΔQIT /COX = q ΔΝIT /COX (V) is the voltage shift caused by interface- trap increase,
ΔVOT = -ΔQOT /COX = -q NOT /COX (V) is the voltage shift caused by oxide-trap increase,
ΔVBT = -ΔQBT /COX = -q ΔNBT /COX (V) is the voltage shift caused by border- trap increase.
The Equation 6 is only true when applying a DC signal or a low frequencies (less than a few
kHz) AC signal train. Therefore, only ΔNOT and ΔNIT take part in standard charge pumping
current at high frequencies. Thus, Equation 6 can be written as:

ΔVTH = ΔVIT + ΔVOT (7)

Where, ΔVOT is now the voltage shift caused by the oxide-trap increase at high frequency
measurements.
After irradiation, ICP (VB) (where VB is the base voltage of the gate signal) curves are laterally
and vertically shifted. Figure 7 qualitatively illustrates the effect induced by ionizing
radiation on CP curves. The lateral shift indicates the introduction of radiation-induced
oxide- and interface-trap. However, the vertical one (increase of ICPM) is indicative of the
augmentation of interface-trap density, ΔNIT (numbre/cm2).

Fig. 7. Schematic illustration of standard charge pumping current curves. Solid line shows
CP current before irradiation and Dashed line shows CP current after irradiation.
The ICPM current is given by:

ICPM = q. f . AG .N IT (8)

Where,
Automated MOS Transistor gamma Degradation Measurements Based on LabVIEW Environment 171

q (C) is the elementary charge,

NIT (cm-2) is the interface and border-trap densities per area unit,
AG (cm2) is the gate area,
f (Hz) is the frequency.
Before irradiation, ICPM1 and NIT1 represent charge pumping current and interface-trap
density respectively. After irradiation, ICPM2 and NIT2 represent charge pumping current and
interface-trap density respectively. Then, the radiation-induced interface-trap density
increase (ΔNIT) is given by:

ICPM 2 − ICPM 1 ΔICPM

ΔN IT = N IT 2 − N IT 1 = = (9)
q. f . AG q. f .AG

Thus, ΔVIT is given by:

ΔN IT ΔICPM
ΔVIT = q = (10)
COX COX . f .AG

Using Equations 8 and 12, and ΔVOT = -q ΔNOT/COX, we have expressed ΔNOT, at high
frequencies, as:

ΔICPM COX
ΔNOT = − ΔVTH (11)
q. f . AG q

where, ΔICPM (A) is the radiation-induced maximum CP current increase.

5. Experiment
The ICP (VB) charge pumping measurements were made before and after each irradiation at
25°C. The irradiated NMOS devices were characterized after the latent interface-trap build-
up (106 s) (Schwank , 1992). In other words, we made a long delay between irradiation and
measurements. The ICP (VB) standard curves (Elliot curves) were extracted using a triangular
signal with an amplitude of 3V and a frequency of 100 kHz. The technique consists in
varying VB (signal base voltage) from -6V to 2V. The high frequency value (100 kHz) is
chosen basing on QCP (f) (charge recombined per cycle vs. frequency) measurements
performed on our devices. The QCP (f) characteristics have explicitly shown that the border-
traps contribution starts at 10 kHz as frequency as lowered. Consequently, 100 kHz are
largely sufficient to avoid their interference with interface-trap.
We expose the experimental results in Fig. 8. All degraded NMOS transistors exhibit the
same general features and behaviours as a function of total dose in charge pumping current
ICP(VB) measured by CP technique. When MOSFET transistors are exposed to uniform
degradation such as ionizing radiation, the threshold voltage is shifted. This shift is induced
by the creation of oxide-trapped charge (ΔQOT) in the dielectric and interface-trapped charge
(ΔQIT) in the Si/SiO2 system. After irradiation, the curves obtained from CP technique
(current measured (ICP) vs. the base voltage of the gate signal (VB)) are vertically and
laterally shifted. The vertical shift represented by the increase of the maximum CP
current, ICPM, indicates the augmentation of the interface trap density, ΔNIT (numbre/cm2)
(Fig. 8a).
172 Modelling, Programming and Simulations Using LabVIEW™ Software

(a)

(b)

Fig. 8. Radiation effects on CP curves at high frequencies for different total gamma ray
doses. (a) Standard CP current vs. VB. (b) Normalized CP current vs. VB.
Automated MOS Transistor gamma Degradation Measurements Based on LabVIEW Environment 173

However, the lateral one indicates the introduction of the radiation-induced oxide- and
interface-trap (Fig. 8b). Fig. 8b gives the ICP (VB) normalized curves to their respective ICPM,
in order to illustrate well the lateral shifts induced by irradiation. These quantities are
estimated, as shown in figure 8, from ICP (VB) curves at high frequencies.
Knowing ΔICPM and ΔVTH, we are able to calculate ΔNIT from equation 9 and also ΔNOT from
equation 11. This is very useful when we want to rapidly get information on the quality of
irradiated oxide and SiO2/Si interface and also if we intend to study the annealing of both
radiation-induced oxide- and interface-trap.
Equations 9 and 11 shows clearly that ΔNIT and ΔNOT are is just dependent on experimental
parameters ΔICPM and ΔVTH (Djezzar et al., 2004). These quantities are estimated from ICP
(VB) curves at high frequencies.
In Fig. 9, the front panel of the developed software loads two files, of virgin and irradiated
MOS devices, respectively and calculates the lateral shift of threshold and flatband voltage,
respectively caused by radiation-induced ΔNIT and ΔNOT (normalized charge pumping curves).
The software developed permits to extract the radiation-induced threshold voltage shift
(ΔVTH), the radiation-induced flatband voltage shift (ΔVFB), the radiation-induced oxide-trap
(ΔNOT), and radiation-induced interface-trap (ΔNIT) are extracted [Oussalah & Djezzar, 2007).
All of the relevant parameters are visible from this screen, as are the experimental results.
The program loads a file of a virgin MOS device and extracts the threshold voltage, the
flatband and other parameters.
In Fig. 9, we show the window front panel for the charge pumping base level sweep
measurement.
The input parameters are:
- file path,
- the signal level,
- the working frequency
- the percentage at the VTH is calculated
- the percentage at VFB is calculated
- process parameters, like, substrate doping (cm-3), oxide capacitor (F/cm²) and gate
oxide area (cm²).
The extracted parameters by the software are:
- threshold voltage, VTH (V),
- flatband voltage, VFB (V),
- maximum charge pumping current, ICPM (A),
- interface-trapped charge density, QIT (C/cm²),
- interface trap density, NIT (1/cm²),
- VIT (V),
- interface trap density, DIT (1/eV.cm²).
In Fig. 10, we show the window front panel for the charge pumping base level sweep
measurement for virgin and irradiated MOS transistor. The program loads two files for
virgin and irradiated MOS devices, and calculates the lateral shift of VTH and VFB,
respectively caused by radiation-induced ΔNIT and ΔNOT (normalized CP curves).
The input parameters in the program software are:
- file path of the virgin MOS transistor,
- file path of the irradiated MOS transistor,
- the signal level,
- the working frequency,
174 Modelling, Programming and Simulations Using LabVIEW™ Software

- the percentage at the VTH is calculated,

- the percentage at the VFB is calculated,
- process parameters, like, substrate doping (cm-3), oxide capacitor (F/cm²) and gate
oxide area (cm²).

Fig. 9. LabVIEW front panel for the charge pumping base level sweep measurement.

Fig. 10. LabVIEW diagram panel of figure 9.

Automated MOS Transistor gamma Degradation Measurements Based on LabVIEW Environment 175

Fig. 11. LabVIEW front panel for the radiation induced parameters of the virgin and
irradiated MOS transitor.
The extracted parameters by the program software are:
- threshold voltage shift, ΔVTH (V),
- flatband voltage shift, ΔVFB (V),
- oxide trapped charges density, ΔQot (C/cm²),
- Interface trapped charge density, ΔQit (C/cm²).
- Oxide trapped density, ΔΝot (1/cm²).
- Interface trapped density, ΔNit (1/cm²).
- Voltage shift caused by interface- trap increase, ΔVit (V).
- Voltage shift caused by oxide-trap increase, ΔVOT (V).

6. Conclusion
Experiments with LabVIEW software have been carried out to determine the effects of
gamma radiation at low doses on trap densities in MOSFET devices. The threshold and the
flatband voltages degradation due to the charge injection from gamma radiation effect at
low doses are characterized with the developed software. Since ΔICPM and ΔVTH are
measured, the program is able to extract ΔNIT and ΔNOT. This is very useful when we want
to rapidly get information on the quality of irradiated oxide and SiO2/Si interface and also if
we intend to study the annealing of both radiation-induced oxide- and interface-trap. This
makes it a powerful tool for rapid and routinely electrical characterization in hardness
assurance test of MOSFET’s device qualification for space and strategic applications.
176 Modelling, Programming and Simulations Using LabVIEW™ Software

LabVIEW is a powerful environment for software development. It is widely used for

instrument control, data acquisition and data analysis. LabVIEW’s graphical way of
programming allows fast and efficient developing of robust, user controlled applications for
measurement, analysis anad visualization of data.

7. References
Doyle, B. S.; Bourcerie, M.; Bergonzoni, C.; Benecchi, R.; Bravis, A.; Mistry, K.R.; & Boudou,
A. (1990). The generation and characterization of electron and hole traps created by
hole injection during low gate voltage hot-carrier stressing of n-MOS transistors.
IEEE Transactions on Electron Devices, Vol. 37, (August 1990) 1869-1876.
Tsuchiya, T.; Kobayashi, T.; & Nakajima, S. (1987). Hot carrier-injected oxide region and hot-
electron trapping as the main cause in Si nMOSFET degradation. IEEE Transactions
on Electron Devices, Vol. 34, (February 1987) 386-391.
Chen, I.C.; Holland, S.E. & Hu, C. (1985). Electrical breakdown of thin gate and tunneling
oxides. IEEE Journal of Solid-State Circuits, Vol. 20, (February 1985) 333-342.
Djezzar, B.; Oussalah, S. & Smatti, A. (2004). A new Oxide-Trap based on Charge Pumping
(OTCP) extraction method for irradiated MOSFET devices: part I (high
frequencies). IEEE Transactions on Nuclear Science. Vol. 51, (August 2004) 1724-1731.
Schwank, J. R.; Fleetwood, D. M.; Shaneyfelt, M. R. & Winokur, P. S. (1993). A critical
comparison of charge-pumping, dual-transistor, and midgap measurement
techniques. IEEE Transactions on Nuclear Science. Vol. 40, (December 1993) 1666-
1677.
Groeseneken, G.; Maes, H. E.; Beltran, N. & De Keermaecker, R. F. (1984). A reliable
approach to charge pumping measurement in MOS transistors. IEEE Transactions
on Electron Devices. Vol. 31, (January 1984) 42-53.
Paulsen, R.E.; Siergiej, R.R.; French, M.L. & White, M.H. (1992). Observation of Near-
Interface Oxide Traps with the Charge-Pumping Technique. IEEE Electron Device
Letters., Vol. 13, N°12, (December 1992) 627-629.
Schroder, D.K. (1998). Semiconductor Material and Device Characterization. John Wiley and
Sons, 2nd Edition, New York.
Deal, B.E. (1980). Standardized Terminology for Oxide Charges Associated with Thermally
Oxidized Silicon. Journal of the Electrochemical Society, Vol. 127, Issue 4, (April 1980)
979-981.
Fleetwood, D. M. (1992). Border Traps in MOS Devices. IEEE Transactions on Nuclear Science,
Vol. 39, (1992) 269-271.
Oldham, T.R. (1999). Ionizing Radiation Effects in MOS Oxides, World Scientific Publishing.
Schwank, J.R.; Fleetwood, D.M.; Shaneyfelt, M.R.; Winokur, P.S.; Axness, C.L. & Riewe, L.C.
(1992). Latent Interface-Trap Buildup and its Implications for Hardness Assurance,
IEEE Transactions on Nuclear Science, Vol. 39, (1992) 1953-1963.
Oussalah, S. & Djezzar, B. (2007). Automated MOS Transistor Degradation Measurements
Based on LabVIEW. Proceedings of the International Conference on design & Technology
of Integrated Systems in Nanoscale Era, Rabat (Morocco), pp. 217-220.
 9

Time-Resolved Fluorescence
Spectroscopy with LabView
Edgard Moreno, Porfirio Reyes and José M. de la Rosa
Instituto Politécnico Nacional
México

1. Introduction
1.1 Fluorescence phenomenon
The absorption and subsequent emission of light by organic and inorganic specimens is
typically the result of physical phenomena known as luminescence, which occurs at
electronically excited states. Luminescence is formally divided into two categories:
fluorescence and phosphorescence, depending on the nature of the excited state.
Fluorescence occurs when a photon excites an electron from the ground-state to a higher
energy state, and the electron in the excited orbital is paired (of opposite spin) to the second
electron in the ground-state orbital. Return to the ground state is spin allowed and occurs
rapidly by emission of a photon producing fluorescence. The emission rate of fluorescence
(fluorescence lifetime) is of the order of nanoseconds to microseconds. The lifetime τ of a
fluorophore (fluorescence substance) is the average time between its excitation and its
return to the ground state. Phosphorescence is the light emission from excited states, in
which the electron in the excited orbital has the same spin orientation as the ground-state
electron. Transitions to the ground state are forbidden and the emission rates are slow, in
the order of millisecond to seconds (Lakowicz, 1991), (Lakowicz, 1999), (Gore, 2000),
(Valeur, 2002).
The processes which occur between the absorption and emission of light are usually
illustrated by a Jablonski diagram (figure 1). S0, S1 and S2 denote ground, first, and second
electronic states. At each of these electronic energy levels the electrons can exist in a number
of vibration energy levels denoted by 0, 1, 2, etc. The transitions between states are depicted
as vertical lines to illustrate the instantaneous nature of light absorption (10-15s). An electron
is usually excited to some higher vibration level of either S1 or S2 and rapidly relaxes (10-12
s–10-15 s) to the lowest vibration level of S1. Return from level S1 to the ground state S0
produces fluorescence emission. Examination of the Jablonski diagram revels that the
energy of emission is less than that of absorption. Hence, fluorescence occurs at lower
energies or longer wavelength (Stokes shift). The amount of Stokes shift is a measure of the
relaxation process occurring in the excited state, populated by absorption. Another property
of fluorescence is that the same fluorescence emission spectrum is generally observed
irrespective of the excitation wavelength. This is known as Kasha´s rule. Although
fluorescence measurements are more sophisticated than an absorption (transmission)
experiment, they provide a wealth of the information about the molecular structure,
interaction and dynamics of species.
178 Modelling, Programming and Simulations Using LabVIEW™ Software

S2
photon
S1
absorption
(10-15s) fluorescence
(10-9 – 10 -7 s)
2
1
S0 0

Fig. 1. A simple Jablonski diagram

Two important characteristics of a fluorophore are its quantum yield and its fluorescence
lifetime. The quantum yield is the number of emitted photons relative to the number of
absorbed photons, and it is given by equation (1). Г is the decay rate by spontaneous
emission and knr is the decay rate which do not produce radiation, and it is associated to
energy losses by vibrational relaxations and internal conversions. The fluorescence lifetime τ
is defined as the average time from the fluorophore excitation to the return to ground state,
when the optical excitation is a δ impulse function and it can be expressed as (2).

Γ (1)
Q=
Γ + knr

1
τ= (2)
Γ + knr
The population in excited state decays at rate Г+ knr according to equation (3), where n(t) is
the number of excited molecule. In fluorescence spectroscopy, instead of excited molecule
n(t), an equivalent quantity as irradiance I(t) is measured. The result is an exponential decay
of the irradiance as equation (4). The lifetime τ is the decay time from maximum value Io to
its fraction 1/e.

dn(t) 1 (3)
= n(t)
dt τ

I( t ) = Io exp(− t / τ) (4)

1.2 Fluorescence measurements

Fluorescence measurements can be broadly classified into two types: steady-state and time-
resolved. Steady-state measurements are those performed with constant illumination and
observation, this is the most common type of measurement. The sample is illuminated with
a continuous beam of light and the intensity of the emission is usually recorded as a
wavelength function (fluorescence spectrum), as it is shown in figure 2. When the sample is
exposed to light, steady state is reached almost immediately. Time-resolved measurements
are used for measuring intensity decays. For those measurements, the sample is exposed to
a pulse of light, where the pulse width is typically shorter than the decay time of the sample.
Time-Resolved Fluorescence Spectroscopy with LabView 179

The intensity decay is recorded with a high speed detection system that allows the intensity
to be measured on a nanoseconds timescale. Figure 3 shows an example of time-domain
measurement of an excitation laser pulse and the fluorescent response pulse. Time-
dependent measurements resolve fluorescence intensity decays in terms of lifetimes, and
thus provide additional information about the intra and intermolecular dynamics of the
fluorophore (the fluorescent compound of the sample) under study (Lakowicz, 1991),
(Lakowics, 1999), (Gore, 2000).

steady-state
fluorescence

Fig. 2. Steady-state measurements

excitation fluorescence
laser response
pulse pulse

Fig. 3. Time-resolved measurements

There exists a rather simple relationship between steady-state and time-resolved
measurements. The steady-state intensity Iss is an average of the time resolved phenomena
over the intensity decay of the sample, as equation (5). The value of the intensity Io depends
on the fluorophore concentration.

∞
Iss = ∫ Ioe−t/τdt = Ioτ (5)
0

Figure 4 shows the general structure of a spectrofluorometer to measure steady-state and

time-resolved fluorescence. Usually, the sample under study is excited with ultraviolet light,
the sample emits florescence in all directions, and part of this emission is captured at the
monochromator input. The monochromator output is a light with a single wavelength (λ)
component of the input light, coming from the sample. The light from the monochromator
output is captured by a photodetector (FD), which produces a current signal proportional to
response fluorescence signal. This electrical signal is processed and acquired to be read by
the computer.
180 Modelling, Programming and Simulations Using LabVIEW™ Software

Light Source

fluorescence λ Control

Monochromator FD Acquisition
sample

Fig. 4. General structure of a spectrofluorometer

The main differences between steady-state and time-resolved fluorometers are two: the light
source (continuous or pulsed) and data acquisition process requirements. For steady-state
measurements the values to acquire are constant, and thus there are not high speed
requirements. The acquisition process uses real-time sampling technique. A low cost DAQ
board or microcontroller is enough to acquire steady-state data. A time-domain fluorometer
requires a high speed digitizer to resolve ns fluorescence decays. Normally this digitizer
uses an equivalent-time sampling method to acquire temporal data on nanoseconds
timescales. It is a common practice to use a digital oscilloscope as digitizer system.

1.3 Fluorescence applications

The spectrofluorometry is related to the measurement of the emission spectra produced by
fluorescent samples, it is the most extensively used optical spectroscopic method in
analytical measurements and scientific investigation to measure the concentration species in
gases, liquids and solids. In the scientific research laboratory, fluorescence spectroscopy is
being used or applied to study the fundamental physical processes of molecules, structure-
function relationships and interactions of biomolecules (Gore, 2000), (Valeur, 2002). In-situ
fluorescence measurements are too very important in others areas as the study of water and
soil contamination (Anderson et al., 2003), the chlorophyll fluorescence in green plants to
know their physiological and health status (Nesterenko et al., 2007), the study of chemical
and physical changes in dairy products caused by processing and storage (Moller &
Mortensen, 2008), or for adulteration assessment (Poulli et al., 2007).
The fluorescence spectroscopy is now widely used for biomedical purposes and clinical
analysis. The fluorescence emission from the skin can be used to monitor changes induced
by the UV radiation. In vivo spectrofluorometry has emerged as a powerful technique for
biomedical research covering abroad spectrum, from study of cellular and tissue structures,
to biological function and early detection of cancer (Paras, 2003), (Tuan, 2003). Optical
biopsy refers to detection of cancerous state of a tissue using optical methods. This is a new
area, offering the potential to use noninvasive or minimally invasive in vivo optical
spectroscopic methods, to identify a cancer at its various early stages and monitor its
progression. The basic principle utilized for the method of optical biopsy is that the emission
fluorescence is strongly influenced by the composition and the cellular structures of tissues.
The changes in tissue from normal state to cancerous state have been show to alter the
fluorescence. Biomedical fluorescence spectroscopy is an extremely large and growing field
of research (Paras, 2003), (Tuan, 2003).
Time-Resolved Fluorescence Spectroscopy with LabView 181

2. Time-resolved fluorescence spectrometer

Figure 5 shows the experimental arrangement of a home made instrument to measure time-
resolved fluorescence signals emitted by samples under study. The nitrogen laser (N2)
generates short light pulses to a beam divider, where part of the incident light is reflected
toward a reference photodiode (PD). This detector produces an electric pulse, similar to
laser pulse, which triggers the oscilloscope to start an acquisition process of the signals
present on both oscilloscope input channels. Most of the laser pulse passes trough the
divider to an optical chamber formed by a biconvex lens, an ultraviolet filter (337.1 nm) and
a sample holder.

N2 pulsed laser
Digital Oscilloscope
elp
PD CH1 (trigger) GPIB LabVIEW
efp CH2
Optical
fiber PMT
RS-232
Monochromator λ
sample holder Control

Fig. 5. Time-resolved fluorescence spectrometer

The response fluorescence pulse emitted by the sample is collected by an optical fiber and
delivered to monochromator input. The luminous pulse at monochromator output is
detected by a photo multiplier tube (PMT) and converted to an electrical current pulse. The
laser (elp) and fluorescence (efp) electrical pulses are measured with oscilloscope channels 1
and 2, and the information registered of both signals is sent to a computer via a GPIB
interface. These time-resolved signals correspond to a single monochromator output
wavelength. The wavelength control communicates with the computer via a serial port RS-
232. A control program was developed in the graphical language G of LabVIEW™ 7.1 to
control the process, and to register and plot the time-resolved pulses.

2.1 Pulsed light source

When a fluorophore is excited with light, the emitted fluorescence propagates in all
directions, and only a small fraction of fluorescence intensity reaches the monochromator
input. Therefore a light source with relative high power emission is required. It has been
common practice to use a nitrogen laser, as monochromatic pulsed light source in
fluorescence spectroscopy. Now days the nitrogen laser can be replaced by a laser diode but
at a higher cost. During the past years the light emitter semiconductor materials have been
improved, lowering wavelengths up to deep UV region, and increasing emission powers, at
lower costs than laser diodes (Geddes & Lakowicz, 2004). Figure 6 shows a home made
nitrogen laser system. The nitrogen is injected to a discharge chamber at around 20 mbar.
When the spark-gap (SP) is open the capacitors C1 and C2 are charging from the high dc
voltage supply and a 10 MΩ resistors bank (inductance L behaves as short-circuit). The
voltage trough capacitors increases exponentially up to the spark-gap threshold voltage,
then C1 discharges immediately trough the spark-gap, and C2 discharges trough the
nitrogen inside the chamber (now L behaves as open-circuit). The excited nitrogen by the
182 Modelling, Programming and Simulations Using LabVIEW™ Software

discharge produces an ultraviolet light pulse (337. 1 nm) at chamber output. After discharge
the spark-gap is open, L behaves as a short-circuit, and capacitors voltage start to increase
again. The repetition rate of laser pulses is given by time constant RC (around 30 ms) and
the applied high voltage. With 10KV a frequency rate near 30 Hz is obtained.

NITROGEN
Discharge
chamber
Vacumm pump N2 laser
pulse
(337.1 nm)
High DC
R L
voltage
(0-15KV) SP C1 C2

Fig. 6. Nitrogen pulsed laser

2.2 Monochromator
A monochromator is an optical system which decomposes an input light in its different
wavelength components, and selects a single wavelength component at its output. Most of
monochromators used in fluorescence spectroscopy contains a diffraction grating as
dispersion element, since the inverse of the dispersion factor (D-1) is constant at all
wavelength. This parameter has nm/mm units and relates the effective wavelength
bandwidth which goes trough the monochromator input slit, it is a quality factor of the
monochromator (typical values: 2–8 nm/mm). The wavelength resolution is not important
since the fluorescent emission spectra are wider than 5 nm. Normally, monochromators
have input and output adjustable slits. The luminous intensity at any slit input is
approximately proportional to the square of the slit width. For wider slits more light goes
through the slit and then, the signal to noise ratio increases. A narrow slit improves the
resolution at intensity expenses (Lakowicz, 1991), (Lakowics, 1999), (Gore, 2000).
For our spectrofluorometer we use a monochromator from Acton Research Corp., model
SpectraPro 275, which is of the Czerny-Turner type with focal length of 275 mm. The
instrument contains three selectable gratings for three different wavelength intervals. We
use a grating with 2400 groves/mm for a 200 - 750 nm interval. The reciprocal linear
dispersion factor D-1 is 3 nm/mm. The equipment includes a microprocessor control with
menu driven software for scan control, grating selection, and change of scanning speed. All
scanning functions and control parameters are selected locally from a keypad and a LCD
display. Computer control is provided trough a standard RS-232 port.

2.3 Photodetectors
Perhaps the most used photodetector for time-resolved fluorescence spectroscopy is the
photomultiplier tube (PMT), because two relevant characteristics: its high gain with low
noise, which allows detecting weak fluorescence signals, and its fast response. A PMT
consists of a photocathode covered with an emitter surface and a chain of electrodes
(dynodes) which acts as amplification stages. The photocatode is supplied with a high
negative potential (-1 KV to -2 KV) and dynodes also are supplied with negative potentials,
Time-Resolved Fluorescence Spectroscopy with LabView 183

but less in magnitude for each dynode in the chain. The radiation reaching the photocatode
produces emission of some primary electrons which are accelerated to the first dynode.
When each one of these electrons hits the dynode several additionally electrons are emitted
by collisions, and accelerated to the next dynode. The amplification process is repeated
successively and the produced current is collected at the end of the chain (Lakowicz, 1999).
Other photodetector of growing use in steady-state fluorescence spectroscopy is the charge
coupled device (CCD). This device consists of a thin silicon substrate with thousands or
millions of small photodetectors elements, in one or two dimensional array. The substrate is
coupled to metallic electrodes by means of silicon dioxide, and each element of the array
functions as a MOS photodiode and capacitor (storage element). The charge related to the
light intensity detected by each image element (pixel), is acquired sequentially and then
converted into a digital format inside de same CCD (Spring, 2010).
An instrument with a single channel photodetecor like a PMT, produces a spectrum by
means of the diffraction grating. For each grating position, a single point of information is
registered. In contrast, a multichannel detector like CCD collects many points
simultaneously; this permits to acquire a complete spectrum data in a single exposition. The
acquisition speed of steady-state spectrum is much higher with a CCD (almost real time),
compared with the acquisition speed with PMT (point by point). The major disadvantage of
a CDD is its slow response time, or limited bandwidth, and then its application in time
resolved spectroscopy is limited.
Now days there are complete PMT modules which include: a cd-cd converter to supply the
high voltage required by the PMT, from a single +15 V supply, a cd voltage input to control
PMT gain, and an output reference voltage. We use the PMT module H7732P-11
manufactured by Hamamatsu. This module contains a high sensitivity photomultiplier tube
with 4x20 mm2 of effective area of detection, a peak radiant sensitivity of 80 mA/W at 430
nm, 2 ns characteristic rise-time, and a capacitance of 4 pF. The output current pulse
generated by the PMT is sent the oscilloscope through a coaxial cable. A voltage pulse is
produced through the input impedance of the oscilloscope analog input. This impedance
must be low enough to increase the bandwidth at the analog front end of the oscilloscope
(see section 2.4)
In figure 5 a fraction of the laser pulse is reflected by a beam divider toward a reference
photodiode. When the photodiode is negative biased, it produces an inverse current
proportional to the light intensity, detected by its active area at the junction. The photodiode
produces a current pulse similar to laser pulse which excites the sample. Also this reference
current pulse is converted to a voltage pulse trough the input impedance of the oscilloscope
analog input. This reference pulse is used as trigger signal to the oscilloscope to start the
acquisition process on both input channels. We use the fast photodiode MRD500 with a
response time of 1 ns on 50 Ω load, a sensitivity of 1 nA/mW/cm2 at 337.1 nm, and a
capacitance of 4 pF.

2.4 Time-domain measurements

An automatic process for time-domain measurements involves the use of a digitizer
(programmable digital system or digital oscilloscope), thus the continuous-time fluorescence
pulse to measure has to be converted to a digital format in order to be recognized by the
digital system. There are two basic sampling methods to perform the analog-to-digital
conversion (ADC): real-time sampling and equivalent-time sampling. Equivalent-time
sampling can by dived further into two sub-categories: random and sequential. Each
184 Modelling, Programming and Simulations Using LabVIEW™ Software

method has distinct advantages depending on the kind of measurements being made
(Lawton, 1986), (Nahman, 1978). Real-time methods require only a single occurrence of the
signal to acquire an entire waveform, and the sampler operates at maximum speed to
acquire as many points as possible in one sweep. Figure 7 shows the real-time sampling
process with a sample rate = 1/Ts.
Equivalent-time methods, on other hand, require multiple occurrences of the signal to
acquire the waveform. Samples are acquired over many repetitions of the signal, with one or
more samples taken on each repetition. The sequential equivalent-time technique includes a
trigger signal as figure 8 shows.

one sweep

t
Ts single ocurrence
of the signal

Fig. 7. Real-time sampling

trigger n occurrences
of the signal
sample 1
t
1

sample 2
t
2
sample 3
t
3

sample n
t
n
∆t
T1 recovered
signal
t

Fig. 8. Sequential equivalent-time sampling

When the first trigger is detected the first sample is taken after a fixed initial timeT1. At the
next period, a second sample is taken after a very short, but well defined, delay ∆t from the
time position of the first sample. When the next trigger occurs, the same time ∆t is added to
the previous delay and another sample is taken. This process is repeated many times, and
after n periods of the signal, n samples have been taken to recover the waveform of the
signal. If the sample point is shifted in sufficiently small steps ∆t, this sampling method
provides a very high bandwidths (65 GHz and higher) and timing resolution needed for
Time-Resolved Fluorescence Spectroscopy with LabView 185

time-resolved fluorescence signals. In random equivalent-time mode, portions of waveforms

are acquired in real-time sampling during multiple trigger events. Over time, these portions
are assembled into a complete waveform. Modern digital programmable oscilloscopes apply
the three sampling techniques mentioned before, depending on the kind of measurements
being made. In fluorescence spectroscopy, where nanoseconds times have to be resolved,
the sequential equivalent-time is normally used.
To measure the reference and response signals in figure 5, we use the digital oscilloscope
model 2440 from Tektronix®. This oscilloscope has 300 MHz analog input bandwidth, 500
MS/s maximum sampling rate, and 1 MΩ input impedance. This impedance can be
programmed to be 50 Ω, as it is needed to measure the current signals coming from the
photodetectors. Most of the oscilloscope features can be programmed from its rear panel, or
from a computer via its GPIB port. We use the interface board GPIB-USB-HS from National
Instruments, which is directly connected to the oscilloscope GPIB port. This board
communicates with the computer via USB interface.

2.5 Bandwidth and rise-time specifications

Particularly we are interesting to time-resolve fluorescence lifetimes in nanoseconds order.
For these very short times there are two important specifications of the acquisition system
behavior to consider, these are its bandwidth analog front end BW(afe) and its equivalent
rise time tr(afe). Bandwidth describes the analog front end's ability to capture an analog
signal with minimal amplitude loss, and rise time slowing. Bandwidth is defined as the
frequency at which the amplitude of the sampled signal decays 30% due to ADC
performance. The rise time for a signal is defined as the time to transit from 10% to 90% of
the maximum signal amplitude. Both concepts can be applied in general to signals, to
systems, or to components, and they are inversely related by equation (6), which is based on
the one pole model, R-C limited input response [Ardizzoni, 2007].

0.35 (6)
BW =
tr
In our instrument the rise-time at analog front ends of the oscilloscope can be estimated
from the time constant introduced by photodetectors output capacitance, and the impedance
of the oscilloscope input channels. The rise-time for this RC circuit is given by tr = 2.2RC,
where the input impedance R must be low enough to decrees rise-time (or to increase the
bandwidth) at analog front end. The capacitance has a value of 4 pF for both photodetectors,
and the input impedance is programmed to be 50 Ω, thus the rise-time at analog front end of
both input channels is 0.44 ns or equivalently 800 MHz bandwidth according to equation (6).
Not only the rise-time of the analog front end at acquisition system input, but also rise-times
of oscilloscope and photodetectors contribute to slowing the input signal. The measured rise
time tr(m) can be estimated by using a sum-of-squares technique as equation (7), where
tr(exc) is the excitation pulse rise-time, and tr(eq) is the equipment characteristic rise-time
(Weller, 2002). The equipment square rise-time can be expressed as equation (8), where each
term in summation is the square rise-time of the k component in the measuring chain.

tr 2 (m) = tr 2 (exc) + tr 2 (eq ) (7)

tr 2 (eq) = ∑ tr 2 ( k ) (8)
k
186 Modelling, Programming and Simulations Using LabVIEW™ Software

Figure 9 shows a diagram with the main components in our electronic instrumental, where
rise-times and bandwidths values are indicated for each component. Some of these values
are given by manufacturers and others are calculated from equation (6).

laser tr(pd) = 1ns tr(afe) = 0.44 ns

pulse BW(pd) = 350 MHz BW(afe) = 800 MHz
lp Oscilloscope
PD Analog
CH1
fp front
CH2
Monochromator PMT ends
tr(pmt) = 2 ns tr(osc) = 1.166 ns
BW(pmt) = 175 MHz BW(osc) = 300 MHz

Fig. 9. Characteristic rise-times and bandwidths of each component of the measure chain
The laser pulse (lp) is detected by the photodiode (PD) and the fluorescence response pulse
(fp) is detected by the PMT. From values in figure 9 and equation (8) we calculate for PD:
tr(eq)PD = 1.59 ns, and for PMT: tr(eq)PMT = 2.35 ns. The laser pulse measured by the
oscilloscope (figure 19, section 3.3) has a rise-time tr(lpm) = 1.78 ns, thus we can estimate the
rise-time of the laser pulse as follows:

(
tr(lp) = tr 2 (lpm) − tr 2 (eq)PD )
1/ 2
= 0.821 ns (9)

If the sample does not emit fluorescence (distillated water, per example) the laser pulse
enters directly to monochromator, and then the measured signal corresponds to the system
response and we can write the following expression:

tr 2 (spm) = tr 2 (lp) + tr 2 (eq)MC - PMT (10)

where tr(srm) is the rise-time of the system response pulse measured by the oscilloscope
(figure 19) with a value of 5.64 ns, and tr(eq)MC-PMT is the equipment rise-time including
monochromator rise-time. From values obtained we can assume tr2(srm)>>tr2(lp), and then
tr(eq)MC-PMT is approximately equal to tr(srm). This is the characteristic rise-time which
slowing the fluorescence response signal, and it is mainly caused by the monochromator
rise-time, for which we estimate tr(mc) = 5.13 ns. Other used form to quantified the slowing
of the input signal is by means of the system temporal resolution, which is expressed in
terms of pulse widths Δt as equation (11) (Lakowicz, 1991).

Δt 2 (m) = Δt 2 (exc) + Δt 2 (eq ) (11)

3. Spectrofluorometer control program in LabView

A control program was developed in the graphical language G of LabVIEW 7.1
environment. This program controls the monochromator to generate a wavelength (λ)
sweep, and reads the information of the time-resolved signals (excitation and response)
measured by the oscilloscope in each λ value. The program was designed to execute one of
three main functions, these are: a) GoTo/Measure Noise, b) Sweep, and c) Open Files. Following
lines describe the algorithm for the main program.
Time-Resolved Fluorescence Spectroscopy with LabView 187

S0) Serial Port Init.vi, goto λ.vi (250nm), actualλ = 250 nm ; initiation, sequenceS0
S1) while (STOP=false) ; sequence S1
case (Tab Control)
Go To / Measure Noise ; wait for a sub function Go to λ or Measure Noise = on
Sweep ; wait for a sub function Start = on
Open Files ; wait for a sub function Time Domain or Spectrum = on
In sequence S0, the serial port is initialized and the monochromator is positioned at 250 nm
output wavelength, by means of the subvi “goto λ.vi”. Then in sequence S1) a while
sentence is executed for ever up to “STOP” control on the front panel (figure 16) is pressed.
The function to execute is selected by means of a “Tab Control”, for each function the panel
shows the proper controls to start a sub function execution. Before reviewing the objects on
the front panel we describe the program functions and developed subVI´s. Figure 10 shows
a simplified diagram of the control logic during initial while sentence, when function Go
To/Measure Noise is selected. For this function there are two sub function controls: if Measure
Noise=on (as in figure 10) the respective algorithm is executed, if Measure Noise=off, means
Go to λ=on, and then in the inner case structure, the “False” sentence executes the
correspondence algorithm.

Fig. 10. Main while sentence S1

3.1 Functions and SubVi´s

Following lines describe the algorithms of program functions and developed subVI´s. Some
LabVIEW diagrams are included.

a) Go To/Measure Noise
wait for (Go To λ or Measure Noise = on)
if Go To λ=on ; see diagram in figure 11
VER. Interval.vi ; verify valid values of λ, if not valid, do nothing and display an
error message
goto λ.vi (λ to go) ; sends a command via serial port to move the monochromator
from the actual value of λ (actualλ) to the destination value of λ (λ to go)
actualλ = λ to go
188 Modelling, Programming and Simulations Using LabVIEW™ Software

Fig. 11. Sub function Go To λ = on

if Measure Noise = on ; see diagram in figure 12
TM2440.vi (CH1, CH2, XInc) ; this sub.vi controls the oscilloscope via GPIB interface,
to start a waveform acquisition of signals at channels 1 and 2. Acquisition ends
when the oscilloscope had measured 16 waveforms of both input channels. The
oscilloscope calculates average values of the waveforms measured, and send
the averaged signals to subVi outputs CH1 and CH2, as k length arrays with
k=1024 (fixed by oscilloscope). The output X inc corresponds to time interval
used by oscilloscope during its temporal sweep. This subVi is a reduced and
modified version from the original LabVIEW driver for the used oscilloscope.
noise1(k) = CH1
noise2(k) = CH2
time(k) = k*XInc
graph noise1(k) and noise2(k) vs time(k) in XY Graph “noise”
save data?
if yes “Write to Spreadsheet. vi”
The contents of arrays noise1(k) and noise2(k) are interpreted as noise information to be
subtracted dynamically from the measured signals during the sweep function.

CH1

CH2
1

Fig. 12. Sub function Measure Noise = on

Time-Resolved Fluorescence Spectroscopy with LabView 189

b) Sweep
wait for (Start =on)
VER. Interval.vi ; verify valid λ values
goto λ.vi (initialλ) ; move monochromator from actualλ to initialλ
actualλ = initialλ
while (finalλ > actualλ) ; sweep while
TM2440.vi (CH1, CH2, XInc)
lp(k) = CH1-noise1(k) ;laser pulse measurement with noise subtraction
fp(k) = CH2-noise2(k) ;fluorescence pulse measurement with noise subtraction
time(k) = k*XInc
graph lp(k) and fp(k) vs time(k) in XY Graph “temporal response”
nfp = max[fp(k)]/max[lp(k)] ; because de laser pulse amplitude is not constant, it is
necessary to normalize the fluorescence pulse
amplitude at maximum peak
save in file: time(k), lp(k), fp(k)
Figure 13 shows a sequence where the file with the time-domain information
is saved at locations given by the Path control and a string. This string is
formed with the Base Name control and the value of actualλ, thus the file
name contains the wavelength value at which the temporal data were
measured. In the diagram there is a boolean constant to avoid saving time-
domain data during the test procedures.
add element actualλ to array λ(j), and element nfp to array nfp(j) ; see figure 13
graph nfp(j) vs λ (j) in XY graph ”spectrum” ; see figure 13
goto λ.vi (λactualλ + Δ λ)
actualλ = actualλ + Δ λ
save spectrum λ(j), nfp(j) ?; when sweep loop ends the complete spectrum can be saved

Fig. 13. A sequence of Sweep function to save time-domain data measured in a file with a
name containing actual λ value
190 Modelling, Programming and Simulations Using LabVIEW™ Software

c) Open Files
wait for (Time Domain=on or Spectrum=on)
if Time Domain =on
open temps.vi ; this subVi can open several files with time-domain data and
graph these in its own XY Graph. Each time that a new file is opened the graph is
actualized. Because the subVi keeps in loop waiting for a new file to open, the
information of this graph is transferred to the main panel XY Grap called
“tempResponses”, by means of “control references”, as figure 14 shows.
if Spectrum=on
open spectra.vi ; this subVi performs similar to the previous one, but it opens
spectra data. Also uses “control references”
SubVi: goto λ.vi (λ to go)

Fig. 14. “control references”

Figure 15 shows the two first sequences of subVi goto λ.vi. At left in first sequence, a string
is ensemble to form the command “goto” recognized by the monochromator control. The
command is sent to control via Serial Port Write.vi. Once the monochromator motor starts to
move, it takes a time to reach the value of λ to go from actual λ. In second sequence this time
is calculated according to maximum speed, and it is used as input to a delay element. It is
important to reach λ to go before the oscilloscope starts an acquisition process.

Fig. 15. First two sequences of SubVi goto λ.vi λ to go).

3.2 Front panel

The front panel of the developed program is shown in figure 16, where Sweep Function is
selected by a Tap Control. At left there are 3 numeric controls to introduce λ values of the
sweep to perform. At top there are two controls to introduce the Path and Base Name of the
files to store time-domain information for a complete sweep. With selected values, the Start
control is pressed to begin the sweep. First the monochromator output wavelength is
controlled to move from actual λ (indicator at top-left corner on the panel) to initial λ, and
then the oscilloscope is controlled to start waveform acquisition of laser pulse and
fluorescence pulse. Each recorded laser and fluorescence pulses consisted on average
Time-Resolved Fluorescence Spectroscopy with LabView 191

Fig. 16. Frontal Panel when Sweep function is selected and stopped at 560nm.
of 16 consecutive pulses computed by the oscilloscope before transfer to the computer. After
receiving time-domain data from oscilloscope, the computer graphs the average time-
resolved pulses on “temporal response” graph in figure 16, calculates the normalized peak
fluorescence, and graphs this value on “spectrum” graph. The computer shifts the
monochromator output wavelength by 5 nm and reset the oscilloscope for the next
measurement. The sweep loop ends when final λ value is reached or Stop control is pressed
(bottom-left corner). In figure 16 de sweep was stopped by “Stop” control, when
monochromator was moving from 560nm to 565nm. The panels for other two functions
show only their respective controls and indicators, similar to those in figure 16.

3.3 Measurements
Using the described spectrofluorometer and LabView program, we measured the
fluorescence emitted by 3 substances with well known fluorescence life-times; these are
fluoresceine, rhodamine 6G and rhodamine B. Their properties vary according to the used
solvent. For distillated water as solvent, the life-time and wavelength at maximum emission
of the fluorophores are: fluoresceine (4.03 ns, 517 nm), rhodamine 6G (4.08 ns, 555 nm) and
rhodamine B (1.68 ns, 583 nm). Also we measured the fluorescence emitted by 3 mixtures of
two fluorophores. For each fluorophore and mixture, were performed 6 wavelength sweeps
192 Modelling, Programming and Simulations Using LabVIEW™ Software

from 400nm to 700nm with 5nm increments. The average spectra obtained for individual
fluorophores are shown in figure 17, where λ value at maximum emission is indicated for
each substance. Figure 18 shows the average spectra obtained for 3 mixtures of two
components (50% each): fluoresceine–rhodamine 6G (f-r6G), fluoresceine–rhodamine
B (f-rB) and rhodamine 6G–rhodamine B (r6G-rB).

Fig. 17. Average spectra of fluorophores

Fig. 18. Average spectra of mixtures

In figure 17 we observe that wavelengths at maximum emission peaks of the three
fluorophores, are greater than the before mentioned reference values. These deviations may
be produced because monochromator is out of calibration. In figure 18 the spectrum of
mixture f-rB shows the emission peaks, one around 521 nm and other near 594 nm, both
fluorophores. Because the spectra of the fluoresceine and the rhodamine 6G, and the spectra
of the rhodamine 6G and the rhodamine B, overlap each other in a wider region. The
wavelength at maximal emission in both mixtures are shifted in relation to their pure
components.
Figure 19 shows the average time-resolved laser pulse and the system response pulse. This
pulse was measured using distillated water as sample, which does not produce
fluorescence. From recorded data we estimate for laser pulse tr(lpm) = 1.78 ns and
FWHM(lpm) = 2.752 ns, and for system response pulse tr(srm) = 5.647 ns and FWHM(srm)
= 13.28 ns. The average time-resolved fluorescence responses, measured for each
fluorophore are shown in figure 20, where corresponding λ value is indicated. Figure 21
shows the average time-resolved fluorescence responses measured for each mixture at two
different wavelengths. In section 4 we apply an analysis technique to estimate fluorescence
life-times from the measured data.
Time-Resolved Fluorescence Spectroscopy with LabView 193

Fig. 19. Average time-resolved laser pulse and system response pulse

Fig. 20. Average time-resolved fluorescence responses each fluorophore

Fig. 21. Average time-resolved fluorescence responses of mixtures

4. Data analysis to estimate fluorescence lifetimes

In section 1.1 we stated that the fluorescence intensity due to a population of excited-state
molecules decreases exponentially with time, following their instantaneous optical excitation,
but equation (4) is only valid for δ impulse optical excitation. In practical time-domain
spectroscopy, the excitation light pulse is of finite duration, and can be consider a δ function
only if the florescence exponential decay is much greater than the excitation light pulse width.
On other hand, there is not a direct relation between the exponential model of equation (4)
with measured decays, meanly because the measurement instrumental introduces amplitude
loss and rise time slowing of the signals to measure (section 2.5). Thus it is necessary to apply
data analysis techniques to find the best estimation of fluorescence lifetimes.
194 Modelling, Programming and Simulations Using LabVIEW™ Software

4.1 Convolution integral and instrumental response

Mathematically, the fluorescence intensity decay data y(t) of a sample excited by a short
pulse of light, is given by the convolution of the impulse response function h(t) (also called
IRF) of the fluorescent sample, with the excitation light pulse f(t), i.e.
∞
y(t) = h(t)*f(t) = ∫ h(τ) f(t-τ) dτ (12)
-∞

The impulse response function h(t), represents the undistorted decay law of the sample
which we want to estimate. If the excitation is an ideal δ function, the observed
fluorescence y(t) is equal to the impulse response. In practice, the excitation light pulse is
not a δ function, and then this pulse must be deconvolved from observed fluorescence
intensity pulse to obtain h(t) (Lakowicz, 1999). As we mentioned, the inclusion of the
instrumental to measure the florescence emitted by the sample, introduces distortions in
the measured signal. To consider this, the data acquisition process can be represented as
figure 22, where f(t) represents the excitation optical pulse, h(t) represents the
fluorescence decay of the sample, y(t) is a signal with fluorescence information, s(t)
represents the spectrometer response, and m(t) is the signal measured. The convolution of
the complete system is given by equation (13).

Light pulse y(t) Measure

Fluorescent sample Spectrometer m(t)
f(t)
h(t) s(t)

Fig. 22. Inclusion of the spectrometer response s(t) to measure the y(t)

m(t) = s(t) * y(t) = s(t) * [h(t) * f(t)] (13)

To recover the fluorescence information from measured signals f(t) and m(t), the
spectrometer response s(t) must be known. If the sample does not produce fluorescence (i.e.
distillated water), thus h(t) = 1 and the measured signal represents the instrumental
response: ir(t) = s(t)*f(t). Substituting this convolution in equation (13) yields:

m(t) = ir(t) * h(t) (14)

Then, to estimate the intrinsic fluorescence h(t), the measured fluorescence m(t) must be
deconvolved from the measured instrumental response ir(t).

4.2 Deconvolution techniques

Several deconvolution techniques have been developed to estimate the intrinsic fluorescence
decay h(t) of a sample, from measured signals m(t) and ir(t). The measurement of these
signals involves an analog to digital conversion process, where the signals are sampled in
discrete times tn. To be according with mathematical variables, we renamed our measured
variables: y(tn) represents the fluorescence measured, and f(tn) represents the instrumental
response. For discrete time the convolution of equation (14) becomes a summation as
equation (15), where N is de number of samples, and T is the sampling interval.
Time-Resolved Fluorescence Spectroscopy with LabView 195

N -1
y( t n ) = T ∑ h( t m ) f( t m - t n ) (15)
m =0

As first approach we use the Fourier transform deconvolution method, which transforms
the convolution in time-domain to a product in frequency-domain (O´Connor, 1979), i.e:

Y(ωn) = H(ωn) F(ωn) (16)

In frequency-domain the intrinsic fluorescence H(ωn) is calculated by division, and then
h(tn,) is found by the inverse Fourier transform of H(ωn). It is suggested the use of the fast
Fourier transform to greatly reduce the inherent oscillations produced during the inverse
transformation process (0´Connor, 1979). Data analysis of time-resolved fluorescence
spectroscopy includes identification of a set of fitting parameters that best describe the
characteristics of the fluorescence decay. Typically the intrinsic fluorescence h(tn,) found by
deconvolution is assumed to be a multiple exponential decays function, from where
lifetimes τ are obtained.
Among other methods, the most commonly used deconvolution technique is the nonlinear
least-squares iterative reconvolution (LSIR) method. This technique applies a least-squares
minimization algorithm to compute the coefficients of a multiexponential expansion of the
fluorescence decay. A variant of classical LSIR method assumes the intrinsic fluorescence
h(t) as an expansion on discrete time Laguerre functions, instead of a weighted sum of
exponential functions (Maarek et all, 2000) (Jo et all, 2004). The Laguerre deconvolution
technique uses an orthonormal set of discrete time Laguerre functions (LF) to expand the
intrinsic fluorescence, i.e.:
L −1
h(t n ) = ∑ c j bαj (t n ) (17)
j=0

where cj are the unknown Laguerre expansion coefficients, which are to be estimated from
input data; b α (t n ) denotes the j´th order discrete time LF; and L is the number of LFs used to
j
model h(tn). The LF basis is defined as equation (18), where the Laguerre parameter (0<α<1)
determines the rate of exponential decline of the LF (Maarek et all, 2000) (Jo et all, 2004).
Inserting equation (17) into equation (15), the convolution becomes as equation (19).
j

k =0
( k ) ( kj )α
b αj (t n ) = α ( n −1) / 2 (1 − α)1/ 2 ∑ (−1) k n k n ( j− k )
(1 − α) k (18)

L−1
y(t n ) = ∑ c j υ j(t n ) (19)
j=0

k-1
υ j(t n ) = T ∑ bαj (t m ) f(t n - t m ) (20)
m =0

In equation (20) υj(tn) are the discrete time convolutions of the instrumental response with
the LF. The unknown expansion coefficients can be estimated by generalized linear squares
fitting of equation (19), using the measured discrete signals y(tn) and f(tn). This procedure
involves the solution of a system of j equations. The optimal number of LFs and the value of
the parameter α can be determined by minimizing the weighted sum of residuals:
196 Modelling, Programming and Simulations Using LabVIEW™ Software

N -1
Φ = ∑ w n [y0 ( t n ) − yC ( t n )] (21)
2

n =0

where wn is a weighting factor, yo(tn) is the measured fluorescence, and yc(tn) is the
fluorescence computed by equation (15). Equation (15) is the convolution of the Laguerre
expansion h(tn) of equation (17) with instrumental response f(tn). The iterative process ends
when Φ reaches a minimum given value. The florescence decay lifetimes can by found by
approximating the Laguerre expansion obtained to a multiexponential expansion.

4.3 Data analysis program

A data analysis program was developed in the graphical language G of LabVIEW 7.1 to
estimate the intrinsic fluorescence decay h(tn), from deconvolution of the measured signals
y(tn) and f(tn). This program applies the two deconvolution techniques described in section
4.2: Fast Fourier transform (FFT) and Laguerre expansion (LE). The intrinsic fluorescence
h(tn) obtained with both methods is fitted to a simple exponential for a single fluorophore,
or to double exponential for two compounds mixtures. From fitting results we can estimate
the fluorescence lifetimes τ of the samples.
Before use the measured signals in any deconvolution method, they are first filtered to
suppress undesired noises. The algorithm developed for noise filtering uses cursors
resources of LabView. When this cursor facilities are used inside a while loop, it is possible
to observe graphically the process results for different positions of the cursors. While the
cursors in a graph are displaced, in other graph the process results are shown continuously.
The filtering algorithm transforms the time-domain signals to frecuency-domain and a
band-pass is selected by means of the cursors. The algorithm is described in following lines:
open a file with data tn, f(tn) and yo(tn), assign signals data to program variables f and yo ;
graph yo in a Waveform Graph “signals” (left graphs of figure 24) ;
obtain Fourier transforms of both signals: FFT{f} and FFT{yo}, using Real FFT.vi ;
graph FFT{yo} in XY Graph “FFT Real Mag” (right graphs of figure 24) ;
while (ok filter = off) ; while loop for dynamic processing, see figure 23
read cursors positions in “FFT Real Mag” (blue traces in right graphs of figure 24) using
property nodes, and find minimum and maximum x-indexes ;
Cutoff.vi ; this subVI uses array functions to create a sub array with only the elements
which are located between the cursor x-indexes, this means a cutoff of the signal
outside the cursors positions. In graph “FFT Real Mag” x axes corresponds to
frequency, thus the band-pass of the filter is the zone between cursors. The filtering
process corresponds to a cut-off operation of the frequency spectrum.
yo-filter = inverse Fourier transform of that part of the signal located between the cursors;
graph yo and yo-filter in “signals” (left graphs in figure 24)
During while loop the cursors can be moved through the frequency-domain graph “FFT
Real Mag”. The effect of cursors displacement (select band-pass frequencies) can be
observed continuously in time-domain graph “signals”. This allows comparing the original
and filtered signals dynamically. Figure 24 shows the result in time-domain (left graphs) for
two different frequency band-pass (right graphs).
The instrumental response f(tn) is also filtered with the same band-pass selected with
cursors. The filtering loop ends when the control “ok filter” on front panel is pressed.
After deconvolving by FFT, the useful information of the intrinsic fluorescence to be fitted is
contained from its peak value to a minimum positive value. To cutoff signal in time-domain,
Time-Resolved Fluorescence Spectroscopy with LabView 197

Fig. 23. Filtering process with cursors

Fig. 24. Signals during filtering process

we use another while loop with dynamic cursors performance similar to that of figure 23.
For fitting process we use the Levenberg-Marqurdt algorithm, which is already provided by
LabVIEW as a SubVI. We assume a single exponential for a simple fluorophore, and double
exponential for a two components mixture. The goodness of fit is tested by means of
residuals of equation (20), where yc(tn) is the fluorescence computed by convolving the best
fit found for h(tn) and the instrumental response f(tn). Figure 25 shows the result for
rhodamine6G at 565 nm.
The program for data analysis by Laguerre deconvolution technique uses the filtered signals
and computes the Laguerre functions according to equation (18). The number of functions L
and Laguerre coefficient α are given as known values. The algorithm sequence is as follows:
generate a set of Laguerre functions for given values of L and α, from equation (18)
computes υj(tn) from equation (20)
ensemble the set of equations which minimize the sum of residuals Φ for coefficients cj
adjust variables to the same time-length ; use of while sentence with dynamic cursors
cj = Solve Linear Equations.vi ;LabVIEW function to find cj coefficients
computes h(tn) from equation (17)
computes yc(tn) from convolution of equation (15)
computes residuals Φ(tn) from equation (21) ; Φ(tn) = square error(tn)
198 Modelling, Programming and Simulations Using LabVIEW™ Software

Levenberg Marqurdt.vi ;approximation to a simple exponential for a single fluorophore

and to bi-exponential for two compounds mixtures to estimate
fluorescence lifetimes

Fig. 25. Observed fluorescence and best fit

The analysis results are presented in terms of the fluorescence decay observed yo(tn) and the
fluoresce computed yc(tn) with the best fit of the intrinsic fluorescence h(tn), as in figure 25.
For a single fluorophore we use L=2 and for the mixtures L=3, α values were varied from
0.65 to 0.85.

4.4 Results
The performance of both deconvolution techniques FFT and LF is tested by means of the
relative error (re), between reference value and the estimated lifetime, and the normalized
mean square error (nmse). Table I summarizes the results obtained for each fluorophore at
maximum emission peak wavelength, and table II summarizes the results for the mixtures,
also at maximum emission peak wavelength. In tables refv is reference value from
literauture, and estv is estimated value. From values in table I we observed that Laguerre
expansion produces the best approximation for all fluorophores, with relative errors < -1%,
and nmse values < 0.4%. Also, for mixtures in table 2 the best approximation is produced by

FFT Laguerre
refv estv re nmse estv re nmse
(ns) (ns) (%) (%) (ns) (%) (%)
Fluoresceíne 4.01 4.12 2.23 1.15 3.99 -0.49 0.39
Rhodamine 6G 4.08 4.24 3.92 0.11 4.05 -0.73 0.09
Rhodamine B 1.68 1.59 -5.35 0.80 1.67 -0.12 0.24
Table 1. Results obtained for each fluorophore

FFT Laguerre
estv (ns) re (%) nmse estv (ns) re (%) nmse
τ1 τ2 τ1 τ2 (%) τ1 τ2 τ1 τ2 (%)
f-r6G 3.92 4.17 -2.24 2.2 1.68 3.96 3.98 -1.25 -2.45 0.42
f-rB 4.03 1.49 0.49 -11.3 4.66 4.02 1.58 0.25 -5.95 0.86
r6G-rB 4.21 1.56 3.18 -7.14 2.56 4.08 1.71 0.12 1.78 0.82
Table 2. Results obtained for each mixture
Time-Resolved Fluorescence Spectroscopy with LabView 199

Laguerre deconvolution technique, with relative errors < -1.25% for τ1 and < -6% for τ2. The
nmse values are < 1%.

5. Conclusions
In this work we developed an automated spectrofluorometer prototype, which is able to
perform time-resolved fluorescence measurements. The pulsed light source is a home made
nitrogen laser, which generates UV pulses (337.1 nm) at 30 Hz rates, with FWHM = 2.75 ns.
We use a monochromator from Acton Research Corp., model SpectraPro 275 which includes
a microprocessor control to receive commands from a computer via a serial RS-232 port for
scan control. To detect the fluorescence emitted by the sample, we use the PMT module
H7732P-11 manufactured by Hamamatsu, which contains a high sensitivity photomultiplier
tube with a peak radiant sensitivity of 80 mA/W at 430 nm, and 2 ns characteristic rise-time.
To detect the laser pulse we use the fast photodiode MRD500 with a response time of 1 ns
on 50 Ω load, and a sensitivity of 1 nA/mW/cm2 at 337.1 nm.
To measure the excitation pulse laser and the fluorescent response pulse, we use a digital
oscilloscope model 2440 from Tektronix®. This oscilloscope has 300 MHz analog input
bandwidth and 1 MΩ input impedance. This impedance can be programmed to be 50 Ω, as it is
needed to measure the current signals coming from the photodetectors. The oscilloscope
operation is programmed from a computer via its GPIB port. We use the interface board GPIB-
USB-HS from National Instruments, which is directly connected to the oscilloscope and
communicates with a computer via USB interface. For the complete spectrometer, we
determine the characteristic rise-time of the instrumental (5.647 ns) and its temporal resolution
(FWHM = 13.28 ns). This slowing of the input signal is mainly caused by the monochromator.
A control and acquisition program was developed in the graphical language G of LabVIEW
7.1 environment. This program controls the monochromator to generate a wavelength (λ)
sweep, and reads the information of the time-resolved signals (excitation and response)
measured by the oscilloscope in each λ value. The program was designed to execute one of
three main functions: GoTo/Measure Noise, Sweep, and Open Files. With this program we
measured the fluorescence emitted by 3 substances with well known fluorescence life-times:
fluoresceine, rhodamine 6G and rhodamine B. Also we measured the fluorescence emitted
by 3 mixtures of two fluorophores. For each fluorophore and mixture, were performed 6
wavelength sweeps from 400nm to 700nm with 5nm increments.
A data analysis program was developed in LabVIEW 7.1 to estimate the intrinsic fluorescence
decay from deconvolution of measured signals. The program applies two deconvolution
techniques: Fast Fourier transform and Laguerre expansion. The intrinsic fluorescence
obtained with both methods is fitted to a simple exponential for a single fluorophore, or to
double exponential for two compounds mixtures. From fitting results we can estimate the
fluorescence lifetimes τ of the samples. LabVIEW provides an easy access to cursor resources.
When these cursor facilities are used inside a while loop, it is possible to observe graphically
the process results for different positions of the cursors. While the cursors in a graph are
displaced, in other graph the process results are shown continuously. We used this while loop
with dynamic cursors inside, to perform filtering, shifting, and cutting of signals.
From data analysis results, deconvolution by Laguerre expansion provides a good
approximation with nmse values < 0.4% for single fluorophore and < 1% for mixtures. The
Laguerre functions have been suggested as an appropriate orthonormal basis owing to their
buil-in exponential term that makes them suitable for physical systems with asymptotically
exponential relaxation dynamics (Jo et all, 2004). Because the Laguerre basis is a complete
200 Modelling, Programming and Simulations Using LabVIEW™ Software

orthonomal set of functions, a unique characteristic of this approach is that it can reconstruct
a fluorescenece response of arbitrary form. Laguerre deconvolution technique is a suitable
approach for the analysis of time-domain fluorescence data of complex systems, since this
technique has the ability to expand intrinsic fluorescence of any form, without any a priori
assumption of its functional form.

6. References
Anderson, J.; Fischer, R.; Smith, C.; Webb, S. & Dennis, J. (2003). In situ detection of pathogen
indicators using laser-induced fluorescence, Proccedings of 2003 UCOWR Annual
Conference “Water Security in the 21st Century”, http://ucowr.siu.edu/proc/W1C.pdf.
Ardizzoni, J. (2007). High-Speed Time-Domain Measurements – Practical Tips for
Improvement, Analog Dialogue, March 2007, 41-03.
Geddes, Ch. D. & Lakowicz, J. R. (2004). Lakowicz, Reviews in Fluorescence 2004, Kluwer
Academic/Plenum Publishers, 0-306-48672-5 (eBook), New York, USA.
Gore, M.G. (2000). Spectrophotometry and Spectrofluorimetry, Oxford University Press, 2nd
Edition, 0-19963812-8, New York, USA.
Jo, J.; Fang, Q.; Papaioannou, T. & Marcu, L. (2004). Fast model–free deconvolution of
fluorescence decay for analysis of biological systems, Journal of Biomedical Optics,
9(4), 743 – 752.
Lakowicz, J. R. (1991). Topics in Fluorescence Spectroscopy, Volume 1: Techniques, Plenum Press,
0-3064-3874-7, New York, USA.
Lakowicz, J. R. (1999). Principles of Fluorescence Spectroscopy, Klumer Academic/Plenum
Publishers, 2nd Edition, 0-306-46093-9, New York, USA.
Lawton, R.; Riad, S. & Andrews, J. (1986). Pulse and Time- Domain Measurements,. Proc.
IEEE, Vol.74, Jan. 1986, 77-81.
Maarek, J-M.I.; Marcu, L.; Snyder, W.J. & Grundfest, W.S. (2000). Time-resolved
Fluorescence Spectra of Arterial Fluorescent Compounds: Reconstruction with the
Laguerre Expansion Techique, Photochemistry and Photobiology, 71, 178-187.
Moller, C. & Mortensen, G. (2008). Fluorescence spectroscopy; a rapid tool for analyzing
dairy products, J. Agric. Food Chem., 56, 720-729.
Nahman, N.S. (1978). Picosecond-Domain Waveform Measurements, Proceedings of IEEE,
Vol. 66, No.4, April 1978, 441-454.
Nesterenko, T.V.; Tikhomirov, A.A. & Shikhov, V.N. (2007). Chlorophyll fluorescence induction
and estimation on plant resistance to stress factors, Zh. Obshch Biol., 68, 444-458.
O´Connor, D.V. & Ware, W.R. (1979). Deconvolution of fluorescente decay curves. A critical
comparison of techniques, The Journal of Physical Chemistry, 83, 1333-1343.
Paras, N. P. (2003). Introduction to Biophotonics, Jhon Wiley&Sons, Inc., 0-471-28770-9, New
Jersey.
Poulli, K.I.; Mousdis, G.A. & Georgiou, C.A. (2007). Rapid synchronous fluorescence
method for virgin olive oil adulteration assessment, Food Chemistr, 105, 369-375.
Spring, K.R.; Fellers T.J. & and Davidson, M.W. (2010). Introduction to Charge-Coupled
Devices (CCDs), Nikon Microscopy Fundamentals of Digital Imaging
http://www.microscopyu.com/articles/digitalimaging/ccdintro.html
Valeur, B. (2002). Molecular Fluorescence: Principles and Applications, Wiley-BCH-Verlag, 3-
527-29919-X, Federal Republic of Germany.
Vo-Dinh, T. (2003). Biomedical Photonics Handbook, CRC Press, 0-8493-1116-0, Florida, USA
Weller, D. (2002). Relating wideband DSO rise time to bandwidth: Lose the 0.35, EDN, Dec.
12, 2002, 89-94.
 10

LabVIEW Applications for Optical Amplifier

Automated Measurements, Fiber-Optic Remote
Test and Fiber Sensor Systems
S. W. Harun, S. D. Emami, H. Arof, P. Hajireza and H. Ahmad
University of Malaya
Malaysia

1. Introduction
For the past 20 years, intensive researches in the fields of optoelectronics and fiber optic
communications have resulted in the invention of new devices that revolutionized our life.
The optoelectronics devices such as compact disc players, laser printers, bar code scanners,
and laser pointers are some of the examples [1]. In fiber optic communications, revolution in
the telecommunications system has been initiated by the introduction of higher bandwidth,
more reliable telecommunication links with lower bandwidth cost [2]. Recently, fiber optic
sensor technology has gained interest from the research community. Optical fiber sensors
offer a number of advantages over conventional electrical sensing technologies, which make
them attractive for a wide range of application areas. These advantages include intrinsic
safety in chemically hostile or explosive environments, low susceptibility to electromagnetic
interference, electrically passive operation and high sensitivity, compatible with composites,
light weight and geometrical versatility [3]. Improvement in fiber optic technology creates a
necessity for a virtual instrumentation system. A virtual instrumentation system is software
used for developing a computerized test system, a measurement system, a calibration
system, a control system for an external measurement hardware device and a display
system for test or measurement data [4]. The best virtual instrumentation system that has
been developed so far is LabVIEW. LabVIEW is an application development program that
was developed by National Instruments in 1986 to integrate science and engineering tasks
by interfacing computers with instruments for collecting, storing, analyzing, and
transmitting data while, at the same time, providing an effective user interface. Different
from other development software such as C/C++, FORTRAN, Basic, etc., LabVIEW utilizes
its own integrated programming language known as the Graphical Programming Language,
which uses graphics as code sequences in the application being developed, making the
software development process significantly easier [5]. LabVIEW is powerful programming
software that can interface with over 7,000 instruments to provide data acquisition,
industrial measurement, automated testing, and instrument control. Integrated through
LabVIEW, instruments such as sensors, optical time domain reflectometer (OTDR),
oscilloscopes, optical spectrum analyzer (OSA) and RF generators can work alongside the
GPIB hardware application software that makes fiber optic communication system research
activities significantly easier [6].
202 Modelling, Programming and Simulations Using LabVIEW™ Software

In this chapter, applications of LabVIEW in automatic test measurement of fiber optic

system are demonstrated. In the first section, the LabVIEW applications in fiber optic system
and the basics of instrument connectivity are presented. Then, the aspects of hardware
communication to external instruments through GPIB and serial interfaces are analyzed.
Next, self-calibrating automated characterization system for depressed cladding
applications is demonstrated utilizing the LabVIEW’s GPIB interface. The automation
system consists of a tunable laser source (TLS), optical spectrum analyzer (OSA), attenuator,
laser diode controller, and a personal computer all networked using GPIB cables. Results of
the manual and automatic measurements and the analysis of the measurement trace
obtained from the optical time domain reflectometer (OTDR) are shown. Subsequently, the
communication methods between the OTDR device and personal computer along with the
details of the automation program developed using LabVIEW are presented. In the end, two
applications of LabVIEW in fiber optic sensor system are discussed.

2. LabVIEW for fiber optic applications

Fiber optic systems have become in high demand for use in telecommunication and sensor
systems. The optical systems, whether transmitting data across continents or providing real
time measurement consist of dozens of components. These components are made from
many different types of exotic materials and the manufacturing technologies are so new.
Traditional labor intensive techniques cannot keep up with market demands, which require
a cheaper solution. This section explains the automatic test measurement, fiber sensor and
remote testing, which can be used to solve many problems in fiber optic system.

2.1 Self-calibration automated measurement

Automatic test measurement is a vital part of the telecommunication and fiber optic
communication test scene today. Automatic test measurement enables self-calibrating test to
be done very swiftly and accurately. The amount of time consumed in implementing a fiber
optic sensor system forms the bulk of the development cost and thus it is necessary to
reduce the troubleshooting time to the shortest possible. This can be achieved with the use
of automatic test measurement techniques [6]. There are a variety of different approaches
that can be used for automatic test measurement systems. Each type has its own advantages
and disadvantages, and can be used to great effect in the right circumstances. Automatic test
equipment and automatic test software are the two main types of test measurement systems.
Equipments such as automatic optical inspection (AOI), automated X-Ray inspection (AXI)
and In-Circuit Test (ICT) are common forms of automatic test equipment which are used
today in optical and electrical science [4]. One the best solution in automatic test equipment
is a board or unit that can be tested using a stack of remotely controlled test equipment. The
most popular method of controlling the test equipment is the General Purpose Interface Bus
(GPIB). There may also be an interface adapter necessary to control and interface with the
item under test. While the GPIB is relatively slow and has been in existence for over 30 years
it is still widely used as it provides a very flexible tool of test. This type of systems use test
instruments on a board that can be slotted into a standard slot thus saving both space and
cost when compared to the stand-alone. Laboratory test equipment can often be used as
most items of lab test equipment have a GPIB port. The main drawback of GPIB is its speed
and the cost of writing the programmes although packages like LabVIEW can be used to aid
programme generation and execution in the test environment [5].
LabVIEW Applications for Optical Amplifier Automated Measurements,
Fiber-Optic Remote Test and Fiber Sensor Systems 203

2.2 Fiber optic sensor

Fiber optic sensor is a device in which variations in the transmitted power or the rate of
transmission of light in optical fiber are the means of measurement or control. The
information could also be derived in terms of intensity, phase, frequency, polarization,
spectral content, or other quantities. Physical parameters such as strain, temperature,
pressure, velocity, and acceleration can be measured by fiber optic sensor. Immunity to
electromagnetic interference (EMI) and radio frequency interference (RFI), elimination of
conductive paths in high-voltage environments, inherent safety and suitability for extreme
vibration and explosive environments, tolerant of high temperatures (>1450 C) and
corrosive environments, light weight, and high sensitivity are the main advantages of fiber
optic sensor over normal sensor [7]. Depending on the usage, fiber optic sensors can be
divided into Extrinsic (or Hybrid) and Intrinsic (or All-Fiber) types.
Figure 1 shows an extrinsic sensor which consists of an optical fiber that transmits
modulated light from a conventional sensor. A major feature of extrinsic sensors, which
makes them so useful in such a large number of applications, is their ability to reach places
which are otherwise inaccessible. In an extrinsic sensor, sensing takes place in a region
outside of the fiber [8]. An intrinsic sensor relies on the properties of the optical fiber itself to
convert signals from the environmental into a modulation of the light beam passing through
it. Intrinsic sensors can modulate the intensity, phase, polarization, wavelength or transit
time of light. Sensors which modulate light intensity tend to use mainly multimode fibers,
but only single mode cables are used to modulate other light parameters. A particularly
useful feature of intrinsic fiber optic sensors is that they can, if required, provide distributed
sensing over distances of up to 1 meter [7].

Light Modulator

Input Fiber Output Fiber

Environment Signal
Fig. 1. Extrinsic sensor

Environment Signal

Fiber Optic

Fig. 2. Intrinsic sensor

204 Modelling, Programming and Simulations Using LabVIEW™ Software

Different types of fiber optic sensors are designed based on the characteristics of light
modulated by the environmental effects. One of the most popular fiber optic sensors is the
intensity based fiber sensor. Intensity-based fiber optic sensors depend on the principle that
light can be modulated in intensity by an environmental effect. Multimode fiber reflective
sensor and bending the fiber are two examples of fiber optic sensors. Figure 3 shows a
displacement sensor using a multimode fiber. In this sensor, a light leaves the fiber end in a
cone pattern, and strikes a movable reflector as shown in Figure 3. The intensity of reflected
light is related to the distance of the fiber-reflector from the fiber’s end [9].

Light
Mirror

Fig. 3. An example of a fiber optic displacement sensor

Bending effect is another option which can be used to affect light intensity in an optical
fiber. Figure 4 shows the fiber optic displacement sensor using the light intensity
modulation based on the bending effect. As shown in the figure, the fiber loss increases as
the deformer closer to the fiber. The displacement of the deformer is linearly dependent on
the intensity of the transmitted light [10]. In interferometric fiber optic sensors, the optical
phase of the light passing through the fiber is modulated by the field to be detected. This
phase modulation is then detected interferometrically, by comparing the phase of the light
in the signal fiber to that in a reference fiber [8].

Displacement

Fiber Optic

Deformer

Fig. 4. Fiber optic displacement sensor based on bending effect

LabVIEW Applications for Optical Amplifier Automated Measurements,
Fiber-Optic Remote Test and Fiber Sensor Systems 205

2.3 Remote fiber test system

A Remote Fiber Test System (RFTS) is used mainly for error detection in optical networks that
may arise due to mechanical faults or quality losses in the optical fibers and connectors that
form the optical communication network [11]. Optical Time Domain Reflectometer (OTDR) is
the main device for measurement and software control of the measurement process in RFTS.
Figure 5 shows a simple RFTS measurement system. The control unit is a personal computer
which is used for pre and post-measurement management. The OTDR functions as a
measurement unit and the optical power splitter divides an input power equally into output
ports. The optical power splitter can be replaced by an optical switch [12].

Fig. 5. RFTS measurement system.

The measurement process begins as the OTDR injects a short light pulse into the optical
power splitter. In the splitter, the input power is divided into several output ports with
power ratio specified by the splitter type. As the light pulse travels along the test fiber, a
fraction of light is reflected back to the optical power splitter due to Rayleigh scattering and
Fresnel reflection. All the scattered signals from the test fiber form a complex measurement
trace as they reach the OTDR. Finally, the OTDR trace is saved in the computer memory and
the analysis of the measurement result begins. In the standard RFTS, the error detection
system is based on the measurement of the total loss in the optical link. Another approach
that can be used is by comparing the reference and test measurement results. The reference
measurement is collected just after the installation of the optical communication system [4].
As the test measurement is performed, the resulting test OTDR trace is compared with the
reference trace. If the difference between the optical power level of the reference and the test
measurement at certain measurement point exceeds the predefined threshold, the RFTS
reports an error and stops the measurement. The time for the measurement to repeat is
controlled by the user. The whole measurement process is software controlled and managed
by LabVIEW [13].

3. Instrument communication methods

There are different types of communication methods available for controlling laboratory
instruments as well as optical components. These methods are serial, parallel, GPIB, VXI,
206 Modelling, Programming and Simulations Using LabVIEW™ Software

PXI and others, which the choice is mainly based on the applications. Two most common
instrument communication methods are GPIB and serial port communication. In 1965,
Hewlett-Packard designed the Hewlett-Packard Interface Bus (HP-IB) to connect their line
of programmable instruments to their computers. Because of its high transfer rates
(nominally 1 MB/s), this interface bus quickly gained popularity. It was later accepted as
IEEE Standard 488-1975. Today, the General Purpose Interface Bus (GPIB) is more widely
used than the HP-IB. This is due to its ability to connect to different devices to the same
GPIB bus. Any devices must have a unique GPIB address between 0 and 30, so that the data
source and destinations can be specified by this number. Address 0 is assigned to the GPIB
interface board. The GPIB has one Controller, usually a computer that controls the bus
management functions. The LabVIEW GPIB VI automatically handles the addressing and
most other bus management functions, saving user from the hassle of low-level
programming. To use GPIB as part of in any virtual instrumentation systems, the GPIB
driver software is required and can be installed in our computer according to the directions
that accompany LabVIEW or the board. Installing a GPIB board is usually easy [14].
To configure the GPIB, serial interface or any communication method, NI Measurement &
Automation Explorer (NI-MAX) simulation software can be used. The GPIB boards can be
integrated with the NI-MAX so that it can be configured under the Devices and Interfaces tree
easily. For the other GPIB devices, their installation procedures are described in the manual
that comes with the GPIB board. Figure 6 illustrates the MAX windows which shows the GPIB
interface number as 0. It is followed by an instrument with the primary address 2.

Fig. 6. Measurement & automation explorer windows

Serial communication is the other popular means of transmitting data between a computer
and a peripheral device such as a programmable instrument or even another computer.
Serial communication uses a transmitter to send data, one bit at a time, over a single
communication line to a receiver. This method is normally used when data transfer rates
are low or the data needs to be transferred over long distances. Serial communication is
LabVIEW Applications for Optical Amplifier Automated Measurements,
Fiber-Optic Remote Test and Fiber Sensor Systems 207

popular because most industrial computers have at least one serial port available. However,
for laptops and smaller desktops that do not have a built-in serial port, an inexpensive USB-
to-RS-232 adaptor can also be used. Serial communication requires that you specify four
parameters: the baud rate of the transmission, the number of data bits encoding a character,
the sense of the optional parity bit, and the number of stop bits. The requirements for port
setting features are shown in the Ports (serial and parallel) menu in Figure 7. For the port
binding, it is used for specifying the port to be used for the serial/parallel device. An
alternative port can be selected to link to the ASRL resource, this setting does not change the
logical port number (COMx) of the physical serial port, it only changes which COM port this
VISA resource is binding to. After that, click the “Validate” button to test whether NI-VISA
can access the resource with the specified configuration. The result shown on Figure 8
should pop up.

Fig. 7. Serial port setting

Fig. 8. Validation of NI-MAX

When a VISA session to “ASRL1::INSTR” is successfully opened, communication with the
device can be started by going to the Property Node (Set) and modifying the value of the
specified attribute as shown in Figure 9. The values for serial baud rate, serial data bits,
serial stop bits, serial flow control and others are set to the same values as those chosen
during Port Setting. Then click the execute button. Next, as shown in Figure 10, click the
“Write” tab and fill up the blank box under the “Buffer” with a proper command ending
with “\r\n” to initiate the communication with the serial device. The function of “\r\n” is
just like the “ENTER” button on a personal computer keypad. Without “\r\n”, the
command is incomplete, and hence, NI-MAX cannot recognize it. This is the same as when
208 Modelling, Programming and Simulations Using LabVIEW™ Software

the command at Hyper Terminal has been inserted, the “ENTER” key must be pressed to
start the communication with the equipment such as OTDR.

Fig. 9. Property node setting

Fig. 10. Write buffer of NI-MAX

4. LabVIEW application examples

4.1 Self-calibrating automated characterization system for EDFA
Ultrahigh- capacity optical transmission systems are a vital component for 21st-century
telecommunications networks that support various expanding information systems such as
the Internet, mobile communications, and digital cable television [15].Wavelength-division-
multiplexing (WDM)systems employing optical amplifiers such as the erbium-dopedfiber
amplifier (EDFA) are considered the most effective solution to increase data transmission
capacity [16–17]. The main characteristics of EDFAs are their gain and noise figure, and their
values depend on the input signal wavelength, input signal power, and pump power [4].
The gain is determined by measuring the difference between the output signal power and
LabVIEW Applications for Optical Amplifier Automated Measurements,
Fiber-Optic Remote Test and Fiber Sensor Systems 209

the input signal power, whereas the noise figure is calculated from the gain, amplified
spontaneous emission (ASE), and resolution of the optical spectrum analyzer (OSA). The
accurate ASE level is measured using the interpolation technique, and thus, even a slight
error in the initial measurement of the input power level will cause a cascading effect that
will render the final ASE measurement invalid. In addition, the accuracy of the gain value is
also dependent on the accuracy of the input measurement [5]. This makes the current
manual measurement techniques not suitable for gain value measurement as even the
slightest deviation in the initial input measurement will result in inaccurate gain values. As
such, using manual measurement techniques for EDFA experiments could lead to inaccurate
results and long experiment times. EDFAs are typically characterized using OSAs, tunable
laser sources (TLSs), optical attenuators, laser diode controllers, and optical power meters.
From experience, EDFA research with manual control of these instruments will lead to
delays and inaccuracies in research due to the large number of values that have to be taken
and recalibrated for each parameter. To cope with this problem, a self-calibrating automated
measurement system for EDFAs has been developed based on the LabVIEW program and
GPIB hardware.
The basic architecture of a standard EDFA is depicted in Figure 11. The setup consists of a
piece of EDF, a wavelength division multiplexing (WDM) coupler, a pump laser and two
isolators. In this work, a depressed cladding EDF (DC-EDF) with Erbium ion concentration
of approximately 500 ppm is used as gain medium for amplification in S-band region. The
EDF is pumped by a 980 nm laser diode to generate population inversion for amplification.
A WDM coupler is used to combine the pump light with the input signal. Optical isolators
are used to ensure unidirectional operation of the optical amplifier [15].

Fig. 11. Configuration of the EDFA

The automation system consists of a TLS, OSA, attenuator, laser diode controller, and a
personal computer. All these instruments are networked using GPIB cables and are
individually designated as Talkers, Listeners, and/or Controllers. By having these functions,
all the involved instruments can automatically be controlled through a single computer for
the input signal measurement; the experiment is setup as shown in Figure. 11, using only
the TLS, attenuator, and OSA. Figure 12 shows the user interface of the automation system.
The program has two main menus, i.e., the “input” menu and the “output” menu. Under
the “input” menu, there are three submenus, i.e., “Multiwavelength/Power −30 dBm,”
“Multiwavelength/Power 0 dBm,” and “Multipower.” The “Multiwavelength/Power −30
dBm” submenu measures data by fixing the input power at −30 dBm and varying the input
signal wavelengths. This submenu automatically changes the TLS wavelength values and
determines the most accurate corresponding attenuation value to obtain a constant input
210 Modelling, Programming and Simulations Using LabVIEW™ Software

power of −30 dBm. The OSA measures the output data and gives the necessary feedback to
both the TLS and the attenuator, and the process repeats until the desired wavelength
values and corresponding attenuation values are obtained.

Fig. 11. The automation system for input signal measurement

Fig. 12. The automation system user interface for input signal measurement
The automated measurement system is able to obtain a highly accurate input value by using
a “while loop” subroutine that is contained within the application. The “while loop” will
require the system to first obtain a rough attenuation value by adjusting the attenuation
value so that the OSA is able to obtain a reading that is within ±0.9 dBm range of the
LabVIEW Applications for Optical Amplifier Automated Measurements,
Fiber-Optic Remote Test and Fiber Sensor Systems 211

required −30dBm value, as per the requirement of the multiwavelength menus or as per the
required power as determined by the user in the multipower menu. Once the rough
attenuation of the value has been determined, the system will then adjust the attenuation
value based on the OSA readings to obtain the exact attenuation value required for the
subsequent experiment. The “while” loop is illustrated in Figure 13. The submenu
“Multiwavelength/Power 0 dBm” gathers data at a constant 0 dBm input power at different
wavelengths. With regard to wavelength, the software is programmed for the S-band
wavelength region from 1480 to 1530 nm. The “Multipower” submenu obtains the input
power for a constant center wavelength, but at different input powers, which has been
programmed from −40 to 5 dBm. All submenu functions are automatic, and the software
records all required data on either diskette or hard disk.

TLS ON

ATTN 0dB

OSA Obtain Input Power Value

Attenuation =input signal Value- 40 dBm

OSA Attenuation Rough calibrations

No 39.1>M>40.9

Yes

OSA Attenuation Fine

M=40 dBm

Store Attn Value

Fig. 13. “while loop” subroutine
212 Modelling, Programming and Simulations Using LabVIEW™ Software

For EDFA gain and noise figure measurements, the apparatus is set up as shown in Figure
14. The EDFA is placed between TLS and OSA, with the laser diode controller pumping the
EDF (the pump power value must first be determined). The EDFA software “Output” menu
is designed to automate this setup, as shown in Figure 15. Under the “Output” menu, there
are two submenus, i.e., “Multiwavelength” and “Multipower.” The “Multiwavelength”
submenu obtains such output data as the gain, noise figure, ASE, peak power, and peak
wavelength, and the obtained data are compared with the input data taken from the
“Multiwavelength −30 dBm” or “Multiwavelength 0 dBm” submenu first. This comparison
of input and output data is done to obtain the gain and noise figure values using
interpolation techniques.

Fig. 14. The automation system for output gain and noise figure measurements

Fig. 15. The automation system user interface for gain and noise figure measurement
LabVIEW Applications for Optical Amplifier Automated Measurements,
Fiber-Optic Remote Test and Fiber Sensor Systems 213

The “Multipower” submenu obtains output data at a center wavelength of 1500 nm but at
different input powers. As with the “Multiwavelength” submenu, all data obtained from the
“output” menu “Multipower” submenu are compared with data obtained from the “input”
menu “Multipower” submenu to obtain values such as gain, noise figures, etc. All the
“output” submenus plot graphs after one experiment cycle is complete, as shown in Figure 16,
saving time for data analysis. In addition, the obtained data can also be stored in Word,
Powerpoint, Excel, and other formats for further analysis. Figure 17 shows the flowchart for
the automation system. The basic software design methodology possesses the required
characteristics of being time efficient and the ability to accurately and consistently gather data
while simultaneously reducing the uncertainty value, as these characteristics are very
important in ensuring that the software can be utilized to gather data. The EDFA automation
system is tested based on the aforementioned characteristics. The software is proven to reduce
the EDFA testing time by more than 80%, as compared to manual EDFA testing methods.

Fig. 16. S-band EDFA software “Output” menu

Accuracy is also increased, as at times, the experimentalist can make mistakes in acquiring and
analyzing the data. By using the automation software, the human error factor can be
eliminated, thus providing a higher degree of accuracy. The uncertainty value is also
determined to be approximately ±0.012 dB, as compared to manual testing methods, as shown
in Figures 18 and 19. However, each new experiment cycle will require the recalibration of
equipment. This is due to changing environmental conditions such as temperature and
experimental setup alignment, which have a significant effect on the measurements taken by
the equipment. In addition, the optical connectors cannot be removed during the experiment
cycle, and a recalibration must be performed by the automation software if the optical
connectors are removed. For OSA calibration, standard lamps are frequently used to calibrate
the OSA, whereas power measurements are made using a standard lamp and a power
detector. In addition to increased accuracy and a reduction in the experiment time, the
software also reduces the number of personnel needed for each experiment, thus allowing
personnel to focus more on the interpretation of the acquired data. In addition, the software is
designed to be user friendly and does not require specialist training to operate.
214 Modelling, Programming and Simulations Using LabVIEW™ Software

Start

Select
Input Menu Output

Select Sub Select Sub

Menu Menu

Multiwavelengt Multiwavelengt Multiwaveleng Multi Power

hwith -30dBm hwith 0dBm
Input Power
Input Power

Multi Power

Start Automatic
Measurement

Data Display and

Save

Stop

Fig. 17. Flowchart for the automation system.

Fig. 18. Automate and manual EDFA’s gain versus input signal power
LabVIEW Applications for Optical Amplifier Automated Measurements,
Fiber-Optic Remote Test and Fiber Sensor Systems 215

Fig. 19. Automate and manual EDFA’s gain versus input signal wavelength

4.2 Remote fiber test system using Optical Time Domain Reflectometer (OTDR)
DWDM has increased fiber traffic capacity and thus it is important to proactively monitor
and maintain the fiber networks. Due to huge penalties specified in Service Level
Agreements (SLAs) and Quality of Service (QoS) commitments, carriers are keen to take
measures in maintaining their fiber network. Optical Time Domain Reflectometer is a well-
known optoelectronic instrument used for testing a fiber optic cable assembly in optical
network [18]. An OTDR emits a pulsed ray into the fiber under test and acquired reflected
ray. The strength of the return pulses is measured and integrated as a function of time, and
is plotted as a function of fiber length. The plot can be used to analyse the optical fiber and
detect the approximate location of the fault event that occurred. Different pulse widths in
OTDR will affect the distance resolution and dynamic range. A longer laser pulse width will
improve dynamic range and attenuation measurement resolution at the expense of distance
resolution. This is useful for getting the overall characterization of a link, but is weak when
trying to locate faults. A short pulse width will improve distance resolution of optical
events, but will also reduce measuring range and attenuation measurement resolution [19].
Theoretically, OTDR has good distance measuring accuracy since it is software based and
with its crystal clock possesses an inherent accuracy of better than 0.01%. Further calibration
process is not needed since the practical cable length measuring accuracy is typically limited
to about 1% [20].
Figure 20 shows the block diagram of an OTDR where a laser diode is driven by an electrical
pulse generator that produces a train of short optical pulses. The backscattered optical
power from the fiber through a directional coupler is detected by photodiode (PD). The
detected waveform is amplified by an amplifier and converted to digital signal through the
analog to digital converter (ADC) and then processed by the digital signal processing (DSP)
unit. The timing of the DSP is synchronized with the source of the optical pulses so that
delay in the propagation of each scattered pulse can be precisely calculated. Figure 21 is a
typical commercial OTDR trace, showing among other things, the fiber attenuation. This
figure shows that different losses will have different shapes in the trace. Hence, the analysis
of the trace can be done to estimate the cause of a fault event [21].
216 Modelling, Programming and Simulations Using LabVIEW™ Software

Laser Diode

Fiber under Test

PD

Electrical Pulse Amp.

Generator
ADC

Digital Signal
Processing
Timing OTDR
Display

Fig. 20. Block diagram of an OTDR

One of the automation programs suggested for Remote fiber Test System is LabVIEW whose
configurations will be explained in this section. The front panel or the graphic user interface
of the automation program is shown in Figure 22. There are five sections in the program as
indicated by arrow A, B, C, D and E. Section A is the communication settings required by
LabVIEW to enable the communication link with the OTDR device. The settings in this
section are VISA resource name, baud rate, data bits, parity, stop bits, flow control and
timeout. The VISA resource name is the COM port which the RS-232C cable is connected to.
Timeout sets the timeout value for the Write and Read operations. The baud rate, data bits,
parity, stop bits and flow control must be set to the same value as the settings at the OTDR
device and RS-232C cable in order for the communication link to be successful. Failure to do
these will cause errors in the LabVIEW when running the automation program.
Section B is the setting for measurement conditions. Examples of measurement conditions
are wavelength of the signal used, distance range, pulse width, attenuation, average time
and index group. For the AQ7260 OTDR default setting, there are only two possible
wavelengths which are 1310nm and 1550nm. The possible distance range is from 2km to

Fig. 21. Simulation of an OTDR trace.

LabVIEW Applications for Optical Amplifier Automated Measurements,
Fiber-Optic Remote Test and Fiber Sensor Systems 217

A B E
D
Fig. 22. Front panel of the automation program
640km. The pulse width is from 0ns to 20us as provided by the manufacturer. The possible
attenuation settings are from 0dB to 26.25dB according to the AQ7260 OTDR user manual.
Finally, the group index with is varying from 1.00000 to 1.99999. Next is the measurement
conditions output given in Section C. The blank space will display the output of the “fiber
type with wavelength, distance range, pulse width, attenuation and resolution of the
measurement”. The byte count1 value is set to more than the possible return count1 to
prevent any loss of data. Users can enable or disable this function by clicking the “Save to
USB” button. Finally, section E provides the measurement results. The measurement results
in term of “event number, distance, splice loss, return loss, cumulative loss, dB/km, event
type, and total span ORL” are shown in the blank area after the completed run of the
program. For the event number, it will show “END” if the event is at end of the fiber, else it
will show “1”, “2” and so on according to the number of the detected event. Some of the
measurement results will be neglected if they are not detected by the OTDR measurement,
and the only display values are for those detected by the OTDR. The whole program
consists of 6 main stacked sequences and 20 sub stacked sequences.
Figure 23 depicts the configuration for the distance range setting for the second main
stacked sequence or the sub stacked sequence. VISA Write is used to write the data from
write buffer to the device. The command for distance range is Rm\r\n, where “m” depends
on the distance range chosen by the user. Figure 24 shows the configuration for pulse width
programming. In the second sub stacked sequence, the command needed for the pulse
width is PWm\r\n.
The configuration for the programming of group index is shown in Figure 25. The command
needed is IORm\r\n, in this case, the “m” is the range from 1.00000 to 1.99999 depending
on the value needed for the user. The “concatenate strings” function will combine the two
constants (IOR and \r\n) and the control (value of group index) in the arrangement from
top to bottom to form IORm\r\n. Thereafter, the concatenate output string will pass to
218 Modelling, Programming and Simulations Using LabVIEW™ Software

Sub stacked sequence

2nd main stacked sequence

VISA
write
Concatenate
string
Number to decimal strings

Fig. 23. Programming for distance range

2nd Sub stacked sequence

Concatenate
strings

Sequence local

Fig. 24. Programming for pulse width

VISA Write to initialize the related operation. The next step is to initialize the OTDR device
to start the measurement from the personal computer. The command needed to initialize the
real time measurement is ST2\r\n. This command is sent to the VISA and the output is
connected to the next sub stacked sequence. The duration needed for the OTDR
measurement to be completed is approximately 15sec, so, a 20 second delay is applied to the
next sub stacked sequence as shown in Figure 26 to ensure the measurement process is 100
percent complete. Then, to stop the measurement after 20 seconds, a stop measurement
command is needed which is ST0\r\n, as shown in Figure 26. Without this stop command,
the measurement will keep going without end.
LabVIEW Applications for Optical Amplifier Automated Measurements,
Fiber-Optic Remote Test and Fiber Sensor Systems 219

6th Sub stacked sequence

Concatenate strings

VISA write

Fig. 25. Programming for group index

VISA write

Fig. 26. Programming for stop measurement

For the automation program, the user has the option to choose whether they want to save a
copy of the measurement trace and data or not. If the user does not wish to save the
measurement trace, the program configuration at LabVIEW is as shown in Figure 27. The
case structure is at the false condition (save function disable at the front panel). There is
nothing to process or pass through during this sequence, hence, the program will continue
to the next main sequence. If the user wishes to save a copy of the measurement results, the
program configuration is shown in Figure 28. The case structure is at the true condition
(save function enabled at the front panel). The configuration shown in Figure 28 is for the
drive setting and file name to be saved for the measurement results. The command used is
FDAmp\r\n (refer to Table 1), where “m” in this case is for drive setting and is equal to 5,
220 Modelling, Programming and Simulations Using LabVIEW™ Software

which sets the drive used to save data to USB drive. While, “p” indicates any file name that
the user wishes to save. The strings will be combined into a single output by the
“concatenate strings” function and act as the input to the VISA Write. A delay is
implemented to reduce the traffic to the OTDR to prevent the occurrence of a hang situation.

Case structure (for

false case)

6th main stacked sequence

Fig. 27. Programming for false (save function disable)

Fig. 28. Programming for true (save enable) case, drive setting and file name to save
Figure 29 shows the configuration to set the file type of the measurement trace. Examples of
the possible file types are BMP, SOR (Telcordia) and so on. The command used here is
FF7\r\n, which will set the file type to be saved in the SOR format. This file format will
assist the user when analyzing or modifying the measurement trace by using Yokogawa
OTDR Viewer software. Again, a delay is applied to reduce the traffic to the OTDR to
prevent hang up. Finally the “data save” command is used to save the data. Figure 30 shows
that the command FST\r\n is sent to the input of the VISA Write. Then, the measurement
trace or data will be completely saved into the device (pen drive or thumb drive) plugged
into the USB port of the OTDR device. A delay of few seconds is needed for the
measurement trace or data to be successfully saved into the pendrive or thumbdrive.
LabVIEW Applications for Optical Amplifier Automated Measurements,
Fiber-Optic Remote Test and Fiber Sensor Systems 221

VISA write Wait (ms)

Fig. 29. Programming for “file type save”

VISA write

Fig. 30. Programming for data save.

The end of the program is as shown in Figure 31. This automation program ends with a
VISA Close. The VISA Close closes a device session or event object specified by the VISA
resource name. Finally, the simple error handling function indicates whether an error has
occurred. If an error occurs during the program execution, it will return a description of the
error and optionally displays it in a dialog box. In this section, the measurement data
obtained from the automation program are presented. These data will be used to compare
with the data obtained without using the automation program in the next section.
The results obtained from the automation program for 1310nm wavelength single mode
fiber at 100ns, 200ns and 500ns pulse width are printed on the screen and shown in Figures
32, 33 and 34. The data shown are the event number, distance, splice loss, return loss,
cumulative loss, dB/km, event type and the total return loss. The data are separated by
comma and is ignored if there is no such data for the certain event. The event number is in
accordance with the sequence of the events.
222 Modelling, Programming and Simulations Using LabVIEW™ Software

Simple error handler

VISA close

Fig. 31. Closes of the program

Fig. 32. 1310nm SMF at 100ns pulse width (automation program)

Fig. 33. 1310nm SMF at 200ns pulse width (automation program)

Fig. 34. 1310nm SMF at 500ns pulse width (automation program)

To verify the reliability of the automation program, a comparison between the results
obtained from the automation program and the manually measured OTDR device is made.
The data of Figures 35, 36 and 37 are obtained manually for 1310nm wavelength SMF at
100ns, 200ns and 500ns pulse width respectively. These results are compare with those
obtained from the automation program. By comparing Figures 32, 33 and 34 with Figures
35, 36 and 37, it can be observed that the results are identical without any deviation. Hence,
LabVIEW Applications for Optical Amplifier Automated Measurements,
Fiber-Optic Remote Test and Fiber Sensor Systems 223

it is concluded that the automation program is very reliable and the results obtained from
automation program are exactly the same as those obtained from the manually measured
data from the OTDR device.

Fig. 35. 1310nm SMF at 100ns pulse width (manually measurement)

Fig. 36. 1310nm SMF at 200ns pulse width (manually measurement)

Fig. 37. 1310nm SMF at 500ns pulse width (manually measurement)

224 Modelling, Programming and Simulations Using LabVIEW™ Software

4.3 Automated fiber optic multiphase dynamic fluid differentiation measurement

Nowadays the main concern for many industries, especially those related to power
production and more importantly the oil and gas industry is the discrimination of the
immiscible phases of fluids in a flow system. The phase differentiation method is one of the
effective, low-cost and highly accurate methods to discriminate phases in a flow system [22].
This ability to discern between the various phases of a flow system is important as this will
ultimately affect the production outcome of the system. Oblique tips is one of the effective
ways to achieve phase discrimination in fiber optic sensor. However, a proper automation
and analysis software is necessary for the interpretation of the data from the optical probes
[23], [24]. The LabVIEW software is a smart analysis program which is able to discriminate
the individual phases of a multiphase system using Boolean logic and it presents the data in
a real-time manner. Discrimination of the immiscible phases of fluids in a flow system using
the phase differentiation measurement method is demonstrated by Kavintheran in 2007 [25].
The software was designed to monitor up to 8 individual sensor probes and it can also be
configured to monitor two-phase or even three-phase flows.
The automated measurement of the phase differentiation measurement system is
demonstrated in Figure 38. The system consists of four optic sensor heads, four laser diodes,
four optical circulators, an optical coupler and an OSA. The laser diodes work as signal
sources which send signal through the circulator to the optic sensors. The sensor head
assembly is designed such that the sensor probes are arranged 90 degrees apart at 0, 90, 270
and 360 respectively. The reflected signal from the optic sensor head goes back to the
circulator and is redirected to combine with reflections from the other laser sources through
the OSA. The OSA is connected via GPIB hardware to a computer equipped with the
LabVIEW software and a phase discrimination program that uses Boolean logic to
accurately determine the various phase fractions of the multiphase system in real-time.

Fig. 38. Sensor probe location in sensor head assembly

The system is designed so that the output for each probe that computes a reflectivity
between 0.015 and 0.040 generates a digital “1” which indicate water, and a digital “0” for
each probe that computes a reflectivity of less than 0.015 to indicate air. The system
LabVIEW Applications for Optical Amplifier Automated Measurements,
Fiber-Optic Remote Test and Fiber Sensor Systems 225

incorporates a Boolean logic function that allows the phase level measurement to be
determined accurately and also without any overlay in data. Figure 39 shows the flowchart
for the operation of the program, while Figure 40 below shows the Boolean logic circuit. To
detect three possible indications of the phase level, the Boolean logic function is designed to
accommodate up to eight sensor probes. The three possible results are one-quarter water
three-quarters air, three-quarters water one-quarter air and full water. Visual representation
of the phase level is the result of the outputs of the logic circuit which is connected to the
indicators. Each sensor probe is connected to an OR gate. In order to allow the logic
functions to operate with only one input, OR gates are used. The OR gate allows the
deployment of either four sensor probes or eight sensor probes. The program will refresh
the phase fraction levels every 1 second, which is the scan time of the OSA [25].

Start

Read Probe 1 Read Probe 1 Read Probe 1 Read Probe 1

0.015 < 0.015 < 0.015 < 0.015 <

R< 0.040 R< 0.040 R< 0.040
Yes R< 0.040
Yes Yes Yes
No No No No

Indicate=1 Indicate=0 Indicate=1 Indicate=0 Indicate=1 Indicate=0 Indicate=1 Indicate=0

Boolean Logic Function

Indicate Phase Level

Fig. 39. Phase discrimination program flowchart

Fig. 40. Boolean logic function for phase discrimination

226 Modelling, Programming and Simulations Using LabVIEW™ Software

The reflectivity of the probes as a function of time when the water level in the flow system is
at one-quarter is shown in Figure 41. As depicted, the reflectivity of probe 3 in water is
shown to be 0.032 by the software, while the reflectivity’s of probes 1, 2 and 4 is shown to be
0.002. To determine the phase level of the system, the Boolean logic function is done
automatically and immediately. When digital “1” signal is generated by probe 3, it
immediately passes through the respective logic gates to determine the phase level. Once
this has been done, the system will represent the phase level using a diagram as shown in
Figure 42. When the flow system is half-full, the reflectivity of probes 2, 3 and 4 is 0.0316,
while the reflectivity of probe 1 remains at 0.002. Figure 43 shows the reflectivity of the four
probes against time.

Fig. 41. Reflected power (dBm) of sensor probe vs. time for one-quarter full flow system

Fig. 42. LabVIEW phase level representation for one-quarter full flow system
Similarly, the Boolean logic gate function will determine the phase level of the system as
shown in Figure 44. When all four probes detect water, the reflectivity of all four probes is
0.002, as shown in Figure 45. The Boolean logic system will then determine the phase level
of the system to be fully water, and will indicate the condition of the system as shown in
Figure 46.
LabVIEW Applications for Optical Amplifier Automated Measurements,
Fiber-Optic Remote Test and Fiber Sensor Systems 227

Fig. 43. Sensor probe reflectivity of vs. time for half-full flow system

Fig. 44. LabVIEW phase level representation for half-quarter full flow system.

Fig. 45. Sensor probe reflectivity of vs. time for full flow system
228 Modelling, Programming and Simulations Using LabVIEW™ Software

Fig. 46. LabVIEW phase level representation for full flow system

4.4 Polarimetric fiber-optic pressure sensor

Due to the possibility of it being used to distribute high sensitivity sensors and of it being
configurable in many different shapes, the polarization–based FOS is widely used. Recently
different types of polarimetric sensors have been investigated for the measurement of
various physical parameters such as: pressure, strain, stress and temperature. Polarimetric
fiber optical sensors are sensitive to the variations in the polarization state of light
transmitted by a single mode optical fiber. The state of polarization may vary according to
physical factors such as stress, pressure, temperature, etc [26]. So far, the polarimetric fiber
sensors demonstrated in the literature are based on interferometric schemes. In
interferometric schemes high-birefringent (HB) polarization maintaining (PM) fibers are
used. The proposed fibers have strong asymmetries so the quasi-degeneracy of the two
orthogonally polarized modes can be avoided and thus forcing a single polarization mode
under normal operations.
A low-cost distributed deformation sensor based on the change of polarization in a standard
single-mode fiber of which data is obtained by the help of LabVIEW has been successfully
developed by G. C. Contantin [27]. The schematics of the sensor is shown in Figure 47 which
consists of a laser source, a mechanical polarization controller, a fiber polarizer and an
optical receiver that is connected to a PC via a digital acquisition card (DAQ). The Power
source consists of a laser diode and the biasing circuit. The laser source which is used is a
telecommunications laser diode mounted inside a butterfly package. To acquire the diode
temperature and monitor its temporal evolution, a laser diode is connected to a PC via a
digital acquisition card. The light emitted by the laser source feeds the pressure transducer
via the mechanical polarization controller that is used to align the incident polarization
orthogonal to the transmission axis of the polarizer in the absence of the applied pressure
stimulus. In this situation, the receiver reads a “0” voltage in the absence of any
perturbations. It is also possible to align the light polarization in order to maximize the
receiver reading in the idle state. As shown in Figure 47, the pressure sensor is made of a
fiber sandwiched between two plexiglass plates [27]. Under pressure, the polarization state
of the single-mode fiber changes and the value of the power transmitted from the fiber
polarizer is affected. Therefore, if an optical power of zero is registered in the absence of
LabVIEW Applications for Optical Amplifier Automated Measurements,
Fiber-Optic Remote Test and Fiber Sensor Systems 229

perturbation, once pressure is applied to the transducer an optical power other than zero is
obtained at the receiver [27].

Mechanical Polarization Controller

Plexiglass

Laser Diode

Pressure
Receiver
In-line Polarizer Optical Coiled Fiber

Fig. 47. Distributed deformation sensor schematic

Figure 48 shows the data acquisition program which has been developed with LabVIEW
software. The main results obtained using the polarimetric fiber-optic pressure sensor is
shown in Figure 49. In these figures, the dependency of the sensor output on time is shown.
Figure 49(a) shows the output voltage (V) versus time in the absence of deformation. Figure
49 (c) presents the output normalized tension for different values of the pressure. The

Fig. 48. Data acquisition program

230 Modelling, Programming and Simulations Using LabVIEW™ Software

(a) (b)

(c) (d)

(e)

Fig. 49. Figure 49 (a) shows the dependence of the sensor output on time in the absence of
deformation, Figures 49 (b), (d) and (e): show the output normalized voltage (dB) at constant
pressure. Figure 49 (c): presents the output normalized tension for different values of the
pressure. Figure 49(f): show the dependence of the sensor output on weight.
LabVIEW Applications for Optical Amplifier Automated Measurements,
Fiber-Optic Remote Test and Fiber Sensor Systems 231

output normalized voltage (dB) at constant pressure is shown in Figures. 5 (b), (d) and (e).
The normalized value is calculated by [27]

Vout − Vinf
Vnorm =
Vout(0) − Vinf

Where Vnorm represents the output normalized voltage, Vout is the value of the acquired
voltage, Vinf=− 0.5V is the lower limit of the output voltage and out (0) V is the output
voltage in the absence of deformation.

4.5 Fiber Bragg Grating (FBG) sensor interrogation system

Recently in the field of architecture and civil, infrastructures such as long-span bridges,
high-rise buildings, large dams, nuclear power stations, off shore platforms and others,
there is a great demand for high performance sensors for structural health monitoring
(SHM) systems to guarantee the efficiency/safety of the structures. Optical Fiber sensors
such as the Fiber Bragg Grating (FBG) shows distinguishing advantages: immunity to
electromagnetic interference and power fluctuation along the optical path and high
precision. An FBG is a type of Bragg reflector constructed in a short part of optical fiber that
reflects particular wavelengths of light and transmits all others. A key research area in FBG
sensors is FBG fabrication, FBG demodulation and FBG encapsulation. In order to push
forward the applications of the FBG sensors, reliability and accuracy of the FBG sensors
must be ascertained. To achieve accuracy in the interrogation system, there is a great need in
a monitoring program that could process the data and display the data collected for each
sensor in graphical forms [28]. The optics, hardware and software architecture of such
system was developed in year 2005 by Toh Yue Khing [29]. In this FBG fabrication system,
digital filtering, peak detection and the ability to lock onto the reference wavelength are
implemented by the LabVIEW program. In this research work, FBG is fabricated by using
photosensitized optical fibers where the fiber reflective index is imprinted within the fiber
core. The FBG sensor is fiber with different reflective indices which are connected in series
to increase the number of sensors in a single fiber optic channel. Under tension or
compression, changes in the reflective indices in the fiber will cause a shift in the reflected
wavelength. By measuring the change in wavelength of the reflected light, the FBG
interrogation system will be able to measure temperature, pressure or strain changes,
depending on the types of material embedded in the FBG [29].
Figure 50 shows the interrogation System designed for the FBG fabrication system. As
shown, a PCI-7831R FPGA Module, Fiber Fabry Perot Tunable Filter (FFP-TF), 8
photodiodes, 8 Pre-amps and an 8-Channel Fiber Optic Configuration are used in the
system. Fiber Fabry Perot is a tunable filter which allows a narrow band of wavelength to
pass through the fiber and filters the broad band laser. The Fabry Perot Tunable Filter is
very sensitive to voltage change and serious noise disturbance produced by the electronic
circuitry can also affect the accuracy of the result. Therefore, a high precision and low noise
DAC voltage set is required. The PCI-7831R is a national instrument multifunction board
featuring a user-programmable FPGA chip for onboard processing and flexible I/O
operation. All analog and digital functionality is configured using the NI LabVIEW
graphical block diagrams and the LabVIEW FPGA Module. When the PCI-7831R receives
232 Modelling, Programming and Simulations Using LabVIEW™ Software

instructions from LabVIEW to perform a scan, it will instruct the DAC to send out a whole
range of voltage from 0 to 10V. At each change of DAC output, the FPGA will read from the
8 ADCs simultaneously and store the raw data onto the onboard memory. Once completed,
data in the memory will be digitally filtered using the LabVIEW program.
The main software filters the noise from the data that is caused by both optical and electrical
disturbance. Since the tunable filter is sensitive to temperature, the characteristic of the filter
tends to drift over time. This drift will cause an error in the measurement. Thus, the
software will automatically lock onto a reference FBG to obtain an accurate reading. The
software front panel consists of two tabs. Figure 51 shows the sensor view tab. As shown in
Figure 50, every peak in the FBG sensors is represented by the strain, pressure or
temperature gauge. Any shift in wavelength of the FBG sensors will cause the measurement
gauge to respond.

PCI-7831R FPGA Module

FBG
Sensor
User Configurable
FPGA PD
AD FBG
C Sensor
8 Channels
Onboard Fiber Optic
Memory x8 Configuration

PD x8
AD
C

0-10V DA
C
FBG
Sensor
Tunable
filter

Fig. 50. Interrogation System design using FBGs

The scope view tab of the waveform acquired from the interrogation system developed for
one of the channels is shown in Figure 52. These tabs consist of two scope displays. The top
display shows the filtered data, while the bottom display shows the raw data from the
Interrogation System. The first peak is the reference FBG and the rest of the 10 peaks are
from 10 different types of FBG sensors. The shifting of peak 9 is caused by a change in
pressure applied to the FBG sensor.
LabVIEW Applications for Optical Amplifier Automated Measurements,
Fiber-Optic Remote Test and Fiber Sensor Systems 233

Fig. 51. Software front panel, sensor view tab

Fig. 52. Software front panel, scope view tab

234 Modelling, Programming and Simulations Using LabVIEW™ Software

5. Conclusion
The techniques and capabilities of LabVIEW development applied in fiber optic science are
demonstrated. The application of LabVIEW in self-calibration and automatic measurement
system, fiber remote test system and optical sensor are explained. The self-calibrating
automated EDFA characterization system using the LabVIEW software and GPIB hardware
is a more effective solution to testing. The overall experiment time is reduced by more than
80%, whereas data acquisition is more accurate and consistent with a low uncertainty value
of ±0.012 dB. The automation program for remote fiber test systems using the optical time
domain reflectometer (OTDR) is also presented. Polarimetric fiber-optic pressure sensor and
multiphase dynamic fluid differentiation measurement are two examples of fiber optic
sensors which are discussed. A low cost multi-channel interrogating system is developed
with the NI PCI-7831R Module. This minimizes the electronic hardware configuration,
simplifies and reduces the time required in the development process. The use of virtual
instrumentation has not only provided a modern and interesting way for users to perform
experiments but also reduced the amount of time necessary to make connections. The real-
time display of quantities, such as gain, spectrum, temperature, strain power, and so on has
made a great improvement in the users’ ability to visualize these quantities and understand
their relation to one another.

6. References
[1] B.E.A. Saleh and M.C. Teich, "Fundamentals of Photonics", Wiley, 1991
[2] Gred, Keiser "Optical Fiber Communications" Singapore: McGraw-HILL, 2000
[3] J. Chen, W. J. Bock, "A Novel Fiber-Optic Pressure Sensor Operated at 1300-nm
Wavelength" IEEE Transactions on Instrumentation and Measurement 53(1), 10
[4] D. Derickson, "Fiber Optic Test and Measurement. Upper Saddle River," NJ: Prentice-
Hall, 1998.
[5] R. A. Sherry and S. M. Lord, "LabVIEW as an Effective Enhancement to an
Optoelectronic Laboratory Experiment", In Process Frontier Conference, pp. 897–
900. 1997
[6] M.Z. Zulkifli, S.W. Harun, K. Thambiratnam and H. Ahmad, "Self-Calibrating
Automated Characterization System for Depressed Cladding EDFA Applications
using LabVIEW Software with GPIB", IEEE Transaction on Instrumentation and
Measurement, vol. 57, no. 11, November 2008.
[7] A. W. Domanski, A. Gorecki and M. Swillo, "Dynamic Strain Measurements by Use of
the Polarimetric Fiber Optic Sensors", IEEE Journal of Quantum Electronics, 31(8),
816 (1995).
[8] D. A. Krohn, "Fiber Optic Sensors: Fundamental and Applications", Instrument Society of
America, Research Triangle Park, North Carolina, 1988.
[9] N. Lagokos, L. Litovitz, P. Macedo, and R. Mohr, "Multimode Optical Fiber Displacement
Sensor", Applied Optic, Vol. 20, p. 167, 1981
[10] S. K. Yao and C. K. Asawa, "Fiber Optical Intensity Sensors", IEEE Journal of Selective
Areas in Communication, SAC-1(3), 1983.
LabVIEW Applications for Optical Amplifier Automated Measurements,
Fiber-Optic Remote Test and Fiber Sensor Systems 235

[11] Kreso Zmak, Zvonimir Sipus and Petar Basic, "A New Approach to Remote Fiber
Testing in Optical Networks", 17th International Conference on Applied
Electromagnettics and Communications, Croatia, 2003.
[12] U. Hilbk, M.Burmeister, B.Hoen, T.Hermes, and J.Saniter, " Selective OTDR
Measurements at The Central Office of Individual Fiber Links in A PON", in Proc.
Optical Fiber Communication Conference, Dallas, TX, Feb 1997, pp. 54-55, Paper
TuK3.
[13] F.A Maier, H.Seeger, "Automation of Optical Time Domain Reflectometry
Measurements", Hewlett Packard Journal, 46(1), pp 57-62, 1995.
[14] "GPIB Instrument Control Tutorial". National Instruments. August 2009.
[15] S. W. Harun, K. Dimyati, K. K. Jayapalan, and H. Ahmad, "An Overview on S-band
Erbium-Doped Fiber Amplifiers," Laser Physics Letter, vol. 4, no. 1, pp. 10–15, 2007.
[16] S. W. Harun, F. Abd Rahman, K. Dimyati, and H. Ahmad, "An efficient gain-flattened
C-band erbium-doped fiber amplifier," Laser Physics Letter, vol. 3, no. 11, pp. 536–
538, 2006.
[17] N.M. Samsuri, S.W. Harun, and H. Ahmad, "Comparison of Performances between
Partial double-Pass and Full Double-Pass Systems in Two-Stage L-Band EDFA,"
Laser Physics Letter, vol. 1, no. 12, pp. 610–612, 2004.
[18] Ozawa, K; Hishikawa,Y; Watanabe,K and Maki,H, "Remote Fiber Test System with
Network Element Database and Geographic Information System", IEEE
communication, vol. 2, page 1204-1207, 1999.
[19] R. Ramaswami, K.N.Sivarajan, "Optical Networks: A Practical Perspective" Morgan
Kauffman Publishers, Los Altos, CA 1998.
[20] I. Yamashita, "The Latest FTTH Technologies for Full Service Access Networks",
Proceedings of the IEEE, November 1996 Korea.
[21] D. N. Harres, B. Company, St.Louis, "Built-In Test for Fiber Optic Networks Enabled by
OTDR”, IEEE communication, 2006.
[22] C.P. Lenn, F.J. Kuchuk, J.Rounce and P. Hook, "Horizontal Well Performance
Evaluation and Fluid Entry Mechanisms", Process of Social Petrol Engineering.
Conferance and Exhibition, New Orleans, LA, SPE preprint 49089,. 1998.
[23] R.T. Tamos and E.J. Fordham, "Oblique-Tip Fiber-Optic Sensors for Multiphase Fluid
Discrimination", Journal of Lightwave Technology, Vol. 17, No. 8, August 1999.
[24] R.T. Ramos, A. Holmes, X. Wu and E. Dussan, "A Local Optical Probe using
Fluorescence and Reflectance for Measurement of Volume Fractions in Multi-Phase
Flows", Meas. Sci. Technol., 12 (2001) 871-876.
[25] Kavintheran, Thambiratnam "Automated Fiber Optic Multiphase Dynamic Fluid
Differentiation Measurement using LabVIEW Software with a Boolean Logic
Function", ASEAN Virtual Instrumentation Applications Contest Submission, 2007.
[26] A. W. Domanski, A. Gorecki and M. Swillo. "Dynamic strain measurements by use of
the polarimetric fiber optic sensors", IEEE Journal of Quantum Electronics QE-31(8),
816 (1995).
[27] G. C. Contantin, G. Perrone, S. Abrate, N. N. Puscaz "Fabrication and Characterization
of Low-cost Polarimetric Fiber-Optic Pressure Sensor" Journal of Optoelectronics
and Materials Vol. 8, No. 4, August 2006.
236 Modelling, Programming and Simulations Using LabVIEW™ Software

[28] Z. Zhou, T.W. Graver, L. Hsu, J. Ou, "Techniques of Advanced FBG Sensors:
Fabrication, Demodulation, Encapsulation and Their Application in the Structural
Health Monitoring of Bridges" Pacific Science Review, vol. 5, 2003
[29] Khing, T. Y.; Teck, P. K.; Voon L. K., Ee; L. T. & Wan, L. Y. (2005). Development of a
Low Cost Fiber Bragg Grating (FBG) Sensor Interrogation System, ASEAN Virtual
Instrumentation Applications Contest Submission.
 11

Development of an Intelligent Bedsore

Prevention System
Runjing Zhou
Inner Mongolia University
China

1. Introduction
Bedsore is a very common disease for long-term bedridden patients, and its main cause is
that the human skins have been pressed too long in part areas, blood circulation obstruction
lead to tissue necrosis. The conventional prevention measures include turning the body over
at regular intervals by medical care personnel, using mattress and so on. Manpower nursing
will increase the working strength of medical care personnel, and the common mattress only
can be set to run periodically, it can not estimate the practical pressures of the different
human body parts, as a result, if the time interval is set too long, maybe some parts can not
be treated in time, and if the time interval is set too short, it will affect the rest of patient. A
new method is put forward to improve the conventional bedsore prevention mattress, and
the mattress is divided into areas to be controlled respectively. Several groups of stress
sensor are used to measure the pressures signals in each area, and then the pressure signals
are sampled to the computer. The LabVIEW virtual instrument is designed to analyze the
measure pressure data, and estimate the state of every parts of the human body that have
been continuously pressed. For the parts warned by the system, the LabVIEW instrument
will send control signals to the corresponding pumps of the mattress.

2. System design and structure

The main cause of bedsore is that the part skin has been pressed too long, and the
magnitude and duration of pressure are the crucial factors. According to the anatomical
characteristics of human rachis, the pressures are bigger in four parts when the patient lies
low, the four parts are head, scapular, sacrum and cruses. If these parts keep immobile for a
long time, blood circulation of the corresponding parenchyma will be cumbered, and it will
cause bedsore. According to amount of clinic experiments, in general, the pressure of
sacrum is the biggest, that of the head and the scapular follows, and the pressure on cruses
is the smallest among the four parts, therefore, the mattress can be divided into four areas,
as shown in Fig. 1. Considering the position of the patient is not always in the center of the
mattress, the numbers of stress sensor for practical system can be increased.
The whole system structure is shown in Fig. 2, pressure signals in each area of the mattress
are conditioned and sampled to the computer, and then analyzed in the LabVIEW virtual
instrument. Four pumps in different areas of the mattress are controlled by the signals from
the virtual instrument.
238 Modelling, Programming and Simulations Using LabVIEW™ Software

Stress Sensor

Head Back Buttocks Crus

Area Area Area Area

Fig. 1. Mattress partition and sensors distributing

Stress Conditioning Control

MUX RS232
Sensor Circuit Signal
Switch LabVIEW
virtual
Instrument
MCU

A/D Control
Signal Pumps
(four)
Stress Conditioning
Sensor Circuit

Fig. 2. System structure

3. Hard design
3.1 Pressure signal conditioning
3.1.1 Stress sensor selection
MPX2100 semiconductor pressure sensor manufactured by Motorola can convert pressure
into a millivolt-level differential-mode voltage signal, the pressure sensor has good linearity,
and the output voltage has a precise direct proportion with the pressure (Zhou, 2009). In
addition, MPX2100 the compensation characteristics with temperature overcome the
problem of the temperature drift of semiconductor pressure-sensitive semiconductor
devices. So the system uses the MPX2100 pressure sensor, which can meet the system
Development of an Intelligent Bedsore Prevention System 239

requirement. The physical map and pins map are shown in Fig.3 and Fig.4. MPX2100 has
the following characteristics:
• As using a laser trimming technology to make the output of the bridge zero drift
become small, generally less than ± 1mV;
• Having high sensitivity: 40mV± 1.5mV;
• Thermosensitive sensor compose of a temperature compensation network, in the range
of -40 °C and +125 °C having a good temperature compensation effect, thereby
enhancing the accuracy of the sensor;
• A better linearity (±0.25% F.S);
• A wide temperature range (-40 °C ~ +125 °C);
• Allowable large overload (400%).

Fig. 3. MPX2100 physical map

MPX2100 has 4 pins. Pin 1 connects to ground and pin 3 connects to the working voltage.
Moreover, the output between pin 2 and pin 4 is differential-mode voltage signal which is
proportional to the pressure.

Fig. 4. MPX2100 pins map

MPX2100 is a piezoresistive pressure sensor, four equal resistors components are made by
using diffusion technology on the silicon chip, which is constitute the Whiston bridge.
Bridge have two power supply of voltage source power supply and constant current power
supply. The principle of constant voltage source powered is shown in Fig.5.
When the pressure sensor under the pressure, a pair of arm resistance value increase ΔR,
another pair of arm resistanc value decrease ΔR, resistance variation ΔR and stress is
proportional, that is:

ΔR = KP (1)
The bridge output voltage is:
240 Modelling, Programming and Simulations Using LabVIEW™ Software

Uo = E (ΔR / R) = (EK / R) P (2)

The bridge output voltage is proportional to the pressure P.

Fig. 5. Whiston bridge

3.1.2 Amplification circuit

The main amplification circuit is shown in Fig.6. The amplifier has a strong common-mode
rejection ratio. It consists of two-stage amplifier, and the first-level is compose of integrated
amplifier A1 and A2, as using the same type of operational amplifier, it can further reduce
the drift. Resistors R1, R2 and R3 are composed of the same-phase input parallel differential
amplifier with very high input impedance. The second-level comsist of inverse ratio
amplifier by amplifier A3 and four resistances of R4, R5, R6 and R7, it will change a double-
end input into a single-end output. The resistance is set as follows:

R1 = R3 (3)

R4 = R5 (4)

R6 = R7 (5)

+ R4 R6
I1

-
A1 R1

A3
+ O
R2
-

A2 R3
-

+
I2
R5 R7

Fig. 6. Instrument amplifier circuit

Development of an Intelligent Bedsore Prevention System 241

According to the basic analysis method of operation circuit, the available output voltage is:

R6 R (6)
Uo = - (1 + 2 1 )(U I1 - U I2 )
R4 R2
To facilitate adjustment, the circuit increase a part of percentage of amplifier. At the same
time, making the the output signal of the instrument amplifier circuit reverse, which is
shown in Fig.7. RW is zero adjustment resistance.
R2

R1 A
I
+ O

R3
E1 E2
R4 R5

RW

Fig. 7. Rate amplifier circuit

3.1.3 Integrated circuit design

Therefore, pressure measurement circuit is completed based on MPX2100. Integrated circuit is
shown as follows. Pressure signal transmitted the signal to the multi-selector switch through
IN1 port. Another 14-channel signal sampling circuit is the same with the Fig.8.
In the Fig.8, RW1 is the gain adjustment potentiometer; RW2 is zero adjustment
potentiometer of the amplifier circuit. Amplifier circuit choose OP07CP as an amplifier,
because it is an operation amplifier with low noise and a low offset voltage. In addition, the
diode VD1, VD2 may play a protective effect on the circuit.

3.2 Control circuit

This system contain so much sensors, if sampling all sensor signals at the same time, the
hardware design will be more complex. Multi-channel selection switch are timing of gating and
cycle-sampled for the signal of every channel. For long-term bedridden patients, the pressure
signal in different part of the human body changes relatively slow, so sampling period can be
set slightly longer. Generally setting to one minute, it can meet the system requirement.

3.2.1 Microcontroller selection

So selecting AT89S52 microcontroller to design system not only meets the requirement of
design but also can on-line program on the circuit board and taking convenient program
debugging.
 242

R1 C3 +12V
20k
10nF VD1
R17 1.5k D1N4148

7
U15
3 RW2
+

V+
R3 5.1k
6 R18 5.1k 10K
VS OUT
2

7
- 4 OP-07C/301/TI R11 U18 R19 1.5k
V- 10k 3

V+
U14 +

Fig. 8. Pressure measurement circuit

2 R7 20k 6 R15 2k

7
+VO U17 OUT VD2
R8 3 OP-07C/301/TI 2 D1N4148

V+
RW1 10k + - 4 OP-07C/301/TI

-VO VS
GND
6 V-
MPX2100/MC 10K OUT R20 2k C5 10nF

4
1
2
R10 - 4 R13
10k V- R12 51.1k R14 20k IN1
R4
4.7k 10k

R9 20k
-12V

4
2 OP-07C/301/TI

V-
-
6
OUT
R6 5.1k 3
+ 7
U16 V+

10nF
R5
20k C4
Modelling, Programming and Simulations Using LabVIEW™ Software
Development of an Intelligent Bedsore Prevention System 243

3.2.2 A/D converter selection

It is necessary to analyse sampled press signal in this design, taking the detail information of
the signal, so sampled signal need to have higher resolution. Considering the performance-
price ratio of hardware design, 12-bit A/D converter is selected to take a sample of data. The
main function parameters of MAX1240 are as follows:
• A single supply(+2.7V ~+3.6V);
• 12-bit resolution;
• Low power consumption: 37Mw(73 KSPS),5μW (standby working mode);
• Internal provide track/hold circuit;
• Internal provide conversion clock.
The pin distribution of MAX1240 is shown in Fig.9, MAX1240 interface timing sequence is
shown in Fig. 10.

Fig. 9. MAX1240 pin distribution

Fig. 10. MAX1240 working timing sequence

3.2.3 Serial communication circuit

Serial communication line is simple and reducing design cost, so it is used more widely to
transfer data in the close distance with less demanding speed. Serial communication can be
divided into two basic transmission forms of asynchronous communication and
synchronization communication. Asynchronous transmission is characterized by the data
discontinuous transmission on the transmission line, but the two communication parties
must agree the character format and baud rate at first. Faster than asynchronous
transmission, the hardware of synchronous transmission is more complex and also has a
very strict requirement for the phase consistency of the synchronize clock pulse signal.
Serial communication has established a number of the consistent concepts and standards to
make the computer, telephone and other communication devices communicate with each
other. The concepts and standards conclude:
Transmission rate: transmission rate refers to the transmitting the bit number per second, so
transmission rate is also called baud rate. Most CRT devices can work according to any
baud rate of the range from 110 to 9600.
244 Modelling, Programming and Simulations Using LabVIEW™ Software

RS-232-C standard: RS-232-C standard make a regulation for two aspects, that is signal level
standard and control signal standard. RS-232-C use the logic level of negative logic
regulation, signal level is not compatible with the normal TTL level. RS-232-C standard use
EIA level, in which the high level is +3V to +15V and the low level is -3V to -15V. But the
high level of the standard TTL level is +2.4V to +5V and the low level is 0 to 0.4V. If
transforming the two levels, the specialized level conversion chip is needed. At present,
MAX3232 is usually used as level conversion chip. The main function parameter is as
follows:
• 3.0~5.5V power supply;
• 300μA low supply current;
• Only connect 0.1μF capacitance
MCS_51 microcontroller has a full duplex serial port. Full duplex serial communication only
need a output line TXD and a input line RXD. Serial communication mainly has two
technical problems. The one is data transmission, the other is data conversion. Data
transmission mainly solves some problems about standard, format and working mode in the
transmission. Data conversion is the purpose to complete the conversion of string and
parallel. MCS-51 serial port reception and sending both can work in the query or interrupt
way with the use of very flexible. 51 microcontroller serial programming involved some
major special function register, which is serial data buffer SBUF, serial port control register
SCON, special function register PCON and interrupt allowable register IE.

3.2.4 The whole circuit of microcontroller

A/D converter power supply voltage is 3.3V, and taking supply voltage as the external
reference voltage (Hu, 2003). SPI timing sequence can be programmed by the MCU
software. MAX1240 sampling rate is much larger than the transmission rate, so the sampling
rate of the whole hardware sampling system is decided by the transmission rate of serial
port.
Baud rate of both communication sides is necessary ensure of making serial communication
normal. Serial port select working mode 1, baud rate B is determined by the overflow rate S
of timer T1 and it can use the following formula to express:

2SMOD ⋅ S
B= (7)
32

fo
S= (8)
12(2 n − X )

Where X is the calculation initial value of timer T1, n is the number bits of the timer T1
(select working mode 2, n=8), the value of serial baud rate multiplier bit SMOD is 0. In this
design, we should select the right size of the crystal oscillator to make the baud rate of
system the same with the baud rate of setting in the PC. The baud rate generated by
microcontroller is equal to 9600, so we select the 14.7456MHz crystal oscillator as the
microcontroller crystal oscillator.
Where X is the calculation of initial value of timer T1, n the number of bits for the timer T1
(timer selection work 2, n = 8), the serial baud rate multiplier bit SMOD values to 0. We
should choose the right size for the single chip crystal oscillator, the baud rate generated by
Development of an Intelligent Bedsore Prevention System 245

the system and set the baud rate the same PC. This article hopes generated baud rate is
equal to 9600 MCU, so select the 14.7456MHz crystal oscillator as a single chip.

3.2.5 Software design

The main tasks of the microcontroller which need to complete are data sending and data
reception. The flow chart is shown in Fig.11, Data sending can send the data that the AD
samples to the computer through the serial port. Data reception can receive the pressure
signal processing results through the computer serial port, and make the corresponding
control to the pump. The whole circuit of microcontroller is shown in Fig.12.

Start

Serial Port Initialization

AD Conversion

Send AD Sampling Data

Delay

Receiving data rocessing results

Processing results sent to control the pump

Fig. 11. Flow chart

Source Code:
#include <reg51.h>
#include<INTRINS.H>
#define uint unsigned int
#define uchar unsigned char
#define SomeNOP(); {}
uchar ch;
uchar cha;
unsigned char word1[16]={"Cha: Val= "}; // Display Cache
bit read_flag= 0 ;
sbit dout=P1^0;
sbit sclk=P1^1;
sbit cs = P1^2;
sbit shdn=P1^3;
 U10
246

3 11
X A 10
IN9 13 B 9
IN10 14 X0 C +5V
IN11 15 X1 6
IN12 12 X2 EN
IN13 1 X3 16 R22
IN14 5 X4 VDD 7 1k
IN15 2 X5 VEE 8052

2
4 X6 C14 22uF
X7 U12A 9 C10 30pF
4051 74LS04 RST 31
EA/VP
4051 29 18 Y1
IN8 4 30 PSEN X2 19 COM1

1
X7 ALE/P X1 14.7456MHZ
IN7 2
IN6 5 X6 7 28 16 C13 30pF 5
X5 VEE P2.7

Fig. 12. MCU and its peripheral circuits

IN5 1 16 27 WR 11 9
IN4 12 X4 VDD 26 P2.6 TXD 15 4
IN3 15 X3 6 25 P2.5 T1 14 U19 8
IN2 14 X2 EN 24 P2.4 T0 10 12 13 3
IN1 13 X1 9 23 P2.3 RXD 17 9 R1OUT R1IN 8 7
X0 C 10 22 P2.2 RD 13 R2OUT R2IN 2
3 B 11 21 P2.1 INT1 12 14 11 6
X A P2.0 INT0 7 T1OUT T1IN 10 1
U11 8 32 T2OUT T2IN + C27
7 P1.7 P0.7 33 1 0.1uF
6 P1.6 P0.6 34 C1+ 3
5 P1.5 P0.5 35 C1- 4 BOXCONN_DB9
MAX1240 4 P1.4 P0.4 36 OUT4 C2+ 5
+3.3V 1 3 P1.3 P0.3 37 OUT3 C2- 2 + C28
VDD 2 P1.2 P0.2 38 OUT2 V+ 6 0.1uF
7 1 P1.1/T2X P0.1 39 OUT1 V-
3 CS P1.0/T2 P0.0 MAX232/SO
C9 SHDN
8 U8
1nF SCLK
4 C30 C29
REFIN
+
+

2 6 C6
ANAIN SDO
1nF 0.1uF 0.1uF
U9
Modelling, Programming and Simulations Using LabVIEW™ Software
Development of an Intelligent Bedsore Prevention System 247

/************************1ms Delay Functions **********************/

delay1ms(uint t)
{
uint i,j;
for(i=0;i<t;i++)
for(j=0;j<120;j++);
}
/********************** MAX1240 conversion process *********************/
void adconversion(void)
{ uint rice=0;
uchar i;
float rice1=0;
sclk=0;
cs=0;
_nop_();
if(dout==0)
{_nop_();
_nop_();
_nop_();
_nop_();
_nop_();
_nop_();
_nop_();
if(dout==1)
{
for(i=0;i<12;i++)
{ sclk=1;
_nop_();
sclk=0;

if(dout==1)
{rice=(rice<<1)|0x0001;}
else
rice=rice<<1;
}
cs=1;}
}
word1[4]=(cha/10)+48;
word1[5]=(cha%10)+48;
rice1=(float)rice*1.220703125;//(2.5*rice*1000)/0xfff;
rice=(uint)rice1;
word1[11]=(rice%10000)/1000+48;
word1[12]='.';
word1[13]=(rice%1000)/100+48;
word1[14]=(rice%100)/10+48;
word1[15]=rice%10+48;
}
248 Modelling, Programming and Simulations Using LabVIEW™ Software

/**************** Serial port initialization process****************/

void UART_init()
{
TMOD=0x20; // timer 1 mode 2 : 8-Bit reload
PCON=0x00; // Baud rate is not doubled
SCON=0x50; // mode 1 bit UART, enable receiver
TH1=0xFC; // reload value 9600 baud
IE = 0x90; //Enable Serial Interrupt
TR1=1; //timer1 run
}
/************* Serial communication function (send)**********************/
void putchar(unsigned char data1) // Characters send function
{
SBUF = data1;
while(TI == 0);
TI = 0;
}
void putstring(unsigned char *dat) // string Send function
{
while(*dat != '\0')
{
putchar(*dat);
dat++;
delay1ms(5);
}
}
void Serialsent() // Send a string of specified bits
{
unsigned char c;
for(c=11;c<16;c++)
{
SBUF=word1[c];
while(!TI);
TI=0;
delay1ms(10);
}
}
/************* Serial communication function (receiver)******************/
// Serial port receive interrupt function
void serial () interrupt 4 using 3
{
if (RI)
{
RI=0;
ch=SBUF;
Development of an Intelligent Bedsore Prevention System 249

read_flag= 1 ;
P0=ch;
delay1ms(1000);
}
}
/************************Main function ***************************/
void main()
{
UART_init(); // Serial port initialization
do
{
P2=cha;
adconversion();
delay1ms(100);
putstring("\r\n") ;
Serialsent();
delay1ms(50);
cha++ ;
}
while(cha<15);
putstring("\r\n");
putstring("-----------\r\n");
delay1ms(1000);
if (RI) // If have received interrupt, get results and send it to P0
{ RI=0;
ch=SBUF;
read_flag= 1 ;
P0=ch;
delay1ms(1000);
}
}

3.3 Pump control circuit

Pump control signal first use an inverter 74LS04 and a regional control circuit is shown in
Fig.13. Then the other three regions control circuit is the same with the first pump control
circuit.

3.4 Power supply module

3.4.1 Analysis of system power demand
In this design, the pressure signal conditioning circuit requires two groups of +5V and -5V
analog power, the microcontroller requires 5V power supply, the operational amplifier of
conditioning circuit requires +12V and -12V. A/D converter and MAX3232 need 3.3V digital
power supply, while pump requires 12V power. To suppression the interference generated
by digital circuit to the analog signal, the digital ground and the analog ground need to be
isolated.
250 Modelling, Programming and Simulations Using LabVIEW™ Software

+12V

1
6
+
U29B MG2

12CW A
MOTOR SERVO

5
-

2
U28A
Q3
OUT1 1 2 IRF840

74LS04

Fig. 13. Pump control circuit

According to the system design requirements and evaluating various factors, initially setting
the basic parameters of the system power is as follows:
• Input Voltage: 12V AC voltage;
• Output voltage: +12 V,-12V, +5 V,-5V, +3.3 V;
• Output current: the major components required normal currents were several to tens of
milliampere, so that the power supply current typically is less than 100mA.

3.4.2 Design of digital power

In order to reduce the power supply of system and improve power efficiency and reduce
heat of the power system, low dropout regulator should be chosen. This design choice
RT9163 series regulator to provide the required voltage, the main features of the chip are as
follows:
• LDO: maximum voltage 1.4V;
• Fast transient response;
• ± 2% of total output regulation;
• 0.1% line regulation;
• 0.1% load regulation;
• Output Current: 0.5A;
+5V digital and analog power supply circuit is shown in Fig.14(a), output voltage of three-
terminal regulator RT9163 is used as the +5V digital power supply, then the inductance L1
and capacitor Ct8 constitute of the LC low-pass filter, cutoff frequency is:

1
fc = ≈ 400 Hz (9)
2π L1 ⋅ C 2

Digital voltage filters high frequency noise by the LC filter, which can be used as analog
power VCC. +5 V digital power supply followed by a three-terminal regulator RT9163 of
3.3V output is shown in Fig.14(b) and available +3.3 V digital power supply can be got.
Development of an Intelligent Bedsore Prevention System 251

VDD5P VCC5P
VDD7.5P
RT9163-5
3 1
IN OUT L2 330uF C23
VDD5P VDD33P
C25 4 2 C24 +
GND GND
+ C26 RT9163-3.3
+ R23 0.1uF 10uF 3 1
10uF R IN OUT C20
10uF
C19 4 2 + C21
D1 GND GND
LED 100nF 10uF 100nF
GNDA
GNDD GNDD

GNDD

(a) +5 V digital power supply (b) +3.3 V digital power supply

Fig. 14. Digital power supply

3.4.3 Analog power supply

Analog power supply made the multi-level regulation of the three-terminal regulator block,
and large-capacity electrolytic capacitors and high-frequency small capacitors make output
to meet the voltage requirements. The circuit is shown in Fig.15.
+12V
AC
U22 7812 U24 7805
1 3 1 3
1

VIN VOUT VIN VOUT +5V

U26 C17 C22
C8 2 C15 + 2 C11 +
+ GND 10uF GND 10uF
4 - + 3 2200uF 0.1uF 0.1uF
AC GND
C18 C31
C7 C16 + C12 +
2

+ U23 7812 10uF U25 7805 10uF

DF06S/SM 0.1uF 0.1uF
GND

GND
2

1 3 1 3
VIN VOUT VIN VOUT -5V
2200uF
AC -12V

Fig. 15. Analog power circuit

4. LabVIEW virtual instrument design

The main thought of LabVIEW virtual instrument design is: LabVIEW virtual instrument
recieves the pressure data of each sensor which sent from microcontroller by serial port,
then the pressure data is transformed, arranged and filtered. At last, it is divided into four
groups and each group of data represents the press state of head area, back area, buttocks
area and crus area. The sensor signals in each area of mattress are shown in real time in
different waveform chart, and then be saved in the corresponding file named by the user.
Then LabVIEW calls the data saved in the excel file and analyzes them, if the point bearing
the most in certain part does not change during the setting time, the system will recognize
that the skin in this part has been pressed for a long time and it will easily cause bedsore,
then the LabVIEW virtual instrument sends control signals to microcontroller and begins to
alarm, microcontroller controls pump to massage this part of skin, its flow chart is shown in
Fig.16.
252 Modelling, Programming and Simulations Using LabVIEW™ Software

Start

No
Start button is pressed down?

Yes
Receives the pressure signal data
send by the RS232 serial port

Data type conversion Data filtering

Data storage Data classification

Pressure analysis

Does the max pressure point

change during the set time?
Yes

Output control
signals

No No
Stop button is pressed down ?

Yes
Stop

Fig. 16. LabVIEW main program flow chart

First, open National Instruments LabVIEW 2009 software, then choose “Empty Project” in
the left side of the “Getting Started” window to build a new project, at last name the project
with “Design of a Intelligent Bedsore Prevention and Treatment System”.

4.1 Data receiving and storage

Data receiving and storage progam is composed with four parts: read serial port, data
transformation and arrangment, data filtering and area saving, its concrete program block
diagram is shown in Fig.17.
Development of an Intelligent Bedsore Prevention System 253

Fig. 17. Data read and storage program block diagram

Fig. 18. Read serial port program block diagram

254 Modelling, Programming and Simulations Using LabVIEW™ Software

Concrete steps are as follows (Chen, 2007):

1. Build a new program in this project and name it with “data read and storage.vi”.
2. Read serial port: the data communications are based on the RS232 serial port protocol.
The serial port should be initialized before the data communications, the settings of
serial port in the software and the hardware should be consistent, and its block diagram
is shown in Fig.18. VISA Configure Serial Port VI is used to initializes the serial port,
the parameters usually want to be configured are: baud rates, data bits, stop bits, flow
control and so on. VISA Read Function is used to read the specified number of bytes
from the serial port and return the data in read buffer, these functions are in the
Instrument I/O|Serial Palette of the Functions Palette.
3. Data transformation and arrangement: in the LabVIEW virtual instrument, the type of
data read from the serial port is binary string, so it should be converted to binary integer
firstly, we use String To Byte Array Function to convert a string into an array of unsigned
bytes, but each byte in the array has the ASCII value of the corresponding character in the
string, so its value should decreases 48. All the converted sample data composes a binary
one-dimension array with a length of 180n(12x15xn), we should transform it to a denary
two-dimension array with fifteen columns and n rows, and the data in the same column
is the sampled data of one sensor. Reshape Array Function is used to change a one-
dimension array to a two-dimension array, after use this function, a one-dimension array
with a length of 180 is changed to a two-dimension array with 12 columns and 15 rows.
Then we should convert the binary data to the denary, change the binary data to decimal
data in each row accoring to the binary to decimal conversion formula. After series of data
transformation and arrangement, the data is transformed into a denary two-dimension
array with n rows and 15 columns. But the data is not the pressure data we need at last, it
is the data after A/D conversion, the relation between this data and the real pressure data
is linear, so the data should be multiplied by a factor, the value of the factor is related to
measurement circuit and A/D conversion circuit. Data transformation and arragement
block diagram is shown in Fig.19.

Fig. 19. Data transformation and Arrangement program block diagram

Development of an Intelligent Bedsore Prevention System 255

4. Data filtering: data transmission errors and data loss is likely to occur during the RS232
serial communications, so the data need to be filtered. The main thought of data
filtering is: LabVIEW virtual instrument recieves a group of data which sent by the
RS232 serial port every 10 seconds, so it will receive 6 groups of data in a minute.
Removing the maximum and minimum values of the 6 groups, the average value of the
remaining 4 groups is thought as the pressure data in one minute, its block diagram is
shown in Fig.20.

Fig. 20. Data filtering program block diagram

5. Area Saving: because the pressure analysis in each area is only relative to the measured
pressure signals in the areas, the sensor signals can be saved by areas to different files.
The column number of the array in each file is the same to the number of sensors in the
corresponding area. That is to say, the two-dimension array will be divided into four
new arrays with the row number invariable. We use Array Subset Function to divide
the array, after using this function, 1~5 columns, 6~8 columns, 9~11 columns and 12~15
columns of the array will form 4 new arrays with the row number invariable. This 4
new arrays are pressure data of sensors in head area, back area, buttocks area and crus
area. The sensor signals in each area of the mattress can be shown in real time in
different waveform chart. Array Max & Min Function is used to show the maximal
pressure of the area and the sensor number is under the maximal pressure, the program
block diagram is shown in Fig.21.

4.2 Data storage

In Fig.21, the ‘save data. vi’ block is a LabVIEW subroutine, its function is to save the new
two-dimension array of each area, which block diagram is shown in Fig.22. The pressure
signals in each area will be saved into four different excel files. Write To Spreadsheet File VI
is used to save the data into excel files, the intraday two-dimension array in each area can be
save by entering the corresponding file name in the front panel of the subroutine, save path
is ”d:\file\(date)(file name).xls”.
Concrete steps are as follows:
1. Build a new program in the project, and name it with “data storage.vi”;
2. Draw program block diagram is shown in Fig.22;
256 Modelling, Programming and Simulations Using LabVIEW™ Software

3. Edit icon and connector. Double click the icon in the upper right corner and edit it, right-
click the icon pane in the front panel and choose “Show Connector” in the shortcut menu.
And then connect the controls in the front panel with the terminal of the connector. One
input terminal should be connected to the array which needs to be saved, the other input
terminal should be connected to the file name which wants to be saved.
4. Save this VI file, so we can use it next time.

Fig. 21. Area saving program block diagram

Development of an Intelligent Bedsore Prevention System 257

Fig. 22. Data storage block

4.3 Pressure analysis in each area

The press state of each area is got by comparing and analyzing the saved pressure data. The
pressure analysis of the single area can be taken as an independent LabVIEW subroutine,
the concrete program block diagram is shown in Fig.23.

Fig. 23. Pressure analysis program block diagram

258 Modelling, Programming and Simulations Using LabVIEW™ Software

The point under the biggest pressure in the certain area of mattress can be got by comparing
the corresponding data in this area. The maximum value in a row is the maximal pressure of
the area at the certain time and the position of the maximal value can show the sensor which
is under the maximal pressure. If the point bearing the most in certain part does not change
during the set time, the system will recognize that the skin in this part has been pressed for a
long time and need to be massaged. Otherwise, the system will recognize that the main
bearing point in this area has been changed and this area do not need to be massage during
the time (Zhou, 2008).
The maximum duration under pressure in each part of human body is different, because the
maximum pressure in each part is different. In addition, the weight of patient is always
different, thus the maximum duration should be set according to the characteristic of the
patient and the specific part. If the sensor signals are set to be sampled every 10 seconds and
stored every 1 minute, the maximum duration is set to be x hours. Then when the maximum
values in all the seriate 60x rows are in the same column, it can be concluded that there is no
move in this area during the x hours. The LabVIEW instrument send relevant signals to the
microcontroller according to the analysis result, then the pump of certain area will be
controlled to run (Yang, 2007).
Concrete steps are as follows:
1. Build a new program in the project, and name it with “pressure analysis.vi”.
2. Data read: its block diagram is shown in Fig.24. Read From Spreadsheet File VI is used
to read the saved pressure data files, and then output a double-precision two dimension
array, the file path is ”d:\file\(time)(file name).xls”.

Fig. 24. Data Read program block diagram

3. Maximum pressure analysis: The array of pressure data can be read row by row, Array
Max & Min Function is used to find the position of the maximal value in this row, then
compare it with the position of maximal value in last row, if they are same, it will
output Boolean variable ‘1’, its program block diagram is shown in Fig.25.
4. Duration Analysis: its program block diagram is shown in Fig.26, if the position of the
maximal value in this row is same to the position of the maximal value in last row, the
value of register variable will increase 1. If the value of the register variable is larger
than the setting time, it will output display signals and control signals, and it will begin
to alarm.
Development of an Intelligent Bedsore Prevention System 259

Fig. 25. Maximum Pressure Analysis block diagram

Fig. 26. Duration analysis program block diagram

4.4 Control signals sending

We will send a 4 bytes string to microcontroller according to the result of pressure analysis
in each area, each byte of the string indicates wheather the pump in this area begin to run,
for example, a string of “0011” indicates that the pumps in buttocks area and crus area will
begin to run, its diagram is shown in Fig.27.
260 Modelling, Programming and Simulations Using LabVIEW™ Software

Fig. 27. Control signals sending block diagram

4.5 Instrument interface and function verification

The designed instrument interface is shown in Fig.28.The sensor signals in each area of the
mattress are shown in real time in different waveform chart, and then be saved in the
corresponding file named by the user. Saved pressure data file of different area is shown in
Fig.29. The maximum duration under pressure of each area can be set by doctor. The
alarming is visual and the status of different areas can be shown.
The system is set as in Fig.28, the signals in the waveform chart of buttocks area shows that
the point bearing the most in this area has been changed during the past two hours, so there
is no alarm. Alarm in the head area and the back area occurred after 3 hours, because the
signals in these areas changed slowly during the time. Although the point bearing the most
in crus area does not change after 3 hours, but its duration is less than the setting time (4
hours), so there is no alarm in this area either, its waveform chart is shown in Fig.30.

5. Conclusion
By analyzing the multi-channel sensor signals, the human body areas that need to be
massaged can be recognized automatically. The system is designed considering the
practicality, and it can make the patients having a better rest, so that the purpose of the
bedsore prevention has been achieved. For the function of LabVIEW virtual instrument is
easy to extend, we can perfect the system gradually in the clinic experiments.
Development of an Intelligent Bedsore Prevention System 261

Fig. 28. Instrument interface

Fig. 29. Saved pressure data file of different area

262 Modelling, Programming and Simulations Using LabVIEW™ Software

(a) Head area pressure waveform (b) Back area pressure waveform

(c) Buttocs area pressure waveform (d) Crus area pressure waveform
Fig. 30. Waveform chart of pressure signals in each area

6. References
Chen Xihui. & Zhang Yinhong. (2007). LabVIEW 8.20 Programming Design from Introduction to
Master, Tsinghua University Press, 978-7-302-15230-9, Beijing
Hu Hancai. (2003). Microcontroller Theory and Interface Technology, Tsinghua University Press,
7-302-07737-1, Beijing
Yang Leping et al. (2007). LabVIEW Advanced Programming Design, Tsinghua University
Press, 978-7-302-15674-1, Beijing
Zhou Runjing & Hao Xiaoxia. (2008). Multisim&LabVIEW Virtual Instrument Design
Technology, Buaapress, 978-7-81124-319-2, Beijing
Zhou Runjing & Hao Xiaoxia. (2009). Sensor and Detection Technology, Publishing House of
Electronics Industry, 978-7-121-08530-7, Beijing
 Part 4

LabVIEW in the Educational Domain

 12

Web Based Real Time Laboratory Applications

of Analog and Digital Communication Courses
with LabVIEW Access
Aynur AKAR and Ayse YAYLA
Marmara University
Turkey

1. Introduction
Engineering education has a big importance in development of technologies. For this
purpose, various methods have been developed to improve learning processes. The
technological researches and developments provide new concepts in education [5].
Especially internet facilities present new approaches and methods to design virtual and real
time laboratory applications for education purposes. Laboratory work is an important part
of the engineering course, in which the students can make practice of what they learned in
the classes, which helps them to reinforce the learning of the concepts [10].
Facilities of the laboratories in educational institutions are generally insufficient when the
number of students is considered. Implementation of a laboratory to meet the requirements
has a very high price.
Because of using intensively software and minimum hardware, virtual laboratories (VL) that
can be controlled remotely as a real time have become alternative to the traditional
laboratories. In these laboratories, students can access to the experiments without time and
ocation limitations [6]. In the virtual laboratory, students can set up parameters of
experiments from a remote location and repeat the experiments, as they need.
LabVIEW program is one of the high level programming languages that is preferred in this
study to perform VL applications. LabVIEW software provides an active and controllable
interface for test, measurement, instrument control, data processing and data analysis
applications [3]. By using LabVIEW program, both virtual instruments can be designed and
the devices can be controlled via GPIB, RS232 or VXI interface and web based applications
that users can access via internet can be performed. On the basis of LabVIEW program
properties, a VL has been setup to provide an environment for both physical experiments
and simulations [4].
There are many web based virtual laboratory examples in the literature and some of them
can be found on the following. In [2], power electronics experiment is programmed in a
remotely controlled laboratory. It is a real power electronics experiment conducted in the
laboratory but remotely control and monitoring by web based tools. In [1], it presents a new
web based virtual laboratory on a frequency modulation experiment for the teaching of an
undergraduate course on communication principles in the National University of Singapore
(NUS). It enables students to have a natural hands-on experience of using an expensive
266 Modelling, Programming and Simulations Using LabVIEW™ Software

spectrum analyzer on a one-to-one basis and provides a solution for distant engineering
education. In [7], a virtual laboratory that offers different aspects of instruments and circuits
is described for Electrical and Electronics teaching. This laboratory is based upon the use of
LabVIEW program. In [8], a web based platform for distance learning is performed. The
platform is used in the course “Electrical Measurements” at Faculty of Electrical Engineering
in Zagreb, Croatia. In [9], a web-based laboratory in a distance course on automatic control
in the Department of Computer Sciences and Automatic Control of the Spanish University
of Distance Learning (UNED) is described.
This study describes a web based real time virtual laboratory that its purpose is to provide a
tool to be used as a teaching aid in analog and digital communications course. We present a
web based VL on Amplitude Modulation (AM, with carried, double side and signal side
band), Pulse Code Modulation (PCM), and base band digital modulation techniques such as
Amplitude Shift Keying (ASK), Frequency Shift Keying (FSK) and Phase Shift Keying (PSK)
experiments are designed. For performing the above experiments in an efficient way,
theoretical concepts and the procedures of real time and virtual applications related to
experiments are given on the web page that is designed by using Microsoft Visual Studio
2005 and also to conduct and perform the experiments; the user only needs to install
LabVIEW Run Time Engine that is placed on the user input page. In our virtual laboratory,
HP 3632A DC Power supply and HP 34970A Digital Multimeter devices are controlled via
GPIB interface.
In Section II, the typical user interfaces including web site of the study and LabVIEW control
panels that have been installed into the web site are described. Section III describes the
hardware and software system architecture and finally, conclusions are drawn in Section IV.

2. User interface
2.1 Control panels
In this virtual laboratory, both computer–simulated and real time applications have been
performed but only the front panels of real time applications have been presented in this
paper. In Figure 1, Q=32 a=1 PCM front panel is shown. Similarly, in Figure 2, AM front
panel and in Figure 3, FSK front panel is shown. The front panels are called user interfaces
and they have been designed as realistic as possible. The front panels of these applications
that contain two sections such as control buttons on the left and input-output waveforms of
the experiments on the right are designed in a simple and intelligible structure.
In these applications, the frequency of sample impulses (PCM) and carrier frequencies (ASK,
FSK, PSK, AM) is changed as virtual and the frequency of message signals is changed as real
time by using control buttons. So students can change the message signals in real time via
voltage controlled circuit (VCO) by controlling the connected devices (HP 3632 A DC Power
Supply). Also in the front panels, there are five types of signals such as sinusoidal, square,
triangle, saw tooth and random on the message signal part. In addition to this, the front
panels display message signal, sample impulses, carrier signals as input and AM modulated
signal, PCM code sequence, ASK, FSK, PSK signals as output. The experiments can be
stopped at any time by pressing stop button located at the bottom of the left side of the front
panel. In order to start up the application, these graphs and control buttons must be
connected in the proper form in the block diagram. These diagrams will be explained in the
hardware and software section.
Web Based Real Time Laboratory Applications of Analog
and Digital Communication Courses with LabVIEW Access 267

Fig. 1. PCM Front Panel (Q=32, a=1)

Fig. 2. AM Front Panel

Fig. 3. PSK Front Panel

268 Modelling, Programming and Simulations Using LabVIEW™ Software

2.2 Web site

In this study, a web site is designed to perform Analog and Digital Communication
experiments and increase the efficiency of these experiments. The web site is designed both
in Turkish and English languages. The web site contains the theoretical information of
experiments and virtual and real time experiment steps. The aim of these web pages is to
give some information about experiment. Any interested user can access these documents
freely and install them without logging on, at the same time without interrupting the
experiment. To conduct and perform the experiment, students need to have web browser
and LabVIEW Run Time Engine.
The web site is designed in accordance with Microsoft Internet Explorer. In real time
applications, because of controlling the devices as well, the web site is designed in order to
allow only one user to access at the same time. Microsoft Visual Studio 2005 program is
used for designing the web site and Microsoft Access is used for user account registration.
National Instruments has developed Dynamic Link Library (DLL) that is a function library
to control the LabVIEW applications from different programming languages (Visual Basic,
C++, C#) dynamically. Through this DLL, virtual instruments developed in LabVIEW
program can be integrated into the .NET applications easily. Many functions and methods
presented in DLL have been used in our designed web site [11]. On the designed home
page, there can be seen if there is any user in the system or not and if there is a user in the
system, the experiment which the user is performing (real time or simulation) can be seen as
well. In Figure 4, the home page of web site is shown. The necessary steps for conducting
and performing the experiment are given as follows:
• Students can choose the experiment from the buttons
• Username and password for authentication is requested from the user when the user
clicks to the experiment link.

Fig. 4. Home Page

Web Based Real Time Laboratory Applications of Analog
and Digital Communication Courses with LabVIEW Access 269

Fig. 5. Application Input Page

• After a successful log on to the session, the user interface for controlling the instruments
and performing the experiment will appear.
• Students can now change the experiment parameters such as the control voltage of
VCO circuit to get message frequency, sampling frequency and carrier frequency and
obtain the results.
• While the student is performing the experiment, teacher may only observe the experiment
simultaneously. During the session, if the student changes the parameters of the
experiment, the teacher can only watch these changes and also student and teacher can
communicate with each other via the chat platform developed in the web application.
• Students are allocated with 15 minutes and the session can be terminated by the user any
time or after a default time limit of 15 minutes. When the student finishes the experiment,
the message “The student finished the experiment” is shown on the teacher web page.
Because of the fact that, students are able to perform the device control in the experiment as
well, the web site allows to access only one student at the time. In order to add or erase
experiments, update the current experiments and disable / enable the system, an
administrator page is designed in web site as shown in Figure 6.When the system is

Fig. 6. Administrator Page

270 Modelling, Programming and Simulations Using LabVIEW™ Software

deactivated by the system manager (generally teacher), nobody can access the experiments.
If somebody wants to access the experiments at this time, “Because of deactivating the
system, you can not access the experiments” message is shown. When the system is
deactivated, the student can only access the other pages such as LabVIEW information,
experiment menus.

3. System architecture
3.1 Hardware system
The hardware system and its components of the real time Analog and Digital
Communication experiments are shown in Figure 7.
In this hardware structure, HP3632A DC power supply and HP 34970A digital multimeter
devices have GPIB card and are connected to server PC through GPIB card and cables.
LabVIEW is adopted to implement local instrument control. On the basis of the GPIB
address assigned to the instrument, the commands are transferred through the GPIB card
and cable to the corresponding instrument which implements the commands and executes
the actions. Laboratory PC which includes GPIB and Ethernet interfaces is called as a
server PC and communicate as a full duplex form with digital multimeter and DC power
supply.
By using Voltage Controlled Oscillator (VCO) as shown in Figure 8, message signal has been
obtained for experiments. The input signal of VCO is controlled by the HP3632A DC power
supply with GPIB and the output signal of VCO circuit is measured with HP 34970A digital
multimeter and then sent back to the Laboratory PC through the GPIB. This measured
signal is applied to the system as a message frequency.
VCO circuit converts the voltage between 3,5 to 5,5V to the frequency between 1,6 to 11 kHz.
With the designed VCO circuit, the message signal of real time PCM experiment and carrier
signals of ASK, PSK and FSK experiments are get. In Figure 9, the set of the instrument
located in a standard laboratory is shown.

Fig. 7. Hardware Structure of Application

Web Based Real Time Laboratory Applications of Analog
and Digital Communication Courses with LabVIEW Access 271

Fig. 8. VCO Circuit

Fig. 9. Laboratory Appearance of Application

3.2 Block diagram

The block diagrams are the main part of the experiments. Connections between the VI’s,
analog I/O are implemented under LabVIEW using the G programming language. Also
programs are verified by using Formula node in the block diagram. In Figure 10, as an
example, the block diagram of PCM experiment is shown.
A block diagram of the PCM experiment contains four sections. In the first section, by using
signal generation VI’s, the message and sampling frequency are generated. Then a program
272 Modelling, Programming and Simulations Using LabVIEW™ Software

is written in Formula Node to select sample values In the third section, in Formula node, a
program is developed to allocate levels to the infinite range of amplitude of sample values
of the analog signal using uniform quantization operator. This program is carried out by
using quantization parameters (quantization step size a=1 and a=0,5, the quantization levels
Q=8, 16, 32).

Fig. 10. PCM Block Diagram Structure ( Q=32, a=1)

In the last section, encoding operation is performed by developing a program in Formula
Node. In this step, each quantization level is expressed in a code. According to number of
quantization levels, code word length (n) is selected 3, 4, 5 bits. n bits (0,1) binary code
words are converted to Binary- Non-Return to Zero (B-NRZ) pulse sequences to transmit.
For the other experiments, similar block diagrams are developed.
According to digital source data (0 and 1), in ASK experiment the amplitude of carrier
signal, in FSK experiment the frequency of carrier signal and in PSK experiment the phase
(0, π) of carrier signal is changed.
Each of three experiments uses PCM experiment digital signals as digital source data.
This means that, source is the digital output of analog signal. Consequently, by changing
the analog message, the student can get the digital source data that is converted
analog to digital. The modulated signals are received by developing structures for each of
them.
Web Based Real Time Laboratory Applications of Analog
and Digital Communication Courses with LabVIEW Access 273

Fig. 11. PCM Block Diagram Algorithm (Q=32, a=1)

4. Conclusion
In this study, for supporting laboratory applications of students, a general methodology has
been presented to create real time and virtual experiments of Analog and Digital
Communication courses. And also this study supports effective and complete learning and
provides a solution for distant technical engineering education. The aim of these
experiments is to study the frequency spectra of AM, DSB, SSB modulated signals and time
spectra of PCM, ASK, FSK, PSK signal forms according to input parameters. These
experiments are designed based on theoretical knowledge.
Various experiments corresponding to modulation techniques have been designed under
LabVIEW program to real time and virtual applications. Hereafter, it is planned on to
develop the demodulation applications of these experiments. This methodology can also be
extended to other communication system techniques. Users can access the virtual laboratory
in Marmara University campus.

5. References
Ko, C.C.; Chen, B.M.; Han, J.; Hu, S.; Ramakrishnan, V.; Cheng, C.D.; Zhuang, Y.& Chen, J.
(2001).A Web-Based Virtual Laboratory on a Frequency Modulation Experiment.
IEEE Transactions on Systems Man.and Cybernetics, pp 295-303,
Cheng, K.W.E.; Chan, C.L.; Cheung, N.C.; Sutanto, D.(2002).Virtual Laboratory
Development for Teaching Power Electronics. Institute of Electrical and Electronics
Engineers, pp. 461-466,
Higa, M.L.; Tawy, D.M.; Lord,S.M.;(2002). An Introduction to Labview Exercise for An
Electronics Class. 32nd ASEE/IEEE Frontiers in Education Conference
LabVIEW Manual , National Instruments, 2005
Basher, H. A.; Isa, S. A.;(2006). On – campus an Online Virtual Laboratory Experiments with
LabVIEW. Southeast Conference, pp. 325-330,
274 Modelling, Programming and Simulations Using LabVIEW™ Software

Basher, H. A.; Isa, S. A.; Henini, M. A.; (2004). Virtual Laboratory for Electrical Circuit
Course. IEEE Southeast on 2004 Conference, pp. 330-334,2004
Xiaoyan, C.; Xiaodong, Z.& Xi, C.; (2005). A Virtual Laboratory for Electrical and
Electronics Teaching. IEEE International Symposium on Microwave, Antenna, Propagation and
EMC Technologies for Wireless Communications Proceedings, pp. 491-495, 2004
Jurèeviæ, M.; Malariæ, R.& Šala, A.; (2006). Web Based Platform for Distance Training On
Electrical Measurements Course. Measurement Science Review, pp.36-39,
Dormido, S.; Vargas, H.; Sánchez, J.; Duro, N.; Dormido, R.; Canto, S.D.& Esquembre, F.;
(2007). Using Web based laboratories for Control Engineering Education.
International Conference on Engineering Education
Salzmann, Ch.; Gillet, D.&Huguenin, P.; (2000). Introduction to Realtime Control using
LabVIEW with an Application to Distance Learning, International Journal of
Engineering Education ,pp. 255- 272,
National Instruments. (2002) Distance- Learning Remote Laboratories using LabVIEW.
Available:http:///one.ni.com/devzone/conceptd.nsf/webmain/7BD0B01FCF3CF
61A86256B510059F0FB/$File/WP223 .pdf
 13

LabVIEW Remote Lab

Aurel Gontean and Roland Szabó
“Politehnica” University of Timişoara
România

1. Introduction
LabVIEW is a quite interesting programming language, and despite its odd first impression
is very powerful. We remember when we started to use it for the first time it was somehow
strange to me, we thought what this, a graphical programming language? For the first
contact whit this language, LabVIEW somehow hides its power, this could be due to fact
that for the first contact everyone tries the simulation part. A usual first application would
be to generate a sine wave to a graph. Unfortunately, this won’t really impress a user.
All LabVIEW field engineers nightmare is to know that the users think that LabVIEW is a
simulation environment. Their main job is to erase that from the users mind. Of course it has
a very strong simulation part, but the main target is the real hardware controlling.
If we think put of the box a little, we will realize that if LabVIEW hides its power, that means is
very simple to use, but if we think about the big amount of software and hardware National
instruments make, we will see that it’s quite an extraordinary programming language.
To make a short count, we can see that only LabVIEW 2009 with Modules, Toolkits and
Device Drivers are 3 DVDs in compressed kit version. If we consider that in other hand we
have NI Multisim circuit design suite, LabWindows/CVI C programming language for
instruments and Measurement Studio LabVIEW style buttons add-on for Microsoft Visual
Studio, then we can imagine that engineers National Instruments create a lot of software.
In hardware area we can just say that they have a lot of stuff, and if they don’t have am
equipment, then another company has it and LabVIEW has the driver for that equipment.
Sometimes the diver is made by the National Instruments engineers, sometimes is made by
third party vendors, but my only concern is to work, and they mostly do. A useful section in
the www.ni.com webpage is the IDNET (Instrument Driver Network), where you can find
the LabVIEW and LabWindows/CVI drivers for almost any equipment. You just have to
search here: www.ni.com/devzone/idnet. A good instruments vendor would be Agilent
Technologies; we can say that it’s very hard to find equipments from Agilent without
LabVIEW or LabWindows/CVI driver.
This way we can easily say that LabVIEW it’s much more than MATLAB Simulink in color.
LabVIEW has a strong programming part, despite its simple appearance, if we go deeply in
some specific area, like NI Vision or CompactRIO, then things will start to get quite complex
and complicated. But knowing that this is complicated in LabVIEW, if we think to do the
same thing without LabVIEW, in another programming language, it could be almost
impossible, for a reduced number of engineers, in a short amount of time.
In LabVIEW it’s possible, almost everything is possible.
276 Modelling, Programming and Simulations Using LabVIEW™ Software

We would like to correct the sentence above; some things are possible only indirectly. Some
extra programming in needed, but after all an engineer can do what he planned.

2. Tips and tricks in LabVIEW

As we said not everything can be done directly, some of them need some extra
programming. We are not really sure why they did not include it in the LabVIEW package;
maybe they had a good reason. On forums is really hard to find a solution for these
problems, this way we will present a few common and useful tips and trick that we was
forced to develop, because we needed them during my projects.

2.1 Very long HEX String to ASCII Conversion

We shall show a method in LabVIEW how to convert a very long HEX string to ASCII.
This could be useful if we want to analyze memory dumps or binary files, which are mostly
in HEX, but to be interpretable, we need to convert it in some form, which we can
understand, and mostly we convert it in ASCII.
As we can see in Fig. 1. the program is working.

Fig. 1. HEX to ASCII Front Panel.

Fig. 2. HEX to ASCII Block Diagram.

In Fig. 2. we have the solution for the problem. First of all we have to enter a very long HEX
string. With the String Subset VI we have to fragment the string into groups with 2 HEX
LabVIEW Remote Lab 277

numbers (8 bits). The first Shift Register with 0 initialization will always increase the
fragmentation index with 2, this way we will reach at the end minus 2 (n-2) of the HEX
word. There is a condition too, if we reach at the end of the HEX string to exist the While
loop. From String Subset we convert the HEX string to number, the number is converted to
ASCII with the Type Cast VI. For some strange reason the Type Cast VI puts an ASCII space
before the converted ASCII character, this space is a \00 type space, so this will have to be
deleted, it’s deleted with the Match Pattern VI using the ^[\00]* command and wired to the
after substring output (after the \00), and we will obtain the good converted ASCII value.
This value will be concatenated with the following strings using the second Shift Register
with the empty string initialization.

2.2 Very long ASCII to HEX string conversion

If we made the HEX to ASCII conversion, than we have to do the reverse operation too. In
LabVIEW ASCII to HEX the conversion is not that simple. Unfortunately there is no VI
which will do the job, so the user has to make his own VI. On possible method will be
presented next.
In Fig. 3. we can see the working program.

Fig. 3. ASCII to HEX Front Panel.

In Fig. 4. We have the ASCII input, which will be converted in a number, with byte data
type. Byte is more than enough, because we have a total of 128 ASCII characters, in the other
hand in LabVIEW there is no ASCII string to number conversion in with other data type, so
this is our only solution. The numbers are converted into HEX with the length of 2 for each
HEX number. The string to number conversion makes an array, this way the HEX values
will be an array of HEX string with the length of 2. We want to make a long HEX string, not
an array of strings. We made a For loop with the number of iteration equal to the length of
the HEX array. We indexed the array and with the use of Shift Registers we concatenated it
into a long HEX string.

Fig. 4. ASCII to HEX Block Diagram.

278 Modelling, Programming and Simulations Using LabVIEW™ Software

2.3 Creating a toggle button from a push button

This application would be useful when we want to have an LED light to be ON, for very
short impulses, like the sound of claps of falling coins, otherwise we would see only a LED
blink and we would have to be very attentive. The idea would be to keep the signal on “1”
logic for a longer period with shift registers. There could be many variants, but the hardest
variant will be presented, the one where after the first “1” logic the light is ON and after the
second “1” logic the light is OFF. For the Button the “Latch When Released” Mechanical
Action was used, so it’s a push-button.
As we can see the program’s name is Button Latch (Fig. 5.), we need a latch to keep the LED
ON after only one impulse and to turn the LED OFF after the second.

Fig. 5. Button Latch Front Panel.

In Fig. 6. we can see that Shift Registers were used. As we can see the initialization value for
the Shift Registers is FALSE. The Button is connected to the Implies VI, which computes an
OR logic between the negated x (first) input and y (second) input. In case of Button press,
we will have FALSE in x input and FALSE in y input, so FALSE output, this means that
from the Select VI the FALSE output is activated, which has an input of inverted FALSE
(which is TRUE), so the LED will be ON.
If the Button is pressed again, then we will have FALSE in x input and FALSE at y input of
the Implies VI, so at the Implies function will have FALSE output. The input of the second
Shift Register will be TRUE, because before this the LED in ON. With the FALSE Implies VI
we activate the inverted TRUE (which is FALSE), so the LED will be OFF.

Fig. 6. Button Latch Block Diagram.

LabVIEW Remote Lab 279

2.4 Append file (Write to file line by line)

Surprisingly in LabVIEW we can’t find a simple method to append a file. If a program
writes to a file for the second time, it will overwrite the previous data. This is what we want
to avoid, when we want to make complex logs or even when we want to save the
parameters of a program during execution. This program is useful when we make some
moves, like mouse, joystick moves, and we want to save the coordinates into a file and
maybe the file will be closed an opened in the program more times. We can create programs
to move robotic arms with mouse, or to save the specific parameters of measuring
equipments.
Fig. 7. shows that after multiple runs of the program, the previous text is not erased.

Fig. 7. Text File with Appended Text.

In Fig. 8. we have the standard dataflow of the programming with the settings and the
writing to the file, between the opening/creating and closing the file. At the end it’s good to
put a Simple Error Handler. The file opening/creating VI is set to open or create and a
certain path is given to it. The file setting VI is set to have an offset with the length of 0, and
is set to write at the end of the file. The writing VI has an input with a text which is
concatenated with a new line constant, this way after any running of the program we will
have the appended text in a new line, keeping the old information.

Fig. 8. Text Append Block Diagram.

2.5 Create an arbitrary signal

As we know LabVIEW has a lot of built in signals, but it’s impossible to have any arbitrary
signal. It has the possibility to create arbitrary signals, but we have found it not really
flexible in some situations. It has an arbitrary signal creator with Express VIs, but we always
avoid using them, because you can have more control over traditional VIs. The chosen
280 Modelling, Programming and Simulations Using LabVIEW™ Software

signal was the trapezoidal signal, which is mostly used when controlling motors. Nobody
wants a square pattern for the motors acceleration. In cars, in lifts the motor usually
accelerates in a trapezoidal pattern.
As we can see in Fig. 9., the program is working. The hardest part is configuring the
parameters. The parameters are configured using equation (1).

⎧⎪ N p ⋅ Uminr = A − U0
⎨ (1)
⎪⎩N p ⋅ Uminf = A − U0
Where Np is the number of points; Uminr,Uminf are the minimal voltages for rise and fall; A is
the amplitude of the signal; U0 is the start voltage. In our case it will be: 0,0003 * 10000 = 5 –
2, this way we created the trapezoidal signal.

Fig. 9. Trapezoidal Signal Front Panel.

The Block Diagram (Fig. 10.) it is not so complicated, the main thing is the idea to build
arrays of rising edge, continuous part and falling edge. The building of the arrays is made
with For loops, shift registers and the exit from the loops is made with enable indexing,
which is by default at For loops. Maybe the hardest part is the building of the array, which
builds three 1D arrays intro one 1D array. Normally LabVIEW makes the built array in
multidimensional array, but we need a 1D array, because we want one single signal. This
can be done by changing the enable indexing to disable indexing and then change it back to
enable indexing again at the exit from the For loop of the horizontal signal.

3. Virtual instruments for the PXI chassis

Our LabVIEW remote lab has 6 PXI experiments working and controllable trough a web
browser.

3.1 Transfer characteristic of a NAND gate

The first experiment makes the transfer characteristic of a gate; we made it for a NAND
gate. In Fig. 11. we can see the block schematics of the transfer characteristics of the NAND
gate.
We generate a rising ramp signal at the NAND gates one input and supply a constant
voltage to the other input and measure the voltage at the output, this way we have the
transfer characteristics of the gate.
LabVIEW Remote Lab 281

Fig. 10. Trapezoidal Signal Block Diagram.

Fig. 11. Block Schematics of the Experimental Setup.

The transfer characteristic is the input voltage as a function of the output voltage like shown
in equation (2).

U out = f (Uin ) (2)

282 Modelling, Programming and Simulations Using LabVIEW™ Software

In Fig. 12. We can see the experimental setup of the NAND gate on a PCB with protection
and connectors for accessing. The used NAND gate is integrated in a 74ACT00 IC.
The used NI equipment for this experiment was the NI PXI-4110 power supply and the NI
PXI-4072 digital multimeter.

Fig. 12. NAND Gate with PCB.

In Fig. 13. we can see the Front Panel of the experiment.
As we can see we have the digital multimeter (DMM) configuration with reference ID, a
range at 5 V and resolution at 6½ digits. We have two channels (0 and 1) of the power
supply activated with the current limit set to 100 mA and a slider to set the voltage level
from 0 – 4 V. The most important part is the XY Graph where we see the actual transfer
characteristic of the gate, we have also indicators of the temporary value on both axes of the
graph. We have also cursors to measure certain values.
As we can see is not so complicated to program, the hardest part is maybe that we use
traditional NI acquisition cards, not the newer DAQ cards.
In Fig. 14. We have the Block Diagram of the program.
All the instruments are programmed in this pattern, first we have to create the channel and
after it close it. Between these two VIs we have the configuration or acquisition and
generation. Mostly we have the creation, configuration and closing outside the loop and the
acquisition or generation part in the loop.
In out experiment we first create the channel for the DMM and than configure its range ad
digits. After it we will create the power supply’s channel we configure the voltage and
current for the first channel and enable the output, after we will do the same or the other
channel. For channel 1 we will measure the output voltage. We will measure the voltage
with the multimeter at the output of the NAND gate. Finally we will close an reset the two
equipments.
We can remark that LabVIEW uses the read expression for acquisitioning and the write
expression for generation, this way the used icons for the VI are mostly a pair of glasses for
reading and a pencil for writing.
LabVIEW Remote Lab 283

Fig. 13. Front Panel of the Transfer Characteristic Program.

284 Modelling, Programming and Simulations Using LabVIEW™ Software

Fig. 14. Block Diagram of the Transfer Characteristic Program.

3.2 Propagation time measuring for a NAND Gate

This experiment uses the same 74ACT00 NAND gate, but measures the gate’s propagation
time.
In Fig. 15. we can see the block schematics of the experimental setup.

Fig. 15. Block schematics for the propagation time measuring.

We generate a square waveform to the gate’s one input with a signal generator and measure
its output with an oscilloscope.
The propagation time is given by the formula from equation (3).
LabVIEW Remote Lab 285

t pHL + t pLH
tp = (3)
2
In the standard TTL gate’s case tpLH = 12 ns and tpHL = 8 ns, so tp = 10 ns.
The experimental setup can be seen on Fig. 12. The setup is on the same PCB as for the
transfer characteristic.
The used NI equipments are NI PXI-4110 power supply, the NI PXI-5112 oscilloscope and
the NI PXI-5412 signal generator.
In Fig. 16. we can see the Front Panel of the experiment.

Fig. 16. Front Panel of the Transfer Characteristic Program.

286 Modelling, Programming and Simulations Using LabVIEW™ Software

As we can see we have the configuration of the oscilloscope, the power supply and the
function generator.
The oscilloscope has a configured resource ID and the Time/div setting. It has also both
channels activated with 0 V offset for channel 0 and 3 V offset for channel 1 and Volts/div
(Vertical Range) dial. It also has some triggering configurations like slope on positive, DC
coupling and 1 V level. We have the both graphs (input and output of the NAND gate) on
the waveform graph and cursors to measure the propagation time.
The power supply has a basic configuration just for supplying current to the IC. It has
resource ID, current limit to 100 mA, 5 V voltage level, output enabled indicator, an
indicator showing 0 as the selected channel, and a measurement of the output of the
activated channel.
The function generator has resource indicator, the settings for output mode, which is on
standard, square waveform type, and the setting for amplitude, which is at 5 V and the
setting for frequency, which is at 1 MHz.
In Fig. 17. we can see the Block Diagram of the program.
As we can see we have the initialization for the function generator, the setting of the output
mode, the amplitude and frequency setting, the enabling of the output and the starting of
the generation.
The oscilloscope is initialized and has standard initialization.
Finally the power supply is initialized.
We enter in the While loop. We configure the voltage and the current of the power supply;
we enable its output and measure the output voltage.

Fig. 17. Block Diagram of the Transfer Characteristic Program.

LabVIEW Remote Lab 287

We continue to the oscilloscope, we configure the trigger settings, the timing settings. After
we make the settings for the vertical range and start the readings of the values for
representing on the graph both of the channels (0 and 1). We unite the two channels with a
Build Array and output it on a Waveform Graph.
For the function generator we can control the frequency and amplitude during the program
execution, this way we have it inside the loop too.
When we exit the loop we disabled the output, we stopped the generation we resettled the
device. Finally we close the function generator, the oscilloscope, we reset and close the
power supply and end the whole execution with a simple error handler to have the error
messages in case if something goes wrong.

3.3 Duty cycle analyzer

The duty cycle analyzer experiment has a more complicated setup. We have the 33250A
signal generator from Agilent and the NI PXI-6541 logic analyzer from National
Instruments.
In Fig. 18. We have the block schematics. We have the Agilent signal generator, which
generates a square signal to the Duty Cycle Analyzer. The signal is generated in the logic
control and in the PLL. The signal that exists the PLL will be entering in a counter and after I
in a display module. The signal is gathered with a logic analyzer from National Instruments
and shown on a graph.

Fig. 18. Block Schematics of the Logic Analyzer Experiment.

We have also an external circuit which can be seen on Fig. 19. This external circuit is a duty
cycle analyzer on which 14 different signals are analyzed with the experiment. The circuit
has more modules like a logic control, a PLL and a counter and the duty cycle of the square
signal is shown on the dual digit seven segment displays.
288 Modelling, Programming and Simulations Using LabVIEW™ Software

Fig. 19. Experimental Setup of the Logic Analyzer Experiment.

In Fig. 20. we can see the front panel of the Duty Cycle Analyzer program.
For the logic analyzer we have a resource ID, 14 activated channels, and the clock rate at 300
kHz and 10000 acquired samples.
For the Agilent signal generator we have resource ID, square waveform type, 100 Hz for
frequency, 5 V amplitude, 25 % duty cycle, 0 V offset. The first signal (Clk) represents the
duty cycle. The second signal (VCO_Out) is the representation of the PLL. The third signal
(VCO_Div) is one input for the PLL. Q0 – Q7 is the counter part. Mst_QA, LD_Dcd, Mst_nQ
represent logic levels for testing purposes.

Fig. 20. Front Panel of the Logic Analyzer Experiment.

In Fig. 21. we have the block diagram of the experiment.
We have the initialization of the logic analyzer. In a while loop we have the configuring of
the channels, settings of the clock, setting of the buffer (Number of Samples To Acquire) and
finally we represent the data.
The Agilent signal generator is initialized, the amplitude, frequency, offset and waveform
type is configured. We continue with the duty cycle is configuration, the output is enabling
LabVIEW Remote Lab 289

and at the end we close the signal generator. Finally the logic analyzer is closed too, and the
program is ended with a simple error handler.

Fig. 21. Block Diagram of the Logic Analyzer Experiment.

3.4 Simple motor control

In Fig. 22. we can see the Block Diagram of the experiment.
This experiment uses only PXI instruments and thee PICDEM Mechatronics board from
Microchip for amplifying and PID control. We have the NI PXI-6115 as the signal generator
which generates a trapezoidal signal using the method presented in paragraph 2.5. The
signal is amplified for the motors with the PICDEM Mechatroncis board; this board has also
an implemented PID algorithm. The motor has a disk with slots, which rotates between an
optocoupler pair, similar to and old mouse with ball. The signal from the optocoupler is sent
in a signal; amplifying and conditioning circuit. The output signal is sent to the NI PXI-6608
counter and with a simple formula the RPM is calculated. The signal that the optcoupler
reads should be similar to the generated signal, in our case both trapezoids should look the
same.

Fig. 22. Block Schematics of the Simple Motor Control Program.

In Fig. 23. we can se the PICDEM Mechatronics board and the motor with the disk with two
slots.
290 Modelling, Programming and Simulations Using LabVIEW™ Software

Fig. 23. Experimental Setup of the Simple Motor Control Program.

In Fig. 24. we have the Front Panel of the program in LabVIEW with the trapezoidal signal
generation on Waveform Graph and the RPM readings represented on Waveform Graph 2.
The signal generation method is similar to the method presented in paragraph 2.5.
In the upper part of the Front Panel we have the signal generation configuration, where we
have the resource ID of the signal generation DAQ and the minimum value a t 0 V and the
maximum value at 5 V.
The second part of the Front Panel is the counter configuration with resource ID, rising
edge, minim frequency at 100 KHz and maximum frequency at 1 MHz, 100 samples per

Fig. 24. Front Panel of the Simple Motor Control Program.

LabVIEW Remote Lab 291

channel and the sampling divisor is 5. We have also indicators for frequency and RPM. We
have also a median filter which can be deactivated with a button and we have a slot setting
dial, which must be set to be equal with the number of slots of the disk present on the
motor. This should be correctly set to calculate the RPM.
In Fig. 25. we can see the Block Diagram of the program. We have two parallel while loops.
The first loop is for the trapezoidal signal generation. We have first the creation of the channel,
after we have the start of the generation process. Next we enter the While loop, we have here
the trapezoidal signal creation similar to paragraph 2.5. This is the method how a signal is
generated by a DAQ board; we provide the numbers (samples) of the signal and the use the
write signal VI, which has the icon with the pencil. After we exit the loop with closing the
instrument (delete task) and we finish the program with the simple error handler.
The second loop is for the counter configuration. We have channel creation for the counter,
the timing settings (sample configuration), the start of the execution continues, followed by
the signal reading, which is filtered and with a specific formula we calculate the RPM and
represent it on a Waveform Graph.
Equation (4) shows how to calculate the RPM from the frequency.

f
RPM = N ⋅ 60s (4)
s

Finally we close the instrument and we handle errors. We put everything in the loop to be
controllable during execution.

Fig. 25. Block Diagram of the Simple Motor Control Program.

292 Modelling, Programming and Simulations Using LabVIEW™ Software

3.5 Simple temperature measuring

In Fig. 26. we can see the setup for the temperature measurement. We have an LM35
centigrade sensor and an NI USB-6251 acquisition board. We also made the experiment with
the NI USB-6009 smaller acquisition board and worked very well. The idea of this
experiment is to measure voltage given from the temperature sensor and with the formula
from the datasheet we convert the voltage to temperature.

Fig. 26. Block Schematics of the Simple Temperature Measuring.

In Fig. 27. we have the Front Panel of the program. We have resource ID, timing rate at 1
and the actual temperature shown on an indicator and on a Waveform Graph.

Fig. 27. Front Panel of the Simple Temperature Measuring.

In Fig. 28. we have Block Diagram of the program. We start with the channel creation, the
setting of the timing (samples) and the start of the process. We enter in the While loop, here
we have the reading of the samples and some mean value calculation over 10 samples. The
temperature at the output of the LM35 centigrade sensor is its output voltage multiplied by
100. Finally we close the instrument and handle errors.
LabVIEW Remote Lab 293

Fig. 28. Bock Diagram of the Simple Temperature Measuring.

3.6 Power supply testing

This experiment represents a more complex functional test. If we have many samples it's not
the best solution. For many samples graphs are not indicated, but for only one sample this is
the best test. With a graphs we can see really if the power supply is working.
The signal is generated with an Agilent 33250A function generator and the input and output
signals are viewed using an NI PXI-5112 oscilloscope (Fig. 29.)

Fig. 29. Block Schematics of the AC-DC Power supply.

In Fig. 30. we can see the AC-DC power supply.

Fig. 30. Power Supply.

294 Modelling, Programming and Simulations Using LabVIEW™ Software

In Fig. 31. we have the Front Panel of the Agilent 33250A signal generator. As we can see we
have resource ID, the waveform type is sine wave, the frequency 100 kHz, the offset is 0 V
and the amplitude is 5 V.

Fig. 31. Front Panel for the Agilent 33250A Function / Arbitrary Waveform Generator.
In Fig. 32. we can see the Front Panel of the oscilloscope application. We can see the resource
ID of the oscilloscope and the horizontal adjust dial. We have two channels activated with
two graphs and two vertical adjust dials. The first graph represents the input AC signal and
the second graph represents the output DC signal. From this graphs we ca see that the
power supply works correctly and we have an AC – DC power supply.

Fig. 32. Font Panel for the Power Supply Testing with Oscilloscope.
LabVIEW Remote Lab 295

In Fig. 33. we have the 33250A Agilent signal generator programming. We have between the
initialization and closing a While loop. In the loop we have the waveform configuration VI
and the output enable VI.

Fig. 33. Block Diagram for the Agilent 33250A Function / Arbitrary Waveform Generator.
In Fig. 34. we have the Block Diagram of the oscilloscope application.
We start with the channel creation. We enter in the while loop. We have some timing
settings for the horizontal adjust and the vertical adjust and readings for the both activated
channels (channel 0 and channel 1). We put a Bessel filter to the output signal of the voltage
supply. When we exit from the while loop we close the instrument and handle errors.

Fig. 34. Block Diagram for the Power Supply.

4. Virtual instruments for the CompactRIO chassis

4.1 Advanced motor control
In Fig. 35. we can see, we used both the PXI and the CompactRIO chassis. The trapezoidal
signal is generated with the NI PXI-4110 Power Supply. The signal then is amplified with
the NI 9505 H – bridge. The CompactRIO is programmed to make a PID loop too. The motor
is connected to NI 9505 H – bridge. The motor has a disk with 100 slots, which rotates
between an optocoupler pair.
The optocoupler is connected to the counter to read the frequency and calculate the RPM.
296 Modelling, Programming and Simulations Using LabVIEW™ Software

Fig. 35. Block Schematics of the Advanced Motor Control.

In Fig. 36. we can see the experimental setup with the motor and the CompactRIO.

Fig. 36. Experimental Setup of the Advanced Motor Control.

In Fig. 37. we can see the front panel of the signal generation program, which is similar to
the program presented in paragraph 3.4. The trapezoid generation uses the method
presented in paragraph 2.5. In the signal generation program the NI PXI-4110 power supply
is used. In the Front Panel we have the resource ID, channel 1 is activated, the current limit
is set to 100 mA and the voltage is measured at the output of the power supply.
LabVIEW Remote Lab 297

Fig. 37. Front Panel of the Signal Generation.

In Fig. 38. we have the RPM reading program. We have resource ID, rising edge, minimum
frequency set to 100 kHz and maximum set to 1 MHz, 100 samples acquisitioned at the
channel and the sampling divisor set to 5. We have put indicator for frequency and RPM
and a Waveform Graph to represent the RPM. This graph should be similar to the generated
signal.
In Fig. 39. we have the Front Panel of the FPGA programming. We have a lot of controls and
indicators, which are use to control some functions of the NI 9505 H – bridge, which are also
shown on the card with some LEDs. We have Enable Drive, Disable Drive and Enable
Emergency-Stop. We show the status of the Drive, the Drive Fault and the Overtemperature
Fault, the supply current (Vsup Present) present and the presents of the analog input's
trigger (AI Trigger). We have the Current Loop Rate set to 50 μs, this rate is the rate of the
PID loop. We have the PID parameters: 350 for the proportional gain, 300 for the integral
gain and 5500 for the derivative gain. We have a current setpoint at a negative value (in our
case -16) this for rotating the motor in one direction, if it's positive the motor rotates in other
298 Modelling, Programming and Simulations Using LabVIEW™ Software

Fig. 38. Front Panel of the RPM Reading.

Fig. 39. Front Panel of the FPGA Part.

direction. We limit the current at a certain value (in our case 2000) and we set current
feedback to 1, after we read the PWM Duty Cycle. The PWM Duty Cycle has the same sign
as the Current Setpoint, this way to show the direction of the motor rotation. The Front
Panel is almost the same with this one for all Block Diagrams which will be presented next.
In Fig. 40. we can see the Block Diagram of the trapeze generation program. This program is
similar to the first While loop from Fig. 25., but it's made with a power supply, not a DAQ.
The trapeze is generated with the method presented in paragraph 2.5.
The programming starts with channel creation. After entering in the While loop we set the
voltage. Here is connected the trapezoidal signal. After we set the current, we enable output
and we measure the voltage at the power supply's ports. When we exit from the While loop,
we disable output and close the instrument.
LabVIEW Remote Lab 299

Fig. 40. Block Diagram of Trapeze Generation with Power Supply.

In Fig. 41. we have the RPM reading Block Diagram, which is same with the second While
loop from Fig. 25.

Fig. 41. RPM Reading Block Diagram.

In Fig. 42. we can see the we have a big While loop with all the controls used in the FPGA
part and called by the Real-Time controller. At the left part we have loaded the FPGA part
and at the output we closed it and we handle errors.
In Fig. 43. we have the block Diagram of the networked real-time host. This VI is made
copying the VI form Fig. 41. and adding global variables to send the data trough network to
the Windows host. We have the global variables also before of the FPGA part loading for
initialization.
In Fig. 44. we have the Windows host with the same global variables as in the networked
real-time host, but mirrored. This means if in the networked real-time host we had a control
in the windows host we have indicator and vice-versa. We can imagine an invisible line
between the global variables with the same name starting from the control to the indicator.
300 Modelling, Programming and Simulations Using LabVIEW™ Software

Fig. 42. Block Diagram of the Real-Time Host.

Fig. 43. Block Diagram of the Networked Real-Time Host.

Fig. 44. Block Diagram of the Windows Host.

LabVIEW Remote Lab 301

global variables communicates not only between different VIs on the same computer, but
between VIs on different computers, connected via networks cables if they are in the same
subnet.

4.2 Advanced temperature measuring

In Fig. 45. we can see the block schematics of the experiment.
We have the LM35 centigrade sensor connected to the NI 9201 analog input C series module
which is connected to a CompactRIO. The CompactRIO is connected via Ethernet interface
to the PC.

Fig. 45. Block Schematics of the Advanced Temperature Measuring.

In Fig. 46. we have the Front Panel of the FPGA part. We have only raw data collected here;
we just measure the voltage in mV with the NI 9201 analog input module. We ca set the loop
timing and we visualize errors.

Fig. 46. Front Panel of the FPGA part.

In Fig. 47. we have the Front Panel of the networked real-time host part. Here we have the
voltage converted in temperature in ºC, we visualize errors and we display the log of the
temperature o both Waveform Graph and Chart. Here we ca see a big log of the temperature
over one day when turning the air conditioning system OFF and ON.
In Fig. 48. we can see the Front Panel of the Windows host part. We have here a special stop
button (Stop Windows GUI). With this button we can stop only the windows part of the
program, the temperature acquisition will continue on the real-time system. We have
indicator for the Temperature and we have a Waveform Chart for graph. We have c dial
control for the sample interval in ms.
302 Modelling, Programming and Simulations Using LabVIEW™ Software

Fig. 47. Front Panel of the Networked Real-Time Host.

Fig. 48. Front Panel of the Windows Host.

In Fig. 49. we have the block diagram of the FPGA part. We have While loop and a Flat
Sequence with some special FPGA timing and the acquisition with the FPGA node.
LabVIEW Remote Lab 303

Fig. 49. Block Diagram of the FPGA part.

In Fig. 50. we can see the Block Diagram of the real-time host part. We have the FPGA
program loaded in the real-time host (FPGA Target RIO0). We have a while loop with the
used variables, the conversion from voltage to temperature in ºC with multiplying with 100,
a mean of 100 values. After the exit from the While loop we have the closing of the FPGA
program loaded in the real-time host and the handling of errors.

Fig. 50. Block Diagram of the Real-Time Host.

In Fig. 51. We have the Block Diagram of the networked real-time host, which is the copy of
the real-time host plus the adding of the global variables to the controls and indicators.

Fig. 51. Block Diagram of the Networked Real-Time Host.

In Fig. 52. we have the Block Diagram of the Windows host, which has the global variables
as the mirror image of the networked real-time host. This means where we have control, we
304 Modelling, Programming and Simulations Using LabVIEW™ Software

will have indicator and vice-versa. We can imagine an invisible line, connection between
these global variables. These lines transport the data between the two VIs via Ethernet. The
data is sent from the networked real-time host, but there is also feedback from the Widows
host.

Fig. 52. Block Diagram of the Windows Host.

5. Conclusion
LabVIEW is a very complete programming language. We could say that if assembly is a first
level programming language and C is a second level programming language, than
LabVIEW should be a third level programming language. LabVIEW is graphical and has a
lot of implemented blocks, as they say; you don't have to invent the wheel again. This
concept makes programming really fast and could reduce very much an engineer's work.
As we could see in paragraph 2., LabVIEW has a lot of block, but not enough. It hasn't got
everything that is needed. In paragraph 2. we presented only 7 programming tricks that we
made and we thought that should be important to know. We are sure that are much more
tricks in this programming language. We encountered and solved much more programming
problems, but we decided not to present those tricks, because, they are not so general. After
all LabVIEW is a very complex programming language, but there is place for more.
After the tricks we presented 6 applications made with the PXI industrial system and 2
applications made with CompactRIO. They have similarities; some of them are made with
both of the PXI and ComapctRIO platforms. The applications were made for didactical
purposes and for publishing them on the LabVIEW Remote Lab. All the applications are
published and accessible from the http://plst.etc.upt.ro address with a user name and
password.

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306 Modelling, Programming and Simulations Using LabVIEW™ Software

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