The MultiDAQ example design features a GUI enabled by FrontPanel Platform, allowing users to manage 8 near-real-time DAC and ADC channels. The DAC channels function as a signal generator, producing sinusoidal waves using a CORDIC core, while the ADC channels function as an oscilloscope. The FrontPanel Platform software and gateware control two ADC and DAC controllers to operate the SZG-MULTIDAQ on the XEM8320. With FrontPanel Platform, users have access to open-source JavaScript libraries, and in this example, we utilize Chart.js to provide a versatile toolkit for data acquisition and oscilloscope display, serving as a foundation for more advanced projects.

• SZG-MULTIDAQ
• Source Code
• MultiDAQExampleDesign-v3.0 Release
• FrontPanel Platform Introduction

1. Set up and use a GUI enabled by FrontPanel Platform for controlling gateware.
2. Utilize the open-source JavaScript library Chart.js for data acquisition and oscilloscope display.
3. Interface with the SZG-MULTIDAQ on the XEM8320.

The goal of this getting started guide is to run the provided example design using prebuilt sources. This is a crucial first step to ensure correct hardware setup with known good sources.

• Latest MultiDAQ-ExampleDesign-vX.Y release ASAR file
  • The FPGA bitfile is contained in this file. The ASAR is all you need!
• FrontPanel 6.0.0 beta or higher
• XEM8320-AU25P
• SZG-MULTIDAQ on Port D of the XEM8320

1. Connect Devices: Connect the XEM8320 and the SZG-MULTIDAQ, then power them on.
2. Add Physical Connection: Connect Channel 1 of the DAC to Channel 1 of the ADC using a piece of conductive wire.

1. Open the FrontPanel Platform application.
2. Install the Multi-DAQ application by clicking the ‘+’ button in the Application Card panel. Then locate the MultiDAQ-ExampleDesign-vX.Y.asar file you downloaded from the latest MultiDAQ-ExampleDesign-vX.Y release. See: Building the Template App Guide for more details.
3. Connect an XEM8320 device to your PC.
4. Click and drag the Multi-DAQ Application card to the available XEM8320 device.

1. Enable Channel 1 of the DAC: Set the frequency to 1000 using the number entry component.
2. Enable Channel 1 of the ADC: The graph will display the retrieved data from the ADC in red.

• Latest MultiDAQ-ExampleDesign-vX.Y release Source Code (zip or tar.gz)
• Vivado
  Notice: Our tested version is v2023.2. Versions outside of this are not guaranteed to work.
• FrontPanel Vivado IP Core v1.0.5 or higher

1. Extract Example Design Release: Unzip/tar.gz the Example Design release and note the location for step 3.
2. Add IP Cores to Vivado: Follow the instructions for Vivado IP Cores’ Distribution v1.0.5 or later and note the installation location for step 4.
3. Navigate to Gateware Folder: Open the Vivado GUI and navigate to the MultiDAQ gateware folder using the TCL Console.
   • Example: cd C:/path/to/design-resources/ExampleProjects/MultiDAQ/XEM8320
4. Set IP Core Path: Set the fpdir variable to the IP core path.
   • Example: set fpdir C:/path/to/FrontPanel-Vivado-IP-Dist-vX.Y.Z
5. Run Setup Script: Run source project.tcl.
6. Generate Bitstream: Click ‘Generate Bitstream’ once the project is ready.

• Latest MultiDAQ-ExampleDesign-vX.Y release Source Code (zip or tar.gz)
• multidaq.bit
• Install prerequisites from the Building the Template App guide.
• FrontPanel 6.0.0 installed

1. Open Folder: Open the ExampleProjects/MultiDAQ/XEM8320/software/FP-Platform folder in Visual Studio Code. This folder is located in the MultiDAQ-ExampleDesign-vX.Y release Source Code.
2. Add Prebuilt Bitfile: Copy the multidaq.bit to the assets folder.
3. Install Dependencies: Run npm install within a Visual Studio command terminal.
4. Build Project: Run npm run pack within a Visual Studio command terminal.
5. Locate Output: The app.asar file is located in the output folder.
6. Start FrontPanel Platform: Open FrontPanel Platform Application.
7. Install Application: Install the app.asar by clicking the ‘+’ button in the Installed Applications panel of the FrontPanel Platform. For more details, see Building the Template App Guide.
8. Run Application: Click and drag the Multi-DAQ Application card to an available XEM8320 device

• ADC FSM (Finite State Machine): Manages SPI communication with the SZG-MULTIDAQ to receive digital values for 8 channels.
• ADC FIFO: Stores the digital values in a header-payload format. The header indicates the channel, and the payload contains the data.
• Data Flow: Digital values are gathered from SZG-MULTIDAQ via SPI → ADC FSM → ADC FIFO → FrontPanel Vivado IP Core (PipeOut) → Host Application.

• 8 CORDIC Modules: Generate sinusoidal output for each of the 8 DAC channels. Frequency is controlled by the user application.
• DAC FSM: Stripes through the 8 CORDIC outputs, collecting output data and transmitting it via SPI to the SZG-MULTIDAQ.
• Data Flow: Frequency control data from FrontPanel Vivado IP Core (WireIn) → 8 CORDIC Modules → DAC FSM → SZG-MULTIDAQ (via SPI).

The user interface shown above has the following components to control the behavior of the SZG-MULTIDAQ:

GUI elements are labeled with a red number corresponding to the key below.

• ADC Channel Count – This selects the number of ADC channels that will be active. The more active channels there are, the slower the effective sampling rate.
• Enable All/Disable All – Enables/Disables all DAC channels.
• DAC Toggle Switches – If untoggled, disables the specific DAC channel.
• Frequency (Hz) – The frequency of the specified DAC Channel.

Our releases for the MultiDAQ Example Design are located on GitHub at:
opalkelly-opensource/design-resources Releases

• Updated to provide application information

• Updated to use version 0.5.0 of the FrontPanel Platform API
• Updated so application can be installed in the FrontPanel Platform launcher

• Upgrade to utilize FrontPanel Platform

• Initial Creation
• Prebuilt bitfile generated using the following tool versions:
  • Vivado v2023.2
  • Vivado IP Cores’ Distribution v1.0.5
• Prebuilt Alloy application generated using the following tool versions:
  • FP-Alloy Core library v0.1.0
  • FrontPanel React component library v0.1.0