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LMK04610: Can TICS Pro be used without a device to generate hex register outputs

seth kreitinger
Prodigy 60 points
Part Number: LMK04610


Hello,

I have been attempting to use TICS Pro to generate a hex register export for use in our embedded processor, but it appears certain features of TICS Pro fail to update the exported register list. For example, if I use the 'Tool: PLL1 Loop Filter' screen to generate PLL 1 loop parameters and hit the 'Apply to Device' button I can see the updated parameters appear in the 'PLL1' screen of TICS. However, when I export the hex register list certain parameters have not been updated to match those generated in the 'Tool: PLL1 Loop Filter' screen. A specific example of this is the CLKIN0_PLL1_RDIV parameter. If I save the current TICS Pro state as say 'example.tcs' and then load 'example.tcs' the parameters that were not updated in the hex register list also appear un-updated in the GUI. I have tried every combination of 'Write All Registers','Read All Registers', 'Load', and 'Save' I could think of but nothing seems to preserve the updates from the 'Tool: PLL1 Loop Filter' screen. To clarify, I do not have an EVM for the LMK04610 nor am I talking to the device on our board while using the TICS Pro gui. 

I figured out that if I manual increment and then decremented a value in the GUI like CLKIN0_PLL1_RDIV after 'Tool: PLL1 Loop Filter' screen updates were applied then CLKIN0_PLL1_RDIV shows up correctly in the hex register list and .tcs save file. This is fine for values shown in TICS Pro which are user-controllable, but I know, from other E2E posts, that TICS Pro generates register value pairs that are not in the data sheet and some check boxes adjust multiple parameters meaning I can't be certain my configuration generated in TICS Pro is correct. Which leads me to my question.

Is there a way to use TICS Pro without hooking it up to a physical device that can reliably generate hex register lists? Or does it rely on writing and reading the parameters to the device's register map in order to force updates within TICS?

Also, Is there any further information available on the registers that TICS Pro configures but that are not documented? Are they EVM board specific? Should we use them if we are using custom hardware? Will the device function and meet data sheet specs without them? etc.

Thank you for any help!

  • 0
    TI__Mastermind 28021 points

    Seth,

    You can absolutely use TICSPro to generate hex register files;  this is my recommended approach to customers.

    Yes, the datasheet is the ultimate authority, but the TICSPro GUI makes things easier to understand, at least for me.

    As for additional information on how this is calculated, you can go to the TICSPro install directory and look under the "configurations" directory and you can see python code that runs the some of the GUI tabs.  Note that if you installed it to the program files directory, this file will not be in program files but rather program data.

    Regards,

    Dean

  • 0 in reply to Dean Banerjee
    Prodigy 60 points
    Dean,

    Thank you for the tip about the python scripts that is very nice to know.

    As for the hex register generation, my original question still stands about how to ensure the parameter values present in the TICSPro GUI fields are transferred to the Hex register file. It is my experience that when the TICSPro tool auto-generates settings such as with the 'Tool:PLL1 Loop Filter' page the changed settings will not be updated in the Hex register file upon export unless I manually re-enter them in TICSPro.

    My primary concern is not that I currently have to manually update the fields in the GUI but rather that if TICSPro alters a register which is not broken out into a GUI field it will not get updated in the Hex register file and my configuration may be incorrect. This effectively means I cannot use the GUI in its current state as the Hex register file configuration is not guaranteed to match the configuration described in the TICS GUI, and I will have no way to confirm its accuracy other than to manually check each register value.

    Is this a bug with the GUI or is there perhaps a step in the Hex register file export process I am missing?

    Thanks for the help!
    Seth Kreitinger
  • 0 in reply to seth kreitinger
    TI__Mastermind 28021 points
    Seth,

    When you first load a device, sometimes the GUI and registers are out of SYNC. But if you update the GUI, I have always seen it update the registers.

    One thing is that when you update the GUI, TICSPro always says which registers it is changing. If you modify the TICSPRO GUI, then I think that all registers it modifies are on that TICSPro GUI tab.

    Sounds like you got bit by some bug before, but I have never seen. Do you have some example of where you can change the TICSPro GUI and it changes a register NOT on the TICSProGUI tabl.

    Reagrds,
    Dean
  • 0 in reply to seth kreitinger
    TI__Mastermind 28560 points

    Hello Seth,

    Note, the scripts are always located in c:\ProgramData\Texas Instruments\TICS Pro.  Or if for some strange reason your {ProgramData} directory is located elsewhere, in that location.

    seth kreitinger said:
    TICSPro tool auto-generates settings such as with the 'Tool:PLL1 Loop Filter' page the changed settings will not be updated in the Hex register file upon export unless I manually re-enter them in TICSPro.

    I confirmed the bug with CLKin R dividers not getting updated.  This should be an exception.  Due to the complications of the low pulse mode, 50% mode, and high pulse mode the CLKin R register divider value displayed on the PLL1 GUI is not the actual register (you can see there is no register information when you mouse-over).  As you observed the actual register doesn't get updated until you change the value in that control (or even if you just pressed enter).

    This is something I should be able to correct in the GUI and release an update.  Thanks for bringing this to my attention.

    Note, you do not need an EVM connected to TICS Pro to generate the registers.  Your use case is one of the intended use cases of the software.

    seth kreitinger said:
    Also, Is there any further information available on the registers that TICS Pro configures but that are not documented? Are they EVM board specific? Should we use them if we are using custom hardware? Will the device function and meet data sheet specs without them? etc.

    I'm looking into this and will update you.

    73,
    Timothy

  • 0 in reply to Timothy T
    Prodigy 60 points
    Tim and Dean,

    Thanks for the help and for looking into those undocumented registers! I will make sure to update the CLKin R field manually before register export, and will be on the lookout for any non-direct to register fields that may suffer from the same problem.

    Best Regards,
    Seth Kreitinger