ADS1298ECGFE-PDK Communication - LabView SPI

Chris,

Thank you for your reply.  Please allow me to further explain my project.  I am a student at Drexel University and as a project my group and I are attempting to build our own ECG device using your TI ADS1298 chip.  As a research tool we purchased a ADS1298ECGFE-PGK and that is why I am attempting to talk to this device.  Our true end project is to design a board with the 1298 as the center piece and then talk to it via LabView using SPI.  I say all of this because if it is as diffulcult to talk to the ADS1298ECGFE-PDK as you say, how diffulcult do you think it will be for me to talk SPI directly to a ADS1298 chip???  I have considered using an Arduino Nano, pulling in the mV signals from the chip and then have it talk to LabView????

Thanks again, any thoughts you have are greatly appreciated.

Fred

Hi Fred,

Thanks for the extra details! The PDK (product demonstration kit) is a good start to interfacing with the part and testing out its capabilities.

What you should know about the PDK and its included LabVIEW-based software is that LabVIEW is not communicating directly to the DSP on the MMB0 or to the ADS1298. Therefore, should you try to modify the included software it will be difficult to talk to the ADS1298. However, if you are able to create your own SPI communication either in LabVIEW or using a mircocontroller it will not be difficult.

Are you planning to create the SPI interface with LabVIEW or with a microcontroller? I listed the NI USB-8451 card because it would allow you to go directly from LabVIEW to the ADS1298 and this would be my preferred method. Whichever method you choose be aware that the reconstruction of the ECG signal relies on several back to back conversion results. There is no memory on the ECGFE board so data will either have to be streamed to the computer through the USB or you will have to store it somewhere else. Streaming high data rates over USB becomes an issue due to the speed limitation of USB (in which case you may need a microcontroller and memory).

Best regards,
Chris

Chris,

My plan is to communicate via LabView.  I beleive I am understanding you correctly, are you saying that it is two different SPI protocols?  One that would communicate with the PDK and one that would talk directly to the ADS1298 chip independantly. 

I'm not real sure where to begin with building the SPI.  I can work through the LabView side of things but I am not sure on how to direct it toward the TI chip or the PDK.  Any ideas??

Fred

Fred -

You may want to look at some of the example stuff we have in the design notes part of the forum.  More specifically http://e2e.ti.com/support/data_converters/precision_data_converters/w/design_notes/code-examples-for-the-stellaris-lm3s3748.aspx   (Stellaris processor) or http://e2e.ti.com/support/data_converters/precision_data_converters/w/design_notes/ads1x9x-specific-code.aspx (MSP430).  This might give you a place to start in terms of the SPI interface to the part.  Ultimately, you will need firmware that can accept some kind of commands from LabView (via USB perhaps) that can in turn be translated by the processor and sent via SPI to the 1298.

Greg,

Thanks for your response.  I cannot seem to get the links you attached to work.  Ultimately I need to communicate with the ADS1298 chip.  I read a post earlier that suggested using a MSP430F1611 device to control and receive acquisition data from a ADS1298 chip through SPI.  Do you have any knowledge of the MSP430F1611 device and if so do you think it may be an option?

Thanks, Fred

Mr Spor - 

Sorry the links didn't work...if you go to the Design Notes tab, you should see MSP430 examples (ADS1x9x code) and Stellaris examples (not specifically for ADS1x9x, but should give you a good starting place).

I know that another team is working to support ADS1298 with the MSP430F5438A on another platform.  You can find more information on this by searching for "MAVRK" from the main TI page (www.ti.com).