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communication between PC and two C6713 Spectrum Digital DSK boards

James Hillman
Expert 1436 points

Hi, I have been using a C6713 DSK for about two years now and have found all these resources excellent. Thank you so much for giving your time to help out us all. However, I have not been able to find an answer to this issue. Another forum (DSP Related) recommended posting here. 

I wish to send data from the PC to the transmitter DSK (no 1) and then retrieve data from the receiver dsk (no 2) to the PC. Can I use the RTDX usb interface to do this?

I mention RTDX because the API appears to have a board name property. However the manual for RTDX does not expand on this. 

Another approach I have used is the CCS Version (2.21) Configuration Tool and placed two configurations of the same DSK (Just the names are different. Upon starting I get the CCS: Parallel Debug Manager. My understanding is this allows me open an instance of CCS for each DSK. When I go to Group>>edit it only shows First Board and I can change which DSK configuration it should use. How do I get the second DSK to appear in this list?

Lastly, are there other methods to allow this type of interfacing between one PC and two DSKs? I have considered serial but I do not currently have the funds for serial daughter boards. 

Thanks,

James

 

###Update##'

I have used a different PC today which had Code Composer 3.2V installed. The Parallel Debug Manager is a bit more functional. Basically, it allowed me to connect to DSKs real targets. However, when I did a quick test (gel menu) in each code composer instance it was communicating with the same board (only one board). Confirming in windows device manager that both had found the driver successfully - which they had I can only assume the Spectrum Digital DSK driver (or was it made by TI?) is not designed to work with multiple DSKs. I noticed in the PDM that I could change the port number - which is currently identical (unsurprisingly). But what would I change the second DSK port number too?

Lastly, someone on DSP related said they believe there might have been a 'hack' to get code composer to work with multiple DSKs. I have since found similar questions from the past on various forums - all went unanswered. please help.

How can I use only one PC to communicate with two DSK boards? any solutions?

thankyou so much

james

  • 0
    TI__Intellectual 1380 points

    I am not aware if the CCS parallel configuration is able to connect to two DSKs. Is there an option to use C6747 or C6748 EVMs? These processors have more peripherals, i.e. UART, Ethernet etc. which you can use to communicate to PC.

  • 0 in reply to Zhengting He
    Expert 1436 points

    Thats a nice point: I don't have access to any other products: just dsks from the lab. Thank you for your input. Is there any way you could find out if there was a 'hack' to allow this? Or any other possibilities? This is a good opportunity to showcase these technologies. 

  • 0 in reply to James Hillman
    TI__Guru* 84110 points

    James Hillman 2 said:
    I don't have access to any other products: just dsks from the lab.... This is a good opportunity to showcase these technologies.

    Seriously?

    James Hillman 1 said:
    "someone" on DSP related said they believe there might have been a 'hack' to get code composer to work with multiple DSKs.

    I have since found similar questions from the past on various forums - all went unanswered.

    Sorry for all the sarcasm, but this makes you wonder if "someone" knew what he was talking about since "nobody" provided any answers. [I do hope you have a sense of humor, please?]

    James Hillman 1 said:
    I can only assume the Spectrum Digital DSK driver (or was it made by TI?) is not designed to work with multiple DSKs.

    This is correct.

    PDM is intended to work with multiple DSPs on the same JTAG scan path. You can get a JTAG Expander from Spectrum Digital that allows you to use one JTAG pod to connect to four (or is it five?) different boards using their 14-pin JTAG connectors. Of course, this requires a JTAG emulation pod, which you have not mentioned having in the lab. And you probably do not have a JTAG Expander nor the budget for both of them, right?

    James Hillman 1 said:
    How can I use only one PC to communicate with two DSK boards? any solutions?

    The better solution would be to find another PC in the lab and use 2 PCs, one for each DSK board.

    But there is only one solution I can think of that meets all of your constraints, and you will probably have to live with it as long as you do not kill it with another constraint like simultaneous debug. And that solution is to work on the transmitter DSK until you get reliable data coming out of it. Then Flash it with a program that sends out reliable data, maybe using on-board switches to control its behavior, if needed, and start your debug work on the receiver DSK.

    You can play around with the effects of connecting and disconnecting emulation from the two DSKs, perhaps capturing a bunch of received data in the receiver DSK's SDRAM while debugging on the transmitter DSK, then switching boards and still be able to read that receiver DSK's SDRAM to see how your data reception worked out.

     

    If this answers your question, please click the  Verify Answer  button below. If not, please reply back with more information.

  • 0 in reply to RandyP
    Expert 1436 points

    hi randyp! haha. When my post is read back to me I am seriously amazed how incoherent some of my statement seemed.

    To clarify, the similar posts which I found had no replies - obviously mine did ;) and if the "someone" knows  what they are talking about is something I can't answer! ha. All advise is welcome though.

    So a clear picture has been gained from speaking with TI here and Spectrum Digital. Indeed the driver does only support one embedded USB connection between a PC and a DSK. The solution, as suggest is to use emulators. You guessed it Randy! I have none either. You see I am just a student ("stigma!") and my university bought a load of C6713s a few years ago. I am really interested to gain a career in DSP and Wireless Communications and hence I am trying to use what I have to learn more and gain industry relevant experience. I also want to use them to get more students interested in DSP and communications - hence the opportunity. Maybe the university will upgrade sometime if students starting using this stuff. 

    Moving on, my solution is to forget about PC to PC communications using RTDX etc. I will use the PC sound card to 'send' data to the transmitter DSK and then use the embedded USB connection to retrieve the data and use a speaker to play the sound. This will allow me to access bit errors by sending a known signal (which was the positive with the PC to PC comms).

    My project just needs to demonstrate the capability of the modem - this is sufficient. It would have been nice to have PC to PC but I understand the purpose of these DSKs (Obviously two PCs would be great, but IT is tight and thus is unlikely to be an option). This phrase will haunt me.

    THANK YOU SO MUCH

    James