Hello TI Team
I am using MMWCAS-DSP-EVM along with MMWCAS-RF-EVM and capturing the data using Cascade_Configuration_MIMO.lua and Cascade_Capture.lua. Eventually, I want to scan a defined area at different spatial points using the radar and for that I wish to run the capture script in a loop so that multiple files can be created corresponding to different locations in the PostProc folder. I tried to put a for loop in the capture script for 3 positions as an example as shown below in the following code:
--[[
A. FRAMING & CAPTURE
1. Triggering Slave (3, 2, 1) sequentially in a hardware triggered mode.
2. Triggering Master in a software triggered mode.
B. TRANSFERRING FILES
1. The data is stored in file(s) with max cap placed at 2 GB.
2. The files can be retrieved from the SSD (/mnt/ssd folder) using WinSCP.
Note: Update lines 18 to 49 as needed before using this script.
--
Note: "capture_time" is a timeout for this script alone to exit - it does not control the
actual duration of capture. The actual capture duration depends on the configured frame time
and number of frames.
--]]
capture_time = 2000 -- ms
inter_loop_time = 2000 -- ms
num_loops = 1
--[[
Note: Change the following three parameters as desired:
1. n_files_allocation: is the number of files to preallocate on the SSD.
This improves capture reliability by not having frame drops while switching files.
The tradeoff is that each file is a fixed 2047 MB even if a smaller number of frames are captured.
Pre-allocate as many files as needed based on (size_per_frame * number_of_frames) to be captured.
2. data_packaging: select whether to use 16-bit ADC data as is, or drop 4 lsbits and save 4*12-bit numbers in a packed form
This allows a higher frame rate to be achieved, at the expense of some post-processing to unpack the data later.
(Matlab should still be able to unpack the data using the '*ubit12' argument to fread instead of 'uint16')
The default is no-packing, for simplicity
3. capture_directory: is the filename under which captures are stored on the SSD
and is also the directory to which files will be transferred back to the host
The captures are copied to the PostProc folder within mmWave Studio
Note: If this script is called multiple times without changing the directory name, then all
captured files will be in the same directory with filename suffixes incremented automatically.
It may be hard to know which captured files correspond to which run of the script.
Note: It is strongly recommended to change this directory name between captures.
--]]
for i = 1,3 do
n_files_allocation = 0
data_packaging = 0 -- 0: 16-bit, 1: 12-bit
-- capture_directory = "yanik_test6_capturetime"
capture_directory = {"pos3", "pos4", "pos5"}
num_frames_to_capture = 0 -- 0: default case; Any positive value - number of frames to capture
framing_type = 1 -- 0: infinite, 1: finite
stop_frame_mode = 0 -- 0: Frame boundary, 2: Sub-frame boundary,
-- 3: Burst boundary, 4: HW/Sub-frame triggered
----------------------------------DATA CAPTURE-------------------------------------------
-- Function to start/stop frame
function Framing_Control(Device_ID, En1_Dis0)
local status = 0
if (En1_Dis0 == 1) then
status = ar1.StartFrame_mult(dev_list[Device_ID]) --Start Trigger Frame
if (status == 0) then
WriteToLog("Device "..Device_ID.." : Start Frame Successful\n", "green")
else
WriteToLog("Device "..Device_ID.." : Start Frame Failed\n", "red")
return -5
end
else
status = ar1.StopFrame_mult(dev_list[Device_ID], stop_frame_mode) --Stop Trigger Frame
if (status == 0) then
WriteToLog("Device "..Device_ID.." : Stop Frame Successful\n", "green")
else
WriteToLog("Device "..Device_ID.." : Stop Frame Failed\n", "red")
return -5
end
end
return status
end
while (num_loops > 0)
do
WriteToLog("Loops Remaining : "..num_loops.."\n", "purple")
-- TDA ARM
WriteToLog("Starting TDA ARM...\n", "blue")
status = ar1.TDACaptureCard_StartRecord_mult(1, n_files_allocation, data_packaging, capture_directory[i], num_frames_to_capture)
if (status == 0) then
WriteToLog("TDA ARM Successful\n", "green")
else
WriteToLog("TDA ARM Failed\n", "red")
return -5
end
RSTD.Sleep(1000)
-- Triggering the data capture
WriteToLog("Starting Frame Trigger sequence...\n", "blue")
if (RadarDevice[4]==1)then
Framing_Control(4,1)
end
if (RadarDevice[3]==1)then
Framing_Control(3,1)
end
if (RadarDevice[2]==1)then
Framing_Control(2,1)
end
Framing_Control(1,1)
WriteToLog("Capturing AWR device data to the TDA SSD...\n", "blue")
RSTD.Sleep(capture_time)
if (framing_type == 0) then
-- Stop capturing
WriteToLog("Starting Frame Stop sequence...\n", "blue")
if (RadarDevice[4]==1)then
Framing_Control(4,0)
end
if (RadarDevice[3]==1)then
Framing_Control(3,0)
end
if (RadarDevice[2]==1)then
Framing_Control(2,0)
end
Framing_Control(1,0)
end
WriteToLog("Capture sequence completed...\n", "blue")
num_loops = num_loops - 1
RSTD.Sleep(inter_loop_time)
end
-- Enable the below if required
WriteToLog("Starting Transfer files using WinSCP..\n", "blue")
status = ar1.TransferFilesUsingWinSCP_mult(1)
if(status == 0) then
WriteToLog("Transferred files! COMPLETE!\n", "green")
else
WriteToLog("Transferring files FAILED!\n", "red")
return -5
end
end
I had made only two changes in the original capture script:
1. I put a for loop at line 42 and updated the capture directory as a table, instead of a single value in line 46.
2. I updated the capture directory index in line 86 so that multiple files can be created in the PostProc folder.
But when I am running this script after configuration, I get the following error:

The script does not show any error in the Output console of mmwave studio GUI but this pop-up message opens. Due to this, the for loop is not able to move forward. Data is saved only for the first iteration, i.e. only one folder is getting created instead of three.
My questions are:
1. What "Value" are they referring to?
2. Is there anything in the script that I am doing wrong? If yes, can someone please help me how to run the capture script in a loop.