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DCA1000EVM: Differences between Studio CLI Tool and DCA1000EVM CLI commands available in mmWave Studio

Gayatri Menon
Intellectual 705 points
Part Number: DCA1000EVM
Other Parts Discussed in Thread: IWR6843ISK, AWR2944, IWR6843, AWR1843

Hi, 

For capturing ADC data from xWR sensors, what are the differences  between using Studio CLI tool and DCA1000 CLI commands available in mmWave studio (explained in SDK user guide as well)?  

Thank you 

  • 0
    TI__Mastermind 30865 points

    Hello Gaytri,

    Can you point me out to specific which DCA CLI commands you are referring to here?

    Regards,
    Saswat Kumar

  • 0
    Intellectual 705 points

    CLI commands mentioned under "mmWave demo with LVDS-based instrumentation" Section in

    dr-download.ti.com/.../mmwave_sdk_user_guide.pdf

  • 0 in reply to Gayatri Menon
    TI__Mastermind 30865 points

    Hello Gayatri,

    As mentioned, the AWR294x does not have support for the Studio cli currently.
    For more information on DCA cli commands I would request you to refer: TI_DCA1000EVM_CLI_Software_UserGuide.pdf preset under mmWaveStudio\ReferenceCode\DCA1000\Docs

    Regards,
    Saswat Kumar

  • 0
    Intellectual 705 points

    Hey, 

    This is more of a general query, say for the board IWR6843ISK where studio CLI and DCA1000 CLI are both supported, what is the advantage of using one over the other?

  • 0 in reply to Gayatri Menon
    TI__Mastermind 30865 points

    Hello Gayatri,

    The IWR6843 is 60 Ghnz band and is for industrial applciation where as AWR2944 work on the 77 Ghz band for the automotive application.
    It purely depends on your use case.

    Regards,
    Saswat kumar

  • 0 in reply to Saswat Kumar
    Intellectual 705 points

    Hi Saswat, 

    I am not looking for differences between the devices. To read ADC data for xWREVMS I believe there are 3 approaches 

    1. mmWave Studio GUI 

    2. DCA cli commands (TI_DCA1000EVM_CLI_Software_UserGuide.pdf preset under mmWaveStudio\ReferenceCode\DCA1000\Docs)

    3. Studio CLI

    I am trying to understand the differences between the above 3 approaches

    Thanks 

    Regards

    Gayatri

  • 0 in reply to Gayatri Menon
    TI__Mastermind 30865 points

    Hello Gayatri,

    Here is a brief overview of the 3 tools that are available:

    1. mmWave Studio: This is a GUI based interface that fully allows you to perform the following actions:
      1. Configure the front end throughout the full extent of the mmWave Link using the ar1 APIs.
      2. Trigger, configure and control the DCA1000EVM. 
      3. Capture and manage the ADC data.
      4. Perform post processing of the captured data.
      5. Automate configuration, capture sequences and so on with the help of .lua scripting.
    2. DCA CLI tool: This is a simple DCA capture and control tool that:
      1. Communicates with the DCA1000 over ethernet.
      2. Configures and triggers capture on the DCA1000EVM.
      3. This cannot configure the mmWave device such as xWR1843.
    3. Studio CLI: This can be thought of as an in between tool between that of the mmWave Studio and DCA1000 CLI that:
      1. Configures the demo with the mmwaveconfig.txt (Demos that are capable of streaming data via LVDS) over the UART COM ports available on the mmWave device.
      2. Make calls to the RF_API.dll which is the backbone of the mmWave studio as well. The extent of usage is limited in comparison to the Studio.
      3. Perform data capture over the DCA1000 by controlling the same.
      4. Also invoke post processing extensions of the studio to use the data.

    Regards,
    Saswat Kumar

  • 0
    Intellectual 705 points

    Hi Saswat, 

    Thanks for the response. Few follow up questions 

    1. For mmWave studio, you mentioned "Configure the front end throughout the full extent of the mmWave Link using the ar1 APIs". If I use OOB demo, configure the radar using configuration commands mentioned in the mmWave SDK user guide and use DCA CLI commands to read data, what all configurations will I miss out?

    2. For DCA CLI commands, "This cannot configure the mmWave device such as xWR1843", In mmWave SDK 3.6 user guide which is applicable for 1843, LVDS based instrumentation using DCA CLI commands is mentioned. Can you please check this again?

    3. Which all xWR boards support DCA CLI commands? Is there a plan to add support for the non-supported boards? 

    4. I would also like to understand as a user what all features will be missed out in using each approach?

    Thanks 

    Regards

    Gayatri

  • 0 in reply to Gayatri Menon
    TI__Mastermind 30865 points

    Hello Gayatri,

    1) The studio is used mostly for evaluation of the device by the user. It is a GUI and the user will not have to go through the trouble of using the mmwavelink link api and write a custom application for configuring the rf front end. You can do it using demo as well it is upto you at the end of the day. The people use the mmwave SDK demo as a final application according to their use case, as with the application you get more control over your entire signal processing chain as well.

    2) As mentioned above, if using the AWR1843, you will be loading some other application which streams data over LVDS to DCA1000 EVM, in that case you will require some application to configure the DCA1000 EVM, that is where DCA CLI come into play. It is used only to configure the DCA1000. 
    I would highly recommend you to go through TI_DCA1000EVM_CLI_Software_UserGuide.pdf present in the studio for actually understanding it in depth.

    3) DCA CLI is only for the DCA FPGA not for the xWR device.

    4)All 3 are not comparable at all. DCA1000 CLI is solely for the DCA1000 FPGA.
    Mmwave studio is a GUI for evaluation used by customers who want to only evaluate the device and not write a custom application for the front end and want to visualize the processed output.
    The Studio CLI is a combination of both these together:  

    1. Configures the demo with the mmwaveconfig.txt (Demos that are capable of streaming data via LVDS) over the UART COM ports available on the mmWave device.
    2. Make calls to the RF_API.dll which is the backbone of the mmWave studio as well. The extent of usage is limited in comparison to the Studio.
    3. Perform data capture over the DCA1000 by controlling the same.
    4. Also invoke post processing extensions of the studio to use the data.

    When I say extent of usage is limited that means all the api options will not be available by default, you may need to modify it based on your usecase.


    I would highly recommend you to first try these out yourselves, so you actually can understand what the 3 softwares are. The hands on will clear quite a lot of the doubt in my opinion.

    Regards,
    Saswat Kumar