AWR1642BOOST: Standalone Vital Sign Alarm System Using AWR1642BOOST – Hardware and Software Requirements

Hi Cesar,

Thank you for your quick response!

I was wondering which of the following evaluation boards is most suitable for vital sign monitoring, specifically for detecting heart rate and breathing rate:

• AWR1642BOOST
• IWR6843AOPEVM

I've gone through documents and resources for both on the TI website, but I would appreciate your input on which one is better suited especially for standalone operation.

Additionally, I have the following questions:

1. Is it possible to use the MCU (or DSP) of these evaluation boards to control GPIOs based on processed vital signals?
2. If running code on the onboard MCU/DSP is not feasible, is it possible to connect the COM port of the evaluation board to another microcontroller (for example, an Arduino) and extract the vital data on that external microcontroller for further use, such as GPIO control?
3. In general, what do you think of this solution for controlling GPIOs of another external MCU based on vital signal thresholds? Do you suggest a better approach for this application?

Thank you in advance for your advice!

Best regards,
Jules Garsault

Hi,

Please give me some time to answer this question

thank you

Cesar

Hi,

I checked with different teams and the answer is IWRL6432 EVM.

Thank you

Cesar

Hi

You can refer to the vital signs demo using IWRL6432 in radar tool box at the following location.

radar_toolbox_2_20_00_05\source\ti\examples\Medical\IWRL6432_Vital_Signs

Do note that demo can determine heart rate and breath rate of a single person.

For more details you can refer to the demo documentation at the below location

radar_toolbox_2_20_00_05\source\ti\examples\Medical\IWRL6432_Vital_Signs\docs

You can toggle the GPIO based on thresholds using IWRL6432. Any additional MCU is not needed. You can add some additional processing mechanism in the same demo. However, extensive modification may not be possible due to memory and mips

Regards

Thank you for the detailed information.

However, I have two additional questions:

1. Is it possible to hardcode the IWRL6432 to enable it to function as a standalone device?

2. I am quite confused about which circuit is best optimized for vital signs monitoring. In the document I have titled "vitalSigns_lab_user_guide_v1.2UPDATE.pdf", TI suggests and mentions that the required hardware should be the AWR14xx/IWR14xx EVM. However, I have encountered several other circuits, such as the IWRL6432 as you mentioned, and I also found an Occupancy & Vital Signs Detection User's Guide that explains the use of IWR6843AOPEVM.

Could you clarify if the vital signs lab is compatible with all these FMCW chipsets? If so, I prefer a higher frequency for better precision, such as the AWR1642BOOST. Does this model also provide GPIOs?

Additionally, both IWR and AWR versions exist for each circuit. Are they all compatible with the vital signs lab?

Hi

1. Yes, IWRL6432 can function as a standalone device. You can hardcode thresholds or use gpio functionality or any other logic

2. Vital signs demo is now available only with IWR6843AOPEVM and IWRL6432. Source code is shared for IWRL6432 vitals signs demo, while only the binary is shared for IWR6843AOPEVM. IWRL6432 is the latest TI offering in 60GHz band with low power architecture. So, IWRL6432 is recommended for Vital signs. 

You need to use the IWR versions. Vitals signs demo on other devices(IWR1642BOOST, IWR14xx ) are no longer supported.

Regards

Dear Abhishek Karkisaval,

Thank you for your information.

I would like to ask if it is possible to send vital sign data through UART to another MCU? If so, could you please guide me on which pins (RX, TX) to use on the IWRL6432 EVM, as I have not been able to locate them?

Additionally, could you assist me with instructions on the necessary changes in the code to transmit this data via UART?

Thank you in advance for your help.

Best regards,

Hi

The demo already sends the vitals signs data over UART. Vital signs TLV contains data about breath rate and heart rate. You can refer to the below documentation to understand the format of Vital signs TLV data

radar_toolbox_2_20_00_05\source\ti\examples\Medical\IWRL6432_Vital_Signs\docs\vital_signs_user_guide.htm

Ball number F11, E10 (UARTB) are used to send out the TLV data

Regards

Dear Abhishek,

Thank you for your assistance.

Could you please confirm whether we have access to the UART on the IWRL6432BOOST? If so, which pins on the EVM should we use? In your previous response, you referred to Ball numbers F11 and E10, which are not accessible. Additionally, in the schematic file of the EVM, I only found information about UART A, not UART B.

Your clarification on this matter would be greatly appreciated.

Best regards,

Jules

Hi

UARTB is accessible on IWRL6432BOOST. Ball numbers F11 and E10 have default functionality of RS232_RX and RS232_TX. It is pin muxed with UARTB.

Vital signs demo configures these pins for UARTB and sends out the TLV on those pins

Regards 

Hi,

After thoroughly reviewing the PCB file, I noticed that pins E10 and F11 are connected to J6. However, it seems difficult to utilize this connector easily. Since these pins are also connected to resistors R61 and R62, I measured the signals on these resistors, and while they show some data transmission at a frequency of 1 250 000 Hz, the signal strength is quite weak (around ±100 mV).

Based on my observation, the visualizer uses the CLI port to send configurations at 115 200. Using serial port monitor program, I also observed that the information from EVM, including TLVs, is received on the same CLI port at the same baud rate (115 200). However, the data transmission on R61 and R62 seems to have a baud rate of 1.25 MHz.

Could you please reconfirm if E10 and F11 are indeed the same UART pins used to transmit heart rate and breathing rate to the visualizer?

I have a separate question regarding SYSconfig:
Should I activate any settings in SYSconfig related to the pin muxing in order to access the UARTs transmitting data—particularly the vital signs information—to the GUI?

Additionally, when I monitor the CLI port during the initialization of the visualizer, after the configuration is sent to the EVM, I notice that the data received from the EVM (still on the same port at 115200 baud) has an unusual byte order in the magic word of the header file. Instead of seeing 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08, I observe the following byte-swapped format: 02 01  04 03  06 05  08 07. Is there any explanation for this behavior? I should mention that this observation was made using the demo file in the example project for vital signs without any modification, and despite this, everything works smoothly in the GUI. However, I need to understand and analyze the received packet format.

Thank you for your assistance.

Hi,

Yes, UART data is sent at 1.25MHz. You are observing the correct pins. When the CLI cfg is sent, it is sent at baud rate 115200 but just before the sensorStart is sent, UART baud is changed to 1.25MHz. This is done to maximize the deep sleep time of the device so that UART transmission can be done in short time

Byte swapped is because of the file format. It depends on the editor you use. Device send in the 01...08 format only.

Regards