AWR1843BOOST: Beam stearing not working

Ivan

Part Number: AWR1843BOOST

Tool/software:

I am trying to preform beam steering by using the same method used in beam steering demo. I am trying to steer at different angles and I am getting exactly the same result when looking at distance FFT. When I try to do bartlett beamforming on the data I get the similar results also, no matter how the beam is steered. It looks like the steering is not happening and this is my concern.

It looks like beamsteering is just not happening. I am using 3 tx at the same time for this of course and I am receiving on the 4 Rx antennas.

I use applyPhaseShift function and when debugging retval is RL_RET_CODE_OK.
I use the Get_PhaseTxShifterCodeValue and Cfg_TxPhaseShiftInitParams same as in demo (in this snip its 20 degree increments but data is alsways the same):

g_ptrtxPhaseShiftCfg is set as volatile and when debugging correct params get passed into the driver (the ones that Cfg_TxPhaseShiftInitParams retuns.

This is how my frame is setup:

I would appreciate any help. I am doubting that the beamsteering driver is working correctly.

10 months ago

0 Samhitha Bobba 10 months ago

TI__Mastermind 20770 points

Hi Ivan,

Ivan said:
I use the Get_PhaseTxShifterCodeValue and Cfg_TxPhaseShiftInitParams same as in demo (in this snip its 20 degree increments but data is alsways the same):

What do you mean by data is always same? Which data are you referring to?

Are you able to run the MRR beamsteering demo provided in the Radar Toolbox and analyze the output and code flow?

Regards,

Samhitha

0 Ivan 10 months ago in reply to Samhitha Bobba

Prodigy 61 points

I can run the demo and i doubt that works correctly as well.

We are now talking about TI drivers.

I do 1D FFT on the data on 4 arrays as I do have 4 Rx antennas and the 1D FFT is the same no matter what is written in the Phase shifters. Which is not how it is supposed to work.

Of course any further DSP done is the same. I dont see the beam being shifted when using Phase Shifters.

0 Samhitha Bobba 10 months ago in reply to Ivan

TI__Mastermind 20770 points

Hi Ivan,

Ivan said:
We are now talking about TI drivers.

Which drivers are you referring to?

Can you please check the behavior with the MRR beamsteering demo and compare it with your demo?

Regards,

Samhitha

0 Ivan 10 months ago in reply to Samhitha Bobba

Prodigy 61 points

I have no confirmation that the demo is working. There is only output data, which can be gathered without steering the beam as well.

rlRfSetPhaseShiftConfig should write into phaseshifter registers but nothing happens with the beam whatever is written in there

0 Samhitha Bobba 10 months ago in reply to Ivan

TI__Mastermind 20770 points

Hi Ivan,

Please check if you are configuring the phase shift before the chirp is triggered.

Refer to AWR1843BOOST: Beam forming in lab11 MRR - beamsteering - Sensors forum - Sensors - TI E2E support forums.

Regards,

Samhitha

0 Ivan 9 months ago in reply to Samhitha Bobba

Prodigy 61 points

yes i am, Inbetween every two frames i write values

0 Samhitha Bobba 9 months ago in reply to Ivan

TI__Mastermind 20770 points

Hi Ivan,

I suggest you to configure the phaseshifter and verify the phase shift by creating a unit test, instead of integrating in the application. Our systems team has tested and verified that the phase shift is configured correctly. Please check the intermediate results of the MRR Beamsteering demo provided in the Radar Toolbox to compare the results with your application.

Regards,

Samhitha