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AWR6843ISK: Inquiry Regarding Frequency Visualization in AWR6843 CCS Debug Mode

Ramin
Prodigy 130 points
Part Number: AWR6843ISK
Other Parts Discussed in Thread: AWR6843,

Tool/software:

Dear E2E Team,

I am currently using the demo for the AWR6843 (SDK 3.6, debug mode) to visualize the range profile. As shown in the attached screenshots, changes in the frequency parameter within the corresponding .conf file are reflected in the mmWave Demo Visualizer. However, I’ve noticed that the StartFreqConst value in the Expressions view always displays zero, which seems unexpected. Interestingly, this value changes to 134241480 when an error occurs during the loading process.

Additionally, I observed that the device can run with a frequency set to 58 GHz, even though the device guide specifies an operational range of 60 GHz to 64 GHz.

Could you please advise on the following:

  1. How can we accurately determine the operating frequency in Code Composer Studio (CCS) while in debug mode?
  2. Why might the StartFreqConst value behave as described?

Thank you in advance for your assistance.

  • 0
    Prodigy 130 points

    Sorry for forgetting to attach the screenshots in my previous message.

  • 0 in reply to Ramin
    TI__Genius 14336 points

    Hello,

    Thank you for reaching out regarding your question on the start frequency. It appears you may be looking at the wrong structure, continuousModeCfg. This is only utilized when the data output mode is set to continuous which likely explains why its value never changes from zero until an error occurs. Instead, you should be able to reference the ptrMMWaveMCB->ptrProfileList which is a list of profileCfgs which should contain a startFreqConst field.

    Hopefully this answers your question, but let me know if there's anything else I can help out with.

    Regards,

    Kristien

  • 0 in reply to Kristien Everett
    Prodigy 130 points

    Hi, 

    Thank you for your assistance. Could you kindly let me know where I can find the mentioned variable? I have checked mss_main.c, dss_main.c, and mmw_cli.c, but the variable does not appear to be present in any of these files.

    Regarding my second question, it is still unclear how the device operates at 58 GHz, as shown in one of the attached files.

    Thank you again for your kind advice.

    Best Regards

    Ramin

  • 0 in reply to Ramin
    TI__Genius 14336 points

    Hey Ramin,

    A bit of a small correction on my part, ptrMMWaveMCB is often referenced within the MMWave layer when calling functions such as MMWave_sync or MMWave_init. However, the variable often passed into these functions from the top-level application level is the control handle of the application, gMmwMCB.ctrlHandle, which then gets re-casted and assigned to ptrMMWaveMCB within the MMWave scope.

    Through the use of VCO1, the AWR6843ISK can operate within 57-60.5 GHz, but we do not officially support this frequency range.

    Regards,

    Kristien

  • 0 in reply to Kristien Everett
    Prodigy 130 points

    Hello Kristien, 

    I am sorry for the delayed response; I was on vacation. I also want to thank you for your informative reply.

    Today, I double-checked gMmwMCB.ctrlHandle based on your explanation. However, to be honest, I have not been able to find the start frequency value among the variables in gMmwMCB.ctrlHandle.

    For a quick and direct solution, could you check and let me know the exact line and file where I can view all the configuration values—specifically, the start frequency in my case?

    Thank you for your assistant 

    Best Regards

    Ramin

  • 0 in reply to Ramin
    TI__Genius 14336 points

    Hey Ramin,

    Another small correction on my part, it is gMmwMssMCB instead of gMmwMCB that should be referenced. There are different 6843 projects depending on the device variant, and I was looking at the AOP project which uses gMmwMCB instead. You can find a reference on line 3445 of mss_main.c.

    Regards,

    Kristien

  • 0 in reply to Kristien Everett
    Prodigy 130 points

    Hello Kristien, 

    Thank you for your response.

    Regarding the line you suggested (), I have checked all variables on gMmwMssMCB, as shown in the newly attached screenshot. The available data appears to match what is shown in the Expressions window.

    As I mentioned in my initial message in this thread, I observed that all range profiles at different frequencies remain unchanged (please refer to the attached images in my first message). Given this, I would like to validate whether the firmware is running with the input frequency specified in the configuration file.

    I am using the Demo Package in SDK 3.06 with AWR6843ISK. I would appreciate any guidance on how to verify this.

    Thank you again for your assistance.

    Best regards,

    Ramin

  • 0 in reply to Ramin
    TI__Genius 14336 points

    Hey Ramin,

    I apologize for any confusion here on my part, but the screenshot you are showing appears to be displaying the startFreqConst from the continuousModeCfg which as stated before, does not contain the actual starting frequency unless data output mode is set to continuous. You need to look at the ptrProfileList that is accessible anytime gMmwMssMCB is recasted to MMWave_MCB for MMWave functions.

    It is expected that the range profiles at different starting frequencies wouldn't change that much. Given the same environment, the range profile could only really change if the antenna layout was adjusted which would influence the strength of the SNR response. If the sweep bandwidth decreased, there would be a drop in the resolution of the range profile, but the overall shape would likely stay the same, unless there was a significant drop in bandwidth.

    Regards,

    Kristien

  • 0 in reply to Kristien Everett
    Prodigy 130 points

    Hej, 

    Thank you for your response and detailed explanations. However, I am unable to locate the variable ptrProfileList in any of the available C code files within the DSS and MSS projects of the AWR6843ISK Demo package.

    Could you kindly specify the exact location in the project where I can find ptrProfileList?

    I appreciate your help and assistance in advance.

  • +1 in reply to Ramin
    TI__Genius 14336 points

    Hey Ramin,

    In the function definition for MmwDemo_RFParser_parseCtrlConfig in mmwdemo_rfparser.c, the profileCfg.startFreqConst is read and is reinterpreted to calculate the center frequency on line 891. The startFreqConst should match the startFreq from the configuration file sent over to the device.

    Regards,

    Kristien