AWR1243BOOST: Assistance Requested in Programming Firmware

Hi Christopher,

AWR1443 and AWR1642 have application processors(and accelerators) on device that can post process the RF data.

This is not the case for AWR1243, where the received data is intended to be sent outside the device to an external processing element.

As such programming the core on the device does not apply for AWR1243, but instead this device is configured via API calls sent over the SPI interface.

Details for this are covered in mmWave Device Firmware Package (DFP)  :

Under Doc directory:

mmwave_dfp_user_guide.pdf

AWR1xx_Radar_Interface_Control.pdf

Thank you,

Vaibhav

Thank you for such a quick response. A few points of clarification to ensure I understand.

I found within the DFP code an example of configuring the sensor over SPI at path `mmwave_dfp_00_07_00_04/ti/example/`. And I found the RADARSS and MSS at `mmwave_dfp_00_07_00_04/rf_eval/rf_eval_firmware`. I presume this firmware is the device-side implementation of the `rl{...}` class of functions defined within 'AWR1xx_Radar_Interface_Control.pdf' (located within `mmwave_dfp_00_07_00_04/docs`).

Unfortunately running on Windows is not an option for me. Therefore I would need to properly re-implement all of the functions defined in headers residing within `mmwave_dfp_00_07_00_04/ti/example/platform/mmwlstudio/` for my specific platform. After that has been completed - I should be able to configure my parameters similarly to how it was done in the AWR1443 and execute `rlSensorStart`, at which point data will begin flowing over the MIPI-CSI2 data path.

Is my understanding correct?

Hello Christopher,

Are you looking to interface the AWR1243 with other embedded processor capable of receiving data over CSI2 data path ?

Thanks,
Raghu

Hi Raghu,

In short - yes.  In the long term objective we hope to be designing a custom board with the AWR1243 component along side some DSP chips and a custom RF catering to our specific use case.  

In the immediate term, I was hoping to be capable of capturing a real-time stream of data from the AWR1243boost board which can be used in post-processing.  The currently offered solution[1] appears to only permit data captures on the order of seconds and is insufficient for my use case.  I was hoping to find some sort of break-out-board (similar to the CX3 [2]) capable of streaming CSI-2 to a USB3.0 connection.  I managed do hack this into the AWR1443 and AWR1642 over UART... but the baud rate is insufficient for realistic tests and I really need the higher ADC sampling rate.

Though, I am open to any solution which allows me to capture longer (on the order of hours) periods of acquisition data to be used in post-processing.

Thanks,
Christopher Hanks

[1] AWR1243 -> MMWAVE Devpack -> TSW1400EVM -> High Speed Data Capture Pro

[2] www.cypress.com/.../ez-usb-cx3-programmable-mipi-csi-2-usb-30-camera-controller