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AWR1243: How to transfer ADC data from AWR1243 to a PC for a custom designed radar board?

Part Number: AWR1243

Hello everyone,

I want to design a custom AWR1243 board (without using evaluation boards). I have some questions in this context:

1) when you refer to raw ADC data in the technical documents, are you referring to the baseband signal or the ADC output samples?

2) Can anyone suggest me how to transfer the ADC data from AWR1243 to a PC?

3) What is the minimum bandwidth, maximum chirp duration and maximum number of chirps I can send? The documents only mention maximum BW as 4GHz, minimum chirp duration (maximum slope) as 10us and  a maximum of 256 chirps that can be looped. Similarly the highest slope mentioned for the FMCW signal is 100MHz/us. What is the least slope I can configure the device to?

Thanks in advance.

Sincerely

Prateek.

  • Prateek,

    Raw ADC data refers to the ADC output samples.

    You will need some kind of high speed interface like LVDS or CSI-2 in order to transfer the ADC data from the AWR1243 to the PC. The DCA1000 Data Capture Card uses an Ethernet interface to stream the data out to an external computer.

    Check back for more information on the remaining questions.

    Regards,
    Kyle

  • Hello Kyle,

    Thank you for the response.

    1) Do you have the CAD file (.bxl) for AWR1243 which has the device schematic and package? The AWR1243 webpage does not have it.

    2) To configure AWR1243, I need an external processor with SPI interface. The dfp package has multiple sections like mmwaveFirmware, mmwavelink framework, and mmwave RF evaluation. I am confused as to where I should download these dfp files. Should I download the firmware onto the external processor or the AWR1243?
    If I have to download files onto AWR1243, do I need an external flash?
    Are there any documents which show how to configure the SPI over an external processor.?
    In case the external processor is a non-TI chip, how to port the mmwavelink framework?

    Thanks in advance.

    Sincerely
    Prateek.
  • Prateek,

    The AWR1243 datasheet provides the information related to the packaging and pinouts. you can find it here: www.ti.com/.../awr1243.pdf. The datasheet is found on the product page for AWR1243. The datasheet also includes a functional block diagram for the AWR1243.

    The firwmare provided in the mmWave DFP is only for mmWave devices. The MSS and BSS binary files for the AWR1243 should be loaded onto the AWR1243.

    You can use external flash to load the firmware onto the device. You can refer to the AWR1243BOOST EVM as a starting point.

    Regards,
    Kyle