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AWR1642BOOST: Using the board and software.

Sawan Singh Mahara
Prodigy 50 points
Part Number: AWR1642BOOST
Other Parts Discussed in Thread: AWR1642, UNIFLASH, DCA1000EVM,

Hello,

I have with me the AWR1642 board and its power supply and a Windows Version 10.0.18362 Build 18362 laptop. I was able to flash the "xwr16xx_mmw_demo.bin" file using the Uniflash software and see some real-time plots and graphs using the following Chrome-based tool https://dev.ti.com/gallery/view/mmwave/mmWave_Demo_Visualizer/ver/3.4.0/

As I am new to working on microprocessors, I am rather unfamiliar with the process of developing these .bin files and the tools such as the web based one, above, to make use of the board. Any help on where to get started would be helpful. I have installed CCS, mmWave SDK and mmWave studio. The mmWave studio does not seem to detect the board, which I assume is due to not having the DCA1000 EVM

My goal is to get raw data (or with minimal processing like FFT for example, on-board or even on-laptop) to develop a machine learning algorithm. It would be conducive if the data could be streamed with as little delay as possible, given the constraint of not having the EVM. Is this possible to do?

I was given a suggestion on another platform, which, I was unable practically comprehend, fully. I am pasting it below.

"I am not sure if you need a high speed data capture card also for it or you can directly read the ADC data stored in the internal DSP memory directly from your evaluation board. I think second one option should be available..

You can configure the frontend to dump ADC data in a ping-pong fashion, one chirp worth of data at a time, and generate interrupts whenever the ping/pong buffer is full. While servicing the interrupts, you can copy the data from ping pong buffer to a bigger memory for postprocessing at a later stage..You should be able to do this via writing a small DSP code using the software tools packaged with the board."

If this is possible, the list of what tools are required and any tutorials on how to go about performing it, would be greatly appreciated.

If any other methods are available, to log real-time data from the board onto the laptop (even with delay), it would be helpful.

Thank You.

  • 0
    TI__Guru*** 149044 points

    Hi,

    To develop algorithms you would need to capture raw data.

    In order to do that you will need a DCA1000 EVM.

    Please note that even with the DCA1000 EVM you will not be able to stream the raw data real time. You will only be able to save the raw data to a PC and post process it later.

    thank you

    CEsar

  • 0 in reply to Cesar
    Prodigy 50 points

    Hello,

    Thank you for your quick response. Could you let me know as to which software/tutorial I should use to be able to save raw data to a PC and post process later?

    I have tried using mmWave Studio but the board isn't being recognized and there is no Radar API option in the drop down window tab appearing.

    I have already installed the required 32bit  MATLAB runtime as well.

    Thank you.

  • 0 in reply to Sawan Singh Mahara
    TI__Mastermind 24955 points

    Sawan,

    In order to use mmWave Studio with your AWR1642BOOST EVM, you will need a DCA1000EVM, which you can find here: http://www.ti.com/tool/DCA1000EVM

    Please also refer to the first page of the DCA1000EVM Debug Handbook for tutorial resources.

    https://e2e.ti.com/support/sensors/f/1023/t/872161

    Regards,

    Kyle

  • 0 in reply to Kyle Cousino
    Prodigy 50 points

    Hello,

    Thank you for your clarification on using mmWave Studio. I guess I will not be using that software, then.

    I would like to have this part clarifie.

    In the demo link mentioned in the original question, namely, dev.ti.com/.../ ;  I was able to visualize position/doppler/velocity plots of my surroundings in real time on my PC display. I have not used the aforementioned DCA1000 EVM to do this.

    A .bin file was flashed using uni flash and Google Chrome was used to view everything.  It is my understanding, therefore, that it should be possible to send an even less sophisticated information stream about my surroundings directly (namely a stream of complex numbers, an FFT perhaps) to my PC, and just either log it or graph it, without using the DCA1000EVM.

    Is this understanding wrong?

    If I am able to stream an even simpler data stream than what's in the demo, I can run my machine learning algorithms. I am stuck at figuring out what software I should use to create a .bin file and what software I should use to read the board's information stream and log it. (Provided my understanding is not misguided, that is).

    Clarification on the statements in bold would help me out a lot.

    Thank you

  • 0 in reply to Sawan Singh Mahara
    TI__Mastermind 24955 points

    It is certainly possible to send out an FFT result using the UART over USB connection. In fact, the Out-of-Box Demo does precisely that when it sends out the Range Profile and Noise Floor Profile TLV outputs.

    But keep in mind that this is post-processed information.

    The limitation on the UART bandwidth prevents the sending out of raw ADC data to the PC.

    It all depends on what you mean by simpler data stream. If simpler data stream means ADC data, then this will not be possible. If simpler data means sending out the entire radar cube, then this will not be possible.

    However, if simpler data stream means a range FFT result, then this would be possible.

    You can take the Out-of-Box demo as an example and modify as needed.

    The Out-of-Box demo Doxygen provides detailed information on processing chain used along with the output data that is sent out over UART using the USB connection.

    You can find that latest SDK Doxygen for AWR1642BOOST at this file location:

    C:\ti\mmwave_sdk_03_04_00_03\packages\ti\demo\xwr16xx\mmw\docs\doxygen\html\index.html

    Regards,
    Kyle