Texas Instruments Vision SDK Linux User manual

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Vision SDK Linux
Cascade Radar Data Acquisition
Tool
User Guide

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IMPORTANT NOTICE
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
1Introduction ................................................................................................. 4
1.1 Block Diagram .................................................................................................4
1.2 Program Flow ..................................................................................................5
1.3 Data Output Format .........................................................................................6
2Requirements for Running Data Acquisition Tool ......................................... 7
3Build Linux Vision SDK for Cascade Radar EVM ............................................ 7
4Build Linux Vision SDK for Cascade Radar EVM with Radar Studio ............... 7
5Data Acquisition Tool ................................................................................... 8
5.1 Run Data Acquisition using Radar Studio .............................................................8
5.2 Run Data Acquisition Tool..................................................................................8
5.3 Retrieve Data ................................................................................................ 10
6Revision History ......................................................................................... 11

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1Introduction
This user guide provides details on how to build and utilize the data acquisition tool
to capture raw data (ADC samples) from 4x AWR1243 Cascade Radar RF board with
TDA2x Digital board.
For 4x AWR1243 Cascade Radar, depending on the Radar configuration, the raw data
throughput could be up to ~6 Gbps. To save the raw data in real-time to a storage
device, it requires an interface with very high BW capability. On TDA2x, PCIe
interface can provide maximum 5Gbps BW per lane with total of 2 lanes. Using 2-
lane PCIe interface on TDA2x to connect to a SSD storage device, it is sufficient to
achieve real-time data acquisition for 4-chip cascade radar use case.
1.1 Block Diagram
The data acquisition tool implements the data scheme as shown in the following
block diagram.
4x
AWR1243
Cascade RF
Board
Eth
TDA2x
SPI
GPIO
PCIe
x2
CSI-2
SSD Hard Drive
Use SCP (Secure
Copy) to transfer
files from EVM to PC
over Ethernet

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1.2 Program Flow
The main component of Data acquisition Tool is DataCollect Link running on A15 in
TDA2x. DataCollect Link implemented the program flow as shown in the following
figure.
DataCollect Link
TaskMain
DataCollect Link
Create
CREATE
DiskBucket
Object
Create
DataCollect Link
Run
Run-time
Command
Received?
DataCollect Link
ProcessFrame
NEW DATA
DiskBucket
WriteData
Write Complete
Search for existing data
files under “/mnt/ssd”
folder
Set File name index AND
Copy Configuration Files
to “/mnt/ssd/” folder
Open New Data File with
the next Filename Index
Data File is
opened and not
full?
No
Copy Data to file until the
file size reaches 2GB
Yes
Update Index File
containing frame size and
number of frames in the
file
DataCollect Link
Delete
STOP
DiskBucket
Object
Delete

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1.3 Data Output Format
Data Acquisition Tool will save 3 types of files to the SSD card.
Radar Configuration Files
Radar Configuration files used for the acquiring data set will be copied to SSD
as “bxxxx_cfg_00.txt” ~ “bxxx_cfg_03.txt”.
Data Files
Data will be saved to a new file every 2GB as “bxxxx_data.bin”.
Index Files
Each data file has an index file, “bxxxx_idx.bin” to provide the frame size and
numbers of total frames stored in the file.
The following screenshot shows an example of the files saved to SSD by Data
Acquisition Tool.

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2Requirements for Running Data Acquisition Tool
It is important to make sure the required components are available before trying to
use the data acquisition tool.
Hardware Requirements:
o4-Chips AWR1243 Cascade Radar Board and TDA2xx Processing board
oNvme M.2 PCIe SSD card (ex. Link)
oWindows or Ubuntu PC
Processor SDK Vision 3.6 release or later (Linux version)
Please Refer to VisionSDK_Linux_UserGuide.pdf for SDK requirements
3Build Linux Vision SDK for Cascade Radar EVM
1. Follow the instructions in the Chapter 2 of VisionSDK_Linux_UserGuide.pdf to
install Linux Vision SDK and set up the build environment.
2. Apply kernel patch. Patch can be found under the following location.
[SDK_INSTALL]/ti_components/os_tools/linux/kernel/linux-kernel-
addon/kernel-patches/
3. Apply u-boot patches. Patch can be found under the following location.
[SDK_INSTALL]/ti_components/os_tools/linux/kernel/linux-kernel-addon/u-
boot-patches/
4. Follow the build instructions in Chapter 3 of the SDK User Guide. Set
MAKECONFIG=tda2xx_cascade_linux_radar in Rules.make.
5. Follow the instructions in SDK User guide to prepare the SD card.
6. Place the radar configuration files under “/opt/vision” folder in file system on
SD card. The example configuration files can be found under
~\vision_sdk\apps\src\rtos\radar\src\usecases\cascade_radar_object_detect\
radar_test_vector. Please refer to ProcessorSDKRadar_UserGuide.pdf for the
details regarding the configuration files.
4Build Linux Vision SDK for Cascade Radar EVM with Radar Studio
1. Follow the instructions in the Chapter 2 of VisionSDK_Linux_UserGuide.pdf to
install Linux Vision SDK and set up the build environment.
2. Apply kernel patch. Patch can be found under the following location.
[SDK_INSTALL]/ti_components/os_tools/linux/kernel/linux-kernel-
addon/kernel-patches/
3. Apply u-boot patches. Patch can be found under the following location.
[SDK_INSTALL]/ti_components/os_tools/linux/kernel/linux-kernel-addon/u-
boot-patches/
4. Make RADAR_STUDIO=yes in
[SDK_INSTALL]/vision_sdk/apps/configs/tda2xx_cascade_linux_radar/cfg.mk
5. Follow the build instructions in Chapter 3 of the SDK User Guide. Set
MAKECONFIG=tda2xx_cascade_linux_radar in Rules.make.
6. Follow the instructions in SDK User guide to prepare the SD card.

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5Data Acquisition Tool
Before running data acquisition tool, the NVMe M.2 SSD card should be installed on
the EVM as shown in the following figure. Remove the Cascade RF board first to have
access to the SSD card slot on the TDA2x processing board. After installing SSD
card, secure the RF board back to the connectors on the TDA2x processing board.
Before powering up the board, make sure the S4 Dip Switch, as shown in the
following figure, is set to [1:6] = [111001] to boot from SD card.
After powering up the board and booting to Linux kernel prompt, please make sure the SSD card
is detected. If the SSD is detected correctly, the device will be “/dev/nvme0”.
5.1 Run Data Acquisition using Radar Studio
Follow the Radar studio 2.1.0 release userguide.
5.2 Run Data Acquisition Tool
1. Format the partition on SSD card as needed. Use “fdisk” and “mkfs” tools.
Please refer to the manual of “fdisk” and “mkfs” for details.

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2. Create “/mnt/ssd” folder and mount the partition on SSD for data storage to
this folder.
3. Start Vision SDK Demo Application.
$> cd /opt/vision_sdk
$> source ./vision_sdk_load.sh
$> ./apps.out
4. Select ‘6’ for Radar Usecases.
5. Select ‘2’ for Cascade Radar Capture + Data Acquisition.
6. Once the use case starts, the tool will search the existing files under /mnt/ssd
folder. If there are already data files from prior runs, it will create the new file
with incrementing index for file name.

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5.3 Retrieve Data
3 ways to retrieve the radar data collected in SSD card as the followings.
Use Linux PC (Ubuntu) –Preferred
From EVM prompt, run “ifconfig” to obtain EVM IP address. Use SCP to
transfer file to PC.
Use Windows PC
Download “WinSCP” for Windows and use it to transfer file from EVM to PC.
Remove SSD card from EVM
Use M.2 SSD-to-USB adapter/enclosure to read SSD card on PC.

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6Revision History
Version
Date
Revision History
1.0
Jan 3, 2019
First version
1.1
Jun 6, 2019
Updated for radar studio usecase
1.2
July 26, 2019
Updated for uboot patches
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