XMOS MultiUART User manual

MultiUART COM port demo quickstart guide
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Publication Date: 2013/11/22
XMOS © 2013, All Rights Reserved.

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Table of Contents
1 MultiUART COM demo quickstart guide 3
1.1 Host computer setup ..................................... 3
1.2 Hardware setup ........................................ 3
1.2.1 Set up the MultiUART sliceCARD .......................... 4
1.2.2 Setting up the system ................................ 5
1.3 Import and build the application .............................. 5
1.4 Run the application ...................................... 6
1.5 Next steps ........................................... 7
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1 MultiUART COM demo quickstart guide
IN THIS CHAPTER
·Host computer setup
·Hardware setup
·Import and build the application
·Run the application
·Next steps
This demonstration uses the XA-SK-UART-8 MultiUART sliceCARD together with
the xSOFTip MultiUART component to create 8 UARTs. The working is shown as
follows
· Data is received from a host computer over a null modem cable on the first
UART (UART 0) using the DB9 connector.
· Received data is piped through the remaining 7 uarts using loopback connections
on the sliceCARD.
· After data has passed through all UARTs 1 through 7, the data is then returned
back to the host computer via UART 0 and the DB9 connector.
This demo also features UART reconfiguration for a sample of standard baud rates.
1.1 Host computer setup
The following tools should be installed on the host system in order to run this
application:
·For Win 7: Hercules setup utility by HW-Group1
·For MAC users: SecureCRT7.02
Similar tools exist for Linux users but for the purposes of this demonstartion a
Windows or OS X platform using the tools above is recommended.
1.2 Hardware setup
The following hardware components are required:
·XP-SKC-L16 sliceKIT
1http://www.hw-group.com/products/hercules/index_en.html
2http://www.vandyke.com/download/securecrt/
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·XA-SK-UART-8 sliceCARD
·XA-SK-XTAG2
·XTAG-2 sliceCARD
XP-SKC-L16 sliceKIT core board has four slots with edge conectors: SQUARE , CIRCLE ,
TRIANGLE and STAR, and one chain connector marked with a CROSS.
To setup up the system refer to the figure and instructions below.
1.2.1 Set up the MultiUART sliceCARD
Figure 1:
Setting up
the loopback
jumpers
The demo shows the transfer of characters accross all 8 uarts by looping them all
back. Data will be received (RX) from the host computer on UART 0 (pins 0 and 1
of the header on the sliceCARD), transmitted through the remaining 7 uarts and
then the result of that is sent back to the host via UART 0 TX.
You will need seven 2-pin jumpers, which should be placed on header J4 (the one
nearest the DB9 connector and labelled “RS-232”) of the sliceCARD, on all the rows
numbered 1 through 7 on the sliceCARD. The table below denotes the header pin
connections made by the jumpers placed in the figure.
TX RX
5 6
7 8
11 12
13 14
17 18
19 20
23 24
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1.2.2 Setting up the system
1. Connect the XA-SK-MUART sliceCARD to the XP-SKC-L16 sliceKIT using the
connector marked with SQUARE.
2. Connect the XTAG-2 sliceCARD to sliceKIT core board, and connect XTAG-2 to
the adapter. Turn the XLINK switch on the debug adapater to the “ON” position.
3. Connect a null serial cable to DB-9 connector on XA-SK-MUART sliceCARD. The
cable will need a cross over between the UART RX and TX pins at each end.
4. Connect the other end of cable to the host computer DB-9 connector slot. If
the host does not have an DB-9 connector slot then any other USB-UART bridge
should do just as well (See http://www.bafo.com/products_bf-810_S.asp (Part
number : BF-810) for a reference)
5. Identify the serial (COM) port number provided by the host or the USB-UART
adapter and open a suitable terminal software for the selected serial port (refer
to the Hercules or SecureCRT documentation above).
6. Configure the host terminal console program as follows: 115200 baud, 8 bit
character length, even parity, 1 stop bit, no hardware flow control. The transmit
End-of-Line character should be set to CR (other options presented will probably
be LF and CR\LF).
7. Connect the XA-SK-XTAG2 sliceCARD to the sliceKIT and connect XTAG-2 to the
adapter. Switch on the power supply to the sliceKIT core board.
8. Open the serial device on the host console program
1.3 Import and build the application
1. Open xTIMEcomposer Studio then open the edit perspective (Window->Open
Perspective->XMOS Edit).
2. Locate the MultiUART COM port demo item in the xSOFTip pane on the bottom
left of the window and drag it into the Project Explorer window in the xTIMEcom-
poser Studio. This will cause the modules on which this application depends (in
this case module_xc_ptr of sc_util repository) to be imported as well.
3. Click on the sliceKIT COM port MultiUART demo item in the Explorer pane then
click on the build icon (hammer) in xTIMEcomposer Studio. Check the console
window to verify that the application has built successfully.
For help in using xTIMEcomposer Studio, try the xTIMEcomposer tutorial (see
Help->Tutorials).
Note that the Developer Column in the xTIMEcomposer on the right hand side of
your screen provides information on the xSOFTip components you are using, when
the component is selected in the xSOFTip browser pane.
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Figure 2:
Full system
setup for
MultiUART
demo
1.4 Run the application
1. Open the configured terminal client application console on the host computer
2. Click on the Run icon (the white arrow in the green circle) and wait for the
application running message in xTIMEcomposer Studio console for all UARTs
before proceeding to the next step.
3. A user menu will be displayed on terminal client application console
4. Key in e to enter echo mode. Type in any character from thekey board and
application echoes the key pressed. In order to get back to user menu, press
Esc key.
5. Key in r to enter reconfiguration mode. Select a new baud rate value (choose
1 for 115200 baud, 2 for 57600 baud, 3 for 9600 baud and 4 for 600 baud
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selection). The UART will be reconfigured (xTIMEcomposer Studio console will
display the reconfigured value). The terminal console should be reopened with
the new selected baud rate. Press hto display user menu.
6. Key in f in order to transfer a file through UART 0. Use file upload option if it
is supported by terminal client application or type in the Console window and
then press Ctrl+D to send the data and recieve it for display. In order to get
back to user menu, press Esc key.
7. Key in b in order to pipe data through UART channels 1-7. Type in the console
window and then press Ctrl+D to send the data through 7 channels and recieve
it for display. Hardware setup for pipe option should be as shown in the
loopback connections figure above. If the connection to any of the channels is
disconnected you will not see data received back and a message is displayed on
the terminal console saying that the MultiUART pipe is broken.
8. If you successfully sent characters using the b option above, verify that the
MultiUART pipe through all UARTs is indeed present by removing one of the
jumpers, repreating the b , CTRL-D sequence above upon which an error message
regarding the broken pipe should be displayed.
9. Key in h in order to display user menu. This help is displayed any time during
execution by pressing Esc key followed by h
Figure 3:
Screenshot of
hypertermi-
nal
window
1.5 Next steps
1. Refer to the module_multi_uart documentation for implementation details of
this application and information on further things to try.
2. Evaluate the full ethernet to serial (8 UART) reference product. This is a
fully featured reference product including an embedded webserver, multicast
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configuration via UDP and a host of other features. This product can be accessed
by applying to your XMOS sales representative.
3. Examine the application code. In xTIMEcomposer Studio navigate to the src
directory under app_sk_muart_com_demo and double click on the main.xc file
within it. The file will open in the central editor window.
4. This code employs three cores. The par{} statement at the bottom of main.xc
instances the MultiUART by calling it’s server function, run_multi_uart_rxtx() .
This is a function which does not return and runs the MultiUART and uses two
cores (one for 8 UART Tx, and another for 8 UART Rx) . It also instances a logical
core running uart_manager() . This uart_manager is the demo application code
which displays the help menu, effects the 8 channel loopback and so on.
5. Since only one call is made to run_multi_uart_rxtx() in the par{} in main.xc ,
why does it say above that two cores actually used by this component? To see
why, navigate to the module_multi_uart in the Project Explorer pane, double-
click to open its contents and then navigate to the src directory and open
multi_uart_rxtx.xc in the editor by double clicking it. Now it is possible to see
the two cores used by the Multi-UART - there is another par{} statement which
calls the run_multi_uart_tx and run_multi_uart_rx server functions causing
them to be executed on separate cores.
Copyright © 2013, All Rights Reserved.
Xmos Ltd. is the owner or licensee of this design, code, or Information (collectively, the “Information”) and
is providing it to you “AS IS” with no warranty of any kind, express or implied and shall have no liability in
relation to its use. Xmos Ltd. makes no representation that the Information, or any particular implementation
thereof, is or will be free from any claims of infringement and again, shall have no liability in relation to any
such claims.
XMOS and the XMOS logo are registered trademarks of Xmos Ltd. in the United Kingdom and other countries,
and may not be used without written permission. All other trademarks are property of their respective owners.
Where those designations appear in this book, and XMOS was aware of a trademark claim, the designations
have been printed with initial capital letters or in all capitals.
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