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WARP user wrote:
We have ordered for two WARP HW platforms; we will be developing a new PHY and MAC layers on the WARP HW platform and we have limited experience on the HW, we require your help on setting up an appropriate LAB environment. It will be great if your team can help us on the followings:
a) List of measuring instruments required for the HW platform for easy development and testing of the PHY and MAC layers (for example oscilloscope etc.)
b) Additional SW tools required apart from the Xilinx development tools.
c) List of common instruments required to handle the HW platform (e.g. special floor mats, electrostatic bands etc. ).
d) Other tips to set up the lab environment, list of things frequently required while working on the WARP HW platform (for example extra antenna connectors etc).
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a) A 2 or 4 channel oscilloscope is very useful for both MAC and PHY development. For example, when implementing MAC algorithms, we use a scope to visualize the transmit and receive timing at a node by monitoring digital I/O from the FPGA board which are mapped to control signals in the FPGA. We also observe the transmit signals from two boards simultaneously to quantify exactly when and how often collisions occur. For PHY development, the combination of an analog board and a fast scope is ideal. Our OFDM reference design, for example, uses an analog board to output equalized I/Q values and the PHY's phase error tracking signals. Using these, we can visualize in real-time the quality of a received signal and debug sources of PHY errors.
b) The core Xilinx tools (ISE & EDK) are essential. We also use System Generator and ChipScope extensively. Other tools we use are MATLAB (required for Sysgen) and TeraTerm (a free terminal emulator for interacting via the FPGA board's serial port).
c) Normal ESD precautions are important when handling the WARP hardware. We use grounded anti-static mats and wrist straps in our lab whenever we need to touch the boards.
d) We ship each kit with a DB9F-DB9F null modem serial cable, 2.4GHz antenna and CompactFlash card. You'll need to supply any other cables. For example, if you want to use the FPGA board's built-in JTAG interface, you'll need a USB A-B cable. You'll probably also want a CompactFlash card writer; standard writers (like ones meant for digital camera media) work fine. If you want to use the radio in the 5GHz bands, you'll need to supply appropriate antennas. We've always had good luck with antennas from HyperlinkTech.
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Hi,
Thank you very much for the details. We require a bit more details on the followings:
We will be developing both PHY and MAC layers on the WARP. System will be operating at 2.4GHz. What we understood from your email that one 4-channel fast oscilloscope will be enough for our kind of work.
a) Kindly provide the details of the required 4-channel fast oscilloscope which will meet our requirements for both PHY and MAC design. For example, required frequency operating range of the oscilloscope, requirement of any special probes and functionalities within the oscilloscope, storage capability of the oscilloscope etc. Any specific vendor and model name will greatly help us.
b) Any USB A-B cable will be fine for the JTAG interface? Kindly suggest a specific vendor and model name for the Compact Flash card writer.
c) Do you see any usefulness of a logic analyzer/ network analyzer for the WARP development work?
d) What are the basic skillets expected to have in one person before start working/handling the WARP development platform (apart from the Xilinx tools knowledge and MATLAB knowledge)?
Best regards
Atanu
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a) We use scopes from the Tektronix TDS3000B series. If you're analyzing just the digital I/O and analog board outputs, a bandwidth of at least 100MHz works well.
b) Yes, any normal USB cable works. And any USB-CompactFlash reader/writer will work. We have four, all different brands (one example).
c) A logic analyzer would be useful in some applications, but we rely on ChipScope's ILA cores in our work.
d) Again, this depends on the specific applications you're working on. For strictly MAC layer work, a designer can work entirely in C inside XPS, relying on our drivers and frameworks to interface with the PHY and hardware. Even at this level, it's important to recognize it's embedded programming, where resources are constrained (especially memory & real-time performance).
For PHY layer work, the work is almost entirely FPGA design (i.e. designs that target the FPGA fabric). We use System Generator for PHY design, so deep knowledge of VHDL/Verilog isn't strictly required. But even then, a good PHY design will be based on knowledge of the FPGA architecture, understanding that all algorithms (simple or complex) will eventually be implemented using the fabric's logic resources.
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