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= WARPLab Modules =

The WARPLab Framework consists of 5 core modules: the {{{Node}}}, the {{{Baseband}}}, the {{{Interface Group}}}, the {{{Transport}}}, the {{{Trigger Manager}}}, and {{{User Extensions}}}.

[[Image(typical.png,width=800)]]

The above figure shows how these 5 modules relate to one another in the context of a typical WARPLab example script. Additionally, the figure shows another framework element, the {{{Trigger}}}, which is not a part of a WARPLab node, but is one way of coordinating action among the multiple nodes in a WARPLab experiment.

=== Node ===

A {{{Node}}} is responsible for broker commands to other modules within the node and collect responses to those commands to deliver back to the user. The other modules in the system belong to the {{{Node}}} module. Furthermore, the {{{Node}}} may also process commands for the node itself and not any of the other modules. The WARPLab Reference Design's implementation of a {{{Node}}} module is [wiki:../../Reference/Node described here].

=== Trigger ===
[[Image(trigger.png,width=800)]]

A {{{Trigger}}} is an object from the [browser:ResearchApps/PHY/WARPLAB/WARPLab7/M_Code_Reference/classes/wl_trigger.m wl_trigger.m] abstract class. Currently, the only class that subclasses from this abstract class is [browser:ResearchApps/PHY/WARPLAB/WARPLab7/M_Code_Reference/classes/wl_trigger_eth_udp_broadcast.m wl_trigger_eth_udp_broadcast.m]. This is a simple class that contains an ID (provided by [browser:ResearchApps/PHY/WARPLAB/WARPLab7/M_Code_Reference/classes/wl_trigger_IDs.m wl_trigger_IDs.m]) and a method for sending the trigger through a broadcast {{{Transport}}} object.

=== Transport ===
[[Image(transport.png,width=800)]]

A {{{Transport}}} is an object from the [browser:ResearchApps/PHY/WARPLAB/WARPLab7/M_Code_Reference/classes/wl_transport.m wl_transport] abstract class. Currently, four subclasses of wl_transport exist:

Unicast Transports:
 * [browser:ResearchApps/PHY/WARPLAB/WARPLab7/M_Code_Reference/classes/wl_transport_eth_udp_java.m wl_transport_eth_udp_java.m]
 * [browser:ResearchApps/PHY/WARPLAB/WARPLab7/M_Code_Reference/classes/wl_transport_eth_udp_pnet.m wl_transport_eth_udp_pnet.m]

Broadcast Transports:
 * [browser:ResearchApps/PHY/WARPLAB/WARPLab7/M_Code_Reference/classes/wl_transport_eth_udp_java_bcast.m wl_transport_eth_udp_java_bcast.m]
 * [browser:ResearchApps/PHY/WARPLAB/WARPLab7/M_Code_Reference/classes/wl_transport_eth_udp_pnet_bcast.m wl_transport_eth_udp_pnet_bcast.m]

The pnet/java variants are functionally identical, but use either compiled Mex code or built-in java code, respectively, for opening UDP sockets. The unicast and broadcast variants serve different purposes:

==== Unicast Transport ====
A Unicast {{{Transport}}} object is attached to the {{{Node}}} and is responsible for sending to and receiving from a specific IP address and port associated with a WARP node. Additionally, the unicast objects will process [wiki:../../Commands/Transport#CommandListandDocumentation transport commands] brokered by the {{{Node}}}.

==== Broadcast Transport ====
A Broadcast {{{Transport}}} object does not process any commands, but contains a method for transmitting to more than one WARP node at once. This is used by the {{{Trigger}}} object as well as the [wiki:../../Utility#wl_initNodes wl_initNodes] utility function.

=== Interface Group ===
[[Image(interface.png,width=800)]]

An {{{Interface Group}}} is an object from the [browser:ResearchApps/PHY/WARPLAB/WARPLab7/M_Code_Reference/classes/wl_interface_group.m wl_interface_group.m] abstract class. Currently, the only subclass of wl_interface_group is [browser:ResearchApps/PHY/WARPLAB/WARPLab7/M_Code_Reference/classes/wl_interface_group_X245.m wl_interface_group_X245.m], which allows control over the 2.4/5GHz transceivers available on WARP. An "interface group" is a collection of multiple identical interfaces. For example, on WARP v3 hardware, a single wl_interface_group_X245 object is used to control both of the on-board interfaces (RFA and RFB) and the two extra interfaces (RFC and RFD) provided by the [wiki:HardwareUsersGuides/FMC-RF-2X245 FMC-RF-2X245 card] if it is mounted on the WARP v3 carrier.

=== Baseband ===
[[Image(baseband.png,width=800)]]

A {{{Baseband}}} is an object from the [browser:ResearchApps/PHY/WARPLAB/WARPLab7/M_Code_Reference/classes/wl_baseband.m wl_baseband.m] abstract class. For the WARPLab Reference Design, we provide the [browser:ResearchApps/PHY/WARPLAB/WARPLab7/M_Code_Reference/classes/wl_baseband_buffers.m wl_baseband_buffers.m] subclass that provides buffers for sending and receiving custom I/Q waveforms provided by MATLAB. [wiki:../../../Extensions#AdvancedExtensions Advanced user extensions] are intended to replace wl_baseband_buffers with custom classes that support user-added baseband processing running on WARP hardware.

=== Trigger Manager ===
[[Image(trigger_manager.png,width=800)]]

A {{{Trigger Manager}}} is an object from the [browser:ResearchApps/PHY/WARPLAB/WARPLab7/M_Code_Reference/classes/wl_trigger_manager.m wl_trigger_manager.m] class. This object allows WARPLab scripts to associate or deassociate particular triggers on particular WARP nodes. For example, a WARPLab script can create two {{{Trigger}}} objects and have a subset of nodes be sensitive to each. This way, a {{{Trigger}}} need not apply to every {{{Node}}} in the network -- it only applies to the ones whose {{{Trigger Manager}}} objects have been configured to allow the {{{Trigger}}}.

== User Extension ==
[[Image(user.png,width=800)]]

A {{{User Extension}}} is an object from the [browser:ResearchApps/PHY/WARPLAB/WARPLab7/M_Code_Reference/classes/wl_user_ext.m wl_user_ext.m] abstract class. We do not provide any subclasses that implement this abstract; it is intended that users create their own subclasses for [wiki:../../../Extensions#SimpleExtensions:AddingNewCommandswithUserExtensionObjects extending WARPLab] with new commands.