August 1, 2003
Numeric Processing and Data Structures added in Pismo SW libraries
A large number of numeric processing functions and data structure classes and methods have been added to the Pismo toolset, our board-support SW package for the Matador cards. These include statistical functions, linear regression, matrix and vector processing as well as efficient data buffer management methods. With our Matador line of cards providing a wide choice of high quality analog signal capture with DSP embedded processing, such libraries accelerate the development of numerically intensive applications, providing complete platforms for a fast time-to-market of advanced systems. For a complete list, download Toro Docs and check out the ToroPismo.chm help files.
Quixote hardware and development framework being fine-tuned
Customers appreciate hardware performance and ease-of-use delivered with Quixote, an advanced integration of TMS320C6416 DSP, VirtexII FPGA and 105MHz analog I/O on one 64-bit cPCI card. The software and logic framework provided with the board further speeds-up development cycle of high-end applications. A small example is our new VelociaDownLoad utility. In the development phase, FPGA code is often revised, re-compiled and a stored into Flash ROM, out of which the FPGA is reconfigured. But, programming a typical 4 MB ROM can take up to 10 minutes. Our utility allows a developer to browse and select the exo binary file on the host, and quickly download it straight to the FPGA through the SelectMap interface (via the PCI bus), for a total reconfiguration time of just two seconds for a 6M gate device. Speed-up your Software Defined Radio project…with Quixote!
Fast, User-friendly Mailbox Messaging Between DSP and Host
Unlike most board suppliers providing a dual port memory with an address map, the Pismo software package delivered with each Matador and Velocia DSP board includes a user-friendly, packet-based messaging interface, which allows developers to rapidly implement interrupt-driven, bi-directional communication between an embedded DSP program and a Windows application. This mailbox interface is used for command-and-control type of communication, while the busmaster interface supports bulk data transfers in and out of the target board.
A single bi-directional message path can be set up with minimal configuration for simple communication needs. For sophisticated situations, an unlimited number of independent communication channels may be set up to run in parallel, with messages on each channel directed to their own receiver thread on the other side. Pismo defines message objects that contain functions to simplify the assembly of data into packets to be sent by the hardware and to interpret it at the receiver side. A message packet consists of 16 words: a channel #, a command ID and 14 words of user data. Users can ignore the details of transmission and immediately focus on the heart of their application. Pismo includes illustrative code examples of message exchanges, including source code of both target and host side. For more details, download Toro Docs and consult the Message Overview section in the ToroPismo.chm help file.
