Guidelines of R-DSP Lab

1. General
The R-DSP Lab (Remote DSP Laboratory) is an interactive remote laboratory which is designed and developed in Electronics Laboratory of Physics Department of Patras University by Embedded DSP Systems Research Group. The R-DSP Lab gives to the students the ability to conduct laboratory experiments in the fields of DSPs Systems Design for Signal Processing. By using a common Web Browser and through carefully designed GUIs, users have the ability to monitor and control the parameters, both of the function generator and the oscilloscope, during the experiment. Moreover for demonstration of the RDSP Lab features a series of Demos have developed, which include the Design and Implementation of FIR and IIR digital filters and FFT transform of 512 points. The access to the R-DSP Lab is achieved through the following address http://rdsplab.physics.upatras.gr (Figure 1). In order to use the R-DSP Lab the Run Time Engine of LabVIEW 8.6 must be installed. Users can download the Run Time Engine from (National Instruments) webpage (http://joule.ni.com/nidu/cds/view/p/id/1101/lang/en). The access to the R-DSP Lab has been tested with Internet Explorer and Mozilla Firefox.

Figure 1. The R-DSP Lab home page.

The use of the R-DSP Lab requires user authentication which can be done through the Login webpage (Figure 2). The R-DSP Lab supports two types of accounts: the standard account and the guest account. The user who wishes to enter the R-DSP Lab using the guest account should be enter in the Username and Password fields the word guest. The guest account permits access only to the R-DSP Lab Demos. To exploit the full potential of R-DSP Lab, users should contact to the administrators via email (kalan@upatras.gr) or through R-DSP Lab Contact webpage (http://rdsplab.physics.upatras.gr/contact.php). The users logged in with standard accounts are permitted to verify the correct function of their DSP application, in addition of the guest account. For this reason the user must upload the executable code which implemented using the Code Composer Studio IDE.

Figure 2. The R-DSP Lab Login webpage

After the successful login the authorized users are redirected to the R-DSP Lab Experiments webpage (Figure 3). Through this webpage they can select one of the R-DSP Lab Demos or to upload an executable code (only for standard accounts).

Figure 3. The R-DSP Lab Experiments webpage

2. The R-DSP Lab Demos

The R-DSP Lab Demos include the Design and Implementation of FIR and IIR digital filters and FFT transform of 512 points. The R-DSP Lab will check for an available Workstation as the authorized user selects one of Demos through the R-DSP Lab Experiments webpage. Provided that a Workstation is available the user will be redirected to the appropriate Workstation webpage. 2.1 Design and Implementation of FIR Digital Filters The users which have select the FIR Filter demo from the R-DSP Lab Experiments webpage will be redirected to the Workstations webpage. This webpage contains the graphical user interface for the design of FIR digital filter (Figure 4).

Figure 4. The webpage for the designing of the FIR Digital Filter.

Figure 5. Magnitude and Phase response.

Through the field Filter Type the user can select the type of the FIR filter (lowpass, highpass, band pass or band stop). From the field Window Type the user can select the window design method (Rectangle, Hanning, Hamming or Blackman). Also from the field Sampling Frequency the user can define the sampling frequency. The frequencies supported by the R-DSP Lab are 96 kHz, 48 kHz, 44 kHz, 32 kHz, 24 kHz, 16 kHz and 8 kHz. In the fields Lower Pass Band Frequency and Upper Pass Band Frequency, the user sets the pass band frequency or frequencies. In the fields Lower Stop Band Frequency and Upper Stop Band Frequency the user determines the cutoff frequency or frequencies. The fields Upper Pass Band Frequency and Upper Stop Band Frequency are activated only when the user selects a band pass or a band stop FIR digital filter. The button Calculate starts the designing of the FIR filter according the users specifications. Through the tab Magnitude and Phase, the user can observe the magnitude and phase response of the filter (Figure 5).

Figure 6. Impulse response

Figure 7. Zero-pole diagram.

Through the tab Impulse Response the user can view the filters impulse response (Figure 6) and through the tab Zeros and Poles he can observe the zero-pole diagram of the filter (Figure 7). Through the tab No of Taps & Coefficients the user can observe the order and the coefficients of the filter (Figure 8). From the field Display Selection the user can select the format of the displayed coefficients (floating point or Q15.0 format).

Figure 8. Order and coefficients of the filter

Then the user has the ability to confirm the functionality of the designed filter (implementation of the filter) by pressing the button Build. The coefficients will be automatically saved to the appropriate Workstation and the C code which implements the FIR filter will be created. The executable code which produced by the CCS, is automatically loaded into development platform DSK C6713 and the Workstation webpage displays the control environment (section 4). Through this control environment, the user can access the laboratory equipment (function generator and oscilloscope) in order to verify the correct function the implemented filter. 2.2 Design and Implementation of IIR Digital Filters The users which have select the IIR Filter demo from the R-DSP Lab Experiments webpage will be redirected to the Workstations webpage. This webpage contains the graphical user interface for the design of FIR digital filter (Figure 9). Through the field Filter Type the user can select the type of the FIR filter (lowpass, highpass, band pass or band stop). From the field IIR Filter Type the user can select the type of the IIR Filter (Butterworth, Chebyshev I, Chebyshev II or Elliptic). Also from the field Sampling Frequency the user can define the sampling frequency. In the fields Ripple in Passband and Attenuation in Stopband the ripple (dB) in pass band and the attenuation in stop band can be defined. In the fields Lower Pass Band Frequency and Upper Pass Band Frequency, the user sets the pass band frequency or frequencies. In the fields Lower Stop Band Frequency and Upper Stop Band Frequency the user determines the cutoff frequency or frequencies. The fields Upper Pass Band Frequency and Upper Stop Band Frequency are activated only when the user selects a band pass or a band stop FIR digital filter.

Figure 9. The webpage for the designing of the IIR Digital Filter.

The button Calculate starts the designing of the IIR filter according the users specifications. Through the tab Magnitude and Phase, the user can observe the magnitude and phase response of the filter (Figure 9). Through the tab Impulse Response the user can view the filters impulse response and through the tab Zeros and Poles he can observe the zero-pole diagram of the filter. Through the tab No of Taps & Coefficients the user can observe the order and the coefficients (Cascaded Direct Form II) of the filter. From the field Display Selection the user can select the format of the displayed coefficients (floating point or Q15.0 format). Then the user has the ability to confirm the functionality of the designed filter (implementation of the filter) by pressing the button Build. The coefficients will be automatically saved to the appropriate Workstation and the C code which implements the Cascaded Direct II Form IIR filter will be created. The executable code which produced by the CCS, is automatically loaded into development platform DSK C6713 and the Workstation webpage displays the control environment (section 4). Through this control environment, the user can access the laboratory equipment (function generator and oscilloscope) in order to verify the correct function the implemented filter.

2.3 FFT Transform The users which have select the FFT Transform demo from the R-DSP Lab Experiments webpage will be redirected to the Workstations webpage. This webpage contains the control environment (section 4). The executable code which implements a FFT transform of 512 points is automatically loaded into development platform DSK C6713. Through the control environment, the user can access the laboratory equipment (function generator and oscilloscope) in order to verify the correct function the implemented FFT Transform.

3. Uploading an Executable Code.

The users, with standard accounts, are permitted to verify the correct function of their DSP application. For this reason the user must upload the executable code which implemented using the Code Composer Studio IDE (CCS). Initially utilizing a scientific software package like Matlab of Mathworks the user must design the desired algorithm. The designed algorithm must be implemented in C, assembly or mixed mode language using the CCS. The CCS should be configured to create executable code (file with extension .out) for the TI TMS320C6713 DSP. By pressing the button Upload in R-DSP Lab Experiment webpage, the user with standard account will be redirected to the R-DSP Lab Upload webpage (Figure 10).

Figure10. The R-DSP Lab Upload webpage.

In the R-DSP Lab Upload website the user can select the file which contains the executable code by pressing the button Browse. Finally, the user should press the button Upload to upload the executable code. The users executable code is automatically loaded into development platform DSK C6713 and the user will be redirected to the Workstation webpage which displays the control environment (section 4). Through this control environment, the user can access the laboratory equipment (function generator and oscilloscope) in order to verify the correct function the implemented algorithm.

4. The R-DSP Lab Control Environment.

The control environment of the R-DSP Lab is independent of the selected experiment. Through this environment the user is able to confirm the functionality of the developed algorithms using the laboratory equipment. Each workstation of R-DSP Lab consists of a DSK C6713 development platform of Spectrum Digital (http://www.spectrumdigital.com), a TG 2000 DDS Function Generator of TTi (http://www.tti-test.com) and a TDS 1012 oscilloscope of Tektronix (http://www.tek.com). The control of laboratory instruments is achieved by using the control environment which consists of three tabs. The first tab contains a graphical user interface (GUI) that allows the control of the TG 2000function generator, the second tab contains a GUI which allows the control of the TDS 1012 oscilloscope and the third tab includes an image from a Web Camera which presents the current state of laboratory equipment.

Figure 11. The R-DSP Lab control enviroment (Function generator)

Figure 11 shows the control environment of the function generator. The GUI of the function generator is a realistic representation of the operation of the real instrument which allows users familiarize with the real instrument. The default configuration of the function generator is a sinusoidal signal of 10 kHz frequency and 500mV amplitude. Trough the button Menu the specifications of the output signal can be modified Figure 12 presents the frequency menu of the function generator. The frequency menu can display the frequency or the period of the signal. The signals frequency can be modified using the knob. Alternative the user can type the value of the desired frequency by pressing the numeric buttons. The return to the main menu is achieved by pressing the button STATUS. The described process is identical to the process to be followed if using the real function generator.

Figure 12. Frequency menu of function generator

As the user completes the configuration of the function generator then should select the tab Oscilloscope TDS 1012 (Figure 13). The GUI of the oscilloscope is a realistic representation of the operation of the real instrument which allows users to familiarize with the real instrument.

Figure 13. The R-DSP Lab control enviroment (Oscilloscope)

The GUI of the oscilloscope provides the users with the capability to control the real instrument. Through this GUIs controls, users can define the parameters for each channel as well as Volts/Div, Time/Div, waveform positions (vertical and horizontal), Trigger mode etc. They can also utilize the full functionality of real oscilloscope like cursors readouts, automatic measurements, waveform averaging and peak detection and math functions. By pressing the button GET the user requests the refresh of the oscilloscopes display and the refresh process begins. Initially the function generator will be configured and the selected executable code will be loaded to the DSK C6713. The parameters of the oscilloscope are loaded to the real instrument and the data is transferred to the GUI.

Additionally if the workstation is equipped with a Web Camera, a captured image which shows the state of the real instruments will be presented in the tab Web Cam. By pressing the button AUTO SET the user enables the oscilloscopes autoset function and requests the refresh of the oscilloscopes display. The described refresh process begins but the oscilloscope will be automatically configured (ignoring users settings). More details about the operation of the GUIs can be found in the user manuals of the laboratory equipment (http://rdsplab.physics.upatras.gr/downloads.php).