OpenCPI Ettus E31X Getting Started Guide

This document provides installation information that is specific to the Ettus Research™ E310 Universal Software Radio Peripheral (USRP™). Use this document when performing the tasks described in the chapter “Enabling OpenCPI Development for Embedded Systems” in the OpenCPI Installation Guide. This document supplies details about enabling OpenCPI development on the E310 USRP that can be applied to the procedures described in the referenced OpenCPI Installation Guide chapter.

The following documents can also be used as reference to the tasks described in this document:

Note that the OpenCPI Glossary is also contained in both the OpenCPI Installation Guide and the OpenCPI User Guide.

This document assumes a basic understanding of the Linux command line (or “shell”) environment.

Document Revision History

Table 1: OpenCPI Ettus E31X Getting Started Guide: Revision History

OpenCPI Version

Description of Change

Date

v1.3.1-E3XX

Initial Release

3/2018

v1.4

Updated for Release

9/2018

v1.5

Add setup of udev file

4/2019

v1.6

Refer to Installation Guide where possible

1/2020

v2.2

Convert to RST, update to xilinx19_2_aarch32, remove boot artifacts appendix

6/2021

Overview

The E310 is a device in the “Universal Software Radio Peripheral (USRP) Embedded Series” of devices from Ettus Research, along with the E312, USRP E313, and USRP E320. See the Ettus Research USRP Embedded Series product brief for information about the series.

The Ettus Research documentation uses the notation “E3xx” to refer to this series. See the E3xx Series section of the vendor manual for details about the devices in the series.

The OpenCPI HDL (FPGA) platform for the E310 is called the “e31x” because the E310, E312, and E313 USRPs all have the same circuits and parts.

OpenCPI has been tested on the E310 USRP.

Table 2: lists the items in the E3XX product package and their function in setting up the E310 for OpenCPI installation and deployment.

Table 2: E3XX Kit Contents and their Use in OpenCPI Installation and Deployment

Item

Used for…

E310 USRP

OpenCPI target embedded system

Power supply

Power source for E310

1 Gigabit Ethernet cable

Setting Up the E310 for OpenCPI Network-Mode Operation (Optional)

Micro-USB-to-USB cable

Establishing a Serial Console Connection for the E310

Standard SD card (8GB or larger)

Setting up the SD Card for the E310 (Contents not used for OpenCPI installation/deployment)

SMB-to-SMA adapters (2)

Not used for OpenCPI installation/deployment

Getting started guide

General information about E310. Do not use chapters 5, 11, 12

Note

When using the E310 with OpenCPI, do not perform the steps described in the Ettus Research Getting Started Guide chapters listed below. These steps are not necessary for OpenCPI installation and deployment on the E310 USRP and may conflict with OpenCPI installation and deployment:

  • 5, “Install and Setup the Software Tools on Your Host Computer”

  • 11, “Example Programs”

  • 12, “Test and Verify the Options of the USRP”

Enabling OpenCPI Development for the E310 USRP

This section gives information about the E310 USRP to use when following the instructions in the chapter “Enabling OpenCPI Development for Embedded Systems” of the OpenCPI Installation Guide.

Note

The instructions in the next sections assume that the basic OpenCPI installation for the development host has already been done. If it hasn’t, follow the instructions in the chapter “Installing OpenCPI on Development Hosts” of the OpenCPI Installation Guide before proceeding to follow the instructions in these sections.

Installation Steps for the E310 Platform

This section contains information to be applied to the tasks described in the section “Installation Steps for Platforms” of the OpenCPI Installation Guide.

Supported OpenCPI Platforms and Vendor Tools

Table 3: lists the OpenCPI software (RCC) and hardware (HDL (FPGA) platforms used for the E310 USRP and the third-party/vendor tools on which they depend.

Table 3: Supported OpenCPI Platforms for the E310 USRP and their Dependencies

OpenCPI

Platform Name

Description

OpenCPI

Project/Repo

Required Third-Party/

Vendor Tools

xilinx19_2_aarch32

Xilinx Linux from

2019Q2 (2019.2)

for Zynq-7000

ocpi.core

built-in

Xilinx Vitis™ SDK 2019.2

Xilinx Binary Zynq Release 2019.2

Xilinx Linux git clone

Xilinx Linux tag: xilinx-v2019.2

e31x

Ettus E31X

Zynq FPGA/PL

ocpi.osp.e3xx

Xilinx Vivado® WebPACK

Notes about the OpenCPI platforms listed in the table:

  • xilinx19_2_aarch32 is the primary RCC platform for the E310 USRP.

  • The xilinx19_2_aarch32 RCC platform is configured for DHCP.

  • The e31x HDL platform supports the E310, E312, and E313 USRPs. It does not support the E320 USRP.

  • The OSP for the e31x HDL platform is named E3XX to plan for possible future support of other devices in the E3XX series.

Installing the Vendor Tools for the OpenCPI Platforms

Follow the instructions in the section “Installing Xilinx Tools” in the chapter “Installing Third-party/Vendor Tools” in the OpenCPI Installation Guide to install the Xilinx tools listed as platform dependencies in Table 3:.

Note

Perform this step first, before installing/building the OpenCPI platforms for the E310.

Installing and Building the OpenCPI Platforms for the E310

After installing the required vendor tools, follow the instructions in the section “Installation Steps for Platforms” in the OpenCPI Installation Guide to install and build the xilinx19_2aarch32 and e31x platforms for the E310 USRP.

Both these platforms must be installed and built with ocpiadmin install platform before proceeding to set up the SD card for the E310. For example:

ocpiadmin install platform xilinx19_2_aarch32

ocpiadmin install platform e31x

See the ocpiadmin(1) man page for command usage details.

Note

The xilinx19_2_aarch32 platform is also used by other systems, such as the Avnet (Digilent) ZedBoard (in OpenCPI, the zed and zed_ise HDL platforms). If the xilinx19_2_aarch32 platform has already been installed and built for another supported system, it can apply to the E310 USRP and does not need to be installed and built.

Building the platforms results in a single executable FPGA test application named bias that is ready to run. It can be used to verify the installation and any assemblies of the E3XX OSP itself. The bias test application is based on the testbias HDL assembly. Both bias and testbias reside in the ocpi.assets built-in project.

Installation Steps for the E310 After Its Platforms Have Been Installed

This section contains information to be applied to the tasks described in the section “Installation Steps for Embedded Systems After Their Platforms Have Been Installed” in the OpenCPI Installation Guide.

Setting Up the E310 for OpenCPI Network-Mode Operation (Optional)

OpenCPI allows three modes of operation on embedded systems: network mode, standalone mode, and server mode (see the beginning paragraphs in the section “Installation Steps for Systems after their Platforms are Installed” of the OpenCPI Installation Guide for details).

Using network mode for OpenCPI on the E310 USRP requires establishing an Ethernet connection from the E310 USRP to a network that supports DHCP.

There is one Ethernet port located on the E310 USRP’s rear panel, as shown in Figure 1:. Use the 1-Gigabit Ethernet cable provided in the E3XX product package to connect this port to the DHCP-supported network.

Figure 1: Ettus E310 USRP: Rear Panel Showing Ethernet Port

Setting up the SD Card for the E310

The E310 USRP boots from an SD card. Enabling OpenCPI on the E310 USRP requires creating a bootable SD card that replaces the factory SD card supplied with the E3XX product package.

Follow the instructions in the subsections “Preparing the SD Card Contents” and “Writing the SD Card” in the section “Installation Steps for Systems After Their Platforms are Installed” of the OpenCPI Installation Guide to create a bootable SD card that enables the E310 for OpenCPI.

Note

The recommended method described in the OpenCPI Installation Guide is to make a raw copy of the manufacturer-supplied card to a new card, preserving the manufacturer’s formatting and content, and then remove the original files from the raw copy and copy the files from OpenCPI.

For the E310, be sure to remove all the original contents from the raw copy you create from the factory SD card. OpenCPI provides all of the necessary files for installation and deployment on the E310, and the presence of any factory-supplied contents can cause problems with this process.

Should you need to format an SD card for the E310 USRP, it should be a single FAT32 partition.

The bootable SD card slot is located on the E310 USRP’s front panel. To eject an SD card, gently push it in and then release it.

Figure 2: Ettus E310 USRP: Front Panel with SD Card Slot

Note

The E310 USRP front panel provides six SMB (50 Ohm) connectors labeled TRX-A, RX2-A, RX2-B, TRX-B, GPS, and SYNC. These connectors are not relevant to enabling OpenCPI on the E310. See the Ettus Research USRP Hardware Driver and USRP Manual for details about their function.

Establishing a Serial Console Connection for the E310

Follow the instructions in the section “Establishing a Serial Console Connection” in the OpenCPI Installation Guide to set up a serial console connection between the E310 and the development host.

On the E310 USRP, the micro-USB serial port is located on the system’s rear panel (see Figure 3:) and is labeled CONSOLE. Connect the micro-USB to USB-A cable supplied in the product package from this port to the development host.

The USRP E310’s console serial port operates at 115200 baud.

Figure 3: Ettus E310 USRP: Rear Panel with Serial Console Port

Configuring the Runtime Environment on the e31x Platform

Follow the instructions in the section “Configuring the Runtime Environment on the Embedded System” in the OpenCPI Installation Guide.

The E310 USRP is initially set with root for user name and password.

Running the Reference Application

Once you have successfully set up OpenCPI and the E310, you can run the FSK Digital Radio Controller reference application, which is located in projects/osps/ocpi.osp.e3xx/applications/fsk_dig_radio_ctrlr.

Documentation for this reference application is currently unavailable.