Armada Toolset

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Armada Toolset

• Terminology and Overview
• Armada Toolset Technical Summary

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What is Armada?

• Armada is...
• A software library for real-time data acquisition
  and signal processing on the PC
• Written in C
• Composed of software components
• Visual (user-interface) or non-visual
  (processing)
• Compatible with
• Borland Builder (native VCL components)
• Visual C and .NET (via DLL and class wrappers)

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Operational Modes

• Slave Mode
• Board configuration, specialized HW-specific I/O
• Streaming Mode
• Continuous I/O with real-time, channelized,
  pump-based, signal processing
• Snap Mode
• Burst multi-channel signal capture with
  channelized, pump-based, post-processing
• Block Mode
• Continuous multi-channel I/O with real-time,
  event-oriented processing

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Slave Mode Operation

• Slave Mode Signal Flow

User Application
Baseboard Module(s)
TIICaliente is not used. No automatic streaming
data movement functions are performed. HW
interrupts supported to max Windows rates, 5
kHz. Messages used to interchange data with DSP
boards
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Slave Mode Operation

• Advantages
• Familiar, albeit comparatively complex
  programming paradigm
• Realizes theoretical baseboard performance
• ie. 200 MSamples/sec for Lobo (2 GB bursts only)
• Disadvantages
• Unsuitable for continuous processes
• Greater familiarity with HW required

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Streaming Mode Operation

• Streaming Mode Signal Flow

Pool Buffers sized to instantaneous load
2-32 MB Bus Master Memory
Baseboard Module(s)
TIICaliente
TIICaliente automatically channelizes streams in
this mode
User Application
TIIGenericSink
TIIGenericFilter
TIIStreamInput
TIIGenericFilter
TIIStreamOutput
TIIGenericSource
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Streaming Mode Operation

• Advantages
• Block-diagram application development
• Suitable for continuous processes
• Less familiarity with HW required
• Arbitrarily complex signal manipulation on
  channel-by-channel basis
• Disadvantages
• Cannot realize theoretical HW performance
• 10 Msamples/sec aggregate for all pump chains on
  P4-2.5

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Snap Mode Operation

• Snap Mode Signal Flow

Pool Buffers sized tolt size of PC memory
2-32 MB Bus Master Memory
Baseboard Module(s)
TIICaliente
TIICaliente automatically channelizes streams in
this mode
User Application
TIIGenericSink
TIIGenericFilter
TIIStreamInput
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Snap Mode Operation

• Advantages
• Block-diagram application development
• Less familiarity with HW required
• Arbitrarily complex signal manipulation on
  channel-by-channel basis
• Realizes theoretical baseboard performance
• 200 MB/sec for Matador/Velocia
• Disadvantages
• Not suitable for continuous processes

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Block Mode Operation

• Block Mode Signal Flow

Pool Buffers sized to instantaneous load
2-32 MB Bus Master Memory
Baseboard Module(s)
TIICaliente
TIICaliente does not channelize streams in this
mode
User Application
TIIBlockStream
TIIChannelStripper
TIIChannelStripper optionally allows user
processing of channelized events in this mode
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Block Mode Operation

• Advantages
• Very rapid development of recorders and players
• Suitable for continuous processes
• Suitable for intermittent processes on Velocia
• Realizes theoretical baseboard performance
• 200 MB/sec for Matador/Velocia
• Simple interface to custom data streams
• Disadvantages
• Greater familiarity with HW required

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Armada Toolset

• Component Categories
• Caliente - Low-level hardware interface
• Internal interrupt handling buffering
  channelization and format conversion
• Baseboard
• All baseboard-specific communications (bus-master
  and messages) Downloading
• Data Pump - Real-time signal flow
• Generic sources, filters, sinks
• Analysis MMX-optimized signal processing
• Filtering recording and playback FFTs signal
  generation signal analysis plotting

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Armada Summary

• Designed from scratch for performance
• Full bandwidth Dsp-Host communications
• Native signal processing on Intel architectures
• Manages all real-time data flow signaling and
  buffer management
• Ships with each product in Matador and Velocia
  product line
• Fully documented in new CHM and PDF files