Title: Transceiver PIM Towards a Digital IF Revised Submission
1Transceiver PIMTowards a Digital IF Revised
Submission
- Report on THALES progress
- Eric NICOLLET Frédéric LAFAYE
- Embedded Digital Systems
2Introduction
3Problem description
- Any Radio application uses a Transceiver
Sub-system - Reconfigurability
- A flexible Transceiver is to be realized
- The exhaustive sets of dependencies to and from
the hosted Waveform software is needed - ? A unified way to characterize Transceiver
configuration states is needed - Portability
- The Transceiver has very specific implementation
choices - The Waveform software needs to make abstraction
of such choices - ? The border between the two is to be clarified
- As of today
- Hardware-level standardization ?
platform-specific - No structured API effort on this matter
- Existing ones not aligned with existing SDR
achievements (e.g. device management framework)
4The vision
- MDA approach
- A Platform Independent Model (PIM) of Transceiver
Sub-system - Defining an Abstraction Layer
- For management components
- For waveform processing components
- Interface package containing Properties,
Real-time interfaces (towards and from),
Real-time constraints, - The starting point for implementations
- Architecture of the solution will always be
implementation-specific Reception structure,
HW/SW breakdown, SW processing choices,
flexibility management choices, targetted
evolutivity - Selected interfaces will have specific
implementations - Depending on the processor they execute in
- Depending on the component model they execute in
- Formal PSM are possible options, but not
mandatory - Close relationship to OMG SWRadio Spec
- Management via Device interface, A future
Facility integrated as a Spec volume - A way to take advantage of the Reconfiguration
Infrastructure
5Basic business case
- An enabler to structure the market more
horizontally - Overall efficiency improved
- Greater innovation possibilities
- Reduced costs of ownership
- Increased cooperation possibilities
- Military domain mainstream interests
- A key to expand the WF-PF paradigm into embedded
processing - Customer view trusted procurment on both sides
(WF and PF) - WF-provider view dependencies clarified,
facilitates portability, development
anticipation, - Integrator view cornerstone spec to structure
the collaborations - Commercial domain mainstream interests
- Single API to write for Transceiver HW drivers,
reconfiguration method defined and consistent
with standard means (SWRadio Spec), - PIM a Transceiver-suited grammar for Functional
Descriptions
6Possible other usages
- Certification of Transceiver compliance for
Waveform configuration - Verification of any defined feature
- Usage of
- SW test suite to link in replacement of the
waveform - RF measurement means
- Flexible Spectrum Management
- Dedicated feature possibly introduced
- Operation band declaration
- Regulation oriented features
- Dedicated feature possibly introduced
- A transmit issue
- Properties for Co-channel interference
characterization - Smart antennas expansion
- Vectorized samples instead of scalar
- Introduction of dedicated features (calibration,
positioning for DoA, )
7About the Initial submission
- Submitted in April 2005
- By THALES and Mercury
- Supported by PrismTech,
8The Radio Domain Service Transceiver Sub-system
- Transceiver Sub-system is a Specialized Radio
Service any Modem needs - Connected to Waveform Management Components
through Management Interfaces - Connected to Modem Resources through Real-time
interfaces
9Characteristics of proposed Transceiver Sub-system
- Key features
- Half-Duplex
- I-Q base-band samples
- Gain controlled
- Frequency Hopping (FH)
- SCA Management Interfaces
- Interface Device
- Building-block ErrorSignal
- Non Real-time Properties
- Templates for overall Channel Transfers Functions
(HRx(f) and HTx(f)) - Modem / Transceiver I-Q interface
- Sample rate, number of bits, nominal level, level
dynamic range - Real-time Data Control APIs
- Half-Duplex and Frequency-Hopping Control
interface - Data interfaces (Tx Rx)
- FIFO status reporting interface (Tx flow control)
10Static Properties of Transceiver HRx(f)
Template Example
- Transfer Function of any compliant Transceiver
shall fit into the template - Gain domain reference taken at nominalLevel -
Asymetrical rejection zones - Group delay domain Max Latency is latency of
the whole sub-system
11Real-time APIs Half-Duplex FH Control
Interface
- Semantics setState(), setDwellProfile(),
shiftDwellProfile(), addFrequency() - Real-time Interaction types and QOS (based on CP
278 concepts) - Direct asynchronous Message
- QOS Attributes
- Maximum Return Time
- Client Minimum Inter-Arrival Time
- Specific requirements to characterize Transceiver
reactivity - From Modem call to application by Transceiver
- Asynchronous control the moment where the call
occurs is not significant
12PSM Real-time API specification
C language example
- Header source codes for each grand class of
processing environments - Instruction Set Architectures (e.g. DSP) C or
C - Configurable Logic Architecture (e.g. FGPA) VHDL
13Main limitations of the initial submission
- Limitations in the structure
- No clear way to define modular compliance or
usage - Derived from to reduced set of waveforms
- No logical association between properties and
interfaces - Real-time constraints
- No structured way to express such constraints
(free text in operation documentation) - Hard values in the spec instead of general
properties - Insufficient characterization of interaction
types - Limitation in waveform compliance
- Only half-duplex
- Insufficient Time Management capabilities
- No time stamping of commands
- No explicit time relationship between Rx and Tx
dwells - Only provisions in gain control (Tx / Rx)
- C-based PSM of few relative added value regarding
PIM
14Current Transceiver PIM
15Main improvements
- Introduction of Features
- The first-level compliance point to the
specification - Logical groupings of specification items
- Interfaces
- Properties
- Can have hierarchical dependency (second level
features) - Stereotype applicable to PIM packages
- Package _Common
- Support artifacts to enable realization of
feature packages - Transceiver specific notions
- General notions supporting any such PIM
- Introduction of Time Machine and TimeManagement
- A side sub-system Time Machine
- A corresponding API for WF usage TimeManagement
- Compulsory to consistently address
frequency-hopping waveforms - Significant effort to improve the proposed vision
- Gain control interfaces for Transmit and Receive
16How to use the Transceiver PIM
- The Transceiver PIM a modelling toolbox
- Modular feature-level compliance points
- Extendable always possible to add specific
requests - For each waveform
- Characterization of the expected Transceiver
configuration - Starting from the Transceiver PIM
- Identifying requested features and unused ones
- Defining properties values templates values,
limits of real-time performance expectations, - For a given product (elementary example, many
variations possible) - Identification of target waveforms
- Identification of associated configuration
requirements - Transceiver is developed (platform-specific
effort) - XCVR internal architecture
- API ports mapped into a platform-specific set of
processing nodes - Waveforms integrated with the Transceiver set in
appropriate configurations
17Transceiver and Time Machine
18Overview of Primary Features
19Feature DeviceManagement
20Feature Transmit
ltltInterfacegtgt TransmitControl This interface
enables Waveform Ressource to have a real-time
command on the beggining of transmission. The
beginning could be linked with the Hopping Mode
Control (through a Dwell Number) or a Time
Mangement sub-system. ltltInterfacegtgt
SignalTransmit Enable the subscriber to
transfer base-band samples to the Transceiver for
transmission
21Feature Receive
ltltInterfacegtgt ReceiverControl This interface
enables Waveform Ressource to have a real-time
command on the beggining of reception. The
beginning could be linked with the Hopping Mode
Control (through a Dwell Number) or a Time
Mangement sub-system. ltltInterfacegtgt
SignalReceive Enable the Transceiver to
transfer base-band samples to its subscriber in
reception
22Feature HalfDuplexControl
ltltInterfacegtgt DuplexControl This interface
enables Waveform Ressource to switch to Receive
State,Transmit State and Idle State.
23Feature FrequencyHoppingControl
ltltInterfacegtgt DwellSetting Enable the
subscriber to define a new Transceiver dwell
profile and specifies when it should be applied.
ltltInterfacegtgt DwellTuning Enables subscriber
to correct dwell profile temporal positioning
without redefining dwellProfile. Namely used by
an equipment in reception to mitigate clock
drifts with the transmitting equipments it
receives. ltltInterfacegtgt FrequencyFeeding
Enables subscriber to change the RF frequency
24Feature RxAdaptiveGainControl
ltltInterfacegtgt GainControl This interface is
activated by Modem onto Transceiver for
realisation of AGC
25Feature TxAdaptiveLevelControl
ltltInterfacegtgt LevelControl This interface is
activated by Modem onto Transceiver for
realisation of ALC in transmission in fixed
frequency Mode or in Hopping Mode(operations
named _HM) In Hopping Mode, the Waveform
Resource could specify a Level per Dwell.
26Feature Error management
ltltInterfacegtgt TransceiverErrorSignal used by a
Transceiver to notify that an error relative to
transceiver management has been detected.
27Feature AsynchronousFlowControl (secondary)
ltltInterfacegtgt flowSignaling Enable the
Transceiver to notify status relative to
transceiver Status values shall be returned in
the following situations -UNDERFLOW_RISK
when an underflow risk in about to occur in
base-band samples FIFO, -EUNDERFLOW when an
underflow has occurred in base-band samples FIFO.
-END_OVERFLOW when an overflow situation is
terminated in base-band samples FIFO.
28Package _Common
contain artifacts used for features specification
The Channel Class encompasses all Signal
Processing Properties of the Transceiver assuming
there is a channel for each transmission
direction
29End of the presentation
- Thank you for your attention
- eric.nicollet_at_fr.thalesgroup.com
- Tel 33 146-132-132
- Fax 33 146-132-555
30Backup slides
- Transceiver Sub-system APIsApplication-Level
PIMPSM for Specialized Processors - Summary of Change Proposal 277
- Eric NICOLLET
- Signal Processing Department
31Some foreseen improvements
- Support of multiple channelisation templates
- How The Channel attributes could be properties
(configurable and queryable) - Specification of a phase noise template
- Hopping Mode
- Decay time of the equivalent bandpass filter,
especially relevant for fading situations and
small inter-dwell intervals - Also of interest could be the time the
synthesizer takes to reach a certain locked
state, - within a certain frequency and/or phase interval
of the correct dwell frequency. - Include a dwell profile for AGC management
- There may exist also a dwell profile for AGC
management. AGC may be always - free, always blocked, or slotted, with a free
running time at the beginning of the dwell - and a blocked time afterwards. There may also be
systems where part of the AGC computations - are done in the modem. AGC system using history
in the transceiver should also be able to take - into account interference detection information
from the modem - Dynamic Range of Properties
- Relation between the Time Machine and the
Transceiver
32Real-time characterization of dwell positioning
33characterization of channel mask
Captured at PIM level