Developing a universal module

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14 Nov 2013 21:36 #15589 by blackmoon
Replied by blackmoon on topic Developing a universal module

victzh wrote: Mind you - chip select on all these chips is inverted, so it's active when LOW.
When I'm done with the layout I will publish it.


Thank you for the LOW signal CSN and sharing your design.

One could use a multiplexer in place of the tiny13, it was just a way to learn new stuff (really mild programing :p)

You can not simply write the A13 and A14 in one line - this will not be recognized since only the strings "A13" and "A14" are detected - nothing else (even "a13" will not).
If you want to create a new condition like "A13+A14" you will have to change the method reading the tx.ini and the code which activates a module since all data structures and functions expect one pin to be used.
This will be no easy task.


I thought so! And as I am a nice little plant when it comes to the matter of writing code, I'll let this to Victzh's more capable hands :D

4 drivers for corresponding chips in src/target/common_devo/protocol


Yes the four modules Cyrf, nRF, A7105, CC2500 are really all that we need for a lot of protocols.

I would like to see an Assan (nRF24L01+) implementation, I could then use the six receiver that I have in my part box.

I think I'll have to buy that Logic Analyzer after all :p

Even Futaba S-FHSS is CC2500, for FASST it's ML2724 and that's another story.

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14 Nov 2013 21:44 #15590 by blackmoon
Replied by blackmoon on topic Developing a universal module
I just made a long post, and it was marked posted but it does not show :/

Lost in translation...

Maybe is for the best :)

Thanks for the explanations anyway.

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15 Nov 2013 03:41 #15592 by vlad_vy
Replied by vlad_vy on topic Developing a universal module
Probably will be nice to develop serial input board with extended logic to get not only SCS, SCK, MOSI, MISO signals, but also TXEN, RXEN, PAEN signals, Power On/Off and more then two (unlimited???) number of modules.

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15 Nov 2013 05:15 #15593 by victzh
Replied by victzh on topic Developing a universal module
@blackmoon - long post is there ;-) Assan - you mean X8, right? They also make clones of Futaba and Hitec as far as I can tell.

@vlad_vy - yea, it's possible. It requires a bit of support on Devo's side. And I even think about placing 4 channel ADC to be able to use POTs. There are several control schemes possible, all not without trade-offs. The most realistic and least intrusive is to use TMS for the dispatcher itself and TCK as SCK routed to the currently selected device. By pushing various words in the serial shift register (analog of 595) you can activate different devices and directly set pins on devices.

It can be either implemented as 595 + 4052 (or some other multiplexer) or small CPLD. The former approach seems to be simpler, but quite rigid and limited - you can not read any extra pins, for example. The latter one is more flexible - the design is defined by a program, but I am still to master Verilog well enough to implement it. I am trying :-)

Anyway, it is still work in progress. If you have any other suggestions, please share. @vlad_vy's one about using extra signals is very reasonable, I am afraid that some problems with CC2500 modules are because of our inability to operate these signals correctly. For power preservation it is useful practice to turn-off nRF24L01 radio with CE, for example.

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15 Nov 2013 05:33 - 15 Nov 2013 05:46 #15594 by vlad_vy
Replied by vlad_vy on topic Developing a universal module
I think that properly developed extension board can be used not only for RF modules but also for various other modules, for example sound board (sound warnings, telemetry and so on).

Probably will be better to develop general purpose serial input extension board, and then connect to it various modules - RF modules, pots module, switch module, sound module and so on.
Last edit: 15 Nov 2013 05:46 by vlad_vy.

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15 Nov 2013 05:58 #15595 by FDR
Replied by FDR on topic Developing a universal module
Would that be fast and precise enough to control the timing critique RF modules while serving other peripheral devices as well?

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15 Nov 2013 06:10 #15596 by vlad_vy
Replied by vlad_vy on topic Developing a universal module
I think yes, if it will be connected to SCK, MOSI and MISO lines.

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15 Nov 2013 07:17 #15597 by rbe2012
Replied by rbe2012 on topic Developing a universal module
Did you think about a SPI-controlled switch?
I think the easiest way of implementing additional switch logic in deviation is to use SPI to control the dispatcher.
The dispatcher would be enabled if TCK is set and get its commands. One of the command will be to activate the cyrf, another do deactivate, and so on for the other chips. Also there could be commands to let him send input values from switches / pots or whatever.
If TMS is set the spi commands are directly given to the other side of the dispatcher (only the SS signal is given only to the rf chip selected by dispatcher command).
Something like this:

Attachments:

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15 Nov 2013 09:56 - 15 Nov 2013 09:59 #15599 by blackmoon
Replied by blackmoon on topic Developing a universal module

victzh wrote: @blackmoon - long post is there ;-) Assan - you mean X8, right? They also make clones of Futaba and Hitec as far as I can tell.


Yes I see that now, yesterday I couldn't see any new post made :(

I have an Assan X8J V2 module and 7,6,4ch receivers.

I think in the mean time, I'll just use the ppm pcb module (it's 38.38x33.68 mm should fit without issues) I designed, based on LittleMo schematic, and deviation skyartec protocol ported to arduino.

lunarflow.com/index.php?topic=8.0

And put it the devo7E plugged internally to the trainer port.

So I would have A7105, nRF24 on the spi bus and choose PPM for the skyartec wasp nano CP.



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Last edit: 15 Nov 2013 09:59 by blackmoon.

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26 Nov 2013 02:15 #15825 by PhracturedBlue
Replied by PhracturedBlue on topic Developing a universal module
@rbe: I don't know much about the MEGA8, but doesn't it have enough I/O lines to directly control the enable lines rather than needing a switch for it?

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26 Nov 2013 07:26 #15837 by rbe2012
Replied by rbe2012 on topic Developing a universal module
Yes, it has. But if you want to keep it invisible for the spi communication such a switch hides it. So you can use the TCK line to control the ATMega and the TMS line for the rest and it is completely independent. You do not have to watch for runtime issues in the ATMega if you interpret an input and set some outputs accordingly. You do it "offline" and without impact to the spi signals.
Maybe there are better parts like FPGA which can do this in a similar manner but I don't have any experience with such.

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26 Nov 2013 08:19 #15838 by victzh
Replied by victzh on topic Developing a universal module
No switch needed, actually. And there is better scheme which allows to use one of TMS or TCK to control both the extender and specific radio chip, and another to be used as an extra line to some chips which need it. And use Mega's ADC to add analog output.

I planned something like this, but spent last couple weeks reverse engineering and debugging Tactic SLT. I'm done with it and returning to extender.

The proposed schema is the following (mind you, I did not invent it, but learned, studying some SPI ADCs):

If you lower CSN (which can be TMS or TCK) and without clocking return it back to high, the extender recognizes it as an attention, and next SPI command goes to it. The command can switch the active device to any of RF chips, so then you communicate with them directly, using the same pin as CSN.

When the device is selected, ATMega can pass CSN signal in an interrupt handler quite fast, so no switch is needed.

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26 Nov 2013 14:40 #15853 by PhracturedBlue
Replied by PhracturedBlue on topic Developing a universal module
That is pretty cool actually. I have forgotten most of what I know about the protocol transfer, but I assume the Atmega can keep up with the timing? such that a slight delay on the enable line won't impact bandwidth?
I thought the spi ran at 4MHz. Can an Atmel chip run fast enough to do an edge-detect, and set a pin set in less than 1 cycle?

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26 Nov 2013 15:46 #15860 by victzh
Replied by victzh on topic Developing a universal module
I hope so, it runs at up to 16MHz. Not one cycle, though - interrupt handling is several instructions.

Anyway, I am going to test it, and in the sad case it does not work I have a plan to use a small CPLD. I used one to recover frequency hopping for SLT (I promised myself to document it :), and experience was quite positive. It took me a long time to understand basic Verilog design concepts, but I feel more confident now. And even small and old CPLD can handle any frequency generated by Devo's STM32.

Another (may be easier) plan is to use a switch - I know, I said it's not necessary, but may be I was too optimistic.

My initial design was a switch and a shift register - 595, but I could not design it so that in the reset state it just behaved as if it is not there, but the traditional TMS/TCK is used for a couple of RF chips. It would simplify the development because it would make hardware backward compatible with the software and one of my other goals was easiness of modification - no discreet wires, only attachment board and ribbon cable to module board, modules mounted in strict order - no room for human error.

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10 Jan 2014 17:55 #18324 by PhracturedBlue
Replied by PhracturedBlue on topic Developing a universal module
I've started looking at a universal module design again. The Taranis is really limited as far as available ports to solder modules to, so something like this will be necessary to support anything other than the Frsky protocol. Following victzh's lead, my plan is to use a 4-wire SPI protocol from the Taranis, and use a small micro-controller to act as a programmable switch to select which pins to activate.

I'd like to build a small board that can attach ~4 modules with an MCU and as few parts as possible to keep costs low and assembly easy.

I'd like to use a 14pin MCU with internal oscillator, which would leave 9 wires available for I/O (2supply, 3 SPI (no need for MISO)) which should allow driving >4 modules.

I was planning on using something like a pic16f1825 since I have them on hand, and they are cheap, but they cannot be programmed without a reasonably costly programmer which negates any cost-savings.

I think an ATtiny24a may be a better option as they're cheap on ebay, programmers can be had for $5 or so, and it should be possible to program directly with a Deviation Tx I think (no programmer needed)

I considered arduino (something like a micro pro), but 3.3V variants are still rare, and it would be larger than using a 14pin-PDIP. It is also overkill for just implementing a digital switch.

So I've ordered some ATTiny chips to play with. We'll see how it goes.

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10 Jan 2014 19:10 #18326 by victzh
Replied by victzh on topic Developing a universal module
ATtiny differ in their implementation of SPI slave - some (ATTiny88 from the top of my head) use the same hardware as ATMega328 (Arduino), others use USI - playground.arduino.cc/Code/USI-SPI .

What did you ordered?

Programming directly from Deviation is an excellent idea, by the way!

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10 Jan 2014 21:04 #18329 by PhracturedBlue
Replied by PhracturedBlue on topic Developing a universal module
I ordered some attiny84a (just to make sure I'm not code-constrained during testing). For something as simple as what I intend, the attiny24a should be fine.

I don't need performance from the attiny. I can use a slow spi from the STM32 to control it (so a bit-banged interface is likely fine on the attiny if USI doesn't work for me), and I'll use an interrupt to actually toggle the I/O CSN pins.

Basically I plan touse it as a pure digital switch.
The STM32 will sends (via SPI with CSN High) something like:
set pins 1,3,5 high
set pins 2,4,6 low
set pins 8 to follow CSN
set pins 9 to follow !CSN

then just run the existing protocol code on stm32.
the attiny will watch for changes in CSN and flip the relevant output pins

This way the attiny is just a dumb switch and doesn't know anything about how the modules are hooked up. It should allow us the maximum flexibility without needing to reprogram the attiny if more transceivers are added in the future.

Have you done any work on layout for modules in the Devo7e? I am trying to decide between a board that you can solder modules to (i.e. module pin-layout is pre-wired making it almost fool-proof) vs just leaving a bunch of headers which can be wired to different modules. The former would make it easier for folks with limited skills to get it working, but requires planning of how to place the modules, limits the module choice to those with the right pin-out, and will be more expensive as the board will be larger. The 2nd would let me build a really small board, but requires more work to properly solder. I am leaning towards actually soldering the modules to the board as I think having an easy to build kit is worth it, and it means the user doesn't need to worry about securing the modules in the Tx, but it means I need a layout that can fit inside the 7e. I'll probably leave pin headers too in case different modules are chosen.

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10 Jan 2014 21:22 #18330 by blackmoon
Replied by blackmoon on topic Developing a universal module
I see the idea I had to use a simple ATtiny for the job wasn't so dumb after all :D

www.deviationtx.com/forum/7-development/...odule?start=40#15580

Even tough the way I thought it wasn't going to work.

This will be a nice addition to deviation.

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11 Jan 2014 00:00 #18342 by victzh
Replied by victzh on topic Developing a universal module
What I did so far is I mainly have physical layout for 3 modules (I understand you need 4 for Taranis). It is pretty fixed design - modules should be soldered to the board, otherwise they don't fit the case. It is also not so flexible wrt to module set, I designed it to host XL series modules - XL24L01-D03, XL2500-D03, and XL7105-D03. It is also Devo7E/Devo10 specific - I just don't have any other TXs.

With software repeater it is a bit problematic - how tight is the timing? I understand you can set CSN and then take a small pause for signal propagation, but is it feasible in the protocol handler? It is running in interrupt time, right?

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11 Jan 2014 00:37 #18345 by PhracturedBlue
Replied by PhracturedBlue on topic Developing a universal module
why would there be much propogation. An ATTiny operating at 8MHz should be able to repeat CSN within 1 to 2us . That is plenty fast enough for our need

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