radhelper-embedded

This repository contains an embedded focused version of the radhelper project. It is designed to manage and control embedded devices connected through UART or other low-throughput interfaces, and can operate via tty or Ethernet ports on a host Linux machine.

When deployed at ChipIR, the _lindy_switch() function can be used to control IP-managed power outlets. Each switch is assigned a static IP address.

Target Board Requirements and Constraints

These constraints apply to the connected device:

• Must output data via the UART protocol.
• Must survive reboots without requiring reprogramming.

Getting Started

1. Clone this Repository and Set Up a Virtual Environment

Clone this repository and navigate into it.

cd radhelper-embedded

Create a new virtual environment in the venv folder and install radcontrol as an editable package.

Packages and requirements can be found in pyproject.toml. The project has been tested with python 3.9 and 3.12.

python -m venv .venv
source .venv/bin/activate
python -m pip install --upgrade pip
pip install -e .

2. Configuring Frame Decoding

The frame_id_formatting.yaml file contains the frame ID formatting configurations. Each entry maps a format string to a frame ID, used to dynamically unpack the payload data based on the frame ID.

Note: Adjust these values according to your benchmarks for optimal performance.

3. Configuring the TTYs Interfaces

1. Update the dut_config.yaml file to reflect your setup. The url field should follow the format specified by PySerial.

2. Ensure that the server_config.yaml file is configured correctly for your environment.

Modify the dut_config.yaml file to add or remove devices dynamically using the command line interface. If the DUT port is set to a value greater than 8, the device will not be power switched, which is useful for bench testing.

Running the Server

1. Activate the virtual environment:

   source .venv/bin/activate

2. Start the server using the radcontrol package:

   radcontrol

Example Output

Below is an example output when launching radcontrol with a device named "example_device" which receives the UART communication through an ethernet adapter. This demonstrates the server's startup process and how it initializes the device.

$ radcontrol
2024-10-25 13:37:23 [    INFO] [Server] Starting server with the following arguments:
2024-10-25 13:37:23 [    INFO] [Server] power_cycle_interval: 2
2024-10-25 13:37:23 [    INFO] [Server] is_debug_test: True
2024-10-25 13:37:23 [ WARNING] [Server] Test is set as debug mode
2024-10-25 13:37:24 [    INFO] [Server] Initializing DUT: example_device
2024-10-25 13:37:24 [    INFO] [Server] Added and initialized DUT with info:
 {
    "name": "example_device",
    "url": "socket://192.168.0.104:20108",
    "timeout": 4,
    "baudrate": 115200,
    "power_switch_port": 9,
    "power_port_IP": "192.168.0.216"
}
Select an option (1-4), or type 0 for help: 

After initialization, the server enters monitoring mode with an interactive user interface. The user is prompted to select one of the following options:

Select an option (1-4), or type 0 for help: 0

        Available options:
        0: Help - Displays this help message
        1: Refresh Device Table - Refreshes the table of devices
        2: Power Cycle Device - Power cycles the selected device
        3: Print Status - Prints the currently active devices
        4: Stop - Stops the program

• Refresh Device Table: Refreshes the table of connected devices. If devices had some parameter modified, they are relaunched. This also adds or removes devices if they are commented out of dut_config.yaml.
• Power Cycle Device: Allows the user to power cycle a specific device. User will be prompted to select a device by name.
• Print Status: Prints information about the currently active devices, including their configurations and status.
• Stop: Stops the server and ends the monitoring session.

Additional Notes

• Use the provided YAML files for configuring device connections and server settings.

• Currently, no automatic backup is made of the log file. Ensure you have a mechanism to back up logs if needed.