PZ-TIO Manual
Version 1.01
© 2022 XIA LLC
17
3 PZ-TIO Operation
Basic operation of the PZ-TIO uses a combination of terminal commands and web
interface. The former controls all parameter settings (and possible DAQ monitoring) and
requires login to the system. The latter displays data and is accessible to anyone. This
provides a measure of security in instrument control while making it convenient to view
data.
3.1 Adjust Parameters
The FPGA parameters control the connections between inputs and outputs, for example
direction (front to back vs back to front) and output enable. In addition they can be used to
control certain other aspects of operation. The current set of parameters and functions are
an example only.
All settings are stored in an .ini file. A default settings file,
defaults.ini
, contains all the
parameter settings as described in section 6. A condensed settings file,
settings.ini
, contains
the most important parameters and
will override the defaults
. The normal method to
change settings is to edit
settings.ini
and then execute
./progfippi
to apply them to the
FPGA. If necessary, lines with additional parameters can be copied from
defaults.ini
into
settings.ini
; also lines can be deleted from
settings.ini
if there is no need to vary specific
parameters. The file
defaults.ini
should be considered a read-only file. Editing can be
accomplished with a built-in Linux editor through the terminal (for example VI) or by
opening the file in a Windows editor through the SMB file sharing.
After execution of
./progfippi, y
ou can also open/refresh the Status page in the web
browser or execute
./runstats
and read the output parameters in the resulting RS.csv
file. The current state of the inputs, results of counters, temperatures, and FPGA system
time will be reported. In a Windows Explorer window pointing to
\\<Pixie_Net
IP>\PNvarwww
, the file RS.csv can be copied or opened by Windows tools and
programs.
The typical startup sequence (see also section 2.6) is to run
./progfippi
pretty much
as soon as the modules is powered up to initialize all parameters in the FPGA logic. Every
time there is a change in
settings.ini
, run
./progfippi
to apply the changes to the pulse
processing logic.
3.2 Data Acquisition Monitoring
The C function “monitordaq” is a template demonstrating how to periodically read FPGA
status registers and print them to file.
At this point, the PZ-TIO is mainly a demonstration unit for the White Rabbit IP core
implementation. As such, the main interest if for firmware programmers who want to
understand and test the IP core. The “data acquisition” functionality is very minimal;
basically the idea is to define a WR run start and stop time some time in the future and at
that time, the PZ-TIO will do <something>. The <something> currently is to reset the pulse
