July 29, 1999

Overview

Version 3.3.0 of the EmPack software, Embedded Firmware and FPGA configurations includes the following changes.

Additions and fixes to the EmPack Host API

Hardware and Software Changes for DM12C549 mini-PCI modules.

New and modified EmPack utility programs

New and modified EmPack diagnostic programs

New and modified EmPack demonstration programs

Note: This release includes new embedded firmware and FPGA configurations that must be loaded into the EmPack flash memory for compatibility with changes and additions to the software API. Please be sure to run emflash after installing the updates. Customers with DM12C549 mini-PCI modules types on EMPCI mezzanines must also run empciflash to update the FPGA configuration stored in the EMPCI mezzanine's flash memory.

See the EmPack Utility and Diagnostic Programs manual for complete information about utility and diagnostic programs mentioned here.

Additions and Fixes to the EmPack Host API

Solaris Intel Platform Edition:
Support has been added for Solaris Intel Platform Edition. The Sparc and Intel platforms share the same device driver and library code. EmPack applications written on one platform should be source code compatable with the other platform.

Solaris Build Process:

• It is no longer necessary to rebuild the distribution if you install to a location other than /usr/cac. The library now checks the value of the CAC environment variable at runtime in all cases.
• The makemap.csh script has been updated to support host adapters with multipart names (such as the Adaptec 2940UW or the SUNW FAS controllers).

Performance improvements in SCSI transfer routines and the channelization library.

Win32 Program Startup:
Library now delays scan for EmPacks until EmAttachApi() is called. This eliminates the DLL initialization failure message that would prevent program startup if no EmPacks were attached to the host.

Bug Fixes:

• EmDelTdmDst: fixed bug causing wrong slot to be deleted on EmC12 module.
• EmLoadExec: fixed transfer sizes for block lengths that are not a multiple of four bytes.
• Data Transfer Functions: bugfixes for DM12C549 modules.
• EmWriteChan: fixed unrecoverable error condition on underflow.
• EmGetChanAlignment:
  • Fixed endianness bugs for Solaris Sparc applications.
  • Corrected data types for FrameID and MFrameID parameters.

New Functionality:

• EmInitParams: Provides simplified mechanism for setting framer parameters in E1 and T1 applications; eliminates need to consult framer data sheet to determine bit settings.
• Channelization Library:
  • Added new modes to EmInitChannelService options:
    • EM_CHAN_READ_ONLY: Suppress all writes giving a significant performance boost to read-only applications.
    • EM_CHAN_BUF_LOCKED: Attempts to lock all internal buffers into memory to prevent swapping. Does not cause an error if buffers cannot be locked, call EmIsChannelBufferLocked to determine if successful.
  • Added EmIsChannelBufferLocked function. Returns non-zero if the internal channel buffers are locked against swapping.
  • Added EmReadChannelEx function. Returns channel status along with captured data.

Hardware and Software Changes for DM12C549 DSP Modules

FPGA Configuration:
The FPGA configuration for DM12C549 modules (dm12c54913.mcs) includes fixes for various harware bugs and the added capability to perform DMA transfers between DSPs on the same mini-PCI module.

C549 Boot Code:
The C549 boot code is modified to clear the scan word to avoid spurious DMA transfers that might have occurred when a DSP is restarted after being halted during DMA activity.

C549 Helper Code:
The helper code which is linked into C549 applications for the DM12C549 module is fixed to properly save and restore any user registers that are used by the interrupt handling code.

In previous versions when compiled without the TDM_SUPPORT macro, the interrupt handler was using the AR4 register without saving and restoring it.

The boot code file, boot.asm, and helper code file, c549hlp.c, are located in the directory, $CAC/empack/mod_support/. Installing the update will replace the files in that directory. Application developers must be sure to copy this new version to any other development directories or computers in order to include the fixed code.

New and Modified EmPack Utility Programs

A bug in the emflash utility was fixed to allow code updates in the field.

Minor bug fixes in EmWinFlash and EmWinSerial SCSI transfer routines.

A new utility, emsetscsi, is provided to allow setting SCSI transfer speed and width from the command line.

New and Modified EmPack Diagnostic Programs

The emchip diagnostic now works when run immediately following EmPack power-up and a specific module or resource is specified.

The emscp program has new -I and -O options for specifying different C12 modules to use for input and output audio. It is modified to check results before stopping the processors and TDM subsystem to avoid reporting spurious errors that may result from the halting procedure.

The eme1t1loop program has new options. New framer mode options include -h, -x, and -4. Framer loopback can be selected with -L. Information about the sync process can be printed with -v.

empcichip now tests memory locking on DM12C549 modules.

empiomem now properly reports the address for a failure in the random memory test for DSP32C modules.

Added local loopback mode to emscsaloop.

Automated Diagnostic and Burn-in program:
A new diagnostic, emburn, is included in this release. It acts as a diagnostic shell, determining what diagnostic programs to run based on the EmPack foundation boards and mezzanines found. The programs are run sequentially with some being started and left running on the EmPack embedded processors then checked after a period of time has elapsed. Some of the individual diagnotic programs are modified to interface with emburn.

New and Modified EmPack Demonstration Programs

eme1raw captures raw (unframed) data from an E1.

eme1xmtraw transmits raw (unframed) data on an E1.

emt1echo establishes a TDM map causing data received from Framer A to be retransmitted on Framer B and vice-versa.

emrec completely rewritten:

• Uses large (1 megabyte) buffers on recieve path to reduce overflows.
• Multithreaded achitecture allows finer performance tuning and simpler customization.
• Leverages new functions and modes in channelization library for peak performance.
• Detects slip (repeated) frames and removes them from data stream.
• Aligns start of data stream to a multiframe boundry.
• Supports recieve-only and bidirectional applications.
• Supports both E1 and T1.