dSPACE (using XIL API)

•dSPACE 2014-A or higher XIL API .NET

•MxSuite 64-bit version 3.41.9 or higher

1.In Matlab, set the path so that Matlab can find the S-Function:

Select: File-> Set Path... Then click Add Folder, browse to the currently installed Harness folder, and add the path to it. For example:

C:\Program Files\MicroMax\MxSuite 3.41.9.47856\Harness\dSpace

If more than one version of MxSuite is installed, scroll up and down the path list to make sure only one path to MxSuite is present.

When updating to a new version of MxSuite, make sure to remove the old path and add the path to the newly installed version.

Note: Some projects don’t utilize paths from default location or overwrite them when opening model using configuration script. In that case, consult your model specialist on how to edit your script to add the new path.

2.Insert the S-Function into the top level of your model.

a.Open your model for editing.

b.Open the Simulink Library Browser.

c.Find the S-Function or browse Simulink ->User-Defined Functions ->S-Function

d.Place the S-Function in your model (the exact location does not matter, you can place it anywhere, however placing it at the top level will make it visible to all users who might need to review the model later).

e.Right click on S-Function block and click on “S-Function Parameters”. Change the S-function name to MxNetSFunctionHILAPI, and set parameters to 0 0.

f.At this point you can check if the path is correctly set. Click on Edit button. If the path to harness was correctly set, the source code of the S-Function opens in a text editor. No further action is needed; simply close the window. If Matlab cannot find the file or gives any errors, then review your Path setting.
 
Click OK when done.

3.The S-Function is expected to be executed every 1ms. If this is the rate at which your model executes, you can move on to the next step.
 
If this rate is different from execution rate of your model, place the S‑Function into its own subsystem at the top level of your model. 

a.Find Subsystem in Library Browser, place subsystem in your model and copy the S-Function inside the new subsystem.

b.To change the execution rate of the subsystem in Matlab, right click on Subsystem and select "Subsystem properties", select "Treat as atomic unit", and change the rate from (-1) to 0.001 s (1 ms):

If more advanced timing modifications are needed, consult your model specialist. If you have a multiprocessor application with different parts of the model running on a separate processor, you can harness all processors separately by placing S-Function in each subsystem.

4.In the directory where the model is saved, delete the auto-generated Matlab folders and files (for example: sfprj, slprf, *_rti1006, *_rti1005).
 
Warning: This step is important every time changes are made, especially linking against new version MxSuite. If temporary folders are not deleted, Matlab will re-use old generated code.

5.Rebuild your model by pressing Ctrl+B

6.Download your newly built application to dSPACE HIL, AND verify that it is running.

1.Select File ->New..->Project from the MxVDev main menu to create new MxSuite project:

2.Select the Custom and RTClock options.

3.Click Finish to launch MxTransIt.

4.In MxTransIt, use the Toolbox to put the dSPACE (using XIL API) Transform into your Harness.

5.Transform setup:
 

dSPACE Config

 
Board name – Configured hardware board name – see your ControlDesk configuration. Example: ‘ds1401’ (without quotes)
 
Connect Timeout -This is the MxNet timeout in seconds. The default is 60 seconds. Large projects may take longer to connect. Adjust if necessary.
 
Disconnect Timeout -This is the time in seconds that MxNet waits for a response before disconnecting.
 
Endianness - Select the Endianness of your board. Most boards use Big Endian, such as ds1401, ds1005, etc. However ds1006 uses Little LSB Endian.
 
MultiProcessor - Set to true if using Multiprocessor system. Variables are appended with the TRC file name. Double check the board name in ControlDesk configuration.
 
SCALEXIO - Set to true if using a SCALEXIO system, otherwise false.
 
Tick Period – how often the Transform is ticked on the PC. The default is 10ms and should not be changed unless there are performance issues (even though Real Time execution on dSPACE is happening at 1ms rate, the Transform on the PC can be ticked at slower rate. All transitions are queued up and processed as needed). The Tick Period of the Transform does not control the execution rate of the model.

 
dSPACE Config Files

 
Map File Path – path to .map file produced during build.
 
Selected Signals – After the trace file is specified, click in the Selected Signals property and then click the button to bring up the selector dialog described in section 3 below.
 
System Description File Path - The path to the System Desciprtion File (.sdf).
 
Trace File Path - Click the browse button to specify the Trace file path, then click the Update Trc File verb link. This inserts the variables into the trace file that are required for XILAPI communication with MxSuite. A backup of the original trc file is saved with .bak appended to the name for troubleshooting. If there are any errors during this step, check that you have permissions to the directory and file to read and modify the file. This step needs to be done once, and for every time the Trc file is modified (when model is rebuilt).

Use Model Block Name – Set to true to add the group/submodel name to the Signal. (This results in a more descriptive name, for example: ‘SignalA_Out1’ instead of ‘Out1’)

MxNet

 
Acknowlegment - Set to true to enable additional integrity checks.
 
Logging – unless instructed by a support engineer, set Logging to ‘None’ (default setting),
check your output from Matlab model build process and set path to the latest version of Map File, SDF file, Trace File.
 
Offline Mode - Set to true when working offline. Remember to set to false when testing.
 
XIL API Version - Select the release version of dSPACE installed on the computer.

 
Transform

dSPACE App Type - Select Model or Handcoded. If the SFunction is compiled into the Matlab model, select Model.

After the trace file is specified, click in the Selected Signals property and then click the button to bring up the selector dialog.

The tree browser shown is similar to the Signal selector in ControlDesk. The Signals are grouped by subsystems. To display Signals from subordinate branches of the Dictionary tree, check the Recursive box.

1.Select the Signals required for your testing and add them to the transform by clicking the >> button.

2.Click OK after you have selected all required Signals. The selected Signals now appear as ports on the dSPACE transform.

3.Export the ports so they can be used in MxVDev.

Notes:

•Trace file Signals are organized in the Tree View by models and sub-models. If you know which model contains the Signals you are interested in, you can click on the node and select Signals that are needed.

•To select more that one Signal at once, press Ctrl+click to select additional Signals, or Ctrl+A to select all Signals.

•When working with a large number of Signals, you can use the search filter to reduce the number of displayed Signals.

oBy default, the filter works on the currently selected Tree Node.

oWhen the ‘Recursive’ check box is selected, the filter works on all sub-models as well.

oFor better performance, type in the search string first, then select the Recursive check-box since each keystroke starts a new search.

oTo search all available Signals, select the top most tree node. This can take some time depending on search string and number of Signals in the trace file.

1.Be sure the listed prerequisites have been satisfied.

2.Open your existing project (with the HILAPI Transform), then open MxTransit.
 
This dialog is displayed:

3.Select the version of dSPACE installed on your PC.

4.Click OK.

It is not necessary to modify your map file, system description file, or trace file.