This document explains how to use the Pickering driver. This driver allows communication between OPAL-RT simulators and programmable modules from Pickering.

Pickering driver supports pickering modules on two chassis interface namely PXI and LXI chassis.

The modules have to be inserted into a PXI or LXI chassis. The PXI chassis is connected to a PCI-Express slot of the simulator. While the LXI chassis is connected to the simulator through IP network.

Each LXI chassis can be configured with an IP address and a port. The simulator and LXI chassis have to be connected in the same network in order to establish the network connection between them.

Supported Cards

The driver supports four different types of modules:

Resistive
Fault Insertion Unit (FIU)
Relay, and
battery simulator.

Resistive Module Supported Cards

The following are a list of the supported cards for the resistive module:

40-262-002 (18 subunits and 13 bits per channel)
40-295-121 (10 subunits and 12 bits per channel)
40-295-121 (10 subunits and 16 bits per channel)
40-295-121 (6 subunits and 24 bits per channel)
40-297-020
40-297A-040 (6 subunits and 24 bits per channel)
40-298-050
50-295-021 (5 subunits and 12 bits per channel)
50-295-021 (5 subunits and 16 bits per channel)
50-295-021 (10 subunits and 8 bits per channel)
50-295-021 (6 subunits and 24 bits per channel)
50-295-121 (and its flavor 50-295A-121 - 6 subunits and 24 bits per channel)
50-297-020
50-297-041
50-298-020

FIU Module Supported Cards

The following are a list of the supported cards for the FIU module:

40-194-002
40-195-001
40-190B-001
40-190B-002
40-199-002

Relay Module Supported Cards

The following are a list of the supported cards for the relay module:

50-110A-021
50-110A-121

Battery Simulator Module

Only the 41-752-001 card is supported. The 41-752 board is a single slot PXI module that is to be placed in an appropriate PXI chassis (e.g. Pickering PXI 40-922).
The OPAL-RT simulator communicates with this board through a regular PCIe link, therefore a PXI-PCI interface is required (e.g. Pickering PXI 41-924 kit).
The 41-752 module contains 6 battery channels that can be programmed independently. The battery simulator can supply a maximum of 7V and 300mA per channel and sink up to 100mA per channel.
Cells can be chained together in order to increase the final output.

Unsupported custom cards

It is possible to configure a custom card. The user is responsible to configure the correct card identifier and all other settings associated with the card.

NOTE: Custom cards have not been officially tested by OPAL-RT.

Please send a request to OPAL-RT to officially support it.

Configuration

The driver is entirely configurable via the RT-LAB interface.

General Parameters

The driver has the following general parameter:

Use an RT core for asynchronous computation	If set to true, the driver reserves a real-time CPU core for its communication. If set to false, the communication system defaults to core 0.
Chassis type	Options are PXI and LXI
PXI	If PXI chassis type is selected, the chassis is connected to simulator via PCIe interface card
LXI	If LXI chassis type is selected, the chassis is connected to simulator via IP network
IP address	The IP address of the LXI chassis interface
Port	The TCP-IP port of the LXI chassis interface

LXI Chassis Network Configuration

This section explains how to configure the LAN network settings of a LXI chassis. The configuration can be done in the following steps:

The LXI chassis needs to be connected to a PC or laptop directly via an Ethernet cable.
The LXI chassis comes with a default IP address and a port already configured. Enter the default IP address of the LXI chassis in a browser of the PC.
Once the configuration page is loaded, select the LAN configurations settings tab from this page as shown below.

As seen below, the LAN configuration page shows the current network settings in the Ethernet network status section.

The Ethernet Network settings section provides three options to configure the network:

DHCP option uses the network DHCP server to assign network credentials dynamically.
Auto-IP option assigns network credentials dynamically without a DHCP server.
Manual option configures network credentials statically. This section takes manual input of each parameters of the Ethernet network settings.

Although any of the three methods can be used to configure the network settings, it is recommended to configure the network settings statically (Manual option).

Card Parameters

Card type	Options are Resistive, FIU, Relay, and Battery simulator.
Resistive card	When the Card type option is Resistive, select the type of resistive card from this list.
FIU card	When the Card type option is FIU, select the type of FIU card from this list.
Relay card	When the Card type option is Relay, select the type of relay card from this list.
Battery simulator card	If the Card type option is Battery simulator, the 41-752 Battery simulator card is selected by default.
Serial number	The serial number of the programmable Pickering card. This unique number that can be retrieved from the front panel of the module is used to identify the module.
Minimum update rate (us)	This is the minimum delay, in microseconds, for which the channels in this card are updated.

Resistive Card Parameters

Number of subunits	This is the number of channels. A channel corresponds to a resistor.
Bits per channel	This is the number of switches used to set a resistor. This is equivalent to the number of columns.
Precision setting	Set to true or false depending on the type of resistive card.

FIU Card Parameters

Number of faulty channels	The number of fault insertion channels in the FIU card.
Number of faulty buses	The number of fault insertion buses in the FIU card.
Number of faulty multiplexers	The number of fault insertion multiplexers in the FIU card.
Number of faulty monitors	The number of fault insertion monitors in the FIU card.
Number of faulty pairs	The number of fault insertion pairs in the FIU card.

Relay Card Parameters

Number of channels	This is the number of channels in the Relay card

Battery Simulator Card Parameters

Number of channels	This is the number of channels in the battery simulator card.

Channel/Subunit Parameters

Name	Name of the channel/subunit
Index	Index of the channel/subunit.
Default value	Default state applied to the specific card before execution and when the simulation resets.
Gain	Gain applied to the resistive value coming from the model.
Offset	Offset used to compensate for the resistive value coming from the model.
Max bits	The maximum number of switches used to represent the resistor.
Type	Type of the FIU channel. Options are Channel, Fault, or Monitor

The resistor cards with the precision setting value set to false are calculated according to the following algorithm:

temp = value_specified_by_user * gain + offset
if(temp > 2^maxBits - 1 ){
	resistor_value = 2^maxBits - 1
}
else{
	resistor_value = temp;
}

Connections

Once the driver has been configured as desired and the model has been compiled, connection points in the model can be connected to points in the driver via the RT-LAB Configuration interface.

Connections to LabVIEW panels from the driver can also be made.

The connectable points of the driver depend on the card type selected.

Resistive Card Connectable Points

Connectable Name	Description	Direction
Channel	Resistive value	From model
Status	Status of resistive channel	To model

FIU Card Connectable Points

Connectable Name	Description	Direction
Channel	FIU value (if type is channel)	From model
Fault	FIU value (if type is fault)	From model
Monitor	FIU value (if type is monitor)	From model
Enable	If set to 1, channels can be updated. Default is 0	From model
Reset	If set to 1, channels are set to 0	From model
Status	Status of the FIU card	To model

NOTE: Depending on how channels and faults are wired, enabling two faults on two separate fault buses results in a short-circuit on these two fault buses.

This will result in a "Short Fault Bus" action on every enabled fault for each channel.

Relay Card Connectable Points

Connectable Name	Description	Direction
Channel	Relay channel value	From model
Status	Status of relay card	To model

Battery Simulator Card Connectable Points

Connectable Name	Description	Direction
Voltage	Voltage value for channel	From model
Current	Current value for channel	From model
Enable	If set to 1, channel can be updated. Default is 0	From model
Error	Channel error code	To model
Board error	Error at the board level	To model
Interlock status	0 = success; non-zero = error code	To model

List of Error Codes

0	OK
1	No Pickering card has the specified card number
2	Cannot obtain information for the card
3	Card is disabled
4	Subunit value out of range for card
5	Bit number out of range for target sub-unit
6	Target sub-unit has no calibration data to read/write
7	SafeArray type, shape, or size is incorrect
8	Non-zero write data value is illegal for MUX subunit
9	Execution would cause the closure limit to be exceeded
10	One or more of the specified channels cannot be masked
11	Cannot activate an output that is masked
12	Cannot open a Pickering card at the specified location
13	Failed to read from the hardware
14	Failed to write to hardware
15	Hardware driver failure
16	Incompatible hardware driver version
17	Function call incompatible with sub-unit type or capabilities
18	Matrix row value out of range
19	Matrix column value out of range
20	Attenuation value out of range
21	Voltage value out of range
22	Calibration index value out of range
23	Segment number out of range
24	Function code value out of range
25	Sub switch value out of range
26	Action code out of range
27	Cannot execute due to corrupt subunit state
28	Unrecognized attribute code
29	Timeout writing to EEPROM
30	Operation is illegal in the subunit's current state
31	Unrecognized port number requested
32	Invalid write pattern for MATRIXR subunit
33	Attempted operation on non-existent channel
34	The card cannot be accessed (failed/removed/unpowered)
35	Unsupported internal floating-point format (internal error)
36	The subunit is not calibrated
37	Unobtainable resistance value
38	Invalid calibration store number
39	Invalid mode value
40	Conflicting device settings
41	Function call incompatible with card type or capabilities
42	Switch pole value out of range
43	Attempted to activate a non-existent capability
44	Action requires hardware that is not present
45	Faulty hardware
46	Failed to execute (e.g. blocked by a hardware condition)
47	Current value out of range
48	Invalid range value
49	Attribute not supported
50	Register number out of range
51	Invalid channel closure or write a pattern for MATRIXP sub-unit
52	Data buffer too small
53	Inconsistent shared access mode

Note: Not all error codes apply for Pickering 41-752 Battery simulator board.

RT-LAB Documentation

Pickering (UI)