Speedway Revolution Embedded Development Tools and Sample Application (ETK)

Mike Lenehan

July 05, 2019 22:45

Download Octane Embedded Tool Kit (ETK)

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View Octane Embedded Developers Guide

Current version:

6.0.0

Training Videos

Octane ETK training videos are now available at https://learning.impinj.com and cover:
 - An overview of Octane ETK Development
 - How to install an Ubuntu 16.04 environment for Octane ETK Development
 - How to install the Octane ETK tools and sample
 - How to run the Octane ETK Sample application on an Impinj reader or gateway
 - How to remotely debug the Octane ETK Sample from the Ubuntu 16.04 host using VSCode.
 - [Coming Soon!] How to cross compile other libraries and applications to use in your application.

Requirements

Impinj Speedway Revolution Reader
Linux computer or virtual machine (Ubuntu 14.04 64-bit recommended)
GNU Toolchain (gcc)
FTP Client Application

Download File Contents

Cross-compiler Toolchain (ARM and x86)
Cap File Generator Tool
File System Image from Directory Tool
Kernel Headers
Cap File for Enabling Ftp and System Shell
Tag Reading Example
Makefile to Build the Example

Sample Application

The Octane Embedded Development Tools provided in the “Downloads” section above contains a sample application that will show how to read tags. The following output is what should be seen when tags are in the Field of View:

Tag report
 -----------------------------------
 Antenna ID : 1
 EPC : 3008-33B2-DDD9-0140-0000-0006
 Timestamp : 1419097603747553
 Peak RSSI : -41
 FastID : E28011052000205CDEAF0000
 TID : 1020E280
 User memory (Word 0) : ABCD

Recommended Development

We recommend you do most of your development and debug on the host PC, rather than cross-compiling your application and transferring it to the reader every time. This will allow you to develop applications much quicker using a debugger of your choosing. You can periodically transfer your application to the reader for performance testing or final deployment via FTP or CAP installation.

Setting Up ETK Development Environment

Run these commands to set up your Linux development environment. NOTE: We test with Ubuntu 14.04.

sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install g++-multilib g++-4.8-multilib
sudo apt-get install lib32z1
sudo apt-get install libc6:i386
sudo apt-get install libc6-dev-i386
sudo apt-get install libssl-dev:i386
sudo apt-get install build-essential
ln -s /usr/bin/g++-4.8 /usr/bin/g++

Installing an FTP client

Most Linux distributions include a command line FTP client by default.
If you would rather use a graphical FTP client, you can install gFTP using your package manager.
The following is the command for Debian and Ubuntu distributions:

sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install gftp

GNU Toolchain Installation Instructions

If your Linux machine doesn’t have the GNU toolchain (gcc compiler) installed, you should do so using your distribution’s package manager.
The following is the command for Debian and Ubuntu:

sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install build-essential

Installing the ARM cross-compiler toolchain

To start installing the Octane Embedded Toolkit, unzip the download and ensure the following two files are in your HOME directory

octane_etk-5.12.0.240.tar.gz (file names will change with version)
octane_etk_sample-5.12.0.240.tar.gz (file names will change with version)

Extract the Speedway Revolution Embedded Development Tools (octane_etk-5.12.0.240.tar.gz) to a directory (~/) on your computer.

cd ~
tar xvfz ~/octane_etk-5.12.0.240.tar.gz

The above commands will extract the contents of the file into directory “octane_etk-5.12.0.240”.
For the purposes of this tutorial, we will assume the directory is beneath your home directory (~/octane_etk-5.12.0.240).

Note: If using an ETK version prior to 6.0, then you will need to unpack the arm-toolchain using the steps below. If using version 6.0 or later, you should be okay to skip to the PATH change in the next section, as the arm-toolchain is already unpacked.

cd octane_etk-5.12.0.240 
tar xvf arm-2013.11-33-arm-none-linux-gnueabi-i686-pc-linux-gnu.tar.bz2
ln -s arm-2013.11 arm-toolchain

The above commands will extract the arm toolchain into the directory "octane_etk-5.12.0.240".

It is now time to update your system PATH either in ~/.bash_profile (or .profile on Ubuntu or .bashrc on other flavors of unix) or on the command line prior to compilation to include the following folders:

~/octane_etk-5.12.0.240
~/octane_etk-5.12.0.240/arm-toolchain/bin
~/octane_etk_sample-5.12.0.240

PATH=$PATH:$HOME/octane_etk-5.12.0.240:$HOME/octane_etk-5.12.0.240/arm-toolchain/bin:$HOME/octane_etk_sample-5.12.0.240

You may need to re-login for this change to take effect.
Verify the PATH is updated properly with the following command:

echo $PATH
-or-
which arm-none-linux-gnueabi-gcc

Installing the Sample Application and LTK Libraries

Extract the Speedway Revolution Embedded Development Tools sample (octane_etk_sample-5.12.0.240.tar.gz) to a directory (~/) on your computer.

cd ~
tar xvfz ~/octane_etk_sample-5.12.0.240.tar.gz

This will extract the contents of the file into directory “octane_etk_sample-5.12.0.240”.
For the purposes of this tutorial, we will assume the directory is beneath your home directory (~/octane_etk_sample-5.12.0.240).
The sample application is configured for a four port reader (R420, xPortal).

Note: If you are using a reader with a different number of antenna ports (R220, Antenna Hub) please change the NUM_ANTENNAS constant in the example source code file (speedway_embedded_example.cpp).

The Sample Application has a version of the C++ LTK libraries stored in directories ~/octane_etk_sample-5.12.0.240/lib (.a object files) and ~/octane_etk_sample-5.12.0.240/include (.h headers).
The “~/octane_etk_sample-5.12.0.240/lib” folder should contain the following files:
1. libcrypto_atmel.a
2. libdl_atmel.a
3. libltkcpp_atmel.a
4. libltkcppimpinj_atmel.a
5. libltkcppimpinj_x86_64.a
6. libltkcppimpinj_x86.a
7. libltkcpp_x86_64.a
8. libltkcpp_x86.a
9. libssl_atmel.a
10. libxml2_atmel.a
11. libxml2_x86_64.a
12. libxml2_x86.a

The “~/octane_etk_sample-5.12.0.240/include” folder should contain the following files:
1. impinj_ltkcpp.h
2. ltkcpp_base.h
3. ltkcpp_connection.h
4. ltkcpp_frame.h
5. ltkcpp.h
6. ltkcpp_platform.h
7. ltkcpp_xmltext.h
8. out_impinj_ltkcpp.h
9. out_ltkcpp.h
10. version.inc

The version.inc file has the version of the ltk installed. It should indicate "10.26.1".

Building the Sample Application

Switch to the ~octane_etk_sample-5.12.0.240 directory:

cd ~/octane_etk_sample-5.12.0.240

The included makefile can build three different targets:

x86 (host PC)
ARM (Speedway Revolution)
CAP (loader for Speedway Revolution)

To clean your folder you can type:

make clean

To build both the x86 and arm executable, type:

make

To build just the x86 version, type:

make x86

To build an ARM executable that can run directly on Speedway Revolution, type:

make arm

Building these two targets will create the following files

~/octane_etk_sample-5.12.0.240/bin/speedwayr_arm
~/octane_etk_sample-5.12.0.240/bin/speedwayr_x86

To have your program start automatically after reboot on a reader, rename the application (e.g. speedwayr_arm) to a file named “start”.

Note: The reader will execute file '/cust/start' from the root folder '/'. Please create a script that changes to the appropriate folder and then calls your application referring to relative files.
Note: Please disregard the following warning messages:

lib/libcrypto_atmel.a(dso_dlfcn.o): In function `dlfcn_globallookup':
(.text+0x10): warning: Using 'dlopen' in statically linked applications requires at runtime the shared libraries from the glibc version used for linking
lib/libcrypto_atmel.a(b_sock.o): In function `BIO_get_host_ip':
(.text+0x10c): warning: Using 'gethostbyname' in statically linked applications requires at runtime the shared libraries from the glibc version used for linking
lib/libcrypto_atmel.a(b_sock.o): In function `BIO_get_port':
(.text+0x290): warning: Using 'getservbyname' in statically linked applications requires at runtime the shared libraries from the glibc version used for linking

To build the CAP, copy the binary over to the CAP folder:

cp ~/octane_etk_sample-5.12.0.240/bin/speedwayr_arm ~/octane_etk_sample-5.12.0.240/cap/

To create the CAP with the arm version of the app (~/octane_etk_sample-5.12.0.240/speedwayr_cap.upg), type:

cd ~/octane_etk_sample-5.12.0.240
make cap

Executing the Host PC Sample Application

Switch to the ~/octane_etk_sample-5.12.0.240 directory (if not already there)

cd ~/octane_etk_sample-5.12.0.240

Execute the Host PC Sample Application against a target reader (<reader_address>):

bin/speedwayr_x86  <reader_address>

Replace <reader_address> with either the ip address or hostname of the reader you want to read from.
The output should look similar to the following if tags are in the Field of View:

Tag report
 -----------------------------------
 Antenna ID : 1
 EPC : 3008-33B2-DDD9-0140-0000-0006
 Timestamp : 1419097603747553
 Peak RSSI : -41
 FastID : E28011052000205CDEAF0000
 TID : 1020E280
 User memory (Word 0) : ABCD


 Tag report
 -----------------------------------
 Antenna ID : 1
 EPC : 3008-33B2-DDD9-0140-0000-696E
 Timestamp : 1419097603775686
 Peak RSSI : -38
 FastID : E280110520002556DE920000
 TID : 1020E280
 User memory (Word 0) : ABCD

Press Ctrl + C to stop running the sample application.

Reader Deployment Options

When you are ready to deploy the sample solution to the reader, there are several files that should be copied over at a minimum:

bin/speedway_arm
cap/sys/reader.conf

The files must be placed beneath the /cust folder on the reader:

/cust/speedway_arm
/cust/sys/reader.conf

Refer to the Impinj Reader and Gateway Embedded Developers Guide to learn more about the contents of the reader.conf file.
The sample application sets the Linux shell (named OSShell) password to "developer" and starts the FTP server.
Please disable these features for a production application if your application does not require them.
There are two ways the application can be deployed to one or more readers.

FTP the application to the reader once the reader FTP and OSShell are enabled.
Create a CAP file for multiple reader deployment.

Enabling FTP and OSShell on the Reader

OSShell and FTP access are disabled by default on Speedway Revolution.
To enable these features, you can do one of the following:

Create a Custom Application Partition (CAP) image.
Use the pre-built CAP file (see below for accessing "~/octane_etk_sample-5.12.0.240/cap") that is included with the Speedway Revolution embedded development tools.
(FTP only) Connect to RShell by SSH'ing to the reader and issuing the command:

config network ftp enable

Installing a CAP File On the Reader via Web UI

You can load the pre-built (or any other) CAP file on to the reader by opening up a web browser and navigating to the following URL:

http://<reader_address>/

(<reader_address> should be replaced with the actual reader hostname or ip address. E.g. http://speedwayr-10-25-32)

You will be prompted to login. The default login information is:

Username: root
Password: impinj

Click the Browse button (next to the "Select Upgrade File") and select the pre-built CAP file (or any other one you just created).
Click the Upgrade button.
Wait until the 'Reboot Status' indicator on the Web UI reads “Ready to Reboot”.
Click the reboot button to restart the reader.
Once the reader reboots, system shell and FTP access will be enabled.

FTP the Application to the Reader

To have your program start automatically rename it to a file named “start” so that it will reside as file "/cust/start" on the reader.
Using an FTP client, connect to the reader using its IP address or hostname.

ftp <reader_address>