UHD - USRP-E1XX Series Application Notes

Table of Contents

Specify a non-standard image

The UHD will automatically select the USRP embedded FPGA image from the installed images package. The FPGA image selection can be overridden with the "fpga" device address parameter.

Example device address string representations to specify non-standard FPGA image:

fpga=usrp_e100_custom.bin

Changing the master clock rate

The master clock rate of the USRP embedded feeds both the FPGA DSP and the codec chip. Hundreds of rates between 32MHz and 64MHz are available. A few notable rates are:

Set 61.44MHz - uses external VCXO

To use the 61.44MHz clock rate, the USRP embedded will require two jumpers to be moved.

  • J16 is a two pin header, remove the jumper (or leave it on pin1 only)
  • J15 is a three pin header, move the jumper to (pin1, pin2)

Note: See instructions below to communicate the desired clock rate into the UHD.

Set other rates - uses internal VCO

To use other clock rates, the jumpers will need to be in the default position.

  • J16 is a two pin header, move the jumper to (pin1, pin2)
  • J15 is a three pin header, move the jumper to (pin2, pin3)

To communicate the desired clock rate into the UHD, specify the a special device address argument, where the key is "master_clock_rate" and the value is a rate in Hz. Example:

uhd_usrp_probe --args="master_clock_rate=52e6"

Clock rate recovery - unbricking

It is possible to set a clock rate such that the UHD can no longer communicate with the FPGA. When this occurs, it is necessary to use the usrp-e-utility to recover the clock generator. The recovery utility works by loading a special pass-through FPGA image so the computer can talk directly to the clock generator over a SPI interface.

Run the following commands to restore the clock generator to a usable state:

cd <install-path>/share/uhd/usrp_e_utilities
./usrp-e-utility --fpga=../images/usrp_e100_pt_fpga.bin --reclk

Clock Synchronization

Ref Clock - 10MHz

The E1xx has a 10MHz TCXO which can be used to discipline the flexible clocking by selecting REF_INT for the clock_config_t.

Alternately, an external 10MHz reference clock can be supplied by soldering a connector.

  • Connector J10 (REF_IN) needs MCX connector WM5541-ND or similar
  • Square wave will offer the best phase noise performance, but sinusoid is acceptable
  • Power level: 0 to 15dBm
  • Select REF_SMA in clock_config_t

PPS - Pulse Per Second

An exteral PPS signal for timestamp synchronization can be supplied by soldering a connector.

  • Connector J13 (PPS) needs MCX connector WM5541-ND or similar
  • Requires a square wave signal
  • Amplitude: 3.3 to 5Vpp

Test the PPS input with the following app:

  • <args> are device address arguments (optional if only one USRP is on your machine)
cd <install-path>/share/uhd/examples
./test_pps_input --args=<args>