GE Fanuc Embedded Systems Shared Memory

xPC Target supports reflective (shared) memory boards manufactured by GE Fanuc Embedded Systems (http://www.gefanucembedded.com/) – formerly VMIC.

Before You Start

• Create Shared Memory Partitions

• Initialize Shared Memory Nodes

Create Shared Memory Partitions

The xPC Target software uses a model for reflective memory (also known as shared memory) that includes Simulink blocks for shared memory driver functions and MATLAB structures to define node initialization and shared memory partitions. This topic describes the xPC Target support of the GE Fanuc Embedded Systems VMIPCI-5565 (formerly from VMIC) and PCI-5565PIORC boards. Both the VMIPCI-5565 and PCI-5565PIORC boards are fully supported and will be collectively referenced as PCI-5565 in the documentation. The xPC Target library supports these boards with the same set of blocks.

To use the xPC Target PCI-5565 shared memory blocks, you must define shared memory partition structures. A partition structure describes how you want to allocate (partition) the shared memory. The xPC Target software allocates shared memory as segments of data that are packed into memory regions or partitions. Along with the Shared Memory Pack and Shared Memory Unpack blocks, the following PCI-5565 blocks use shared memory partition structures:

• GE Fanuc 5565 read

• GE Fanuc 5565 write

After defining the shared memory partitions, you can add PCI-5565 shared memory driver blocks to your Simulink model. See Shared Memory Partition Structure for the complete list of fields in a partition.

The following description refers to the completepartitionstruct command. Type

help completepartitionstruct

for more information.

• Create a partition structure in one of the following ways. Using the completepartitionstruct command at the MATLAB Command Window, create a default partition structure. For example, type

  Partition = completepartitionstruct([],'5565')
  
  Partition = 
  
        Address: '0x0'
           Type: 'uint32'
           Size: '1'
      Alignment: '4'
       Internal: [1x1 struct]
  

• At the MATLAB Command Window, create a user-defined partition structure. The easiest way to do this is to create a script file, partially define a structure, load that script into the MATLAB workspace, and supplement the resulting structure with a call to the completepartitionstruct function. For example

  Partition(1).Address='0x5000';
  Partition(1).Type='int8';
  Partition(1).Size='10';
  Partition(2).Type='uint16';
  Partition(2).Size='5';
  Partition(3).Type='uint8';
  Partition(3).Size='1';
  Partition(3).Alignment='8';
  Partition(4).Type='double';
  Partition(4).Size='3';
  

  This example defines a partition with four segments.

  • The Address field is optional. Only specify this field for the first segment of a partition. The elements of a partition are defined as a continuous memory block from the first address. The function extrapolates segment addresses from the first segment definition. If you have or require fragmented memory, use multiple partitions.

  • The Type and Size fields are required for all segments in the partition structure.

  • The Alignment value is optional. It is '4' by default, which forces segments that do not have alignment specifications to start on 4 byte (32 bit) boundaries. In the preceding partition definition, the third segment (Partition(3)) has an alignment of '8'.

  • The base addresses of subsequent segments are defined by the data type, size, and alignment of the preceding segment.

  • Call the completepartitionstruct() command to fully populate the partition structure.

    Partition = completepartitionstruct(Partition,'5565');

Initialize Shared Memory Nodes

In addition to shared memory partitions, you must also define a node initialization structure before using the PCI-5565 shared memory blocks. A node initialization structure describes the shared memory partitions (see Create Shared Memory Partitions) and the PCI-5565 board configuration, including any interrupt settings if used. The following PCI-5565 block requires a shared memory node initialization structure.

• GE Fanuc 5565 init

• GE Fanuc 5565 read

After defining the node initialization structure, you can add PCI-5565 shared memory driver blocks to your Simulink model. See Shared Memory Node Initialization Structure for the complete list of fields in a node initialization structure.

The following description refers to the completenodestruct command. Type

help completenodestruct

for more information.

• Create a node initialization structure in one of the following ways. Using the completenodestruct command at the MATLAB Command Window, create a default node initialization structure. For example, type

  node=completenodestruct([],'5565')
  
  node = 
  
       Interface: [1x1 struct]
      Partitions: [1x1 struct]

• Now modify the structure fields to meet your requirements. For example:

  node.Interface.NodeID = '128';
  node.Partitions = Partition;

• A user-defined node structure, created with MATLAB code or from the MATLAB Command Window and supplement the resulting structure with a call to the completenodestruct function. For example:

  node.Interface.NodeID = '128';
  node.Partitions = Partition;
  node.completenodestruct(node,'5565');

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Shared Memory Structure Reference

• Shared Memory Partition Structure

• Shared Memory Node Initialization Structure

Shared Memory Partition Structure

You do not need to use all the fields of a partition initialization structure. However, knowing the possible structure fields will be helpful when you are setting up to use shared memory.

A shared memory partition structure has the following fields:

      Address: '0x0'
         Type: 'uint32'
         Size: '1'
    Alignment: '4'
     Internal: [1x1 struct]

where

Shared Memory Node Initialization Structure

A node initialization structure has the following fields:

     Interface: [1x1 struct]
    Partitions: [1x1 struct]

where

Board Mode.  The PCI-5565 board has a number of registers that you can set through the Interface.Mode field. To display the board mode fields, type

>> node.Interface.Mode

ans = 
          StatusLEDOff: 'off'
    TransmitterDisable: 'off'
      DarkOnDarkEnable: 'off'
        LoopbackEnable: 'off'
     LocalParityEnable: 'off'
          MemoryOffset: '0'
            MemorySize: '64MByte'

Note that mode values affect the PCI-5565 board setting of the LSR1 (Local Control and Status Register 1) and LIER (Local Interrupt Enable Register) registers. Refer to the PCI-5565 product documentation for further details on these two registers. To monitor the status of these modes, select the Error Status Port check box of the GE Fanuc 5565 read or GE Fanuc 5565 write block.

Of particular note are the following modes:

This table lists the values for MemoryOffset:

Board Interrupts.  The PCI-5565 board can generate PCI interrupts in response to network events that have been broadcast from other nodes, or in response to error conditions. For example, you can configure two xPC Target Simulink models, one as master, and one as a slave of the broadcast node in the master xPC Target model. In such a configuration, the broadcast node interrupt triggers the model's time steps.

To display the interrupt mode fields, type

>> node.Interface.Interrupts

ans =

       LocalMemoryParity: 'off'
    MemoryWriteInhibited: 'off'
         LatchedSyncLoss: 'off'
              RXFifoFull: 'off'
        RXFifoAlmostFull: 'off'
                 BadData: 'off'
             PendingInit: 'off'
             RoguePacket: 'off'
        ResetNodeRequest: 'off'
             PendingInt3: 'off'
             PendingInt2: 'off'
             PendingInt1: 'off'

Each field corresponds to a bit in the LIER register of the PCI-5565 board. Each bit enables the specified interrupt source on the PCI-5565 board. Refer to the PCI-5565 product documentation for further details on this register.

To enable a node to generate a network interrupt source, add the 5565 broadcast block to a model (for example, the master model). This block issues network interrupts at the model sample rate. Correspondingly, to enable other nodes of the network (for example, the slaves) to accept broadcast interrupts from the model, configure the slave model to expect the broadcast interrupt.

The following procedure describes how to configure an entire xPC Target model to accept a broadcast interrupt from a PCI-5565 board. See GE Fanuc 5565 broadcast for a description of the Interrupt parameter value that the xPC Target model expects.

1. From the MATLAB Command Window, type

   getxpcpci 
   

   This command lists board information for all installed PCI devices that the xPC Target software knows about.

2. Find the IRQ specified for the PCI-5565 board.

   This is the interrupt source number you need to specify in the xPC target code generation options field in step 10 of the following procedure.

3. Edit your script and add a line like the following.

   node.Interface.Interrupts.PendingInt1='on'
   

   This line directs the model to expect an interrupt. It assumes that the value of the 5565 broadcast block Interrupt parameter is 1.

4. From the MATLAB Command Window, type the name of your Simulink model.

   The Simulink model appears.

5. From the Simulation menu, click Configuration Parameters.

6. Click the Code Generation tab.

7. From the Category list, choose xPC Target code generation options.

8. Set the Execution mode field to Real-Time.

9. Click the Real-Time interrupt source list.

10. Select the interrupt number to which the board is set (from step 2).

11. Click the I/O board generating the interrupt list and select GE_Fanuc(VMIC)_PCI-5565 from the list.

12. Click OK.

Note   If you have a larger model, and you want to localize control of the interrupt within that model, use the IRQ Source block from the Asynchronous Event sublibrary.

Board Node ID.  The jumpers of the PCI-5565 board specify the board node ID. Correspondingly, you can also configure the PCI-5565 block with the board node ID using the Interface.NodeID field. Enter values according to the following:

The default value of 'any' suffices in most instances. However, you might want to specify a particular NodeID value if you have multiple PCI-5565 boards in your system and you want to identify the driver for a particular node.

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Shared Memory Support

GE Intelligent Platforms Shared Memory

Related Products & Applications

• Simulink
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