MSP430 not able to handle double - msp430

Question

I am trying to program a MSP430 with a simple "FIR filter" program, that looks like the following:
#include "msp430x22x4.h"
#include "legacymsp430.h"
#define FILTER_LENGTH 4
#define TimerA_counter_value 12000 // 12000 counts/s -> 12000 counts ~ 1 Hz
int i;
double x[FILTER_LENGTH+1] = {0,0,0,0,0};
double y = 0;
double b[FILTER_LENGTH+1] = {0.0338, 0.2401, 0.4521, 0.2401, 0.0338};
signed char floor_and_convert(double y);
void setup(void)
{
WDTCTL = WDTPW + WDTHOLD; // Stop WDT
BCSCTL1 = CALBC1_8MHZ; // Set DCO
DCOCTL = CALDCO_8MHZ;
/* Setup Port 3 */
P3SEL |= BIT4 + BIT5; // P3.4,5 = USART0 TXD/RXD
P3DIR |= BIT4; // P3.4 output direction
/* UART */
UCA0CTL1 = UCSSEL_2; // SMCLK
UCA0BR0 = 0x41; // 9600 baud from 8Mhz
UCA0BR1 = 0x3;
UCA0MCTL = UCBRS_2;
UCA0CTL1 &= ~UCSWRST; // **Initialize USCI state machine**
IE2 |= UCA0RXIE; // Enable USCI_A0 RX interrupt
/* Setup TimerA */
BCSCTL3 |= LFXT1S_2; // LFXT1S_2: Mode 2 for LFXT1 = VLO
// VLO provides a typical frequency of 12kHz
TACCTL0 = CCIE; // TACCR0 Capture/compare interrupt enable
TACCR0 = TimerA_counter_value; // Timer A Capture/Compare 0: -> 25 Hz
TACTL = TASSEL_1; // TASSEL_1: Timer A clock source select: 1 - ACLK
TACTL |= MC_1; // Start Timer_A in up mode
__enable_interrupt();
}
void main(void) // Beginning of program
{
setup(); // Call Function setup (see above)
_BIS_SR(LPM3_bits); // Enter LPM0
}
/* USCIA interrupt service routine */
/*#pragma vector=USCIAB0RX_VECTOR;*/
/*__interrupt void USCI0RX_ISR(void)*/
interrupt (USCIAB0RX_VECTOR) USCI0RX_ISR(void)
{
TACTL |= MC_1; // Start Timer_A in up mode
x[0] = (double)((signed char)UCA0RXBUF); // Read received sample and perform type casts
y = 0;
for(i = 0;i <= FILTER_LENGTH;i++) // Run FIR filter for each received sample
{
y += b[i]*x[i];
}
for(i = FILTER_LENGTH-1;i >= 0;i--) // Roll x array in order to hold old sample inputs
{
x[i+1] = x[i];
}
while (!(IFG2&UCA0TXIFG)); // Wait until USART0 TX buffer is ready?
UCA0TXBUF = (signed char) y;
TACTL |= TACLR; // Clear TimerA (prevent interrupt during receive)
}
/* Timer A interrupt service routine */
/*#pragma vector=TIMERA0_VECTOR;*/
/*__interrupt void TimerA_ISR (void)*/
interrupt (TIMERA0_VECTOR) TimerA_ISR(void)
{
for(i = 0;i <= FILTER_LENGTH;i++) // Clear x array if no data has arrived after 1 sec
{
x[i] = 0;
}
TACTL &= ~MC_1; // Stops TimerA
}
The program interacts with a MatLab code, that sends 200 doubles to the MSP, for processing in the FIR filter. My problem is, that the MSP is not able to deal with the doubles.
I am using the MSPGCC to compile the code. When I send a int to the MSP it will respond be sending a int back again.

Answer 1

Your problem looks like it is in the way that the data is being sent to the MSP.
The communications from MATLAB is, according to your code, a sequence of 4 binary byte values that you then take from the serial port and cast it straight to a double. The value coming in will have a range -128 to +127.
If your source data is any other data size then your program will be broken. If your data source is providing binary "double" data then each value may be 4 or 8 bytes long depending upon its internal data representation. Sending one of these values over the serial port will be interpreted by the MSP as a full set of 4 input samples, resulting in absolute garbage for a set of answers.
The really big question is WHY ON EARTH ARE YOU DOING THIS IN FLOATING POINT - on a 16 bit integer processor that (many versions) have integer multiplier hardware.

Answer 2

As Ian said, You're taking an 8bit value (UCA0RXBUF is only 8 bits wide anyway) and expecting to get a 32bit or 64 bit value out of it.
In order to get a proper sample you would need to read UCA0RXBUF multiple times and then concatenate each 8 bit value into 32/64 bits which you then would cast to a double.
Like Ian I would also question the wisdom of doing floating point math in a Low power embedded microcontroller. This type of task is much better suited to a DSP.
At least you should use fixed point math, seewikipedia (even in a DSP you would use fixed point arithmetic).

Answer 3

Hmm. Actually the code is made of my teacher, I'm just trying to make it work on my Mac, and not in AIR :-)
MATLAB code is like this:
function FilterTest(comport)
Fs = 100; % Sampling Frequency
Ts = 1/Fs; % Sampling Periode
L = 200; % Number of samples
N = 4; % Filter order
Fcut = 5; % Cut-off frequency
B = fir1(N,Fcut/(Fs/2)) % Filter coefficients in length N+1 vector B
t = [0:L-1]*Ts; % time array
A_m = 80; % Amplitude of main component
F_m = 5; % Frequency of main component
P_m = 80; % Phase of main component
y_m = A_m*sin(2*pi*F_m*t - P_m*(pi/180));
A_s = 40; % Amplitude of secondary component
F_s = 40; % Frequency of secondary component
P_s = 20; % Phase of secondary component
y_s = A_s*sin(2*pi*F_s*t - P_s*(pi/180));
y = round(y_m + y_s); % sum of main and secondary components (rounded to integers)
y_filt = round(filter(B,1,y)); % filtered data (rounded to integers)
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
Serial_port_object = serial(comport); % create Serial port object
set(Serial_port_object,'InputBufferSize',L) % set InputBufferSize to length of data
set(Serial_port_object,'OutputBufferSize',L) % set OutputBufferSize to length of data
fopen(Serial_port_object) % open Com Port
fwrite(Serial_port_object,y,'int8'); % send out data
data = fread(Serial_port_object,L,'int8'); % read back data
fclose(Serial_port_object) % close Com Port
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
subplot(2,1,1)
hold off
plot(t,y)
hold on
plot(t,y_filt,'r')
plot(t,y_filt,'ro')
plot(t,data,'k.')
ylabel('Amplitude')
legend('y','y filt (PC)','y filt (PC)','y filt (muP)')
subplot(2,1,2)
hold off
plot(t,data'-y_filt)
hold on
xlabel('time')
ylabel('muP - PC')
figure(1)

Answer 4

It is also not advised to keep interrupt routines doing long processing routines, because you will impact on interrupt latency. Bytes comming from the PC can get easily lost, because of buffer overrun on the serial port.
The best is to build a FIFO buffer holding a resonable number of input values. The USCI routine fills the FIFO while the main program keeps looking for data inside it and process them as they are available.
This way, while the data is being processed, the USCI can interrupt to handle new incomming bytes.
When the FIFO is empty, you can put the main process in a suitable LPM mode to conserve power (and this is the best MSP430 feature). The USCI routine will wake the CPU up when a data is ready (just put the WAKEUP attribute in the USCI handler if you are using MSPGCC).
In such a scenario be sure to declare volatile every variable that are shared between interrupt routines and the main process.