| Working with ARINC 429 |
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| The interface between a real-time simulation and an ARINC
429 data bus requires considerable configuration. One or more real-time simulation
variables are packed into one or more ARINC 429 messages.
These simulation variables may be inputs from or outputs to a given message. In
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each ARINC message must be specified with a detailed configuration.
Message configuration includes the following elements:
- ARINC label
- Transmit / Receive
- Message size
- Channel
- SDI
- Maximum / Minimum transmit interval
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Traditionally, real-time simulation projects require users
to develop custom logical device driver software modules to manage ARINC 429 data
bus configuration. Creating these software modules is time consuming and requires
expert C programming skills. The expert knowledge required to change and update
these software modules creates project risk in the event that resources were shifted.
To improve the usability of the ARINC 429 data buses, ADI has developed a novel
approach for real-time simulation with ARINC 429. Included with each rtX ARINC
429 board is the A429 Manager. The A429 Manager is a Microsoft Excel template-based
tool used to configure ARINC 429 messaging for real-time simulation. |
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The A429 Manager includes dialogs for configuring
messages and signals as shown below.
Click to enlarge image. |
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| These dialogs generate an ARINC 429 message spreadsheet that
defines all ARINC 429 signals and messages for a given ARINC 429 board in the
rtX. With the press of a button, an ASCII comma- separated-values (CSV) file is
generated for real-time simulation. The rtX reads the CSV file simulation at initialization
time to completely configure ARINC 429 communication. |
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| Signals may be connected to simulation input and output IO variables
to enable simulation communication across the ARINC 429 bus. In addition, signals
may be specified for logging only. Furthermore, you can log the time-stamped,
logged ARINC 429 data as part of the integration test to evaluate system responses
across the databus. |
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Using an Excel/CSV-based tool for ARINC configuration provides
the following additional benefits:
- The standard Excel editing, drag and drop, and cut and paste features makes
changing the configuration quick and easy.
- You can extend the A429 Manager, using Visual Basic application macros and
code.
- The CSV output file is a well-defined, structured definition. It is derived
from structured interface control documents (ICD) and generated using 3rd party
configuration tools
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