latency_buffer.v has had zero non-tb instantiations since RX-B (2026-04-23)
replaced its hookup in radar_receiver_final with a 1-FF alignment register.
The module was being kept "for potential future use" — exactly the kind of
dead weight the codebase does not need. Deleted, along with all build /
test infrastructure that dragged it along:
- 9_Firmware/9_2_FPGA/latency_buffer.v
- 9_Firmware/9_2_FPGA/tb/tb_latency_buffer.v
- run_regression.sh: removed from RTL_FILES and RECEIVER_RTL
- scripts/200t/build_200t.tcl: removed from synthesis source list
- tb/tb_system_e2e.v: removed from header compile-string example
- tb/cosim/validate_mem_files.py: deleted test_latency_buffer() (~75 lines),
its call site, and the corresponding entry in the module docstring
Historical RX-B comments referencing latency_buffer in radar_receiver_final.v,
tb_rxb_fullchain_latency.v, and tb_rxb_latency_measure.v are kept — they
explain WHY the module was removed, which is still useful design archaeology.
Two doc-only housekeeping touches bundled in:
- plfm_chirp_controller.v: replaced two empty "CRITICAL FIX: Generate
valid signal" labels at LONG_CHIRP and SHORT_CHIRP with one shared
chirp_valid policy comment block above LONG_CHIRP that explains the
actual rationale (downstream FIFO underrun on trailing samples).
- v7/models.py: replaced the "range_resolution and velocity_resolution
should be calibrated" docstring (sounded like an open TODO but was a
documented placeholder) with a clear pointer to the GUI-C3 fix in
workers.py:RadarDataWorker so future readers know the live path
derives correct values from WaveformConfig.
FPGA quick regression unchanged: 28/29 (1 fail is the unrelated iverilog/
Xilinx-IP RX-NEW-3 gap). GUI suite 180/180. Ruff clean.
RadarDataWorker (live capture path) was converting bin indices to physical
units using RadarSettings placeholders (range_resolution=6.0,
velocity_resolution=1.0). The 1.0 m/s velocity figure was a stub — the
correct value at 167us PRI / 16-chirp sub-frame / 10.5 GHz carrier is
~5.34 m/s, so reported velocities were off by ~5.3x.
ReplayWorker already used WaveformConfig.range_resolution_m and
velocity_resolution_mps; this commit applies the same pattern to the live
worker. WaveformConfig defaults match the AERIS-10 3 km mode parameters.
A set_waveform() hook is provided so the dashboard can swap configs when
range-mode switching is wired through.
Verified: 83/83 v7 GUI tests pass.
FPGA — RX chain
matched_filter_multi_segment.v: drop the gratuitous /4 scaling on
DDC sign-extended input (was ddc_i[17:2] + ddc_i[1]); use
ddc_i[15:0] directly. fft_engine has INTERNAL_W=32 with
saturating 16-bit output, so full 16-bit input is safe. Restores
~12 dB of MF input dynamic range.
radar_receiver_final.v: remove latency_buffer (count-N-pulses-then-
prime FIFO that left frame 1 with all-zero ref). Replaced with
a single-FF alignment register on ref_i/ref_q that matches the
1-FF stage multi_segment ST_PROCESSING uses on adc_data.
Verified by tb/tb_rxb_fullchain_latency.v — autocorrelation peak
at bin 0 with peak/mean ~88x.
doppler_processor.v / mti_canceller.v / cfar_ca.v /
range_bin_decimator.v / radar_receiver_final.v / radar_system_top.v
/ usb_data_interface_ft2232h.v: switch port and parameter widths
from RP_NUM_RANGE_BINS / RP_RANGE_BIN_BITS (always 512 / 9-bit)
to RP_MAX_OUTPUT_BINS / RP_RANGE_BIN_WIDTH_MAX (auto-scales:
50T 512 / 9-bit, 200T 4096 / 12-bit). Unblocks 200T 20 km mode
at the RX module boundary; USB wire-protocol extension still
pending.
radar_receiver_final.v: doppler_frame_done_prev reset value 0 -> 1
to prevent false done pulse on cycle 1 when level signal is
HIGH at reset.
matched_filter_processing_chain.v: delete the broken `ifdef
SIMULATION inline behavioural FFT (482 lines removed). It
produced wrong-bin peaks and 100-1000x weak magnitudes. Chain
now uses production fft_engine.v + frequency_matched_filter.v
in both iverilog and Vivado. Iverilog tests are ~38x slower per
chain pass but produce correct results. Misleading "OK with
Xilinx IP" comments at three test sites updated since the FFT
is in-house, not an IP placeholder.
FPGA — testbenches
tb/tb_rxb_latency_measure.v (new): measures chain internal pipeline
depth (~2057 cycles, chirp-agnostic).
tb/tb_rxb_fullchain_latency.v (new): full-chain autocorrelation
verification — drives ddc with the same chirp samples the loader
serves as ref, finds peak position and peak/mean.
tb/tb_matched_filter_processing_chain.v: wait timeouts bumped
50000 -> 500000 cycles to accommodate production FFT pipeline.
MCU
main.cpp checkSystemHealthStatus: latch system_emergency_state on
the error_count > 10 path so the SAFE-MODE blink loop in main()
actually engages (was bypassed because predicate was false).
main.cpp: move FPGA reset BEFORE the if(PowerAmplifier) block so
adar_tr_x is driven LOW (RX commanded externally) before PA Vdd
reaches 22 V. Old reset block at the original location removed.
main.cpp MX_GPIO_Init: add GPIO_PIN_12 (FPGA reset) to the
explicit WritePin(LOW) list so the safe initial state is no
longer implicit.
main.cpp checkSystemHealth: rate-limit ADAR1000
verifyDeviceCommunication (HAL_Delay 1ms x 4 devices = 4 ms
blocking SPI burst per main-loop iteration) from every-loop to
every 2 s. readTemperature stays per-loop so over-temp
detection latency is unchanged.
USBHandler.cpp processSettingsData: dispatch threshold bumped
74 -> 82 (matches parser minimum); buffer drained after parse
attempt (slide remaining bytes left) so a false END find no
longer sticks the buffer until 256-byte overflow.
GUI
radar_protocol.py: NUM_RANGE_BINS 64 -> 512 (matches FPGA
RP_NUM_RANGE_BINS); NUM_CELLS 2048 -> 16384.
radar_protocol.py _ingest_sample: honor FPGA frame_start bit for
resync after a USB drop; capture range_profile[rbin] once per
range bin at dbin == 0 (FPGA emits the same range_i/range_q for
all 32 Doppler cells of a given range bin; previous accumulator
inflated the profile 32x).
v7/models.py RadarSettings: range_resolution 24 -> 6 m (matches
c/(2*100MHz)*4); max_distance and coverage_radius 1536 -> 3072 m;
map_size 2000 -> 4000.
v7/models.py WaveformConfig: n_range_bins 64 -> 512, fft_size
1024 -> 2048, decimation_factor 16 -> 4.
GUI_V65_Tk.py: _RANGE_PER_BIN math and stale "~24 m / ~1536 m"
comments updated.
test_v7.py: assertion values updated to match new defaults.
Tests
test_ddc_cosim_fuzz.py: remove unused os/tempfile imports, wrap
three long lines for ruff E501 compliance.
- Bandwidth 500 MHz -> 20 MHz, sample rate 4 MHz -> 100 MHz (DDC output)
- Range formula: deramped FMCW -> matched-filter c/(2*Fs)*decimation
- Velocity formula: use PRI (167 us) and chirps_per_subframe (16)
- Carrier frequency: 10.525 GHz -> 10.5 GHz per radar_scene.py
- Range per bin: 4.8 m -> 24 m, max range: 307 m -> 1536 m
- Fix simulator target spawn range to match new coverage (50-1400 m)
- Remove dead BANDWIDTH constant, add SAMPLE_RATE to V65 Tk
- All 174 tests pass, ruff clean
- Add FT601Connection in radar_protocol.py using ftd3xx library with
proper setChipConfiguration re-enumeration handling (close, wait 2s,
re-open) and 4-byte write alignment
- Add USB Interface dropdown to V65 Tk GUI (FT2232H default, FT601 option)
- Add USB Interface combo to V7 PyQt dashboard with Live/File mode toggle
- Fix mock frame_start bit 7 in both FT2232H and FT601 connections
- Use FPGA range data from USB packets instead of recomputing in Python
- Export FT601Connection from v7/hardware.py and v7/__init__.py
- Add 7 FT601Connection tests (91 total in test_GUI_V65_Tk.py)
Add SoftwareFPGA class that imports golden_reference functions to
replicate the FPGA pipeline in software, enabling bit-accurate replay
of raw IQ, FPGA co-sim, and HDF5 recordings through the same
dashboard path as live data.
New modules: software_fpga.py, replay.py (ReplayEngine + 3 loaders)
Enhanced: WaveformConfig model, extract_targets_from_frame() in
processing, ReplayWorker with thread-safe playback controls,
dashboard replay UI with transport controls and dual-dispatch
FPGA parameter routing.
Removed: ReplayConnection (from radar_protocol, hardware, dashboard,
tests) — replaced by the unified replay architecture.
150/150 tests pass, ruff clean.
Bug #1 — Range calibration for Raw IQ Replay:
- Add WaveformConfig dataclass (models.py) with FMCW waveform params
(fs, BW, T_chirp, fc) and methods to compute range/velocity resolution
- Add waveform parameter spinboxes to playback controls (dashboard.py)
- Auto-parse waveform params from ADI phaser filename convention
- Create replay-specific RadarSettings with correct calibration instead
of using FPGA defaults (781.25 m/bin → 0.334 m/bin for ADI phaser)
- Add 4 unit tests validating WaveformConfig math
Bug #2 — Demo + radar mutual exclusion:
- _start_demo() now refuses if radar is running (_running=True)
- _start_radar() stops demo first if _demo_mode is active
- Demo buttons disabled while radar/replay is running, re-enabled on stop
Bug #3 — Refactor adi_agc_analysis.py:
- Remove 60+ lines of duplicated AGC functions (signed_to_encoding,
encoding_to_signed, clamp_gain, apply_gain_shift)
- Import from v7.agc_sim canonical implementation
- Rewrite simulate_agc() to use process_agc_frame() in a loop
- Rewrite process_frame_rd() to use quantize_iq() from agc_sim
- workers.py: Only emit playbackStateChanged on state transitions to
prevent stale 'playing' signal from overwriting pause button text
- dashboard.py: Force C locale on all QDoubleSpinBox instances so
comma-decimal locales don't break numeric input; add missing
'Saturation' legend label to AGC chart
- map_widget.py: Enable LocalContentCanAccessRemoteUrls and set HTTP
base URL so Leaflet CDN tiles/scripts load correctly in QtWebEngine
State machine fixes:
1. Raw IQ replay EOF now calls _stop_radar() to fully restore UI
2. Worker thread finished signal triggers UI recovery on crash/exit
3. _stop_radar() stops demo simulator to prevent cross-mode interference
4. _stop_demo() correctly identifies Mock mode via combo text
5. Demo start no longer clobbers status bar when acquisition is running
6. _stop_radar() resets playback button text, frame counter, file label
7. _start_raw_iq_replay() error path cleans up stale controller/worker
8. _refresh_gui() preserves Raw IQ paused status instead of overwriting
Map/location:
- RawIQReplayWorker now receives _radar_position (GPSData ref) so
targets get real lat/lon projected from the virtual radar position
- Added heading control to Map tab sidebar (0-360 deg, wrapping)
- Manual lat/lon/heading changes in Map tab apply to replay targets
Ruff clean, 120/120 tests pass.
Add a 4th connection mode to the V7 dashboard that loads raw complex IQ
captures (.npy) and runs the full FPGA signal processing chain in software:
quantize → AGC → Range FFT → Doppler FFT → MTI → DC notch → CFAR.
Implementation (7 steps):
- v7/agc_sim.py: bit-accurate AGC runtime extracted from adi_agc_analysis.py
- v7/processing.py: RawIQFrameProcessor (full signal chain) + shared
extract_targets_from_frame() for bin-to-physical conversion
- v7/raw_iq_replay.py: RawIQReplayController with thread-safe playback
state machine (play/pause/stop/step/seek/loop/FPS)
- v7/workers.py: RawIQReplayWorker (QThread) emitting same signals as
RadarDataWorker + playback state/index signals
- v7/dashboard.py: mode combo entry, playback controls UI, dynamic
RangeDopplerCanvas that adapts to any frame size
Bug fixes included:
- RangeDopplerCanvas no longer hardcodes 64x32; resizes dynamically
- Doppler centre bin uses n_doppler//2 instead of hardcoded 16
- Shared target extraction eliminates duplicate code between workers
Ruff clean, 120/120 tests pass.
v7/__init__.py: wrap workers/map_widget/dashboard imports in try/except
so CI runners without PyQt6 can still test models, processing, hardware.
test_v7.py: skip TestPolarToGeographic when PyQt6 unavailable, split
TestV7Init.test_key_exports into core vs PyQt6-dependent assertions.
Resolve all 374 ruff errors across 36 Python files (E501, E702, E722,
E741, F821, F841, invalid-syntax) bringing `ruff check .` to zero
errors repo-wide with line-length=100.
Rewrite CI workflow to use uv for dependency management, whole-repo
`ruff check .`, py_compile syntax gate, and merged python-tests job.
Add pyproject.toml with ruff config and uv dependency groups.
CI structure proposed by hcm444.