openwifi/doc/app_notes/iq.md

We implement the IQ sample capture with interesting extensions: many trigger conditions; RSSI, RF chip AGC status (lock/unlock) and gain.

Quick start

• Power on the SDR board.

• Connect a computer to the SDR board via Ethernet cable. The computer should have static IP 192.168.10.1. Open a terminal on the computer, and then in the terminal:

  ssh root@192.168.10.122
  (password: openwifi)
  cd openwifi
  ./wgd.sh
  (Wait for the script completed)
  ./monitor_ch.sh sdr0 11
  (Monitor on channel 11. You can change 11 to other channel that is busy)
  insmod side_ch.ko iq_len_init=8187
  (for zed, adrv9364z7020, zc702 board, 8187 should be 4095 because they have smaller FPGA)
  
  ./side_ch_ctl wh11d4094
  (Above command is needed only when you run with zed, adrv9364z7020, zc702 board)
  
  ./side_ch_ctl g
  

  You should see on board outputs like:

  loop 64 side info count 61
  loop 128 side info count 99
  ...
  

  If the second number (61, 99, ...) is not zero and keeps increasing, that means the IQ sample is going to the computer smoothly.

• Open another terminal on the computer, and run:

  cd openwifi/user_space/side_ch_ctl_src
  python3 iq_capture.py
  (for zed, adrv9364z7020, zc702 board, add 4095 as parameter!)
  

  The python script needs "matplotlib.pyplot" and "numpy" packages installed. Now you should see 3 figures showing run-time IQ sample, AGC gain and lock status and RSSI (uncalibrated). Meanwhile the python script prints the timestamp.

  While running, all informations are also stored into a file iq.txt. A matlab script test_iq_file_display.m is offered to help you do analysis on the IQ Information offline. For zed, adrv9364z7020, zc702 board, do not forget to change the iq_len in the matlab script to 4095.

Understand the IQ capture feature

The IQ information is extracted via the openwifi side channel infrastructure. This figure explains the related modules (also related source code file name) and how the information goes from the SDR board to the computer.

The IQ information format is shown in this figure.

For each element, the actual size is 64bit.

• timestamp: 64bit TSF timer value when the capture is triggered.
• IQ
  • The first two 16bit are used for I/Q sample
  • The 3rd 16bit is AD9361 AGC gain (bit7 -- lock/unlock; bit6~0 -- gain value)
  • The 4th 16bit is RSSI (half dB, uncalibrated). Please check xpu.v and sdr.c to understand how the raw RSSI value is finally calibrated and reported to Linux mac80211.

The python and Matlab scripts are recommended for you to understand the IQ packet format precisely.

Config the IQ capture and interval

The quick start guide capture a period of history IQ when the packet FCS checksum is checked by Wifi receiver (no matter pass or fail). To initiate the capture with different trigger condition and length, configuration command should be issued before executing "side_ch_ctl g". The configuration command is realized by feeding a different parameter to "side_ch_ctl". The main parameters that are configurable are explained in this figure.

iq_len is the number of IQ samples captured per trigger condition met. The capture is started from the time pre_trigger_len IQ samples before the trigger moment. iq_len is set only one time when you insert the side_ch.ko. Please check the next section for iq_len configuration. This section introduces the setting of pre_trigger_len and trigger condition.

• pre_trigger_len

./side_ch_ctl wh11dY

The parameter Y specifies the pre_trigger_len. Valid range 0 ~ 8190. It is limited by the FPGA fifo size. For small FPGA (zed_fmcs2, adrv9364z7020, zc702), valid range is 0 ~ 4094.

• trigger condition

./side_ch_ctl wh8dY

The parameter Y specifies the trigger condition. Valid range 0 ~ 15, which is explained in this table.

value	meaning
0	receiver gives FCS checksum result. no matter pass/fail
1	receiver gives FCS checksum result. pass
2	receiver gives FCS checksum result. fail
3	receiver gives SIGNAL field checksum result. no matter pass/fail
4	receiver gives SIGNAL field checksum result. pass
5	receiver gives SIGNAL field checksum result. fail
6	receiver gives SIGNAL field checksum result. no matter pass/fail. HT packet
7	receiver gives SIGNAL field checksum result. no matter pass/fail. non-HT packet
8	receiver gives long preamble detected
9	receiver gives short preamble detected
10	RSSI (half dB uncalibrated) goes above the threshold
11	RSSI (half dB uncalibrated) goes below the threshold
12	AD9361 AGC from lock to unlock
13	AD9361 AGC from unlock to lock
14	AD9361 AGC gain goes above the threshold
15	AD9361 AGC gain goes below the threshold

To set the RSSI threshold

./side_ch_ctl wh9dY

The parameter Y specifies the RSSI threshold. Valid range 0 ~ 2047.

To set the AGC gain threshold

./side_ch_ctl wh10dY

The parameter Y specifies the AGC gain threshold. Valid range 0 ~ 127.

The command "side_ch_ctl g" will perform IQ capture every 100ms until you press ctrl+C. To use a different capture interval:

side_ch_ctl gN

The interval will become N*1ms

Config the iq_len

The iq_len (number of IQ sample per capture) is configurable in case you want less IQ samples per capture so that it can be triggered more times during a specific analysis period. The valid value is 1~8187. For small FPGA (zed_fmcs2, adrv9364z7020, zc702), valid range is 0 ~ 4095. It is independant form pre_trigger_len, and it can be less than pre_trigger_len if you want. You should align the iq_len value at the side_ch.ko, iq_capture.py and test_iq_file_display.m.

• When insert the kernel module, use:

insmod side_ch.ko iq_len_init=3000

Here 3000 is an example. ATTENTION: You need to specify iq_len_init explicitly to turn on IQ capture, which will turn off CSI. Insert the side_ch.ko without any parameter will run CSI mode.

• When launch the python script, use:

python3 iq_capture.py 3000

• When use the matlab script, please change the iq_len variable in the script to 3000.

Compile the side channel driver and user space program

• side_ch.ko

$OPENWIFI_DIR/driver/side_ch/make_driver.sh $OPENWIFI_DIR $XILINX_DIR ARCH_BIT
(For Zynq 7000, ARCH_BIT should be 32, for Zynq MPSoC, ARCH_BIT should be 64)

• side_ch_ctl (take user_space/side_ch_ctl_src/side_ch_ctl.c and compile it on board!)

gcc -o side_ch_ctl side_ch_ctl.c

Run the IQ capture together with modes other than monitor

The openwifi IQ capture feature could run with not only monitor mode but also other modes, such as AP-Client or ad-hoc mode. After the communication functionality is fully up in those modes, you can start IQ capture from "insmod side_ch.ko" and "./side_ch_ctl g" on board as described in the previous sections to extract IQ information to your computer.

Map the IQ information to the WiFi packet

If you want to relate the IQ information to the WiFi packet, you need to capture WiFi packets (tcpdump/wireshark/etc) while capturing IQ. Then you can relate the timestamp between WiFi packet and IQ information. Please be noticed that the timestamp in the IQ information is the moment when capture is triggered, which could be different from the timestamp reported in the packet capture program. But since they share the same time base (TSF timer), you can relate them easily by analyzing the WiFi packet and IQ sample sequence.

Please learn the python and Matlab script to extract IQ information per capture according to your requirement.