1 Overview

With the evaluation kits SiRad Easy® r4, SiRad Easy® and SiRad Simple®, we provide our free and customizable WebGUI which is a browser-based GUI (for Microsoft Windows®), also see the picture below. From the WebGUI, you can visualize the radar data, change radar parameters such as base frequency, bandwidth, number of ramps, sampling frequency, FFT size, and more on the fly in the running system. Radar settings can be saved and re-used, up to 16 targets can be detected and are displayed in the WebGUI.

The WebGUI consists of four main panels

control panel on the left side for changing radar parameters,
main menu on the top of the screen to change view modes with the active view in orange,
scene/canvas itself where the sensor data is displayed,
target list with the status fields on the right side of the screen (draggable).

Processing Parameters

Sampling frequency
Number of samples
Number of ramps
Downsampling
FFT size
FIR Filter

2 Getting Started with the WebGUI

2.1 Versions

2.1.1 WebGUI Easy r4

WebGUI 1.4 should be used together with the SiRad Easy r4 evolution kit. Please visit the download area to download firmware, WebGUI, and protocol description

Correct Baudrate should be selected from com2websocket.

2.1.2 WebGUI 1.4

WebGUI 1.4 should be used together with the firmware 1.4.x or newer of the Sirad Easy® and the SiRad Simple® evaluation kits. Please visit the download area to download firmware, WebGUI, and protocol description.

Correct Baudrate should be selected from com2websocket.

2.2 WebGUI and Com2WebSocket connection

The Evaluation Kit software contains a COM2WebSocket tool that creates a WebSocket from the virtual COM port to provide it to the graphical user interface. You can find the tool in the Install Package in the ‘Software’ folder from the Download Area [1]. The COM2WebSocket tool is portable and can be copied to a path of your choice on your PC. Follow the instruction in Figure 1 if necessary.

Figure 1: Necessary batch file edit

In the COM2WebSocket application window, select the virtual COM port number that belongs to your sensor board and select 1M baud for firmware 1.4 and higher or 230400 baud for lower firmware version as the baud rate like shown in Figure. A click on the ‘connect’ button opens a WebSocket server, which is fed with the data coming from the sensor board.

COM2WebSocket tool

2.3 Understanding the User Interface.

For detailed explanation please see WebGUI Guide

The SiRad Evaluation Kit is developed to demonstrate the functionality of indie - Radar Sensors & Systems’s transceiver chips as millimeter-wave distance and velocity sensor front end s. Once the WebGUI is launched, the main window is displayed like shown on the right.

WebGUI Main Panels

The WebGUI consists of four main panels:

control panel on the left side,
main menu on the top of the screen with the active view in orange,
scene/canvas itself where the sensor data is displayed,
target list with the status fields on the right side of the screen (draggable).

The control buttons on the top left corner are used to connect the WebGUI to the SiRad Evaluation Kit.

Connect: used to connect the WebGUI to the WebSocket provided by the Com2WebSocket tool, which should be started before connecting the WebGUI.

Resend config: used to send the current settings to the SiRad Easy®. Usually, the settings made in the WebGUI will immediately take effect on the SiRad Evaluation Kit, however, this feature is useful when a SiRad Evaluation Kit was reset or reconnected.

Reset view : resets the view area to use the maximally available window space for displaying the data and centers the view in the view area.

2.4 Using the Control Panel (Sensor Settings)

The control panel on the left side of the WebGUI provides the controls for the user interface. It is used to connect to the Evaluation Kit, to send commands, and to change the data view. The control panel contains the sections shown in the figure below.

Control panel with its different tabs

2.4.1 Communication Options (COM Tab)

The standard-setting ‘localhost: is for communication via the USB port, see the figure below. If you are using WiFi, type in the IP address and the port 9090 of the SiRad Easy® ’s WiFi module like in Figure (below), for example, 192.168.4.1:9090.

COM tab of the Control Panel for USB (left) and WiFi (right) communication

2.4.2 Load and Save Settings (Presets Tab)

Load predefined settings: You can load predefined settings via the dropdown box in the ‘Presets tab, see Figure (left). Choose a setting and press ‘Load’. Afterward, go to the ‘ System Configuration’ tab and choose ‘SER 2 if you use the USB connection instead of WiFi The factory presets are explained in the figure below.

Presets tab (left) and predefined settings (right)

Save own settings: To save your settings, click the ‘New’ button. The dialog in the Figure below appears. Enter a preset name and description for your settings and click ‘Save ’’. All settings are stored as cookies in your browser so that they are available next time when you open the browser. Please make sure that your browser saves and keeps cookies (Mozilla Firefox) or local storage is enabled (Chrome Browser) to enable this feature. Do not use a ‘ private mode and do not set up your browser to delete all saved content each time you close the window.

Save settings in the Presets tab of the Control Panel

Delete settings: To delete settings, choose a preset name and click ‘Delete’. In case you accidentally delete one of the factory presets, those will be automatically restored next time you open the browser.

2.4.3 System Configuration Tab

The ‘System Configuration’ tab shown in the figure below is used to control system related settings of the SiRad Evaluation Kits such as gain, triggering mode, and LED.

System Configuration Tab

2.4.4 Output Data Tab

The ‘Output Data’ tab is used to set the transmitted output data type and data communication protocol. Output Data section can be used to activate Raw ADC and Complex FFT, however, these frames demonstrations are not supported by WebGUI.

Output Data Tab

2.4.5 RF Parameters Tab

The ‘RF tab’ is used to control the radar front end of the Evaluation Kit. For each radar measurement, the front end is driven with one or more frequency ramps starting from a defined start frequency f1 (base frequency) to a higher frequency f2 with the bandwidth BW = f2 - f1. The higher the bandwidth, the smaller is the detection range of the SiRad Easy® due to Nyquist limitations. The start frequency is technically limited by the minimum frequency f min supported by the front end. The bandwidth is limited by the maximum frequency f max supported by the front end. Please note, that in most countries, the permitted bandwidth is regulated by law to 250 MHz between 24 GHz and 24.25 GHz and to 1 GHz between 122 GHz and 123 GHz for field applications. Please check your local regulations.

RF Parameters tab of the Control Panel

2.4.6 BB Processing Tab

The ‘BB tab shown’ in Figure left is used to control the baseband processing of the SiRad Evaluation Kit to tune the SNR, accuracy, or processing speed.

BB Processing tab of the Control Panel

2.4.7 Target Recognition Tab

The ‘Target Recognition’ tab is used to control the CFAR operator for the target recognition. The CFAR operator is explained below sections. We use a simple CACFAR operator that calculates the average from the reference cells for the CFAR.

Target Recognition tab of the Control Panel

2.4.8 Scene Control Options (Scene Controls Tab)

You can control the scene with the settings shown on the ‘Scene Control’ tab shown on left

Scene Controls tab of the Control Panel

2.4.9 Radar Hardware Information (System Info)

The System Info tab shows the unique hardware identification number of the SiRad Evaluation Kit, the firmware version, date of compilation, version identifier, and protocol version and specification date. You can press the ‘Update system info’ button to refresh this information from the sensor.

System Info tab (left) and Log tab (right) of the Control Panel

2.4.10 Recently Sent Control Frames (Log)

The Log tab lists (top, right figure) the latest control frames sent to the SiRad Evaluation Kit. Also, see the Protocol Description for further information about the SiRad Evaluation Kit communication protocol.

3 Using the Main Menu

Here you can select how the data should be displayed. You have the following main options, which are explained in the following subsections

Main menu of the WebGUI

FFT View: FFT (2D) and Water fall (3D)
Target Timeline
Spectrogram
Options

FFT View

2D(left) and 3D(right) view of the FFT data

FFT (2D ) chart: The x-axis shows the distance and the y axis shows the magnitude in dB at this distance.
Waterfall (3D ) chart: In the 3D view you can see the history of data, with the z-axis being the timeline. Older values move to the back (higher z values). The x and y axes behave like in the 2D view.

Status Field and Target List

The ‘Status’ field displays a couple of useful information about the current measurements.

distance: shows the used distance format of the SiRad Easy®, for example, [mm, cm, bins].
max range: current max. measurement range of the SiRad Easy® in the chosen distance format.
accuracy: the width of one distance bin of the SiRad Easy® after the formula acc = c * nSmp / (2 * BW * n FFT * 2 ndown, where c is the speed of light, BW is the bandwidth, nSmp is the number of samples, nFFT is the FFT size, and n down is the downsampling factor.
gain: the current gain setting of the baseband amplifier in dB.
BW: the chirp’s bandwidth.
update: calculated update rate from the TSLM value („time since the last measurement“).

The ‘Target list, is ordered by distance. With every new measurement having the CFAR operator enabled, the ‘Target list is updated. Where the distance bin crosses the CFAR threshold from below, the local maximum is searched and a target is generated. If two or more target peaks cross the CFAR threshold from below before the distance bin goes back underneath the CFAR threshold, only the first target is marked.

Target list with the status field at the top

Target Timeline

The ‘Target Timeline’ shows the magnitudes of past targets. The x-axis shows the distances of the targets and the y axis shows the magnitudes of the targets in dB. The z-axis shows the timeline of the data. Older values move to the back (higher z values).

Spectrogram

The ‘Spectrogram ’is another time-dependent display of distance data.

target timeline(left) and spectrogram (right)

Options

In the ‘Options’ menu, you can choose the coloring of the data between:

Magnitude
Range/target number
Phase angles ( the phase angles are only colorized if the magnitude is larger than 120 dB and when the Phase frame transmission is enabled in the ‘System Configuration’ Tab)
No coloring

Magnitude coloring with phase markers(left) and Range / target number coloring(right)

Phase coloring(left) and No coloring(right)

There is also an additional option to display phase markers above the detected targets. These markers show the phase angle of the detected target. The phase angle is very sensitive to slight changes in the target distance within one distance bin. It can be used to display relative motion in the µm range.

3.1 Understanding the Configuration Info Field

The config field shows the configuration that was sent by the WebGUI to the SiRad Evaluation Kit on connect. Those config words are further explained in the protocol description.

Configuration words

3.2 Camera Controls

Click on the bar in the bottom left to show the camera controls. Here you can see and change the camera position and rotation of the view relative to the specified axis. The camera view can be changed using the mouse within the scene area. A left-click drag pans the camera position. A right click-drag changes the camera view angle. A middle click-drag or moving the mouse wheel changes the zoom setting (z coordinate) of the camera.

Camera controls

3.3 Understanding the Error Info Field

Detailed Error field

Temporary errors are indicated in yellow. Temporary errors are errors that are raised during processing but will be auto-corrected when the error disappears. The Detailed Errors Panel shows the full error explanation. You can retrieve the full error information by clicking the refresh error info button.

Error info field

3.4 Understanding the Data View

Data view with different elements in the display scene

The figure shows a typical spectrum output of the SiRad Easy® when placed on a tabletop and looking to the ceiling. Viewing a radar target spectrum for the first time might be confusing for the beginner. However, with some practice, it is easy to find targets and understand why some things work while others might not.

Targets: The first ceiling echo is around 2 0 0 cm, which should be quite high versus the neighboring noise floor. Using a lens will make this target peak thinner and higher and more easily detectable by the CFAR operator. The next targets are around 260 cm, 410 cm, and 460 cm. Due to the adaptive nature of the CFAR operator, it might happen that if two targets are too near to each other or are very different in magnitude, one of them is rejected ( by the CFAR operator, such a target may be hidden around 220 cm. Changing the target recognition settings might help in this situation.

DC component: There is some DC component on the left side. If this DC offset is high, it might trigger a false target detection of the CFAR operator.

Clutter: Around 290 cm to 330 cm there might be some clutter that is rejected by the CFAR operator.

4 Troubleshooting

4.1 No output in the WebGUI window

Problems with WebGUI might occur due to several issues, below most common causes and their solutions are listed.

Step 1. Is the correct COM port selected in the Com2WebSocket tool?

Please make sure that the correct COM port is selected, otherwise, there will be no connection to the device. You can check the COM port of your device from the Device Manager, Ports section.

Step 2. Is the correct baud rate selected in the Com2WebSocket tool?

The Baud rate can differ from the firmware version; please make sure that the correct baud rate is selected otherwise there will be no output to display.

Step 3. Is the EvalKit already connected to any other program?

It might be that the EvalKit is already connected to any other program such as a terminal program like Realterm, WebGUI on other tab or user-created programs, therefore please make sure the EvalKit is not connected to any other application. It is possible to connect EvalKit two different programs as enabling both SER output, please refer to UserGuide for further information.

Step 4. Incorrect SER selection in the WebGUI

It should not matter which *.html file you use to start the WebGUI. You can always switch also using the SER1 and SER2 selector in the GUI if you don’t get output at the start, as there should be no difference in the usage except for the SER setting. Please make sure you are selecting the correct SER for communication.

Step 5. Is Extended Mode deactivated?

The extended mode activates the transmission of the extended data frames (raw data) instead of the standard data frames. Please be aware that the extended data frames are not supported by the WebGUI. No data will be shown in the WebGUI as long as the extended data mode is enabled. Please see the Protocol Description for more information about the ‘Extended mode’. Note that, Extended mode only applies to firmware version 1.3 and earlier.

Step 6. Could the USB Port of your device be the problem?

USB Port of the device that the EvalKit is wanted to connect to could be not working properly, please try with a USB Port which you are sure that is working.

Step 7. Java troubleshooting

WebGUI and WebGUI connection tool (Com2WebSocket) require 32 bit Java and mostly Java problems are related to having 64 bit Java installed rather than a 32-bit version and our supported Java versions are Oracle and AdoptJDK. Even though 32 bit Java is installed and the problem persists make sure that other versions of Java are removed from the computer to prevent conflicts. If your Java problem is not solved after trying the above suggestions please refer to this Website => https://www.java.com/en/download/win10.jsp

Step 8. Faulty Cable

Another reason could be the cable problem as if there is some issue with serial communication, Java will drop the connection. So please examine if it could be a connection issue caused by old/cheap cable or cable rupture. The same issue could arise when there are electric disturbances near the cable and connectors. Sometimes, also the USB connector can be an issue. Please check if the connector is in good condition – not loose and cable fits tightly but without needing a lot of force – and that the cable has good contact, also that there is no dust or something in the connector which prevents the proper connection of the cable. USB sleep modes can cause connection failure. Please make sure that USB sleep modes are turned off in Windows. This can be done in the device manager -> energy settings -> advanced energy settings -> USB devices -> switch off any energy saving for USB. The same applies to any PC vendor programs managing your hardware. We observed connection issues with PC vendor tools. Please remove those programs to see if that is the cause. Lastly, it could be an electrical issue on the PC side, especially when multiple devices are connected to the USBs. Sometimes they may share the current for the ports. You could try using another USB port or use an active USB hub between the device and the PC to rule out any connection drops.

Step 9. SiRad Easy® connection problem

Some Easy boards require an update for the USB controller chip, to be able to check that please download ST LINK Utility from ST Microelectronics and click “ST-Link” -> “Firmware Upgrade” -> “Device Connect”. After connecting SiRad Easy® to the ST-LINK Utility, you can update the USB controller firmware of the board.

Step 10. SiRad Easy®

Please first set the SiRad Easy® up for the USB connection. For that, check if the jumper J5 on the microcontroller board is set to the U5V setting if all jumpers are removed from the external header of the baseband board and if the dip switch SW1 on the SiRad Easy® baseband board is set to the OFF position according to section 2.1 of the User Guide. If not, please unplug the SiRad Easy®, adjust the settings, and plug it in again. Also, check the USB cable connection and if your device is powered properly. Then go to the ‘System Configuration’ tab and chose SER2 for the USB connection. You can also toggle the ‘Close’ and ‘Open’ button of the Com2WebSocket tool without closing the WebGUI and see if that helps. Lastly, you can start over, close all WebGUI / Webbrowser and Com2WebSocket windows, disconnect the SiRad Easy® and start over with connecting the SiRad Easy®, connecting the Com2WebSocket tool, and connecting the WebGUI.

Step 11. SiRad Simple®

Please first set the SiRad Simple® up for the USB connection. For that, check if the two dip switches on the SiRad Simple® are set to the off position and if the jumpers are set according to Section 2.1 of the User Guide. If not, unplug the sensor, adjust the settings, and plug it in again. Also, check the FTDI cable connection and if your device is powered properly. Then go to the ‘System Configuration’ tab and chose SER1, regardless of whether you are using a WiFi or UART connection. The SER2 option is reserved for our SiRad Easy® Evaluation Kit. You can also toggle the ‘Close’ and ‘Open’ button of the Com2WebSocket tool without closing the WebGUI and see if that helps. Lastly, you can start over, close all WebGUI / Webbrowser and Com2WebSocket windows, disconnect the SiRad Simple® sensor and start over with connecting the sensor, connecting the Com2WebSocket tool, and connecting the WebGUI.

4.2 WebGUI or SiRad Evaluation kit crashed after sending protocol commands

Some of the old firmware has UART problem, please use the latest firmware and latest protocol description which can be found here [3]. If you are using your own program to connect SiRad Evaluation kit to PC, please insert a delay of 100ms or more between the commands while sending as the EvalKit needs some time to execute delivered commands otherwise EvalKit might crash.

4.3 Cannot store presets in the Preset tab

Please make sure you are not working in the private mode of your browser and you have enabled cookies since the presets are stored as cookies.

4.4 The spectrum output jumps (partly)

SiRad Easy®

First, if you are not using the WiFi connection, disable the WiFi module by switching the dip switch SW1 to the OFF position. Sometimes it is necessary to turn the AGC-Mode off in the ‘System Configuration’ tab and manually choose one of the 4 gains using the gain slider. Further, you can try to manually set and increase the base frequency in 100 MHz steps to see if that stabilizes the output.

SiRad Simple®

First, if you are not using the WiFi connection, disable the WiFi module by disconnecting the power jumper J2. Sometimes it is necessary to turn the AGC-Mode off in the ‘System Configuration’ tab and manually choose one of the 4 gains using the gain slider. Further, you can try to manually set and increase the base frequency in 100 MHz steps to see if that stabilizes the output.

4.5 The RF Parameters tab does not show the min/max frequencies properly

You can try a manual min/max frequency scan by clicking the ‘fscan’ button.

4.6 The LED goes off when I connect to the WebGUI

This is because the WebGUI sends a different configuration to the evaluation kit when it is connected. The LED will light again when the proper serial port is set in the ‘System Configuration’ tab and the LED mode is changed from off to 1st target rainbow.