LPP » INSTRU » SocExplorer

h1. SocExplorer Wiki

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Child pages:

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"Win32 setup(Experimental)":https://hephaistos.lpp.polytechnique.fr/redmine/attachments/download/234/SocExplorer_win32_setup_r31.exe

"Source code":https://hephaistos.lpp.polytechnique.fr/rhodecode/HG_REPOSITORIES/LPP/INSTRUMENTATION/SocExplorer

h2. General description

SocExplorer is an open source generic System On Chip testing software/framework. We write this software for the development and the validation of our instrument, the "Low Frequency Receiver":https://hephaistos.lpp.polytechnique.fr/redmine/projects/solar-orbiter-lfr (LFR) for the Solar Orbiter mission. This instrument is based on an "actel FPGA":http://www.microsemi.com/products/fpga-soc/fpga-and-soc hosting a "LEON3FT":http://www.gaisler.com/index.php/products/processors processor and some peripherals. To make it more collaborative, we use a plugin based system, the main executable is SocExplorer then all the functionality are provided by plugins. Like this everybody can provide his set of plugins to handle a new SOC or just a new peripheral. SocExplorer uses "PythonQt":http://pythonqt.sourceforge.net/ to allow user to automate some tasks such as loading some plugins, configuring them and talking with his device. SocExplorer is provided under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by the Free Software Foundation; either version 2 of the License, or (at your option) any later version.

h2. To install it

* If you are running windows you can directly download the setup "here":https://hephaistos.lpp.polytechnique.fr/redmine/attachments/download/234/SocExplorer_win32_setup_r31.exe.

_Please note that if you are running Windows you will have some limitations, we spend much less effort on windows support than linux._

* If you are running Linux you can follow theses [[Linux_setup|steps]].

_We have never tried any other Unix like Os such as Mach or BSD, it could compile since it rely on Qt but the installation would break and some plugins won't compile._

h2. Use cases

h3. Use case 1

In this case, the [[AHBUARTplugin|AHBUARTplugin]] and the [[Memctrlplugin|memctrlplugin]] are loaded. The ahbuartplugin is called a root plugin because it is at the top of the plugin hierarchy, it makes the connection between SocExplorer and the AMBA bus. Talking through the root plugin, the memctrlplugin allows you to test some memory space at a given address. 

!{width: 80%}SocExplorerUseCase1.png(SocExplorer use case 1)!

h3. Use case 2

In this use case, the root plugin is the [[RMAPplugin|rmapplugin]], this plugin allows you to talk through either the "GRESB":http://www.gaisler.com/index.php/products/systems/gresb or the stardundee "SpaceWire-USB Brick":http://star-dundee.com/products/spacewire-usb-brick. The second loaded plugin is the [[Genericrwplugin|genericrwplugin]]. This plugin is a simple hexadecimal editor, you can use it to view or edit any space of the SOC memory, see below in the SocExplorer screenshot. 

!{width: 80%}SocExplorerUseCase2.png(SocExplorer use case 2)!

h1. Videos

This video is quite outdated but gives a good overview of what SocExplorer is able to do.

>{{video(ftp://ftp.lpp.polytechnique.fr/jeandet/keep/SocExplorer_Overview.webm)}}

h1. Screenshots

!{width: 100%}SocExplorer1.png(SocExplorer running on Linux)!

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