SPRADM3 March   2025 AWR1243 , AWR1642 , AWR1843 , AWR1843AOP , AWR2243 , AWR2544 , AWR2944 , AWR2944P , AWR6443 , AWR6843 , AWR6843AOP , AWRL1432 , AWRL6432 , IWR2944

 

  1.   1
  2.   Abstract
  3.   Trademarks
  4. 1Introduction
  5. 2Terminology
  6. 3Discover Phase
    1. 3.1 What is a mmWave Sensor?
    2. 3.2 Why are mmWave Sensors Required in Automotive and ADAS?
    3. 3.3 Understanding Frequency Choice and Regulations
    4. 3.4 What is Imaging Radar?
    5. 3.5 How to Check TI Portfolio and Select Product?
      1. 3.5.1 Selecting a Part Based on Application
  7. 4Evaluation Phase
    1. 4.1 Hardware
      1. 4.1.1 EVM
      2. 4.1.2 DCA1000EVM
    2. 4.2 Software and Tools
      1. 4.2.1 Software Development Kits (SDK)
      2. 4.2.2 Radar Toolbox
      3. 4.2.3 mmWave DFP
      4. 4.2.4 mmWave Sensing Estimator
      5. 4.2.5 mmWave Studio
      6. 4.2.6 Code Composer Studio™
      7. 4.2.7 UniFlash
    3. 4.3 Find and Select the Right Partner Resource
  8. 5Development Phase
    1. 5.1 Primary and Secondary Bootloader
    2. 5.2 SDK
    3. 5.3 Compilers
    4. 5.4 RF Front-end Configurations and mmWave DFP
    5. 5.5 Safety Aspects
    6. 5.6 Security Aspects
    7. 5.7 Signal Processing Chain
      1. 5.7.1 How Can FMCW Radars Be Used?
    8. 5.8 MCAL and Autosar
    9. 5.9 Hardware Module Design
  9. 6Production Phase
    1. 6.1 Calibration
    2. 6.2 mmWave Production Testing
    3. 6.3 FCC and RED Compliance
    4. 6.4 Functional Safety Certification
    5. 6.5 Quality Process and Customer Returns
      1. 6.5.1 Customer Return Process
      2. 6.5.2 Reference
    6. 6.6 OTP KeyWriter
  10. 7Summary
  11. 8References

5.2 SDK

Figure 5-1 shows the SW modules in the SDK.

Software Block Diagram Figure 5-1 Software Block Diagram

Please use the file path below to refer to the readme document of the SDK. Users are encouraged to read through all the modules in Figure 5-1 to form a better understading on each of the blocks. AWR2944 has been used as a reference here.

ti/mmwave_mcuplus_sdk_xx_xx_xx_xx/mcu_plus_sdk_awr294x_xx_xx_xx_xx/docs/api_guide_awr294x/index.html

The mmWave SDK is split into two broad components: mmWave Suite and mmWave Demos.

mmWave Suite

mmWave Suite is the foundational software part of the mmWave SDK and encapsulates these smaller components:

  • Drivers (part of the MCU PLUS SDK): device drivers library and APIs for peripherals within the SOC. Examples include, I2C, GPIO, UART.
  • DPL (part of the MCU PLUS SDK): APIs used by drivers to abstract the OS environment. Examples include, Semaphore, HW interrupts, mutex, clock.
  • mmWaveLink and Firmware (part of the device firmware package - dfp)
  • mmWave API
  • Data processing layer (manager, processing units)
  • Board setup and flash utilities

mmWave Demos

SDK provides demos that depict the various control and data processing aspects of a mmWave application. Data visualization of the demo output on a PC is provided as part of these demos. These demos are example code that are provided to customers to understand the basics of the mmWave devices and the SDK. The demos also help users get started on developing custom applications.

Note: The best way to get started with the mmWave SDK is to start running one of the various demos that are provided as part of the package. TI mmWave EVM comes pre-flashed with the mmWave OOB demo. Sucessfully running the OOB demo is a paramount step to begin development on the mmWave sensors and is highly recommended for new developers.

The demos (source and pre-built binaries) are placed at mmwave_mcuplus_sdk_<ver>/ti/demo/<platform>/mmw/ folder.

Note: The millimeter wave demo shows some of the radar sensing and object detection capabilities of the SoC using the drivers in the mmWave SDK (Software Development Kit). This allows users to specify the chirping profile and displays the detected objects and other information in real-time. A detailed explanation of this demo is available in the demo docs folder and can be browsed by using this file path: mmwave_mcuplus_sdk_<ver>/ docs/mmwave_sdk_module_documentation.html. This demo ships out detected objects and other real-time information that can be visualized using the TI Gallery App mmWave_Demo_Visualizer.
Note: The MMWAVE MCUPLUS SDK User's Guide is an important document for all users. The document provides deep insights on getting started with the SDK, running the OOB demo, SDK radar processing chain, optimization techniques, and various debugging techniques to aid the users. The path for the document is provided below. C:\ti\mmwave_mcuplus_sdk_xx_xx_xx_xx\mmwave_mcuplus_sdk_xx_xx_xx_xx\docs

TI Reference Collaterals