Does the “Read and Process Raw ADC Data in Real-time from TI mmWave Radar Using DCA1000” example only support the default config file?

I am using the official example “Read and Process Raw ADC Data in Real-time from TI mmWave Radar Board Using DCA1000EVM Capture Card.”

My question is:

Does this example only work with the default configuration file included in the MATLAB example, or can I flash and use a custom radar configuration (.cfg) through TI Uniflash and still collect raw ADC data correctly through DCA1000?

Answer 1

[Nithin]

Hi @Shu,

Yes, the example: “Read and Process Raw ADC Data in Real-time from TI mmWave Radar Board Using DCA1000EVM Capture Card.” works with custom radar configuration ".cfg" also. The "dca1000" System object’s constructor allows a "ConfigFile" name-value argument which tells MATLAB (and the capture card) to use that ".cfg" file instead of the default config. The documentation explicitly notes that parameters like number of ADC samples, number of receivers, number of chirps, which determine the size and structure of the raw IQ data cube, are derived from the configuration file.

So, using a custom ".cfg" that defines a valid radar waveform and ADC setup works fine for raw ADC capture via "DCA1000", and the resulting data cube will reflect your custom settings.

Make sure that the config defines a radar setup compatible with the "EVM + DCA1000" capture path and the host (MATLAB + DCA1000) must interpret the data according to the same parameters defined in the ".cfg".

Please refer to the following documenation for better understanding:

Configuring Radar: https://www.mathworks.com/help/radar/ug/configure-radar-using-a-configuration-cfg-file-for-reading-raw-adc-iq-data.html

dca100: https://www.mathworks.com/help/radar/ref/dca1000-system-object.html

Hope this resolves your query.