Hello,

 

Thanks for the note below. 

 

I am reading an older email exchange between Josh Blum and a guest. Josh
mentioned that there is a downstream block (in GRC I guess) that can use the
timestamp tag to decide which samples are to be stored. Also there appears
to be metadata utility to use. Maybe these magic functions such as stream
tags (or) and get_time_last_pps to get the job done. So far I have used none
of these utilities. My goal here is trying to avoid using the PPS if
possible. Since the data gathering is done infrequently, I tend to think
that the PPS can be avoided. I am trying not to use the PPS at least for
this phase of the development. Yes for the next phase with enhanced
capabilities, the external reference need will resurrect again. But it is
better not to use the PPS right now, unless I am wrong here and need
re-education of the USRP. The mimo cable is not an option since the 2 units
are not co-located.

 

So is it possible to do the downstream block and metadata stream tags in GRC
(currently using UHD source block and file sink block)?

 

Thanks very much,

 

LD

 

From: John Malsbury [mailto:[email protected]] 
Sent: Thursday, January 03, 2013 11:24 PM
To: LD Zhang
Cc: [email protected]
Subject: Re: [Discuss-gnuradio] How do I capture of the time of USRP N210
samples with host computer system time?

 

You can get the synchronize two USRPs with an external reference or a USRP
MIMO <https://www.ettus.com/product/details/MIMO-CBL>  cable, and specifying
the time to start streaming for both.

-John




On Thu, Jan 3, 2013 at 11:18 PM, LD Zhang <[email protected]> wrote:

Hi Folks,

 

We are testing 2 USRP N210 units with data gathering (using GRC source and
file sink). The command from the host to the N210 is sent at the
approximately simultaneous time (referenced to system NTP time). However,
the samples gathered from the 2 units appear to differ by as much as 0.4-0.5
seconds! The intention is to gather data at the 2 units at approximately the
same time as the pre-programmed system time commands. The gathering is done
with the top_block.py code generated from GRC. What happens inside the USRP
appears to be beyond my control here. So the natural thing to do here is to
time-stamp the samples with host computer system time. I hope that we don't
have to use an external reference for the USRP. Isn't there an internal USRP
clock that is continuously counting. If we can get the USRP clock counts to
tie together the samples counts and the host computer system time, we would
be in good shape. Is this a good idea? 

 

Your thoughts and help are appreciated.

 

LD Zhang


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