Hi Gilad,

You are correct about getting zeros when using history and I am using
history. But, I am accounting for that by using the offset:

const gr_complex *current = (const gr_complex *)&((const gr_complex
*)input_items[0])[(history() -1)];

Also, if that is the case, shouldn't the behaviour be consistent across
unit-tests and flowgraph usage?

Regarding getting 0s from the device, I went through the discussion. I
agree to it. So, I'll have to account for the zero values. Any ideas on how
to do that?

The reason why I don't want to use an 'if' block is simply because the
situation of 0 values is expected to share a very small fraction of the
entire run and
to handle that small case, the regular cases will also necessarily have to
go through that additional 'if' check. I wanted to avoid that.

Regards,
Anshul

On 31 March 2018 at 10:37, Gilad Beeri (ApolloShield) <
[email protected]> wrote:

> Disclosure: I haven't looked at your code.
>
> 0 values can be presented in GNU Radio when you use history, because if
> your history is N, the first N-1 items are going to be zeros.
>
> Anyway, regarding your comment "it is not expected that a device/stream
> would ever spit out zero values.",
> I did have 0 values from a USRP device, see discussion in
> http://lists.ettus.com/pipermail/usrp-users_lists.
> ettus.com/2017-October/026851.html.
>
>
>
> On Sat, Mar 31, 2018 at 6:52 AM Anshul Thakur <[email protected]>
> wrote:
>
>> Michael, Marcus,
>>
>> Right now, the code is a work in progress so I haven't made a git
>> repository out of it. However, I have it on dropbox. Here's the link to the
>> source folder(p1_detector_impl.cc is the source in question):
>>
>> *https://www.dropbox.com/sh/blfmxsaidrkh28t/AAArp8IHavzCGFlJs6E6-Hrca?dl=0
>> <https://www.dropbox.com/sh/blfmxsaidrkh28t/AAArp8IHavzCGFlJs6E6-Hrca?dl=0>*
>>
>> As for Marcus's question regarding why use a circular buffer?
>>
>> It isn't exactly a circular buffer now, but more of a shift register. The
>> reasons are as follows:
>> 1. I needed running sums for correlations in B-Branch and C-Branch
>> correlators, and Power Sums (for average power) to normalize them. Then, I
>> also needed a finite delay buffer to delay the C-Branch before it gets
>> multiplied with the B-Branch.
>> 2. It kind of carried over from the last implementation attempt:
>>
>> Assertion: If a peak is detected after the multiplication, the signal
>> boundary is 1024 samples behind that index.
>>
>> Once the correlations crossed a threshold (the code entered state=1), 
>> *instead
>> of looking back, I then needed to look forward to see if it were a false
>> alarm or not*. So, I compute the correlations across all available
>> current inputs and try to find a peak. If a peak is found, enter state=3
>> where we do a correlation with the carrier distribution sequence after FFT
>> of all signals of interest. So, here, I not only needed just the single
>> value (the running sum), but the entire state of the delay register and the
>> B-Branch correlator.
>>
>> I hope I am able to convey the reason for implementing one myself.
>>
>> In the current implementation, I make an assumption that the threshold is
>> so high that only the desired signals would cross it (100-150 times the
>> average). So I skip the state=1 logic and directly go into state=2 logic of
>> aggressively doing a FFT and correlation with the CDS.
>>
>> However, I don't think this has a binding on the incoming values. Use of
>> buffers is internal to the implementation, I am just printing out the
>> current values as they arrive.
>>
>> For example, when I use the test file in 'make test', the values fed in
>> are non-zero from t=1. However, when using gnuradio-companion, t=56 line is
>> where the file source starts yielding proper inputs to my block. The stdout
>> prints of the initial values in both GRC and make tests are attached. The
>> gnuradio-companion version has my first 55 samples zeroed and the 56th
>> input onward is then same for both.
>>
>>
>> P.S.: The source stream is a 1.2 Gigs file, so haven't uploaded it. If
>> you'd like I can do that too. It was generated by using a DVB-T2 Tx block
>> and writing the output into a file sink.
>>
>> Warm regards,
>> Anshul Thakur
>>
>> On 31 March 2018 at 02:27, Müller, Marcus (CEL) <[email protected]> wrote:
>>
>>> Hi Anshul,
>>>
>>> you shouldn't have to have your own buffer for a running sum – can you
>>> explain why you're doing that?
>>> A running sum can trivially be implemented with the IIR filter block
>>> with Feed-Forward taps (1,) and Feed-back taps (1,0)!
>>> Where does in a running sum does a division take place?
>>>
>>> > (a) Why am I getting the initial zero samples from the file block in
>>> > gnuradio_companion and non-zero values when using a vector_source in
>>> > unit tests?
>>>
>>> If these zeros are not in the file you're reading, your block has a
>>> bug!
>>>
>>>
>>> > (b) What can I do about it (here specifically as a fix to the
>>> > situation, and a general guideline to always remember)?
>>>
>>> good question, but we'd need to know your code, your motivation for a
>>> circular buffer, and why you're implementing a running sum yourself!
>>>
>>> Best regards,
>>> Marcus
>>>
>>> On Fri, 2018-03-30 at 23:19 +0530, Anshul Thakur wrote:
>>> > Hi,
>>> >
>>> > I used a circular buffer of finite size to keep the past 'N' power
>>> > values of the sample stream in my block as a part of creating a
>>> > running sum. This buffer is initialized to 0 in the constructor.
>>> > The running sum of powers is used to compute the average power used
>>> > in computing signal correlation.
>>> >
>>> > I have a capture stream (cfile) to test the operation of the block.
>>> > The test case uses a vector_source_c block to read the contents of
>>> > the file into memory. The unit tests pass without error.
>>> >
>>> > However, when I use the block in a flowgraph in that reads the same
>>> > file from a file source block gnuradio_companion, I am getting the
>>> > first few sample values as 0 which cause a divide by zero
>>> > problem. This messes up the rest of the running sum. I don't want to
>>> > put an 'if' block that checks for the zero condition as it is not
>>> > expected that a device/stream would ever spit out zero values.
>>> >
>>> > (a) Why am I getting the initial zero samples from the file block in
>>> > gnuradio_companion and non-zero values when using a vector_source in
>>> > unit tests?
>>> >
>>> > (b) What can I do about it (here specifically as a fix to the
>>> > situation, and a general guideline to always remember)?
>>> >
>>> > I am using GNURadio version 3.7.12.
>>> >
>>> > Regards,
>>> > Anshul
>>> > _______________________________________________
>>> > Discuss-gnuradio mailing list
>>> > [email protected]
>>> > https://lists.gnu.org/mailman/listinfo/discuss-gnuradio
>>
>>
>> _______________________________________________
>> Discuss-gnuradio mailing list
>> [email protected]
>> https://lists.gnu.org/mailman/listinfo/discuss-gnuradio
>>
>
_______________________________________________
Discuss-gnuradio mailing list
[email protected]
https://lists.gnu.org/mailman/listinfo/discuss-gnuradio

Reply via email to