This Custom Device can be configured using a scripting API or a Parameters XML File. This XML file defines the messages, parameters, and other settings necessary to populate a valid configuration in the System Definition. This document explains the schema used for creating a Parameters XML File, shows example sections for different encoding configurations, and outlines the defined tags.
For the full schema file, see Parameters_XML_Schema.xsd in the same directory as this document.
<message>
<name>Latitude</name>
<address>
<terminalAddress>21</terminalAddress>
<subAddress>7</subAddress>
<direction>Tx</direction>
</address>
<messageType>RT to BC</messageType>
<numberOfWords>3</numberOfWords>
<createTimestampChannel>true</createTimestampChannel>
<parameters>
<parameter>
<encoding>BNR</encoding>
<signed>true</signed>
<startBit>16</startBit>
<numberOfBits>32</numberOfBits>
<scale>3600</scale>
<offset>0.0</offset>
<name>Parameter 0</name>
<unit>deg</unit>
<defaultValue>0.0</defaultValue>
</parameter>
</parameters>
</message><message>
<name>Longitude</name>
<address>
<terminalAddress>21</terminalAddress>
<subAddress>7</subAddress>
<direction>Rx</direction>
</address>
<messageType>BC to RT</messageType>
<numberOfWords>3</numberOfWords>
<createTimestampChannel>true</createTimestampChannel>
<parameters>
<parameter>
<encoding>BNR</encoding>
<signed>true</signed>
<startBit>16</startBit>
<numberOfBits>32</numberOfBits>
<scale>3600</scale>
<offset>0.0</offset>
<name>Parameter 0</name>
<unit>deg</unit>
<defaultValue>0.0</defaultValue>
</parameter>
</parameters>
</message><message>
<name>Position</name>
<address>
<terminalAddress>1</terminalAddress>
<subAddress>2</subAddress>
<direction>Tx</direction>
</address>
<address>
<terminalAddress>11</terminalAddress>
<subAddress>12</subAddress>
<direction>Rx</direction>
</address>
<messageType>RT to RT</messageType>
<numberOfWords>6</numberOfWords>
<createTimestampChannel>true</createTimestampChannel>
<parameters>
<parameter>
<encoding>BNR</encoding>
<signed>true</signed>
<startBit>16</startBit>
<numberOfBits>32</numberOfBits>
<scale>360000</scale>
<offset>0.0</offset>
<name>Latitude</name>
<unit>deg</unit>
<defaultValue>0.0</defaultValue>
</parameter>
<parameter>
<encoding>BNR</encoding>
<signed>true</signed>
<startBit>64</startBit>
<numberOfBits>32</numberOfBits>
<scale>360000</scale>
<offset>0.0</offset>
<name>Longitude</name>
<unit>deg</unit>
<defaultValue>0.0</defaultValue>
</parameter>
</parameters>
</message><message>
<name>Missile Status</name>
<address>
<terminalAddress>4</terminalAddress>
<subAddress>9</subAddress>
<direction>Tx</direction>
</address>
<address>
<terminalAddress>13</terminalAddress>
<subAddress>9</subAddress>
<direction>Rx</direction>
</address>
<messageType>RT to RT</messageType>
<numberOfWords>6</numberOfWords>
<createTimestampChannel>true</createTimestampChannel>
</message>Notes:
- The above snippet will result in six VeriStand channels. Six words are transmitted from terminal address 4, subaddress 9 to terminal address 13, subaddress 9. Each U16 word is mapped to a VS channel. The default value for each VS channel will be 0.0.
<message>
<name>"MC 16"</name>
<modeCode>16</modeCode>
<messageType>MC</messageType>
<numberOfWords>1</numberOfWords>
<address>
<terminalAddress>1</terminalAddress>
<subAddress>31</subAddress>
<direction>Tx</direction>
</address>
</message>
<message>
<name>"MC 17"</name>
<modeCode>17</modeCode>
<messageType>MC</messageType>
<numberOfWords>1</numberOfWords>
<address>
<terminalAddress>21</terminalAddress>
<subAddress>31</subAddress>
<direction>Rx</direction>
</address>
</message>Notes:
- The default value for VS channels for "MC 16" and "Mc 17" words will be 0.0.
<version>1.1</version>
<channel>
<hardwareChannel>0</hardwareChannel>
<busController>
<simulate>true</simulate>
</busController>
<terminals>
<terminal>
<terminalAddress>0</terminalAddress>
</terminal>
<terminal>
<terminalAddress>1</terminalAddress>
<terminalName>"LRU Altimeter"</terminalName>
</terminal>
</terminals>
</channel>Notes:
- By specifying version 1.1 and the
<busController>element, remote terminal address 0 is made available. - In order to use this schema in the parameters file, you need to specify
<version>1.1</version>or higher in the xml - The
<busController>element requires a property<simulate>which specifies whether the bus controller is simulated by the custom device not. If simulate is false, it is assumed that a bus controller exists elsewhere on the network. - Messages may refer to terminals not explicitly included in this section. It is assumed that these terminals are implemented by other software or by physical nodes connected to the 1553 hardware channel.
- Specified terminal at terminalAddress = 0 creates a terminal with a default name. Default names are defined as 'Remote Terminal <%02d>'
- Specified terminal at terminalAddress = 1 is given a custom name "LRU Altimeter".
- Subaddresses are not defined explicitly in the
<terminals>definition; instead, subaddresses are implicitly defined when a message defines an endpoint on a simulated terminal.
<channel>
<hardwareChannel>0</hardwareChannel>
<terminals>
<terminal>
<terminalAddress>0</terminalAddress>
</terminal>
<terminal>
<terminalAddress>1</terminalAddress>
<terminalName>"LRU Altimeter"</terminalName>
</terminal>
</terminals>
</channel>Notes:
- If no version is specified in the parameters file, this is what will be used
- Defines terminals (BC and RTs) to populate.
- Messages may refer to terminals not explicitly included in this section. It is assumed that these terminals are implemented by other software or by physical nodes connected to the 1553 hardware channel.
- Specifying a terminal at terminalAddress = 0 defines the bus controller.
- Terminal at terminalAddress = 1 is given a custom name "LRU Altimeter". By default, remote terminals are named according to the terminal address-specific format: 'Remote Terminal <%02d>'
- Subaddresses are not defined explicitly in the
terminalsdefinition; instead, subaddresses are implicitly defined when a message defines an endpoint on a simulated terminal.
<acyclicFrame>
<name>acyclicFrame ID56</name>
<createTriggerChannel>true</createTriggerChannel>
</acyclicFrame>Notes:
- name must match the acyclicFrame name property in the hardware configuration file.
The following table describes the XML elements, or tags, you can use in a Parameters XML file.
| Element | Required? | Element Type | Min/Max Occurrences | Description |
|---|---|---|---|---|
<version> |
No | string | 0/1 | Version of the parameters file. Some features that were added after initial release are only accessible by including the version. |
<channel> |
Yes | complex | 1/unbounded | Opening tag for a channel definition. |
→<hardwareChannel> |
Yes | integer | 1 | Specifies the Hardware Channel used. Range is: [0:1]. |
→<busController> |
Yes | complex | 12 | Opening tag for bus controller definition. Required if parameter file version is 1.1 or greater. |
→→<simulate> |
Yes | boolean | 1 | Specifies whether the bus controller should be simulated by the custom device. A value of true will add a bus controller, and a value of false assumes the bus controller exists elsewhere on the network. |
→→<name> |
Yes | string | 0/1 | Specifies the bus controller name. If this tag is empty or not found, the default terminal name is "Bus Controller". |
→<terminals> |
No | complex | 0/12 | Opening tag for terminals (remote terminals) definition. |
→→<terminal> |
Yes | complex | 1/32 | Opening tag for terminal definition. |
→→→<terminalAddress> |
Yes | integer | 1 | Specifies the remote terminal address. Range is: [0:31]. Remote terminal will have value 0..30. Value of 31 reserved for broadcast messages. |
→→→<terminalName> |
No | string | 0/1 | Specifies the terminal name. If this tag is empty or not found, the default terminal name is 'Remote Terminal <%02d>'. |
→<message> |
Yes | complex | 1/unbounded | Opening tag for data message or mode code definition. |
→→<name> |
Yes | string | 1 | Specifies the message name. |
→→<messageType> |
Yes | string | 1 | Specifies the message type. Supported values: "BC to RT" - Bus Controller to Remote Terminal. "RT to BC" - Remote Terminal to Bus Controller. "RT to RT" - Remote Terminal to Remote Terminal. "MC" - Mode Code. |
→→<numberOfWords> |
Yes | integer | 1 | Specifies the number of words in the message at the sub-address. Range is: [1:32]. |
→→<modeCode> |
No | integer | 0/1 | Specifies the value of the modeCode. |
→→<createTimestampChannel> |
No | boolean | 0/1 | Specifies whether a VeriStand Channel should be created for the label timestamp. This property is supported only for a receive (Rx) label, not for a transmit (Tx) label. Default Value (if XML element is absent) is false. |
→→<address> |
Yes | complex | 1/2 | Opening tag for address definition. RT to RT message types require two address definitions. |
→→→<terminalAddress> |
Yes | integer | 1 | Specifies the remote terminal address. Range is: [0:31]. |
→→→<subAddress> |
Yes | integer | 1 | Specifies the subaddress of the Remote terminal. Range is: [0:31]. |
→→→<direction> |
Yes | string | 1 | Specifies whether the channel is incoming (Rx) or outgoing (Tx). |
→→<parameters> |
No | complex | 0/1 | Opening tag for a parameters definitions. |
→→→<parameter> |
No | complex | 1/unbounded | Opening tag for a Parameter definition. |
→→→→<encoding> |
Yes | string | 1 | Specifies the Encoding for the Parameter. Supported values: BNR (default) - Binary Number Representation. Discrete - Individual bit. |
→→→→<signed> |
No | boolean | 0/1 | Specifies whether Parameter is signed. It applies only to BNR encoding. |
→→→→<startBit> |
Yes | integer | 1 | Specifies the Start Bit for the Parameter. Indexes are zero-based. Range is: [0:511]. |
→→→→<numberOfBits> |
Yes | integer | 1 | Specifies the number of bits for the Parameter. Range accepted is: [1:53]. Number of bits is limited by the number of bits used to store the mantissa in a double-precision floating point number used to transfer values in VeriStand. |
→→→→<scale> |
No | xs:double | 0/1 | Specifies the multiplier to scale from raw data to engineering units. If no scaling is to be applied, value should be set to 1.0. |
→→→→<offset> |
No | double | 0/1 | Specifies the offset value to apply when scaling from raw data to engineering units. If no offset is to be applied, value should be set to 0.0. |
→→→→<name> |
Yes | string | 1/32 | Specifies, for each Parameter, the name to be used in VeriStand. When Parameter encoding is set to Discrete, each Parameter (each bit) must have an instance of that <name>. |
→→→→<unit> |
No | string | 0/1 | Specifies, for each Parameter, the unit to be used in VeriStand. |
→→→→<defaultValue> |
No1 | double | 0/1 | Specifies, for each Parameter, the Default Value to be used for the associated VeriStand Channel. For explicitly defined parameters used in Tx messages, this XML Element must be present for each parameter. For Parameters used in Tx message, when Parameter <encoding> is set to Discrete, each Parameter (each bit) uses the specified <defaultValue>. |
→<acyclicFrame> |
Yes | complex | 1/unbounded | Opening tag for acyclic frame definition. |
→→<name> |
Yes | string | 1 | Specifies the acyclic frame name. This must match the name in the hardware configuration file. |
→→<createTriggerChannel> |
No | boolean | 1 | Specifies whether to create a trigger channel on the bus controller for the acyclic frame. The default is false. |
Notes:
- For Tx parameters,
<defaultValue>must be present. <busController>element was added in version 1.1. If using an older version, it is not required. Additionally, the<terminals>element is no longer required in version 1.1.