Using the STIX Ground Unit

From stix
Revision as of 10:40, 18 May 2021 by Daniel.ryan (talk | contribs) (→‎How to Connect to the GUC)
Jump to: navigation, search

The STIX ground unit (GU) is a partial replica of the STIX instrument stored in a clean room at PSI. The ground unit computer (GUC) can be accessed remotely and used to test telecommands, IORs, etc. on the GU before being used onboard STIX itself.

1 Required Software

In order to remotely access the GUC, you will need to install the following software locally:

2 GUC Interface Hierarchy

Interfacing the the GUC requires a hierarchy of GSE software all of which, with the exception of TeamViewer, is installed on the GUC.

  • CMDVS: Interfaces directly with the GU
  • TSC: Accepts telecommands, e.g. as defined in an IOR, and passes them onto CMDVS to be executed by the GU
  • STIX-SIRIUS: Provides a more user-friendly interface on top of TSC that enables small numbers of commands to be sent more easily. Also enables the status of the GU to be more easily and quickly monitored.
  • TeamViewer: Software on local user machine that facilitates remote connection to the GUC.

3 How to Connect to the GUC

  • Connect local machine to the GUC computer
    • Open TeamViewer
    • Set the Partner ID to 1005807352, select "Remote Control" and enter the relevant password. This should log you into the GUC.
    • You should see a Windows log in screen. In the TeamViewer banner at the top of the screen, click Actions -> Send Ctrl + Alt + Del and log in as cmdvs. (For the password, contact Hualin Xiao hualin.xiao@fhnw.ch or Dan Ryan daniel.ryan@fhnw.ch)
  • Connect CMDVS to the ground unit.
    • Open CMDVS by double clicking on the shortcut on the desktop.
    • Set CMDVS to On-line Mode by clicking Mode -> On-line Mode
    • Open System Control window by clicking Control -> System Control.
  • Power on the GU
    • Through the CMDVS System Control window, power on the GU. Click the PFE button, then toggle the Bus A power button, followed by the Module 01 power button.
    • Activate control by clicking the DFE tab in the System Control window. In the "IO Activation Control", enter "201" and click Activate. (Note that 202 is to power off.)
    • Wait about 10 seconds, then connect the Spacewire link. In the CMDVS SFE tab, click "Open", then "Start".
    • Confirm the GU is on by clicking the PFE tab in the System Status window. The Power should be ~3.2 W.
  • Open TSC & connect CMDVS.
    • Open TSC by double clicking shortcut on the desktop
    • Load the instrument database (similar to MIB). Click File -> Load DB
    • Connect to CMDVS by clicking Data Souce -> cmdvs and then click Data Source -> Connect. Packets should start appearing.
  • Open SIRIUS to monitor packets in more detail
    • Double click SIRIUS shortcut on desktop to open SIRIUS
    • Run a script in TSC to connect to SIRIUS. In the Test Sequence window in TSC, click on the Common_Scripts tab and find SIRIUS.tcl. Right click and select Exec
    • Finish connecting SIRIUS to TSC by going to SIRIUS and in the Mode etc. tab, click Request CMDVS Remote Control. To confirm the operation has been carried out, open the Reports/Packets tab and confirm packets are coming in.

4 How to Test an IOR on the GU

  • Identify the IOR file you wish to test. It must be a .tcl file.
    • To create a .tcl file from a .SOL file, load the .SOL into STIX-Starlet and click the .tcl button in the STIX-Starlet toolbar. Alternatively, you have just created the IOR and it is still open in STIX-Starlet, simply click the .tcl button.
  • Upload the .tcl file to the GSE computer via the the TeamViewer banner at the top of the page. Click Files & Extras -> Open File Transfer.
    • In the window that pops up, select the file on your local machine via the file system on the left.
    • Select the location to which to transfer the file on the GSE computer via the filesystem on the right. You should pick D:/Personal Folders/YourName where YourName is a directory labelled with your name.
      • If you don't have a directory, create one by right clicking in the Personal Folders and selecting the appropriate option from the menu that appears.
    • Transfer the file by clicking the "Send" button above the left filesystem.
  • Add the .tcl file to TSC.
    • Test Sequence Files window (top right), click Add. Select folder in which the file you want is located. This opens a new tab within the Test Sequence Files window which shows contents of that folder.


  • Open and connect CMDVS, TSC, and SIRIUS as described #How to Connect to the GUC.
  • Synchronise time codes between CMDVS and GU. In SIRIUS Mode etc. tab, click "Enable timecode", Enable TC(9, 129), and Enable TC(20, 128).
  • Set GU to the mode that the IOR assumed STIX will be in. This is usually Nominal. Click AUTONOMINAL on the SIRIUS Mode etc. tab.
  • Execute TCL script. In the Test Sequence Files windowof TSC, click the "Add" button. Locate the folder containg the tcl file. If followed above, it's Personal Folders/You Name.
    • Right click the tcl you want and click Exec.
  • Confirm commands ran on GU without problem on SIRIUS. If there are errors, the telecommand with appear in red.
  • Once test is done, return GU to SAFE mode by goign to SIRIUS, Mode etc. tab and clicking SAFE mode.
  • Log out of GUC by going to TeamViewer banner and clicking Actions -> End Session.
Retrieved from "https://pub023.cs.technik.fhnw.ch/wiki/index.php?title=Using_the_STIX_Ground_Unit&oldid=11923"