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authorBen Hilburn <ben.hilburn@ettus.com>2014-02-14 12:05:07 -0800
committerBen Hilburn <ben.hilburn@ettus.com>2014-02-14 12:05:07 -0800
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+========================================================================
+UHD - System Configuration for USRP X3x0 Series
+========================================================================
+
+.. contents:: Table of Contents
+
+------------------------------------------------------------------------
+Configuring your Host PC
+------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+The USRP X3x0 is capable of delivering very fast sample rates to the host PC,
+and even high-powered desktops can have trouble keeping up at the higher rates.
+You can improve the performance of your host by configuring a number of
+settings that affect the performance of your computer.
+
+These are:
+
+ * Kernel Version
+ * Network Configuration
+ * Power Management Configuration
+ * Real-Time & Priority Scheduling
+ * Building with ORC & Volk
+
+These items are covered in more detail, below.
+
+^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
+Kernel Version
+^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
+Performance issues may be encountered with Linux kernels earlier than 3.11.
+Ettus Research strongly recommends using kernel version 3.11 or higher for high
+sample rates.
+
+^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
+Network Configuration
+^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
+When using Ethernet interfaces to communicate with the device, it is necessary
+to configure a number of facets regarding your network connection.
+
+Configuring NetworkManager
+-------------------------------------
+Fedora and Ubuntu both use NetworkManager to manage network connections.
+Unfortunately, NetworkManager often tries to take control of a connection and
+will disconnect the interface.
+
+You should open your NetworkManager configuration and tell it to ignore the
+network interface you are using. **This is not the same as simply setting
+a static IP address.** You *must* tell NetworkManager to ignore the interface.
+
+Configuring the Socket Buffers
+-------------------------------------
+It is necessary to increase the maximum size of the socket buffers to avoid
+potential overflows and underruns at high sample rates. Add the following
+entries into /etc/sysctl.conf (root privileges required):
+
+::
+
+ net.core.rmem_max=33554432
+ net.core.wmem_max=33554432
+
+Either restart the system or issue the following commands:
+
+::
+
+ sudo sysctl -w net.core.rmem_max=33554432
+ sudo sysctl -w net.core.wmem_max=33554432
+
+
+Configuring the MTU
+-------------------------------------
+In order to achieve maximum performance, we recommend setting the MTU size to
+9000 for 10 GigE and 1500 for 1 GigE. It is possible to use smaller MTUs, but this
+can affect performance. With some NICs, setting the MTU too high can also cause issues,
+though. To set the MTU to 9000, you can use the following command:
+
+::
+
+ sudo ifconfig <interface> mtu 9000 # For 10 GigE
+
+Using these MTUs will set the frame sizes for UHD communication to 8000 and 1472,
+respectively.
+
+In some cases, specifying the frame size manually by adding the argument
+"<send/recv>_frame_size=1472" can solve issues. Note that a frame size of 1472 will limit
+the available sampling rate, although this is likely not a problem issue on 1 GigE.
+
+
+Configuring the Firewall
+-------------------------------------
+Many Linux distributions come installed with a Firewall, by default. The
+Firewall will often interfere with your ability to communicate with your USRP.
+You should configure your firewall to "trust" the interface you are using.
+Setting this properly depends on your OS and firewall configuration method.
+
+Interface Configuration File (Fedora)
+-------------------------------------
+On Fedora systems, you can configure the network interface mostly from one
+place (with the exception of the socket buffers). Each interface on your system
+should have a file in:
+
+::
+
+ /etc/sysconfig/network-scripts/
+
+As an example, if your 1GigE interface is "em1", your "ifcfg-em1" configuration
+file should look something like this, when configured for use with a USRP X3xx:
+
+::
+
+ TYPE="Ethernet"
+ BOOTPROTO="none"
+ IPADDR0="192.168.10.1"
+ DEFROUTE="yes"
+ IPV4_FAILURE_FATAL="no"
+ IPV6INIT="no"
+ IPV6_FAILURE_FATAL="no"
+ NAME="em1"
+ UUID="<specific to your device>"
+ ONBOOT="no"
+ HWADDR"<specific to your device>"
+ PEERDNS="yes"
+ PEERROUTES="yes"
+ ZONE="trusted"
+ MTU="9000"
+ NM_MANAGED="no"
+
+The above file was generated and modified on a "Fedora 20" system.
+
+^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
+Power Management
+^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
+Power management on the host system attempts to save power by reducing clock
+frequencies or even powering off devices while not in use. This can lead to
+significant performance issues when trying to operate at high sample rates.
+Ettus Research strongly recommends disabling all power management.
+
+
+Setting the CPU Governors
+-------------------------------------
+In Linux, the CPU governors dictate the frequency at which the CPU operates and
+attempt to reduce the CPU frequencies at certain times to save power. When
+running at high sample rates, reduction of CPU frequencies can cause
+significant performance issues. To prevent those issues, set the governor to
+"performance".
+
+**Ubuntu:**
+1. Install cpufrequtils:
+
+::
+
+ sudo apt-get install cpufrequtils
+
+2. Edit /etc/init.d/cpufrequtils and set GOVERNOR="performance" on the appropriate line (run as root):
+
+::
+
+ sed s/^GOVERNOR=.*$/GOVERNOR=\"performance\"/g /etc/init.d/cpufrequtils > /etc/init.d/cpufrequtils
+
+3. Restart cpufrequtils:
+
+::
+
+ sudo /etc/init.d/cpufrequtils restart
+
+**Fedora:**
+
+::
+
+ sudo cpupower frequency-set -g performance
+
+^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
+Real-Time & Priority Scheduling
+^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
+Enabling real-time and priority scheduling can improve the total processing
+throughput of your application. Priority scheduling should be enabled for UHD,
+and real-time scheduling can be enabled by your application.
+
+Thread Priority Scheduling with UHD
+-------------------------------------
+For information regarding how to enable priority scheduling for UHD on your
+system, please see the `General UHD Notes <./general.html#threading-notes>`_.
+
+Real-Time Scheduling in your Application
+----------------------------------------
+Please note that turning on real-time scheduling in your application **may lock
+up your computer** if the processor cannot keep up with the application. You
+should generally avoid using real-time scheduling unless you need to.
+
+Real-time scheduling is enabled via different methods depending on your
+application and operating system. In GNU Radio Companion, it can be turned on in
+each individual flowgraph.
+
+^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
+Building with ORC & Volk
+^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
+Especially when running high-performance applications, processing performance
+can be dramatically improved by SIMD instructions. UHD uses ORC to provide SIMD
+capability, and GNU Radio includes a SIMD library called "Volk". These should
+both be used to guarantee optimum performance.
+
+Compiling UHD with ORC
+-------------------------------------
+ORC, the `Oil Runtime Compiler <http://code.entropywave.com/orc/>`_, is
+a third-party compiler that UHD uses to create efficient SIMD code for your
+particular computer. ORC is generally easily installed from your OS's package
+manager.
+
+On Fedora:
+
+::
+
+ $ sudo yum update; sudo yum install orc-compiler orc-devel
+
+On Ubuntu:
+
+::
+
+ $ sudo apt-get update; sudo apt-get install liborc-<version> liborc-<version>-dev
+
+After installing ORC, when building UHD from source, you should see "ORC" as
+one of the configured UHD components.
+
+::
+
+ -- ######################################################
+ -- # UHD enabled components
+ -- ######################################################
+ -- * LibUHD
+ <cut for brevity>
+ -- * ORC
+
+Compiling GNURadio with Volk
+-------------------------------------
+If you are using GNURadio to build applications, you should compile GNURadio
+with Volk. For instructions on how to do this, `refer to the GNURadio wiki
+<http://gnuradio.org/redmine/projects/gnuradio/wiki/Volk>`_.
+
+
+------------------------------------------------------------------------
+Host PC Hardware Selection
+------------------------------------------------------------------------
+^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
+Motherboard
+^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
+Testing has shown that some motherboards do not provide enough PCIe bus
+bandwidth to support higher sample rates. Motherboards with PCIe 3.0 are
+required and the PCIe architecture of the motherboard should be carefully
+considered. Slots with dedicated PCIe lanes should be used for PCIe or 10GbE
+cards that will be connected to the X3x0 device.
+
+^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
+10GbE NIC
+^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
+Intel or Myricom 10GbE NICs are recommended. Mellanox, SolarFlare, and Chelsio
+10GbE NICs are not currently recommended. The Ethernet card should be plugged
+into the slot that has the most direct connection with the CPU (PCIe lanes are
+not shared with another slot). Refer to the motherboard manual for more
+information on PCIe architecture.
+
+------------------------------------------------------------------------
+Troubleshooting Performance Issues
+------------------------------------------------------------------------
+The output on the host console provides indicators of performance issues in the
+form of single upper-case letters. The following table lists the letters,
+their meanings, and possible causes:
+
+========= ====================== ====================================================================
+Indicator Meaning Possible Causes
+========= ====================== ====================================================================
+O Overflow on RX - Data is not being consumed by user's application fast enough.
+ - CPU governor or other power management not configured correctly.
+D Dropped packet on RX - Network hardware failure. (Check host NIC, cable, switch, etc...)
+ - PCIe bus on host cannot sustain throughput. (Check ethtool -S <interface>).
+ - CPU governor or other power management not configured correctly.
+ - Frame size might not work with the current NIC's MTU.
+U Underflow on TX - Samples are not being produced by user's application fast enough.
+ - CPU governor or other power management not configured correctly.
+L Late packet - Samples are not being produced by user's application fast enough.
+ (usually on MIMO TX) - CPU governor or other power management not configured correctly.
+ - Incorrect/invalid time_spec provided.
+S Sequence error on TX - Network hardware failure. (Check host NIC, cable, switch, etc...)
+ - Frame size might not work with the current NIC's MTU.
+========= ====================== ====================================================================
+
+^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
+Troubleshooting Ethernet Issues
+^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
+1. First, check 'ifconfig <interface>' to see if there are any errors reported
+ on the interface. If there are errors, it is most likely a network hardware
+ problem.
+2. Next, check the output of 'ethtool -S <interface>'. The output is
+ driver-specific, but may give important clues as to what may be happening.
+ For example, a high value on rx_missed_errors for an Intel NIC indicates
+ that the bus (i.e. PCIe) is not keeping up.
+3. Finally, Wireshark can be used to validate the traffic between the host and
+ device and make sure there is no unwanted traffic on the interface.
+