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72XX Antenna Control Units 1 OF 8

Longview, TX Facility
(With VCPU 201358-01 & Version 4 Firmware)

WARNING
This procedure will erase the ACU NVRAM database. This includes site data,
antenna parameters, the target data base, and OPT solutions.

PURPOSE
This procedure describes the steps for upgrading the 7200/7205/7210 Antenna
Control Unit (ACU) firmware on VCPU boards (201358-01), using the Version 4
FLASH command to copy an image from a PC.

SCOPE
This operational procedure is applicable when upgrading factory installed Version 4
firmware on the 72xx family of Antenna Control Units (ACU) for the following:

„ Field upgrades of VCPU (201358-01) ACU firmware.

NOTE
This procedure may ONLY be used to upgrade CPU boards running
Version 4.XX ACU firmware.

For V3.XX FLASH instructions, see document CG-5546

V2.xx does not provide support for the FLASH command

PERSONNEL RESPONSIBLE FOR IMPLEMENTATION

Manufacturing, Project Engineering, Field Services, R&D departments as necessary,

and site Maintenance Engineers upon VertexRSI recommendation only.

To successfully complete this procedure you must be familiar with the terminal
software on your laptop or PC and have a working knowledge of the Vertex
Control Systems Division ACU product you need to program, particularly the type
of CPU board used.
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DESCRIPTION
This procedure describes the steps required to upgrade a VCPU board, using the
Version 4 FLASH command to copy an image from a PC. The VCPU board has 4
Mbytes of FLASH memory for use as System PROM, mapped to the following VME
addresses:

$FD00 0000 … FD0F FFFF --- FLASH Bank 0 (bootable)

$FD10 0000 … FD1F FFFF --- FLASH Bank 1
$FD20 0000 … FD2F FFFF --- FLASH Bank 2
$FD30 0000 … FD3F FFFF --- FLASH Bank 3

In factory a “bootable” firmware image is programmed on Bank 0 (the first Mbyte

of FLASH). The Version 4-firmware images are about 640 Kbytes in size.

The method described in this procedure requires an operational ACU system

running Version 4 firmware and with a RS232 serial port available to configure as a
Menu Tree Remote M&C shell (MT M&C).

Some preparation and planning must precede the execution of this procedure. As a
minimum, you will need to obtain the following:

„ a binary image (electronic file) of the firmware you need to duplicate.

„ The equipment described below (and this procedure).

WARNING
This procedure will erase the ACU NVRAM database. This includes site data,
antenna parameters; the target data base, and OPT solutions.

Record all user parameters BEFORE executing this procedure, and then re-enter
them as necessary once the new ACU firmware is operational. For that purpose a
worksheet is provided in Appendix A to facilitate recording the user parameters or
if the ACU is using V4.3 or higher firmware an automatic full parameter download
to a PC is available (Reference VertexRSI Document #CG-1295). This is extremely
important in the case of upgrades to ACU systems already in service.
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TECHNICAL SUPPORT

Read over the following procedure before attempting to program your VCPU. If there
are any questions concerning this procedure, or technical support is needed, please
contact VertexRSI (903)295-1480 or send a fax to the attention of the Technical
Support department at (903)295-1479 or email at support@vcsd.com
(Website is www.vcsd.com).

EQUIPMENT REQUIRED

• Phillips screwdriver for #10-32 screws

• A VertexRSI 72XX ACU with V4.XX firmware
• Laptop or PC with available serial port and terminal software (i.e. Tera Term,
ProComm, HyperTerminal, etc.) capable of binary data transfers using
Xmodem with CRC checksums.
• The laptop or PC must have the binary image (electronic file) of the upgrade
on a hard disk (not a floppy drive).
• An RS-232 serial communication cable. The pin out of the interconnecting
cable must be set up as follows:

D-sub 9-pin female D-sub 25-pin male Modular wire color

Connect to PC Connect to CPU
2 2 Black
3 3 Yellow
5 7 Green
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Longview, TX Facility
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PROCEDURE

1. Record all user parameters in ACU NVRAM using the worksheets contained
in Appendix A OR the parameters can be downloaded using the DOWNLOAD-
PARAMS command per VertexRSI procedure CG-1295 (the DOWNLOAD-
PARAMS command is only available in firmware version 4.3 or higher).

WARNING
This procedure will erase the ACU NVRAM database. This includes site data,
antenna parameters, the target data base, and OPT solutions. Make sure the ACU
parameters have been properly recorded in the preceding worksheet.

WARNING
This procedure must be performed with the system in STANDBY.

All tracking operations must be halted prior to proceeding.

2. Place the ACU in Standby mode.

3. FLASH memory on the VCPU is protected by DIP switch settings. To enable

writing to FLASH memory it is necessary to access the front of the CPU
board and change DIP switches.

a) Attain access to the top cover of the 7200 ACU.

b) Remove the screws in front of the hinge, near the edges of the top cover.
c) Open the top cover of the ACU chassis (or the Servo Control Unit on
7210 systems).
d) Locate DIP switch number S6 on the front left side of the printed circuit
board (PCB). Set DIP switch S6 1,2,3,4 to the ON position to enable
writing to FLASH memory.

The VCPU board (201358-01) is located in slot 1 of the VME card cage and the
front panel looks like this:
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Hex Rotary Switch S2 – This rotary switch is used to determine which firmware to
run when the system is powered on. The VCPU contains enough flash memory to
hold four unique versions of application code (each of these four allocations in
memory is referred to as a boot bank). This is useful when upgrading the 7200 ACU
firmware because the new image can be uploaded to another boot bank, the rotary
switch can be changed, and the ACU can be booted up with the new application
firmware without erasing the original factory supplied application code. The rotary
switch positions and their respective functions are defined in the table below:

TABLE 2-2 VCPU S2 HEX ROTARY SWITCH POSITIONS DEFINITION

S2 SWITCH POSITION DESCRIPTION
0 (Factory Setting) On power-up, run the application firmware contained in boot bank 0.
1 On power-up, run the application firmware contained in boot bank 1.
2 On power-up, run the application firmware contained in boot bank 2.
3 On power-up, run the application firmware contained in boot bank 3.
4-D Unused (currently these positions are treated like position E).
On power-up, run the MONDO Monitor program. MONDO is a low level monitor
program used by VertexRSI to power-up, test and program a new 7200 ACU.
E MONDO uses an ASCII based protocol to interface with a PC via a terminal program
via serial port 0 (front panel display or serial port 1 – J14 on the rear of the 7200).

F On power-up, run the Swift X talker (Used by VertexRSI software developers only)

DIP Switch S6 – This DIP switch directly controls various hardware related board
functions as defined in the following table:
TABLE 2-4 VCPU S6 DIP SWITCH POSITIONS DEFINITION
S6 SWITCH POSITION OFF POSITION (SWITCH OPEN) ON POSITION (SWITCH CLOSED)
1-4 Flash Write Disabled ♦♥ Flash Write Enabled
5 EEPROM Write Disabled♦ EEPROM Write Enabled
6 Normal Operation♦ Hold the VCPU board in Reset
7 CPU Watchdog Disable♦ CPU Watchdog Enable
8 Board Reset Disabled Board Reset Enabled♦
♦ Denotes the normal operating position of the switch (factory setting).
♥To program the flash boot banks with new application code, S6 pos 1-4 must be in the ON position; after programming is
complete, return these four switches to the OFF position.
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4. Connect the PC or laptop RS-232 port to an RS-232 port (typically Port 1 –

J14 connector on the rear of the 7200) on the CPU using the RS-232 Serial
Communication Cable referenced in the EQUIPMENT REQUIRED section in
this document. Typically, the 7200 ACU utilizes RS-422 on ports 3-7. 7205
and 7210 systems may have custom port configurations. Port 0 is always
reserved for the front panel console and should not be used.

NOTE
On most laptops COM1: is the only available serial port (RS-232);
if using a PC make sure to connect to the correct COM port.

Make sure the communications parameters in the terminal program match

those of the ACU. The ACU communications parameters are found in the
Edit System configuration/Remote Port configuration Menu. Recommended
settings are:

Port = 1 (or 2), Baud = 38400, Parity = None, Data bits = 8, Stop bits =
1, Shell = MT M&C, Echo = Enabled, Newline = CRLF, Handshake = None
and Screen lines = 20.

5. Confirm communications are working by pressing the ENTER key on the

terminal program; the ACU should respond with a prompt ‘>’.

6. Further confirm that communications are working by entering the HELP

command and verify that the ACU responds by sending the help screen text.

7. The FLASH memory is partitioned into four banks (0-3). Each FLASH bank is
1 Mbyte in size, therefore each bank may contain a complete ACU firmware
image. FLASH bank 0 is programmed in factory by Vertex and cannot be
changed with this procedure. FLASH banks 1, 2 and 3 can be used for
firmware upgrades.

8. From the 72XX ACU front panel, set the User Level of the ACU to Monitor
mode. This is found under Set User level (and Passwords)… menu.

9. From the terminal program type (All commands shown are case sensitive):

> SU 0 <ENTER>
>

This is a request for the M&C port to enter Supervisor mode. If your system
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uses a security password the 0 in the SU command will need to be replaced

by the numeric password. Verify that you are in Supervisor mode by typing:
> WHO <ENTER>
>
10. Look at the VCPU board inside the ACU chassis or inside the Servo Control
Unit (SCU) in 7210 systems. Verify the position of rotary Switch 2 (mounted
on the front edge of the board). The location of Switch 2 dictates which
FLASH bank is used when the ACU boots up. When using the FLASH
command in the next step DO NOT upload the new firmware into the current
bank that is currently in use by the ACU.
11. From the terminal program type:
> FLASH 1 <ENTER>
>
The number 1 in this command is the FLASH bank you wish to program (i.e.
you can use 2 or 3 as well).

12. The ACU will respond with “Erasing Flash bank #:”. Then the ACU will
erase the FLASH bank specified by the FLASH command in the previous
step.

13. When the ACU has finished erasing the selected FLASH bank (this takes
approximately 10 seconds), the ACU will then respond with “Start
XMODEM send.”

14. Using the terminal program, send the file using a binary transfer using
XMODEM protocol, with CRC checksums. For example, using Windows
Terminal the XMODEM/CRC should be selected under the Settings/Binary
Transfers… menus; and the image should be sent using the Transfers/Send
Binary file…menu.

NOTE
The ACU sill be sending a “C” character to the terminal program
about every 6 seconds. After sending 11 “C”s in the ACU will
timeout on waiting for the upload and abort the process with the
following message “Transfer canceled.”

Sample sessions follow, including a timeout example followed by a

successful transfer:
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>
>SU 0
>WHO Port 2 at supervisor
>FLASH 1
Erasing flash bank #:-----:
Start XMODEM send. CCCCCCCCCCC
Transfer canceled
Update not successful
>FLASH 1
Erasing flash bank #:-----:
Update successful.
>

NOTE
The FLASH command takes approximately 4 minutes
to complete, at a baud rate of 38400.
15. After the upload is complete, the ACU will return the message “ Update
Successful.” if the command was successful. Change rotary Switch 2 on
the VCPU board to the number of the FLASH bank into which you
downloaded the image (i.e. if you used a FLASH 1 command turn the rotary
switch S2 to 1).
16. Press the Reset Button S1 on the front of the VCPU board.
17. To confirm this procedure was performed successfully and that the ACU is
using the correct firmware, simply view the firmware revision information
provided in the Display System Status… Firmware Version Information
screen.
18. Enable FLASH memory protection by returning DIP switch S6 1,2,3,4 to it’s
original position (OFF).

19. Navigate the 7200 menu system to Edit System Configuration/Factory

Tests/Reset the ACU to ROM defaults. Select YES and press Enter.
20. Enter all the user parameters previously recorded in the worksheet (See
Appendix A) or upload the parameters per the instructions contained in CG-
1295 .
21. The ACU firmware upgrade is complete.
Rev B – updates to params M. Neely 1-16-06 D. Harrison 1-16-06 6311
Rev A D. Harding 9-23-03 B. Harris 9-23-03 4812
- Original Release M. Neely 9-17-02 D. Harding 9-17-02 4254
Rev. No/change Revised By Date Approved By Date ECO#
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Longview, TX Facility
(With VCPU 201358-01 & Version 4 Firmware)

Appendix A
Worksheet to manually record the parameters. Firmware version 4.3 or higher
enables the user to download the parameters to a PC as an alternative to manually
filling out the tables below (Reference VertexRSI Document #CG-1295 72xx
Parameter Download/Upload Procedure)

TRACKING RECEIVER SETUP

PARAMETER VALUE

Frequency

RF input

Attenuation [dB]

Receiver controller

0 dB setting

A/D slope

STEPTRACK DEFAULTS

PARAMETER DEFAULT VALUE

Cycle time 00:02:00

Receive -3 dB beamwidth [deg] 0.45

Step size [deg] 0.040

Position deadband [deg] 0.040

Maximum no. of cycles 5

Cycle to start rate estimates 3

Peaking correction limit (%BW) 30

Weight adjustment value 1.00

Low tracking signal level [dB] -10.00 dB

Signal threshold [dB] 15.00 dB

Axis to peak first Elevation

# of samples 10

Sun outage protection Enabled

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(With VCPU 201358-01 & Version 4 Firmware)

POSITION ENCODER CONFIGURATION PARAMETERS

PARAMETER AZ EL POL

Encoder direction

Current position [deg]

Offsets [deg]

Encoder type

2-speed internal alignment

(Only in systems with Encoder
type set to 2-speed resolvers. )

MOTION LIMITS PARAMETERS

PARAMETER DEFAULT VALUE

Soft limits Enabled

Lower/CCW soft limits [deg] AZ: 100.00

EL: 0.00
POL: -90.00

Upper/CW soft limits [deg] AZ: 260.00

EL: 90.00
POL: 90.00

Motion errors Disabled

Immobile/reversed timeout [ms] AZ: 2000

EL: 2000
POL: 2000

Immobile/reversed tolerance [deg] AZ: 0.02

EL: 0.02
POL: 0.20

Runaway angle [deg] AZ: 0.1

EL: 0.1
POL: 0.2

Velocity error timeout [ms] AZ: 2000

(Used only for dc/ac flux vector motor control.) EL: 2000

Velocity error tolerance [%] AZ: 20

(Used only for dc/ac flux vector motor control.) EL: 20
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(With VCPU 201358-01 & Version 4 Firmware)

POSITION LOOP PARAMETERS

VALUE
PARAMETER

AZ EL POL

Gain crossover [1/sec*1000]

Integral break [1/sec*1000]

Filter break [rad/sec*1000]

Velocity limit [deg/sec]

Acceleration limit [deg/sec^2]

Positioning deadband [deg]

Velocity deadband [deg/sec]

Jacksaver

Track -> stop coast time [ms]

Inching on time [ms]

ADDITIONAL POSITION LOOP PARAMETERS

(AVAILABLE IN SYSTEMS WITH AUXILLARY DRIVES)

PARAMETER VALUE

Slew rate

Slew -> track transition [deg]

Slew -> stop coast time [ms]

SITE DATA PARAMETERS

PARAMETER VALUE
Antenna Name
E. Longitude of site [deg]
N. Latitude of site [deg]
Site altitude [meters]
Timezone offset
Timezone abbreviation
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RF/Geometry PARAMETERS
PARAMETER VALUE
Polarization axis
Antenna droop correction
Amplitude droop corr. [deg]
Elevation alignment [deg]

REMOTE PORT CONFIGURATION

PARAMETER Port 1 Port 2 Port 3 Port 4
Port
bps (baud)
Parity
Data bits
Stop bits
Shell
Echo
Newline
Checksums
Screen lines
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INTERFACE OPTIONS SETTINGS

OPTION DEFAULT VALUE

UTC display On

Local time display On

UTC date format dd Mmm

Local date format dd Mmm

Tracking signal display On

Signal units dB

User level display On

Confirm tracking On

Confirm edits On

Warning bell On

Audible alarm On

Monitor can [STOP]/[RESUME] YES

Monitor can clear defaults YES

YES/NO default answer YES

Always show target position NO

Command angle display Position

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The following parameters are only available on 7210 systems configured for
Monopulse tracking (not applicable to 7200 and 7205 ACUs).

MONOPULSE GLOBAL PARAMETERS

PARAMETER DEFAULT VALUE

Nominal gain value 200000

Maximum rotation value 45.0

Maximum gain ratio 1.000

Negate RF Input 1 error(s) e1: Disabled

e2: Disabled

Negate RF Input 2 error(s) e1: Disabled

e2: Disabled

Error coupler rotation correction Disabled

Rotation direction Forward

Direct position control Disabled

Gain multiplier 0.60

TARGET PARAMETERS

PARAMETER TARGET 1 TARGET 2 TARGET 3

Target name

Tracking Mode

Box Center Longitude [deg E]

Longitude range [deg]

Estimated inclination [deg]

Box limit

Orbit scan

Frequency [MHz]

RF input

Attenuation [dB]
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TARGET STEPTRACK PARAMETERS

PARAMETER DEFAULT TARGET TARGET TARGET 3

1 2

Cycle time 00:02:00

Receive -3 dB beamwidth [deg] 0.45

Step size [deg] 0.040

Position deadband [deg] 0.040

Maximum no. of cycles 5

Cycle to start rate estimates 3

Peaking correction limit (%BW) 30

Weight adjustment value 1.00

Low tracking signal level [dB] -10.00 dB

Signal threshold [dB] 15.00 dB

Axis to peak first Elevation

# of samples 10

Sun outage protection Enabled

OPT PARAMETERS

PARAMETER DEFAULT TARGET TARGET TARGET

1 2 3

Cycle time with ST solution 00:10:00

Cycle time with LT solution 00:20:00

Signal fluctuation limit [dB] 0.20

Min. ST solution time span [hrs] 1.25

Min. LT solution time span [hrs] 18

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ADVANCED OPT PARAMETERS

PARAMETER DEFAULT TARGET 1 TARGET 2 TARGET 3

ST discard point 0.10

LT discard point 0.09

dB collect cycle time [ms] 500 ms

(0.5 sec)

Propagator cycle time [ms] 1000 ms

(1 sec)

Max solution RMS 0.10

(10%
beamwidth)

Max steptrack fit [db] 0.50

Max steptrack std [db] 0.20

Use solutions Enabled

NON-GEOSYNCHRONOUS SUPPORT PARAMETERS

PARAMETER DEFAULT TARGET 1 TARGET 2 TARGET 3

Non-geosynchronous tracking Disabled

Orbital period [seconds] 86164.09

seconds

Orbital eccentricity 0.00000

Orbit argument of perigee [deg] 0.000