How to run copier.copyMs() in a separate Task

[tfcroft4]

I wish to have tones of a set frequency volume and duration in my project. These are for keypad feedback and alarm beeps.
The project is quite complex ( for me) and will use freeRTOS tasks for different threads such as timekeeping, keypad processing and display output. I am using a Adafruit QTPY ESP32S3 board with an external DAC.

I have this function based on an example:
void playV(float frequency, float volume, int durationMs){
sineWave.setFrequency(frequency);
vol.setVolume(volume);
copier.copyMs(durationMs, info);
// same as
// copy.copyN(info.sample_rateinfo.channels(info.bits_per_sample/8)*durationMs/1000 / copy.bufferSize());
}

If I call playV() then I get my tones to give audio output.
It looks as though copyMS() calls copyN() which in turn calls copy() in a loop to match the original millis parameter. From the LOG output the I think the StreamCopy runs for the duration of tone.

I see in this example
https://github.com/pschatzmann/arduino-audio-tools/blob/main/examples/tests/test-volumestream/test-volumestream.ino
The copier.copy() runs in the loop() which will be in a freeRTOS task. I presume that a separate task could be used to run copier.copy()

Can you suggest a way to set up the tone parameters as and when needed which will allow the copier.copy() to run in a separate task and so play tomes in the back ground?

[pschatzmann]

I would suggest to use a queue with objects that contain the input parameters of your function to drive your sound task.
You can e.g use my QueueFreeRTOS class for this.
So play(float frequency, float volume, int durationMs) would fill this queue and the task would just call your playV method.

[tfcroft4]

Phil Thanks for the suggestion. I attach my attempt at Streaming using a freeRTOS task. I would welcome any observations. I built this in PlatformIO rather than the Arduino IDE As the copy function can run for a long time I set up a low priority task with a yield in the loop. As I understand it this long task has to have a low priority else the Yield would not give other tasks the opportunity to run. This also ensure the Idle task can reset the watchdog. This application works with no other tasks running. Time will tell whether this approach will work with a multi tasked application. The test code plays a little tune! Cheers Ted /** * @file audio stream of a tone in a low priority freeRTOS task * @author Ted Finch * @brief Uses Audio Tools by pschatzman * @copyright GPLv3 */ /** * @file streams-generator-i2s.ino * @author Phil Schatzmann * @brief see https://github.com/pschatzmann/arduino-audio-tools/blob/main/examples/examples-stream/streams-generator-i2s/README.md * @copyright GPLv3 */ //#define XIAOESP32S3 //which board are we using #define QTPYESP32S3 #include <AudioTools.h> AudioInfo audioinfo(44100, 2, 16); // sample_rate, channels, bits_per_sample SineWaveGenerator<int16_t> sineWave(32000); // subclass of SoundGenerator with max amplitude of 32000 GeneratedSoundStream<int16_t> sound(sineWave); // Stream generated from sine wave I2SStream output; VolumeStream vol(output); StreamCopy copier(vol, sound); // copies sound to out // I2S write task TaskHandle_t m_i2sWriterTaskHandle; // i2s command queue #define AudioLog Info //values can be Debug, Info, Warning, Error const TickType_t xCmdQTicksToWait = pdMS_TO_TICKS( 10 ); //max wait on queue QueueHandle_t m_i2sCommandQ; /** * @brief Tone data structure used in I2S command */ typedef struct { float freq; /* frequency of new tone */ float amplitute; /* amplitute of tone range 0 - 1.0 */ uint16_t duration_ms; /* duration of tone in ms */ } i2stone_t; void debugcommand(i2stone_t i2stone){ #ifndef COPY_LOG_OFF LOGI("Tone with freq %.2f , amplitute %.2f , duration %u MS", (float) i2stone.freq, (float) i2stone.amplitute , (unsigned int)i2stone.duration_ms); #endif } void i2sWriterTask(void *param) { //wait on the command queue then copy data to audio buffer //this can be a long process so yield in the loop //This task has 0 priority so a Yield will give CPU to higher priority tasks i2stone_t i2stone; while ( true) { if (xQueueReceive(m_i2sCommandQ, &i2stone, portMAX_DELAY) == pdPASS) { debugcommand(i2stone); #ifndef COPY_LOG_OFF LOGI("A Tone with freq %.2f , amplitute %.2f , duration %u MS", (unsigned int) &i2stone.freq, &i2stone.amplitute , (unsigned int)&i2stone.duration_ms); #endif sineWave.setFrequency(i2stone.freq); vol.setVolume(i2stone.amplitute); //from copyMS size_t pages = AudioTime::toBytes(i2stone.duration_ms, audioinfo) / copier.bufferSize(); #ifndef COPY_LOG_OFF LOGI("CopyMs %u MS needs %u pages", (unsigned int) i2stone.duration_ms, (unsigned int)pages); #endif //from copyN for (size_t j=0;j<pages;j++){ copier.copy(); taskYIELD(); //Yield else the WatchDog will bark } } } } void buzz(float frequency, float volume, uint16_t duration_ms) { // put tone parameters into the structure and send to the i2stone queue // the queue is processed in the I2SWriter task i2stone_t i2stone; i2stone.freq = frequency; i2stone.amplitute = volume; i2stone.duration_ms = duration_ms; xQueueSend(m_i2sCommandQ, &i2stone, xCmdQTicksToWait) ; } void setupaudio(){ Serial.println("starting I2S..."); auto config = output.defaultConfig(TX_MODE); #ifdef XIAOESP32S3 //which board are we using config.pin_bck = 9; config.pin_ws = 7; config.pin_data = 44; #else #ifdef QTPYESP32S3 config.pin_bck = 35; config.pin_ws = 36; config.pin_data = 16; #endif #endif output.begin(config); #ifdef AudioLog AudioLogger::instance().begin(Serial, AudioLogger::Info); #endif //Setup sine wave generator with some initial settings sineWave.begin(audioinfo, N_B4); // set initial volume level for the volume control vol.begin(config); vol.setVolume(0.3); buzz(N_C4, 0.5,100); vTaskDelay(pdMS_TO_TICKS( 120)); buzz(N_A4, 0.5,100); vTaskDelay(pdMS_TO_TICKS( 120)); } void setupTasksQueues(){ //set up a low priority task to run audiooutput TaskHandle_t writerTaskHandle; xTaskCreate(i2sWriterTask, "i2s Writer Task", 4096, NULL , tskIDLE_PRIORITY, &writerTaskHandle); //creat a queue for commands, can hold 4 commands m_i2sCommandQ = xQueueCreate( 4, sizeof( i2stone_t) ); } // Arduino Setup void setup(void) { // Open Serial Serial.begin(11200); //while(!Serial); //wait for serial when testing setupTasksQueues(); setupaudio();// start I2S Serial.println("started..."); Serial.println("Start a Tune!"); vTaskDelay(pdMS_TO_TICKS( 5000));//delay here just in case } // Arduino loop - copy sound to out void loop() { // normally nothing to do here? - everything should be taken care of by tasks //send command to audio queue, use a delay after each note buzz(N_C4, 0.5,500); vTaskDelay(pdMS_TO_TICKS( 520)); buzz(N_C4,0.5,500); vTaskDelay(pdMS_TO_TICKS( 520)); buzz(N_G4,0.5,500); vTaskDelay(pdMS_TO_TICKS( 520)); buzz(N_G4,0.5,500); vTaskDelay(pdMS_TO_TICKS( 520)); buzz(N_A4,0.5,500); vTaskDelay(pdMS_TO_TICKS( 520)); buzz(N_A4,0.5,500); vTaskDelay(pdMS_TO_TICKS( 520)); buzz(N_G4,0.7,1000); vTaskDelay(pdMS_TO_TICKS( 1020)); // buzz(N_F4,0.5,500); vTaskDelay(pdMS_TO_TICKS( 520)); buzz(N_F4,0.5,500); vTaskDelay(pdMS_TO_TICKS( 520)); buzz(N_E4,0.5,500); vTaskDelay(pdMS_TO_TICKS( 520)); buzz(N_E4,0.5,500); vTaskDelay(pdMS_TO_TICKS( 520)); buzz(N_D4,0.5,500); vTaskDelay(pdMS_TO_TICKS( 520)); buzz(N_D4,0.5,500); vTaskDelay(pdMS_TO_TICKS( 520)); buzz(N_C4,0.7,1000); vTaskDelay(pdMS_TO_TICKS( 1020)); // buzz(N_G4,0.5,500); vTaskDelay(pdMS_TO_TICKS( 520)); buzz(N_G4,0.5,500); vTaskDelay(pdMS_TO_TICKS( 520)); buzz(N_F4,0.5,500); vTaskDelay(pdMS_TO_TICKS( 520)); buzz(N_F4,0.5,500); vTaskDelay(pdMS_TO_TICKS( 520)); buzz(N_E4,0.5,500); vTaskDelay(pdMS_TO_TICKS( 520)); buzz(N_E4,0.5,500); vTaskDelay(pdMS_TO_TICKS( 520)); buzz(N_D4,0.7,1000); vTaskDelay(pdMS_TO_TICKS( 1020)); // buzz(N_G4,0.5,500); vTaskDelay(pdMS_TO_TICKS( 520)); buzz(N_G4,0.5,500); vTaskDelay(pdMS_TO_TICKS( 520)); buzz(N_F4,0.5,500); vTaskDelay(pdMS_TO_TICKS( 520)); buzz(N_F4,0.5,500); vTaskDelay(pdMS_TO_TICKS( 520)); buzz(N_E4,0.5,500); vTaskDelay(pdMS_TO_TICKS( 520)); buzz(N_E4,0.5,500); vTaskDelay(pdMS_TO_TICKS( 520)); buzz(N_D4,0.7,1000); vTaskDelay(pdMS_TO_TICKS( 1020)); Serial.println("Tune done!"); }

[pschatzmann]

I recommend free-rtos-addon which usually leads to much shorter programs.
And I would add an additinal parameter to your method for the delay, so that you don't need to call this after each buzz. I would also stick with the Arduino notion and just call delay() and yield() which do the same thing but are better to read...