BladeRF support

[improperaffo]

Dear all,
Is there a plan for the support of BladeRFs in srsRAN_Project?

I see that the ZeroMQ drivers are already implemented, has anyone successfully used a BladeRF through ZMQ?

Thanks

[andrepuschmann]

There is currently no native support for anything else than OFH, UHD devices and ZMQ. However, there is a Soapy Wrapper for UHD. So any device that is available through Soapy can be used with UHD. With this you could try the BladeRF. I am not sure how usable this is though.

[improperaffo]

Thank you for the tip, we'll look into it.

[improperaffo]

Update:
we were able to run srsRAN using a BladeRF xA9 via the SoapySDR API and COTS UEs could connect to it. The main things we had to do were

• Install SoapySDR, SoapyBladeRF, SoapyUHD and BladeRF
• Remove the reference to time_source in lib/radio/uhd/radio_uhd_device.h:254
• Set the tx buffer timeout (TRANSMIT_TIMEOUT_S) to 0 in srsRAN_Project/lib/radio/uhd/radio_uhd_tx_stream.h:44
• Set the rx buffer timeout (RECEIVE_TIMEOUT_S) to 0 in srsRAN_Project/lib/radio/uhd/radio_uhd_rx_stream.h:40

Versions used:

• FPGA image: 0.15.0
• Firmware: 2.4.0
• libbladeRF: 2.5.0
• UHD: 4.5.0.0
• Soapy Lib: 0.8.1-1

Update 2:
In order to avoid the following error:

[ERROR @ host/libraries/libbladeRF/src/backend/usb/libusb.c:1089] Transfer timed out for buffer 0x56349a19be30

we also coded a reset of the device in the destructor of bladeRF_SoapySDR in bladeRF_Settings.cpp as such:

bladeRF_SoapySDR::~bladeRF_SoapySDR(void)
{
    SoapySDR::logf(SOAPY_SDR_INFO, "bladerf_device_reset()");
    if (_dev != NULL) {
        bladerf_device_reset(_dev);
        // bladerf_close(_dev);
    }
}

Plus we changed the gain setting function in the SoapyBladeRF library: in bladeRF_Settings.cpp, instead of using bladerf_set_gain_stage, we are using bladerf_set_gain. Note that this requires to build the deb package again.

[improperaffo]

Hi David, just to confirm, you did set the tx and rx buffer timeout values to 0 in the code?

[davwheat]

Yes, I did. I've since found that I can work around this sometimes by unplugging and plugging the bladeRF back in to the computer and then starting the gNB. I have to do this every time I stop the gNB, and it doesn't always work.

[improperaffo]

Oh right, I forgot about that. We just coded a reboot command to the BladeRF when stopping the gNB, so that we did not have to unplug it and replug it

[platini2]

@improperaffo , is the reset working for you? i tried to change those lines but the bladeRF is not resetting and i get the buffer time out.

[HaoxinSEU]

Hi @platini2 ,

Yes, the reset function works for us. We have:

bladeRF_SoapySDR::~bladeRF_SoapySDR(void)
{
    if (_dev != NULL) {
        bladerf_device_reset(_dev);
    }
}

[maxbraunschmied]

Hello,

I got my bladeRF xA4 to work with srsRAN using the tips mentioned in this thread.
However, my tx-gain seems to be out of range. Any ideas what values should be used in the conf.yaml file?

Connecting to AMF on 127.0.1.100:38412
Available radio types: uhd.

[INFO] [UHD] linux; GNU C++ version 12.2.0; Boost_107400; UHD_4.6.0.0-3-g080b1baa
[INFO] [LOGGING] Fastpath logging disabled at runtime.
No device type given, found device with address 'backend=libusb,device=0x02:0x03,driver=bladerf,instance=0,label=BladeRF #0 [da50ad69..b6c5a6f6],serial=da50ad69a8c1448b9af85e7bb6c5a6f6,type=soapy'
Making USRP object with args 'type=soapy'
[INFO] [UHDSoapyDevice] bladerf_open_with_devinfo()
[INFO] [UHDSoapyDevice] bladerf_get_serial() = da50ad69a8c1448b9af85e7bb6c5a6f6
[INFO] [UHDSoapyDevice] setSampleRate(Rx, 0, 4.000000 MHz), actual = 4.000000 MHz
[INFO] [UHDSoapyDevice] setSampleRate(Tx, 0, 4.000000 MHz), actual = 4.000000 MHz
[INFO] [UHDSoapyDevice] setSampleRate(Tx, 0, 23.040000 MHz), actual = 23.040000 MHz
[INFO] [UHDSoapyDevice] setSampleRate(Tx, 1, 23.040000 MHz), actual = 23.040000 MHz
[INFO] [UHDSoapyDevice] setSampleRate(Rx, 0, 23.040000 MHz), actual = 23.040000 MHz
[INFO] [UHDSoapyDevice] setSampleRate(Rx, 1, 23.040000 MHz), actual = 23.040000 MHz
Error: setting gain for transmitter 0. Tx gain (i.e., 60.0 dB) is out-of-range. Range is [-89.75000762939453, 0.0] dB in steps of 0.25 dB.

[improperaffo]

Hi. We were referring to the lib/ folder inside the project directory (i.e., srsRAN_Project/lib/radio/uhd/radio_uhd_device.h:254)

[davwheat]

Out of interest, what values for Rx/Tx gain have you all found best success with? I end up with something like 75% UL BLER no matter what I've tried right now (and I'm open for any suggestions on how to improve it!).

[HaoxinSEU]

Hi @davwheat ,

We changed the gain setting function in the library SoapyBladeRF.

In bladeRF_Settings.cpp, instead of using bladerf_set_gain_stage, we change to use bladerf_set_gain. Then we build the deb package again.

Because in the beginning we noticed that the gain setting seems not working, and after changing it, we can clearly see it works and changes the output power.

Hope this helps.

[platini2]

@HaoxinSEU , Can you please clarify what lines you changed on bladeRF_Settings.cpp to fix the gain function?

is it this?

sed -i '373s/ret =.*/ret = bladerf_set_gain(_dev, _toch(direction, channel), bladerf_gain(std::round(value)));/g' ./bladeRF_Settings.cpp

[HaoxinSEU]

Hi,

In the function

void bladeRF_SoapySDR::setGain(const int direction, const size_t channel, const std::string &name, const double value)

we change:

int ret = bladerf_set_gain_stage(_dev, _toch(direction, channel), name.c_str(), bladerf_gain(std::round(value)));

to:

ret = bladerf_set_gain(_dev, _toch(direction, channel), bladerf_gain(std::round(converted_value)));

[MamdouhEgy]

(too long comment sorry for this)

Could anyone help me figuring out why i cannot see any devices:
I use ubuntu 20.04 & BladeRF xA4 (connected and 4 lamps are on) and i followed the above instructions to install SoapySDR, SoapyBladeRF, SoapyUHD and BladeRF, removed the time source reference and changed the tx&rx values as following:
removed the time source reference:
#if UHD_VERSION < 3140099
return safe_execution(this, &sync_src, &clock_src {
std::vectorstd::string clock_sources = usrp->get_clock_sources(0);
if (std::find(clock_sources.begin(), clock_sources.end(), clock_src) == clock_sources.end()) {
on_error("Invalid clock source {}. Supported: {}", clock_src, span(clock_sources));
return;
}
usrp->set_clock_source(clock_src);
});

changed the tx&rx values as following:
static constexpr double TRANSMIT_TIMEOUT_S = 0;
static constexpr double RECEIVE_TIMEOUT_S = 0f;

i executed the following commands in order and the o/p in the pic:
bladeRF-cli -e 'version'
SoapySDRUtil --info
uhd_usrp_probe
lsusb
sudo ./gnb -c gnb_rf_b200_tdd_n78_20mhz.yml.

I always get as shown above:
Error: no radio devices found.
Failed to open device with address '':
srsGNB ERROR: Unable to create radio session.

ps aux | grep open*

the amf.yaml file:

the upf.yaml file:

the gnb_rf_b200_tdd_n78_20mhz.yml file:

tail -f /var/log/open5gs/amf.log

apt list --installed | grep uhd

ip address | grep -A 5 "^lo:"

[MamdouhEgy]

i install libuhd4.5.0 again using sudo apt install libuhd4.5.0 as i installed it in the past using the cmake from the branch uhd4.5 here https://github.com/EttusResearch/uhd/tree/UHD-4.5.

now it is shown as the following:

[platini2]

My two cents, wthat could happen beacuse the soapyUHD is not the the UHD module path

try this before running uhd_find

export UHD_MODULE_PATH=/usr/lib/uhd/modules/

[bcrobin03]

Hi @MamdouhEgy, I am having the exact same problem as you, did you find a fix for it ?

[MamdouhEgy]

@bcrobin03 nothing worked and i was in a long vacation... i will start again... iam using 2 dockers now.. the first is srs-gnb-blade) and the second is open5gs container and i will try to connect both.

[HavokAlwin36912]

any update here @MamdouhEgy