Jetson Nano

This page is a starting point for resources for using the Jetson Nano to drive a LimeSDR to transmit DATV.

G8GKQ's Installation Procedure

To start with, you need a Jetson Nano, a 32 GB SD Card (Sandisk Ultra 10 recommended), a 4A 5V PSU with a 2.1mm power plug, a 0.1 inch jumper, an HDMI monitor, a USB Mouse and a USB keyboard.

Download the Jetson Nano disk image to a PC and unzip it. Use Win32 Disk Imager or Etcher to write it to your SD Card.

Fit the jumper link to the Nano PCB to select the use of the 2.1mm power socket, insert the SD Card, connect the monitor, keyboard and mouse. Connect the Nano to your home network and then connect the power and turn it on. Go through the NVIDIA start up routine so that you have a working Nano connected to your network. I used the username "nano" and the password "jetson". These are weak and obvious and should only be used on private networks, but make scripting easy.

Note that the process may seem to freeze on "waiting for unattended-upgr to exit" for around 30 minutes, this is expected, the system is automatically updating software in the background.

Right-click on the desktop and open a terminal window. Run the following commands. You will need to enter the password occasionally.

sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get -y dist-upgrade
sudo apt-get -y install git htop nano vlc v4l-utils

You are now ready to install the DATV software.

Installing DATV Software

Download and install the software from F5OEO's repository:

git clone https://github.com/F5OEO/dvbsdr
cd dvbsdr
./install.sh

Current Limitations

The only input devices that work with this script are the LKV373A, and the Pi Cam when connected to the Jetson board. The PiCam will not work without a USB microphone dongle connected to the Jetson board - without this it never transmits a picture.

The C920, although referenced in some of the code, does not work with this configuration.

Preparing the LKV373A HDMI Device

This is probably the most difficult part of the installation. More details to follow, but I upgraded the firmware (not encoder) to 20160427 using the instructions here: https://www.yodeck.com/docs/display/YO/Creating+a+Video-Wall+with+Yodeck#CreatingaVideo-WallwithYodeck-J.ConfiguringtheLKV373ASenderunit . I also set the unit to factory defaults, but did not change any other settings.

After the firmware upgrade, the username and password for the LKV373A is admin/123456.

If you have issues with the firmware upgrade, recovery might be possible using the IPV Tools application found here: https://drive.google.com/drive/u/0/folders/0B3mWuDyxrXyKSTZZZlRESlpBZmM.

At various times during the LKV373A set-up, it had the following IP addresses: 192.168.1.238, 10.1.0.99, 10.1.2.99, and 169.254.113.227.

The address for the stream is almost always udp://@239.255.42.42:5004 (you can paste this into VLC on a PC and watch the stream). Note that you cannot view the stream using VLC on the Jetson Nano - for some reason it does not work.

Modifying the Scripts

To transmit using the Nano, you will need to plug a LimeSDR Mini into it. You will also need to modify the script ~/dvbsdr/scripts/jetson_nano.sh. The working script is here:

#!/bin/bash

# *********************************************************************
# ************** ENCODE AND MODULATE FOR JETSON NANO ******************
# ************** (c)F5OEO April 2019                 ******************
# *********************************************************************

CALL=G8GKQ
# ------- MODULATION PARAMETERS --------
# 1/4,1/3,2/5,1/2,3/5,2/3,3/4,4/5,5/6,8/9,9/10 for DVB-S2 QPSK.
# 3/5,2/3,3/4,5/6,8/9,9/10 for DVB-S2 8PSK
source ./include/modulateparam.sh
FREQ=2409.25
SYMBOLRATE=500
FECNUM=1
FECDEN=2
#DVBS,DVBS2
MODE=DVBS2
#QPSK,8PSK,16APSK,32APSK
CONSTELLATION=QPSK
GAIN=0.8
# $LONG_FRAME,$SHORT_FRAME
TYPE_FRAME=$LONG_FRAME
# $WITH_PILOTS,WITHOUT_PILOTS
PILOTS=$WITHOUT_PILOTS
# Upsample 1,2 or 4 : 4 delivers the best quality but should not be up to 500KS
UPSAMPLE=2

# ------- ENCODER PARAMETERS --------

VIDEO_RESX=1280
# 16:9 or 4:3
RATIO=16:9
case "$RATIO" in
"16:9")
let VIDEO_RESY=VIDEO_RESX*9/16 ;;
"4:3")
let VIDEO_RESY=VIDEO_RESX*3/4 ;;
esac

#Uncomment if don't want to use ratio calculation
#VIDEO_RESY=1080

#Only 25 is working well with audio
VIDEO_FPS=25
#Gop Size 1..400 (in frame) 
VIDEO_GOP=100
PCR_PTS=200000
#VIDEO INPUT

#Could be  VIDEOSOURCE_PICAMERA, VIDEOSOURCE_USB_CAM , VIDEOSOURCE_IP
VIDEOSOURCE=VIDEOSOURCE_IP
#VIDEOSOURCE=VIDEOSOURCE_PICAMERA
VIDEOSOURCE_IP_ADRESS=239.255.42.42
VIDEOSOURCE_IP_PORT=5004

# H264 or H265
CODEC=H265

#AUDIO INPUT

# NO_AUDIO,USB_AUDIO,FILE_WAV,BEEP
AUDIOSOURCE=USB_AUDIO
AUDIO_BITRATE=20000

# Bitrate
source ./include/getbitrate.sh
let TS_AUDIO_BITRATE=AUDIO_BITRATE*14/10
let VIDEOBITRATE=(BITRATE_TS-12000-TS_AUDIO_BITRATE)*650/1000
let VIDEOPEAKBITRATE=VIDEOBITRATE*110/100
#OUTPUT TYPE LIME or IP
OUTPUT=LIME
OUTPUT_NETWORK="230.0.0.10:10000"
# Launch processes
echo 
echo VideoBitrate = $VIDEOBITRATE
echo VideoPeakBitrate = $VIDEOPEAKBITRATE

case "$OUTPUT" in
"LIME")
source ./include/nanoencode.sh | source ./include/limerf.sh
;;
"IP")
source ./include/nanoencode.sh
;;
esac

Most of this is self-explanatory. Note that "short frames" do not work.

Transmitting

cd ~/dvbsdr/scripts
./jetson_nano.sh

To stop transmitting, simply press ctrl-c.

Update - Control from Portsdown Touchscreen

Version 201905070 of the Portsdown Software (currently only available as a Development Release) introduces Control of a Jetson Nano set up as above from the Portsdown touchscreen in H265 HDMI mode ONLY.

To set this up, load the development release, and then edit the file

/home/pi/rpidatv/scripts/jetson_config.txt

with your settings:

jetsonip=192.168.2.113
jetsonuser=nano
jetsonpw=jetson
jetsonrootpw=jetson
lkvudp=239.255.42.42
lkvport=5004
tsoutip=192.168.2.177
tsoutport=10000

You will probably only need to change the 4 jetson lines. After you have done this, use the touchscreen to select:

• Output to: Jetson Lime
• Encoder: H265
• Source: HDMI

Then you can select other settings as required. Testing has only been conducted over a narrow range of SRs and FECs. 500KS, FEC 1/2 is a good starting point.

The Jetson settings will be configuarable from the Portsdown touchscreen in a future release.

When you shut down your Portsdown using the touchscreen ShutDown button, it will send a ShutDown signal to the Jetson as well, allowing a graceful shutdown of the Jetson without the use of a screen and keyboard.

Hardware

Power Draw

Measured at a supply of 5.1V into the DC barrel jack connector. >5V measured on the GPIO header.

• CPU Frequencies at deafult: 0.3 - 0.6A depending on CPU & Network load
• CPU Frequencies at max: 0.45 - 0.9A depending on CPU & Network load
• CPU at max, LimeSDR Mini & C920 at 1MS 1080p H.265 DVB-S2 transmit: 1.8 - 1.9A

GPIO

The GPIO pinout of the Jetson Nano can be found here: https://www.jetsonhacks.com/nvidia-jetson-nano-j41-header-pinout/

Note that when not initialised in sysfs (ie. straight after power-on), the GPIO pins appear to be able to be latched up from their default 0V state to a 3.3V high, or an unstable ~1.4V state by simply touching a scope or multimeter probe to the pin. The exact characteristic of this behaviour isn't yet understood but it is worrying for PA PTT control and similar applications.