3.6.1. Signal generator utility

The Red Pitaya signal generator can be controlled using the generate command line utility.

root@rp-f0a235:~# generate
generate version 2.07-494-d5436699b

Usage: generate   channel amplitude frequency <type> <end frequency> <calib> <debug>

        channel         Channel to generate signal on [1, 2].
        amplitude       Peak-to-peak signal amplitude in Vpp [0.0 - 4.0].
        frequency       Signal frequency in Hz [0 - 62500000].
        type            Signal type [sine, sqr, tri, sweep, noise, dc].
        end frequency   Sweep-to frequency in Hz [0 - 62500000].
        calib           Disable calibration [-c]. By default calibration enabled.
        debug           Debug FPGA registers [-d].

Setting the frequency to 0 will disable the generator completely.

To run the signal generation utility, perform the following steps:

  1. Load the FPGA image.

    redpitaya> overlay.sh v0.94
    
  2. Start the console application.

    redpitaya> generate 1 1 1000 sine
    redpitaya> generate 2 1 1000 sqr
    redpitaya> generate 1 1 1000 tri
    redpitaya> generate 2 1 1000 sweep 10000
    redpitaya> generate 1 1 1000 noise
    redpitaya> generate 2 1 1000 dc
    

Signal generator performance varies between Red Pitaya models. For more information please refer to the Red Pitaya Original Gen or Gen 2 comparison table.


Source code

The Red Pitaya GitHub repository contains the source code for the generate utility.