DPM Serial Protocol


Serial communication protocol DPM

(Dilbertian Protocol Modified)

Note the protocol name
The name “Dilbertian” comes from the first version of this protocol, we called “IDP Inverted Dilbertian Protocol” (2010), where zeros were represented with a cell “thin” and with a cell “large” (“0” skinny and “1” fat – the inverse of the following strip from “Dilbert” by Scott Adams – www.dilbert.com).

ENGLISH

Italian
dilbertian_one


Because a new Protocol ?

Theremino the system aims to provide a simple Input-Output System for PC, cheap and easy to use. To make it easy to use auto-numbering are needed and the recognition of their types, to simplify and minimize the cost of the links is necessary to communicate on a wire only.

There is a similar protocol we had to write it. The current version collects the best of many years of experimentation and research.

Download this document in PDF format:
Theremino System - DPM_Protocol_2015_ENG.pdf
Theremino System - DPM_Protocol_2015_ITA.pdf


Features

  • Bidirectional serial communication on a single wire.
  • Auto-configuration.
  • Auto detection of connected devices.
  • Number of devices ranging from 1 to 200.
  • Number of bytes transmitted and received varies depending on the type of device.
  • Transmission speed up to 4 Megabits/sec to transmit a lot of data with short cables.
  • Transmission speed up to 100 Kilobits/sec for long cables (up to 10 Km).
  • High efficiency of communication (from 10 to 20 times greater than in CAN).


Electric shutters

The transmission takes place on a single wire, but you need a reference mass and a supply voltage, to where the wires are normally three.

Any device that supports DPM must have an input connector (to the Master) and one output to downstream devices (Slaves)

The connectors are normally used by 3 poli, with spacing of 2.54 mm.

On the communication chain should have a Master (providing power and timing) and a number of devices connected in cascade (called Slave).

The tension that the Master provides on line is 5 V, with the same tolerance and with the same maximum current of 5 V that withdrawing from the USB connector.

The maximum current that the Master can provide limits the number and type of devices that can be connected. This current, is normally 250 mA, and may be increased up to 500 mA. Going over it would exceed the capacity of the USB ’ and would impose unusual features to the connectors.

The maximum number of connectable devices is limited by the following factors:
– The maximum current that the “Master” can provide.
– The maximum number of bytes that the line bears in cycle time of rice-transmission.

Both the “Master” that the “Slave” are connected to the line with a damping resistor, It also acts as a low pass, radio interference and overvoltage protection. The value of this resistor is normally from 33 to 330 ohm resistor


Broadcast format

Using a Non-Return-to-Zero format (NRZ) standard.

Default format = 8, N, 1
– 1 start bit
– 8 data bits
– no-parity
– 1 stop bit


Levels of data line “Com. Line”

The line aside it to level up (3.3 V)
The signal “1” is denoted by 3.3 V
The signal “0” is denoted by 0 Vdilbertian two


Repeat times and throughput

Transmission speed
Using low speeds when the length, and so the capacity of the connection cables, are high. When the distances are short and high speed may be used to communicate with a large number of devices (or communicate with devices that require a large number of bytes) Are established named speeds from “1” (1 k bits/Sec) up to “12” (4 mega bits per second)

Maximum number of bytes
Depending on the baud rate the maximum number of bytes that can be transmitted is listed in the following table.


Times, distances and number of bytes

Speed
bit time
bit
for
second
Bytes
every
15mS
Bytes every
30mS
Max distance
Max capacity
Slaves
Max
number
1
1 mS
1K
1
3
10 Km
1 uF
3
2
500 uS
2K
3
6
5 Km
500 nF
6
3
200 uS
5K
4
8
2 Km
200 nF
15
4
100 uS
10K
15
30
1 Km
100 nF
30
5
50 uS
20K
30
60
500 m
50 nF
60
6
20 uS
50K
40
80
200 m
20 nF
150
7
10 uS
100K
150
300
100 m
10 nF
160
8
5 uS
200K
300
600
50 m
5 nF
80
9
2 uS
500K
400
800
20 m
2 nF
32
10
1 uS
1M
1500
3000
10 m
1 nF
16
11
500 NS
2M
3000
6000
5 m
500 pF
8
12
250_nS
4M
6000
12000
2.5 m
250 pF
4

All devices must implement at least the speed “7” that is considered the default speed. If you want to set a different speed from the “7” all devices in the chain must support it.

The “maximum distance” depends on the characteristics of cables, the table values are calculated for a shielded cable RG58 from 50 ohm with ability to 100pF per meter.

At low speeds the number of “slaves” is limited by the maximum number of bytes that can be transmitted in 30 Milliseconds. (each slave uses at least one byte and you claim a repeat fast enough to make fluid movements)

At high speed, the number of “slaves” is limited by the maximum capacity, each “slave” Adds a capacity of approximately 40..60 PF and reduces the maximum distance of approximately 50 cm.

The capacity was calculated on the basis of 30pF per “slave” plus other 20pF to a connection cable from 20 cm and other 10pF to take account of the additional resistance due to “bilateral switch” (total: 60pF)


Maximum cable length of communication than the supply current and resistance per meter

Cable type —>
Maximum current
( peak current )
H1500/H1000/H500/H155/RG11
20 Milli ohms
or less
per meter
RG58/RG59U/ H155/
net cables
about
50 Milli ohms
per meter
Rg59/RG6/phone twisted wire/
net cables
about
100 Milli ohms
per meter
10 mA 1 Km 400 m 200 m
20 mA 500 m 200 m 100 m
50 mA 200 m 80 m 40 m
80 mA 125 m 50 m 25 m
100 mA 100 m 40 m 20 m
200 mA 50 m 20 m 10 m
400 mA 25 m 10 m 5 m
500 mA 20 m 8 m 4 m
800 mA 12.5 m 5 m 2.5 m
1 A 10 m 4 m 2 m

In the calculation of the distance we take into account that the voltage drop on the ground, does not exceed 200 MV. The voltage drop on power cable, not causing transmission errors, It can also be much higher (the 5 V can drop down to 3.3 V without creating problems) In case of shielded cables on ground is the screen, which usually has less resistance than declared, so the distance will be greater.


Cable capacity

The values of “maximum length” indicated in the table above are valid only for connecting cable with a capacity of approx. 100 pF per meter. The following table shows the corrections to be applied for the most commonly used cables.

Cable
External
diameter
( mm )
Impedance
( ohm resistor )
Capacity
(PF/mt.)
Resistance
(milliohm
/ meter)
Max length corrector
H1500
15
50
80
4
x 1.25
H1000
10.3
50
80
11
x 1.25
Rg213
10.3
50
100
H500
9.8
50
82
15
x 1.22
H155
5.8
50
82
32
x 1.22
Rg8
10
52
90
Rg11 (TV)
10.3
75
60
21
x 1.7
RG59 (TV)
6.15
75
67
159
x 1.5
RG6_(Tv sat)
6.8
75
51
100
x 2.0
RG56/U_(TV)
6.9
75
53
x 2.0
RG59/U_(TV)
4.5
75
53
45
x 2.0
Rg58
5.2
50
100
53
Rg142
4.95
50
96
Rg174
2.8
50
100
Rg178
1.85
50
95
Rg179
2.55
75
64
x 1.5
RG187
2.7
75
65
x 1.5
Rg188
2.7
50
95
Rg196
1.9
50
93
Rg316
2.5
50
95
Net cable
min 50
Max 130
min 60
Max 200
x 2.0
x 0.7
PC Audio cable
min 120
Max 300
min 500
Max 3000
x 0.8
x 0.5
Microphonic
cable
min 60
Max 300
x 1.7
x 0.3
Telephone twisted wire
50
100
x 2.0

There are also low-capacity cables (little used and hard to find):

  • Rg62 – 93 ohm resistor – 44 pF/mt
  • RG71 – 93 ohm resistor – 44 pF/mt
  • Rg210 – 93 ohm resistor – 44 pF/mt
  • RG63 – 125 ohm resistor – 33pF/mt
  • RG114 – 185 ohm resistor – 27pF/mt

Measure the ability of an unknown cable:

  • Prepare the perfect skinning shielded cable and retaining insulated central strand.
  • Measure between Central and outer shield with a meter or capacitance meter.
  • To improve measurement accuracy, use five or ten metres of cable.
  • Divide the value of Picofarads measured by the number of meters of cable.


Types of devices

The devices are labeled with a number from 0 to 199 identifying her "Type".
At the stage of recognition and numbering each device identifies itself with this "Type".

Currently are defined the following devices:

Device Type
Speed
min
Speed max
In out Pins
Power
Name
0
Special “custom” type
1
1
12
1
12 mA
Capacitive Sensor
Hi Quality
2
1
12
10
Inout Servant
3
1
12
12
Inout Generic
4
1
12
12
INOUT
5
6
Virtual Master Pins
(first version)
8
10
Virtual Master Pins – V2
9 12 Virtual Master Pins – V4
255 Unknown

Maximum number of devices
The maximum number of connectable devices is limited by:
– the maximum number of bytes that can be transmitted depending on the selected speed.
– the maximum current that the "master" can provide (normally 500 mA)
– the maximum number of devices supported by the Protocol is 200 (from 0 to 199)


Pin Types

The pins are labeled with a number from 0 to 255 identifying her "PinType".

OUTPUT Pin Types

Output Pin
Type
Name
Master to Slave
bytes
Slave to Master
bytes
0
UNUSED
0
0
1
DIG_OUT
1
0
2
PWM_8
1
0
3
PWM_16
2
0
4
SERVO_8
1
0
5
SERVO_16
2
0
6 STEPPER 4 0
7 PWM_FAST 5 0

INPUT Pin Types

Input Pin
Type
Name
Master to Slave
bytes
Slave to Master
bytes
129
DIG_IN
0
1
130
DIG_IN_PU
0
1
131
ADC_8
0
1
132
ADC_16
0
2
133
CAP_8
0
1
134
CAP_16
0
2
135
RES_8
0
1
136
RES_16
0
2
140
COUNTER
0
2
141
COUNTER_PU
0
2
142
FAST_COUNTER
0
2
143
FAST_COUNTER_PU
0
2
144
PERIOD
0
4
145
PERIOD_PU
0
4
146
SLOW_PERIOD
0
4
147
SLOW_PERIOD_PU
0
4
150
USOUND_SENSOR
0
2
160
CAP_SENSOR
0
3
165
STEPPER_DIR
0
4
180
ENCODER_A
0
2
181
ENCODER_A_PU
0
2
182
ENCODER_B
0
0
183
ENCODER_B_PU
0
0
175
ADC_24
0
1
176
ADC_24_DIN
0
0
177
ADC_24_DOUT
0
0


Master to Slaves communications (serial line)

First byte Type of transmission Transmission Receiving
255 (*4) Special extended
(for future expansion)
1 bytes (extension)
>>>>> see the table of extended verbs <<<<<
254 (*1) RecogStart
Early recognition
and numbering
1 bytes (data bytes number = 0)
1 bytes (CRC of Cmd / 0)
253 (*2) Recog
Enter sequence number and the request of type
1 bytes (data bytes number = 1)
1 bytes (from 0 to 199)
1 bytes (CRC of Cmd/Nbytes/Type)
1 bytes ( type )
1 bytes ( CRC )
251 (*3) FastDataExchange
Fast data exchange.
1 bytes (data bytes number = 0)
1 bytes (CRC of Cmd/0)
from 0 to 60 bytes of data
From 0 to 63 bytes of data
249 (*4) SetupSlavePins
Enter settings for the
one pin “slave”
1 bytes (slave index)
1 bytes (number of data bytes)
NN bytes (PinTypes: 1 bytes per pin)
1 bytes (CRC of Cmd/SlaveId/etc..)
1 bytes (slave index)
1 bytes (CRC on bytes
previous)
248 (*4) SetMasterName
Enter the name of the “master”
NN bytes (characters of the name terminated by zero)
247 (*4) GetMasterName
Reading the name of the “master”
NN bytes (characters of
name terminated by zero)
246 (*4) SendValuesToSlave
Sending “n” bytes
a slave “m”
(Max 56 bytes)
1 bytes (slave index)
1 bytes (number of bytes)
bytes 1 . . . byte n
1 bytes (CRC
Cmd/SlaveId/nBytes/n)
1 bytes (slave index)
1 bytes (CRC on bytes
previous)
245 (*4) GetValuesFromSlave
Request for “n” bytes to slave “m”
(Max 56 bytes)
1 bytes (slave index)
1 bytes (number of bytes)
1 bytes (CRC of Cmd/SlaveId/nBytes)
byte1 . . byte n
1 bytes (slave index)
1 bytes (CRC on
n + 1 previous byte)
244 (*4) SendBytesToSlave
Sending “n” bytes to slave “m”
(Max 56 bytes)
1 bytes (slave index)
1 bytes (number of bytes)
bytes 1 . . . byte n
1 bytes (CRC
Cmd/SlaveId/nBytes/n)
1 bytes ( slave index )
1 bytes ( CRC ) on bytes
previous
243 (*4) GetBytesFromSlave
Request for “n” bytes to slave “m”
(Max 56 bytes)
1 bytes (slave index)
1 bytes (number of bytes)
1 bytes (CRC of Cmd/SlaveId/nBytes)
bytes 1 . . . byte n
1 bytes (slave index)
1 bytes ( CRC ) about
n + 1 previous byte
199 (*5) SetSpeed 1 bytes (Comm. Speed)
1 bytes (CRC on Cmd/Comm. Speed)
0 No action

(*1) Service commands.
(*2) The command is only used by the master and the slaves Recog during recognition.
(*3) Fast communication – the master exchanges the values of all slaves using only one USB Exchange
(*4) Communication commands to the single slave
(*5) Special commands

SendValuesToSlave sends the values to the Output Pin of a slave (Physical forms on the Master or virtual Slaves)

GetValuesFromSlave reads values from the Input Pin of a slave (Physical forms on the Master or virtual Slaves)

SendBytesToSlave send generic bytes (configuration example), towards a slave (Physical forms on the Master or virtual Slaves)

GetBytesFromSlave law generic bytes (for example of State), from a slave (Physical forms on the Master or virtual Slaves)

All commands have codes from 200 to 255, to prevent, in case of errors, IDs and slave types (from 0 to 199) could be interpreted as a command. (Setspeed doesn't count because it is never sent over the serial line but only by HAL, to the Master, via USB)


Communication between Host computer and Master (USB)

Commands from “Host” to “Master”

Command name ID
USB_TxData[0]
PARAMETERS
USB_TxData[1 to n]
RecogStart CommandID, Nbytes
FastDataExchange CommandID, From 0 to 60 data bytes
SetupSlavePins CommandID, SlaveId, Nbytes
SetMasterName CommandID, MasterName (zero terminated)
GetMasterName CommandID,
SendValuesToSlave CommandID, SlaveId, Nbytes, Byte1….ByteN
GetValuesFromSlave CommandID, SlaveId, Nbytes
SendBytesToSlave CommandID, SlaveId, Nbytes, Byte1….ByteN
GetBytesFromSlave CommandID, SlaveId, Nbytes
SetSpeed CommandID, CommSpeed

Responses from “Master” to “Host”

Command name RESPONSE
USB_RxData[0]
RETURN VALUES
USB_RxData[1 to n]
RecogStart 0 = OK Nslaves, Slave Type1 … Slave Type N
FastDataExchange 0 = OK From 0 to 63 data bytes
SetupSlavePins 0 = OK
SetMasterName 0 = OK
GetMasterName 0 = OK Master Name (zero terminated)
SendValuesToSlave 0 = OK
GetValuesFromSlave 0 = OK Bytes 1 … Byte N
SendBytesToSlave 0 = OK
GetBytesFromSlave 0 = OK Bytes 1 … Byte N
SetSpeed 0 = OK

The zero position of the USB Buffer indicates whether the command was executed from “Master” successfully.


Calculation of the CRC

All CRC used are calculated over a certain number of consecutive bytes and the CRC result is a byte. CRC calculation using an algorithm based on "Longitudinal redundancy check".

Longitudinal redundancy check

Dim CRC as Byte  CRC = 0  For each byte b      CRC = CRC Xor b  Next

To avoid "collisions" between simple sequences ( for example, 0000 = 1111 or 123 = 321 ) and simple sequences that produce valid CRC ( for example, 0000 with CRC = 0 ) the above method is modified with an addition.

The resulting CRC algorithm is efficient and extremly simple.

Calculation of the CRC used in this Protocol

Dim CRC as Byte  CRC = 0  For each byte b      CRC = CRC Xor b      CRC = CRC + 1  Next 


Setting the baud rate

If you decide to use a baud rate other than the default one, then the "master" should communicate to all devices in the chain the new speed.

This setting should be possible even before making a loop device recognition and must be also possible with very long transmission lines. Therefore there is a special command that is now shown.

1 – The Master maintains the high line for 50 mS
2 – All the slaves are definitely placed pending one character
3 – The Master generates a BREAK (low level line 12 bit at minimum speed
4 – The Master issues a 55 character (01010101) the desired baud rate
5 – All slaves infer the baud rate from this bytes (Auto-baud)
6 – The Master sends one byte that specifies the "Speed" (from 1 to 12)
7 – The Master sends one byte of CRC calculated on two bytes (cmd/speed)
8 – If the Slave is a mistake does not change its speed

dilbertian eig

Check the baud rate

If you set a speed too high for transmission line in use some devices in the chain may not be able to support the speed setting and errors can occur when transmitting data.

If transmission errors are zero or less than the 0.1% then the speed set is valid.


Recognition and numbering

1 – The Master outputs to the Slave the whole sequence of "Speed" setting to ensure that all communicate at the same speed.
2 – The Master does not transmit commands to 50 Milliseconds.
3 – At this point all slaves should be waiting for a command.
4 – The Master issues a code "254″ (RecogStart).
5 – All the slaves they put the weak-pull-up (100-400 UA) on the input-output and open the output connection to downstream devices. They no longer respond to any commands except "253″ (Recog).
6 – Il Master” emette un codice “253″ (type request) and then a byte with the number 0″, the first device in the chain meets a byte with its type, Removes the pull-up, connect to the downstream Slave and not responding to any commands.
7 – Il Master emette un codice “253″ (type request) and then a byte with the number 1″, the second device in the chain meets a byte with its type, Removes the pull-up, connect to the downstream Slave and not responding to any commands.
8 – Il Master emette un codice “253″ (type request) and then a byte with the number "2″,

…. the “253” (type request) repeats up to 200 times
When no longer responds to a duration greater than 10 bit at current throughput, means that the chain is over. To avoid this calculation, You can use a time-out of 12 Ms that always works, even at the lowest speed.

9 – The Master issues toward the slaves all setting sequence "Speed", that shows all the slaves in the normal communication mode.
10 – The Master informs the Host (PC) via USB Slave recognized number and type of each.

Roberto_Cena & Livio_Cicala (2010 – 2016)

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