Device Manager

Device Manager is used to create, manipulate, and activate HIL device setups.

Device Manager Overview

Device Manager is a tool used for defining, manipulating, loading, and deploying HIL device setups to an instance Typhoon HIL Control Center as well as for updating and configuring HIL device firmware. A HIL setup is a set of devices which can be connected (activated) and used by Typhoon HIL Control Center. It is globally visible to instance of Typhoon HIL Control Center and all accompanying tools. Both USB and Ethernet connected devices are supported.

Figure 1. Device Manager dialog
  1. The following table describes the possible Device Manager actions performed using the icons show in Box 1 of Figure 1:
    Table 1. Device Manager actions
    Action icon Description
    Perform detection of HIL devices (USB or Ethernet).
    Set HIL devices listed in Active HIL setup to be busy for other users on the network (Ethernet only).
    Open existing HIL setup file.
    Save HIL setup to a file.
    Save HIL setup under a new file name.
    Add device manually to the current setup using its serial number.
    Add HIL devices by IP address if network auto-detection fails for any reason.
    Select the desired HIL device and click on this action. Device Manager will find the appropriate firmware and start the update process automatically. Additional information on how this is performed is in the Syncing Firmware in Device Manager section.
    Select the desired HIL device and click on this action. Device Manager will show the available configurations for the selected device, from which you can choose one.
    Select the desired HIL device and click on this action. Device Manager will ask you for the path to the desired firmware file that you want to upload to the device.
    To change device settings, select the desired HIL device and click on the Actions menu, then click on the Change device INI file. More information about available parameters for INI files, is in the HIL INI file section.
    Open Device Configuration Table
  2. Active HIL setup

    Located on the left side of the Device Manager dialog (Box 2 of Figure 1). It allows one or more HIL devices to be added to the HIL setup from the Detected devices UI part (which is located to the right). If this list is empty, Typhoon HIL Control Center will use an implicit HIL setup (i.e. the first compatible device for your model that it finds). Active HIL setup will show a setup name, connection status, and a list of HIL devices in it. Devices are added/removed using the arrow buttons between the Active HIL setup and the Detected devices.

  3. Detected devices

    Lists all detected HIL devices along with their information (Box 3 of Figure 1). This is the pool from which devices can be added to HIL setup. Each HIL device will display their current status via the icons shown below:

    Table 2. Meaning of HIL device status icons
    Status icon Description
    HIL device is available.
    HIL device is available only for you (user).
    HIL device is busy.
    HIL device is not on the network.

    Right clicking on a HIL device will allow you to perform one of the following actions specific to that device (Figure 2): syncing or manually updating the device firmware, rebooting the HIL device, changing the device configuration, or changing the INI file.

    Figure 2. Device Manager context menu

Syncing Firmware in Device Manager

Device Manager allows you to automatically upgrade firmware on multiple HIL 4- and 6- series devices and customize their device settings. All device firmware files are packed together with the Typhoon HIL Control Center installation and an additional firmware download is not required.

Device Manager lets you either start the upgrade process on the desired device or, if your firmware is up to date, change your firmware configuration. Updating multiple connected devices of the same type is also possible; the Device Manager will update them sequentially, one at a time.

Note: The Change Configuration option is available for multiple devices only if all selected devices are of the same type and their firmware is up to date.
Important: Do not turn off or unplug the HIL device during the firmware update procedure as it may result in the HIL device being unusable.
Important: During the firmware update procedure, all other Typhoon HIL applications should be closed.

Perform the firmware upgrade procedure by following the steps below:

  • Power up and connect the HIL device
  • Open Device Manager. Upon start, Device Manager will automatically detect all connected HIL devices and show their firmware status, as described in Table 3

    Table 3. Meaning of firmware status icons
    Status icon Description
    Firmware is synced with the currently opened Typhoon HIL software installation.
    Firmware is out of sync with currently opened Typhoon HIL Control Center software. Firmware version may be older or newer than the THCC compatible version.
  • Select the desired HIL device and click on the Sync Firmware button (). Device Manager will find the appropriate firmware and start the update process automatically

    Note: Sync Firmware will search for firmware files in the following locations:
    1. Installation folder/typhoon/apps/firmware_files
    2. %appdata%typhoon/firmware_files
    3. Remote download from the Typhoon HIL Subscription portal.
  • Firmware update progress for each selected device is shown in a separate window

  • The firmware upgrade or configuration change procedure can take more than a minute to complete. After updates are finished on all devices, an appropriate message is shown.

HIL INI file

The HIL ini file dialog is shown in a separate window (Figure 3).

Figure 3. HIL ini file dialog window
Note: Only 4th generation devices (HIL101, HIL404, HIL506, and HIL606) support assigning IP addresses to all available ethernet ports. Other devices can assign IP addresses only to ethernet port 1.

Available parameters in the HIL.ini file settings are as follows:

Table 4. HIL.ini file parameters
Parameter Default value Available from release Description
device_name - 2020.3 Device name displayed in Device manager. If left empty, the serial number is displayed as the device name.
ip_address_eth_port_1 - 2020.3 If this parameter is left empty, the HIL tries to automatically acquire an IP address over DHCP. If DHCP fails, the HIL sets 192.168.42.200 as the default IP address.
netmask_eth_port_1 255.255.255.0 2021.1
gateway_eth_port_1 - 2021.2
ip_address_eth_port_2 192.168.43.200 2024.2 Assign an IP address to HIL ethernet port 2.
netmask_eth_port_2 - 2024.2
ip_address_eth_port_3 192.168.44.200 2024.2 Assign an IP address to HIL ethernet port 3.
netmask_eth_port_3 - 2024.2
ip_address_eth_port_4 192.168.45.200 2024.2 Assign an IP address to HIL ethernet port 4.
netmask_eth_port_4 - 2024.2
force_usb false 2021.1 If enabled, the HIL mandates a USB connection. If left disabled, the HIL will try to initialize USB on boot up, and if that fails, an Ethernet connection is used.
usb_init_timeout 3 2021.1 Timeout for initializing a USB connection. In case of USB issues or if USB power saving modes are enabled, it is recommended to increase this timeout.
heartbeat_timeout 10 2021.1 Timeout used when checking if there is a live Ethernet connection with THCC. If the local network is severely congested and you encounter a loss of connection with the HIL, it is recommended to increase this timeout.
watchdog_enable true 2021.2 If enabled, the HIL automatically reboots if a signal processing application fails and locks up the HIL.
ptp_enable false 2023.2 If enabled, the HIL device system clock can be synchronized using PTP protocol
ptp_settings

--time_stamping=software

--slaveOnly=1

--priority1=255

--priority2=255

--domainNumber=0

--delay_mechanism=P2P

--logAnnounceInterval=0

--logSyncInterval=0

--logMinPdelayReqInterval=0

--announceReceiptTimeout=3

2023.2 Options used when enabling the PTP service on a HIL device. PTP is based on the Linux ptp4l library and the options can be changed according to the library specification.
Note: The IP addresses of the ethernet ports must be unique and cannot belong to the same subnet.
Important: As of Typhoon HIL Control Center V2024.2 release, PTP Configuration through the HIL INI file is deprecated. For improved functionality and better support, please configure PTP synchronization through the Time synchronization component.