Curtiss-Wright AXN User manual
AXN Quick Start Kit
User Guide
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
AN INTRODUCTION TO AXN .................................................................................... 1
About this AXN Quick Start Kit User Guide ............................................................................. 3
Unpacking and checking the contents ..................................................................................... 3
Registering for technical updates ............................................................................................ 4
Getting help and support ......................................................................................................... 4
HANDLING GUIDELINES FOR AXN MODULES ............................................................ 5
Basic handling guidelines ........................................................................................................ 5
The Axon product family chassis major component parts ....................................................... 5
Axonite ..................................................................................................................................... 5
Axon product family chassis slot numberings .......................................................................... 6
Using the Axonite ..................................................................................................................... 7
Connecting the Axonite to the chassis.................................................................................. 7
Disconnecting the Axonite from the chassis ......................................................................... 8
Grounding the AXN chassis ..................................................................................................... 9
Star point............................................................................................................................... 9
AXN isolated grounds ........................................................................................................... 9
GND ...................................................................................................................................... 9
CHASSIS .............................................................................................................................. 9
POWER(-) ............................................................................................................................. 9
AXN grounding.................................................................................................................... 10
Validating grounding ........................................................................................................... 10
Cables and shielding........................................................................................................... 11
Incorrect configurations....................................................................................................... 12
Connecting the laptop to the AXN chassis and logging in ..................................................... 13
CONFIGURING THE AXN SYSTEM .......................................................................... 15
Configuring the AXN system with DAS Studio 3 .................................................................... 15
Automatic discovery of AXN................................................................................................ 15
Manually creating a task file................................................................................................ 18
Configuring the Axon controller........................................................................................... 23
Configuring the AXN AXN/ADC/401 ................................................................................... 31
Configuring the AXN ARINC-429 bus monitor .................................................................... 47
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Cherry Picking or parsing of specific ARINC-429 words ..................................................... 52
Installing the Axonite ........................................................................................................... 57
Setting the IP address of the AXN controller....................................................................... 57
Creating packets and sampling data ................................................................................... 58
Verifying the task file ........................................................................................................... 62
Programming instrumentation ............................................................................................. 63
Real time viewing of data .......................................................................................................65
Balancing analog channels using Bridge Balancer ................................................................67
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Chapter 1
AN INTRODUCTION TO AXN
Axon is Curtiss Wright’s next generation data acquisition platform. Axon is designed to be a future proof, flexible,
and reliable platform. Whether in use on commercial aircraft, military platforms, missile systems or space
programs, Axon is designed for the most demanding Flight Test Instrumentation (FTI) applications.
The Axon product family consists of AXN and ADAU, equivalent designs tailored to fit the Acra and TTC networked
systems requirements respectively.
AXN is colored orange and black, in keeping with the Acra KAM-500 look and feel and is supported in DAS Studio
3 software. It offers output formats in line with the KAM-500 such as iNET-X and IENA and expands the Acra
offering by bringing IRIG-106 Ch10 UDP format support.
ADAU is colored grey, in keeping with the MnACQ look and feel and is supported in TTCWare software. It offers
output formats in line with the TTC networked products such as DARv3 and IRIG-106 Ch10 UDP format support.
(TmNS will be supported in the future.)
Figure 1: AXN and ADAU 9 user-slot chassis
Regardless of the platform, flight test programs commonly face the following challenges:
•Ensuring all data is captured
•Compressed time scales for test campaigns
•Instrumentation system installation challenges
•Dealing with new acquisition requirements
•Adding measurements in the middle of the campaign
•Handling increased data requirements
•Costly custom systems specific to a campaign need to be reused
AXN is perfectly suited to meet all these challenges; it is reliable, flexible, and designed for harsh locations, while
its optimal size and weight are perfect for locations with limited space.
AXN is offered in four sizes, with other options available on request.
•16 user-slots (55 mm x 76 mm x 333 mm/2.16 in. x 3 in. x 13.1 in.)
•9 user-slots (55 mm x 76 mm x 236 mm/2.16 in. x 3 in. x 9.3 in.)
•6 user-slots (55 mm x 76 mm x 194 mm/2.16 in. x 3 in. x 7.63 in.)
•3 user-slots (55 mm x 76 mm x 152 mm/2.16 in. x 3 in. x 5.98 in.)
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NOTE: Above measurements may be rounded and are not inclusive of power connector height. Refer to the
respective chassis data sheet for comprehensive measurements including equivalents in inches.
Figure 2: AXN chassis from 16 user-slot to single-slot Axonite
The design of the AXN allows for any combination of 2U to 16U chassis to be created, in any configuration
including circular chassis for rotor systems.
From the flexibility point of view, AXN is a solid modular chassis, making it easy to add new modules or replace
existing modules without having to dissemble the chassis. AXN modules are designed to be in-service
programmable, so they can be updated with new revisions of firmware in-situ, saving the need to return modules
for updating.
The AXN backplane, is a 1-Gbps point-to-point link for each module. This, while offering a significant increase in
bandwidth available over the backplane, offers the ability to extend the backplane outside the chassis to a single
user-slot chassis that can be placed in restricted places, closer to sensors. These single user-slot chassis are
called Axonites. Axonites can be placed up to 10 meters (33 feet) from the chassis and are powered by the chassis
through a 6-wire interface to the backplane via an extender card placed in the user-slot of the chassis. The 6-wire
cable consists of 2 x TX, 2 x Rx and 2 x power wires. Axonites can house any AXN user module and offer greater
heat dissipation in hot zones due to the greater relative surface area for the module to dissipate heat.
Figure 3: Axonite single user-slot chassis
AXN reliability is guaranteed by building on the heritage of Curtiss-Wright’s Aerospace Instrumentation group. The
Aerospace Instrumentation group is the number 1 provider of FTI worldwide. AXN uses FPGA-based state
machine acquisition engines. These are live at power up, immediately acquiring data after power interrupts.
System wide synchronous sampling is guaranteed across the AXN product line. All parameters are sampled at the
start of the acquisition cycle and then at evenly spaced intervals throughout the cycle. Analog acquisition is
accurate up to 0.02% FSR. Channel density is maintained or increased even with the reduced size of AXN.
As the Axon product family is the next generation data acquisition platform from Curtiss-Wright, it has been
designed from the start to be future proof. This is achieved by using a serial backplane with dedicated 1 Gbps links
CHAPTER 1: AN INTRODUCTION TO AXN 3
to all user module slots. The controller acts as an aggregator to collect data from all slots and is the current limiting
factor of the available bandwidth.
Figure 4: Dedicated 1 Gbps links to all user-slots
The controller has dual 1000BT outputs initially providing 23 Msps (380 Mbps) of bandwidth to the AXN, which
comfortably exceeds current Flight Test requirements. To meet future demands for increased bandwidth for FTI
programs, it will only be necessary to upgrade the controller. This will allow for newer high-speed modules to be
installed while still supporting existing modules.
About this AXN Quick Start Kit User Guide
The AXN Quick Start Kit User Guide is intended for engineers who need to set up and evaluate an AXN system.
Unpacking and checking the contents
Remove all contents from the package and confirm that the following items are included:
•AXN/CHS/09U – 9 user-slot Axon chassis containing the following modules:
- Slot 0: AXN/BCU/40x – Axon backplane controller
- Slot 1: AXN/ABM/401 – Axon 24 channel ARINC-429 bus monitor/packetizer
- Slot 4: AXN/EXT/401 – Axon extender module
- Slot 8: AXN/ADC/401 – The 8 channel flexible analog module
•AXN/ITE/01U – Remote Axonite housing
•1 meter Axonite-to-Extender module cable (AXN/CAB/001/01M)
•Laptop (with power adapter and cable) preconfigured with DAS Studio 3 software
Controller
ACQ
MODULE 1
ACQ
MODULE 2
ACQ
MODULE 3
ACQ
MODULE 14
ACQ
MODULE 15
.
.
.
Dedicated full-duplex 1G Serial link
1G Ethernet
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•Chassis power cable (CON/PSU/008/FLG/100)
•BCU-to-dual RJ-45 cable (AXN/CAB/002)
•1 meter RJ-45 Ethernet cable (CAB/NET/007)
•Axon module removal tool (ACC/TOL/041)
•USB-to-RJ-45 Ethernet connector
•Mating connectors and pins to assemble Axon user module interface cables (CON/KAD/002/CP)
Inspect all contents for any visible signs of damage that may have occurred during transit. If damaged, contact
Curtiss-Wright support ([email protected]). Keep the packing material in case you need to return
the product or ship it to another location.
WARNING: Always ensure that proper ElectroStatic Discharge (ESD) precautions are in place before handling or
storing Curtiss-Wright equipment. See the Axon Handling Precautions document.
Registering for technical updates
Curtiss Wright issues a monthly bulletin, which provides updates on software versions and documentation
changes. To register for this bulletin, contact Curtiss Wright support ([email protected]).
Getting help and support
Visit www.cwc-ae.com for further information about the company’s products and for resources such as FAQ,
technical notes and tutorials.
Please provide details of any hardware or software problems you have to [email protected]
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Chapter 2
HANDLING GUIDELINES FOR AXN MODULES
NOTE: Illustrations used in this section are of AXN products; ADAU products are identical in structure and form
factor.
Basic handling guidelines
Before proceeding, you should read the Axon Handling Precautions document. This document covers electrostatic
considerations, module screw torque settings, and detailed instructions for inserting and removing modules in a
chassis.
The Axon product family chassis major component parts
As shown in the following figure, the Axon product family chassis consists of a power supply unit, high-speed
backplane, and the single piece milled AXN box.
Figure 5: Major components of Axon product family chassis
Axonite
The Axonite is a 1 user-slot remote chassis that allows any AXN user module to be placed up to 10 meters (33
feet) from the chassis. It offers better heat dissipation for hot zones and is designed to fit into compact spaces.
The power supply is qualified
to MIL-STD-704 and capable of
providing up to 100W of power
to the backplane
The high-speed
backplane is a point-to-
point LVDS design,
allowing over 1 Gbps
of data from each slot
independently
The Axon product family
box is milled from a
single piece of aluminum
and qualified to DO-
160G
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Figure 6: Axonite 1 user-slot remote chassis
Axon product family chassis slot numberings
The Axon chassis is a solid modular chassis with up to 16 user-slots. The chassis consists of a single piece milled
chassis box, backplane, and Power Supply Unit (PSU).The AXN backplane controller module ships already
installed in slot 0 of the chassis. For all chassis, user-slots are numbered in ascending order starting with slot 1
next to the backplane controller (slot 0). The following figure shows slot numbering for a 16U chassis.
Figure 7: 16U chassis slot numbering
As shown in the following figure, each slot has grooves into which the guide rails on the module slot into, ensuring
the module is correctly inserted.
Slot 0: BCU PSU
Slots 1 to 16
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