The winDSK8 program is a freely available, highly useful, and versatile program with which the user can execute a wide variety of real-time signal processing algorithms. Beginning with version 2, the program can be used with three different boards: the C6713 DSK, the OMAP-L138 Zoom Experimenter Kit board, and the OMAP-L138 LCDK. The winDSK8 program can be used to validate the board operation and connections, perfrom a wide variety of demos, and generally become familiar with some of the impressive capabilities of the DSP core. Version 1 of the program, which only works with the Zoom Experimenter Kit board, is included on the CD-ROM that ships with the 2nd edition text, but you can also find it here.
The installation file for winDSK8 version 2 can be found here. To use version 2 of winDSK8 with either of the OMAP-L138 boards (the Zoom Experimenter Kit or the LCDK), you also need to reflash your board with the file mentioned below. This is a harmless procedure, will not damage your board, and can be reversed if necessary.
You must reflash your OMAP-L138 board to use winDSK8. To be able to use the OMAP-L138 Zoom Experimenters Kit or the OMAP-L138 LCDK with winDSK8, the board must be initially prepared using a simple memory reflash procedure to install the winDSK8 kernel, as described in the text. This is typically a one-time procedure (although major upgrades to winDSK8 may require another reflash), and does not affect the operation of your board for any other DSP programs. Download and read the appropriate instruction file forreflashing the memory on the OMAP-L138 board; this is newer than the instruction file on the book's CD-ROM.
To check if the reflashing step has been properly completed, be sure to perform the very last step in these instructions. Do not neglect this check because winDSK8 will not run on either OMAP-L138 board unless the winDSK8 kernel is in place. Note that winDSK8 communicates with the OMAP-L138 boards using a different connection than when using CCS, since winDSK8 also uses the ARM926 core in addition to the C6748 core. The "Getting Started" documents, found on the 2nd Edition page, explain this more fully and provide annotated figures of the boards.
If you are still having trouble knowing which connectors to use for the Zoom Experimenter Kit, you may want to refer to this document;
Important note regarding the Zoom Experimenter Kit: Because of the method with which winDSK8 uses both the ARM and DSP cores of the OMAP-L138, winDSK8 communicates with the OMAP-L138 Zoom Experimenter Kit using the DB-9 serial port connector (connector A, circled in red in the document mentioned immediately above). A null modem adapter (or null modem cable) must be used with the serial port (circled in green in the document mentioned above). This is different from how the Code Composer Studio (CCS) software tools communicate with the board when you are programming some DSP algorithm in C; CCS uses the "mini-B" USB port (connector V in the document mentioned above). Therefore, for using winDSK8, your PC platform must either have a serial port available, or you can use a USB-to-serial adapter and use an available USB port on your PC. Be warned that there is wide variability in the performance of USB-to-serial adapters on the market, which generally translates into differences in the highest baud rate you can set for the port and still communicate properly.
For the LCDK, no null modem is needed. To use winDSK8 with the LCDK, you connect to the USB connector at J3, as indicated in the instructions for reflashing and the Getting Started document.
