Bela

h1.  Timing and I/O in Bela 

All I/O in Bela -- audio, analog and digital -- is synchronised to the same master clock. This means that audio and sensor data is always strongly aligned with no latency or jitter. It also means that programming conventions for handling I/O are somewhat different from other platforms.

h2. Functions in a Bela project

Every Bela project must declare three functions: @setup()@, @render()@ and @cleanup()@.

@setup(BeagleRTContext *context, void *userData)@ runs once at the *beginning* of the program, before any audio or sensor processing has taken place. It is analogous to the @setup()@ function in the Arduino environment. Your code here should allocate any needed memory and initialise program state.

@render(BeagleRTContext *context, void *userData)@ runs *regularly, in a loop* as long as the program is running. It is called by the Bela system. Your code within @render()@ should process one buffer worth of audio, analog and digital data, using the information stored in the @context@ data structure. For further information, see [[ Tutorial Sketches - Explanations ]].

@cleanup(BeagleRTContext *context, void *userData)@ runs once at the *end* of the program, after audio and sensor processing has finished. Use it to clean up resources allocated in @setup()@.

h2. Working with I/O

All audio processing, as well as all analog and digital I/O, should be handled from @render()@. Every call to @render()@ represents a small slice of time:

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On Bela, analog and digital I/Os are sampled at a constant rate, _regardless of whether you use the samples or not_. All I/O is held within the @context@ data structure. For example, if the buffer size is 8 audio samples and you are using 8 analog channels, then the structure will contain:

* @context->audioIn@ is an array of 8 frames * 2 channels = 16 audio input samples. These samples were read by the hardware before @render()@ began.

* @context->audioOut@ is an array of 8 frames * 2 channels = 16 audio output samples which your program should write. They will be sent to the hardware after @render()@ has finished.

* @context->analogIn@ is an array of 4 frames * 8 channels = 32 analog input samples. (4 frames because analog I/O runs at half the sample rate of audio I/O.) These samples were read by the hardware before @render()@ began.

* @context->analogOut@ is an array of 4 frames * 8 channels = 32 analog output samples which your program should write.

* @context->digital@ is an array of 8 frames. Digital frames are encoded as 32bit words where bits 31-16 are the input or output value and bits 15-0 set the direction. While these can be set directly using bitwise operators, it is recommended that you use I/O functions below.

This is a contrast to Arduino and similar environments. For example, calling @analogRead()@ on Arduino would cause the analog pin to be read at the moment the function runs. The rest of the code will stop until the analog to digital conversion has finished and @analogRead()@ returns. On Bela, the analog input data is _already present in the buffer_. Calling @analogReadFrame()@ will retrieve the sample from the buffer. Your code does not need to wait for the conversion to happen.

h3. Understanding the "frame" argument

All the I/O functions in Bela (@digitalReadFrame()@, @analogWriteFrame()@, etc.) take an argument for which frame to read or write the I/O pin. The frame indicates exactly what time the read/write should take place. The number of frames in any given call to @render()@ depends on the Bela buffer size (which can be changed with the @- p@ command line argument). By default, the buffer size is 8 analog frames or 16 audio frames. Valid frame numbers will range from 0 to @(context->analogFrames - 1)@ for analog, @(context->digitalFrames - 1)@ for digital and @(context->audioFrames - 1)@ for audio.

Remember when calling @analogWriteFrame()@ or @digitalWriteFrame()@ that the value will not be updated immediately upon returning from the function. Instead, the output will be buffered and will change when the designated frame arrives.

h3. I/O Functions

Bela provides a number of I/O functions. Your files should contain @#include <Utilities.h>@ in order to use these functions. See the code docs for detailed usage: https://code.soundsoftware.ac.uk/projects/beaglert/embedded/Utilities_8h.html

* @digitalReadFrame@ -- read a digital pin

* @digitalWriteFrame@ -- write a digital pin, and hold the value going forward

* @digitalWriteFrameOnce@ -- write a digital pin for one frame only

* @pinModeFrame@ -- change a digital pin to an input or output and maintain this going forward

* @pinModeFrameOnce@ -- change a digital pin to an input or output for one frame only

* @analogReadFrame@ -- read an analog pin

* @analogWriteFrame@ -- write an analog pin, and (depending on system setting) hold the value going forward

* @analogWriteFrameOnce@ -- write an analog pin for one frame only

h3. Example: @int digitalReadFrame(BeagleRTContext *context, int frame, int channel)@

This function works like @digitalRead()@ on Arduino, but it takes two extra arguments. The first argument is the @context@ data structure which is passed in to @render()@. This is needed because @context@ holds all the references to the I/O buffers. The second argument is the frame (i.e. the time) at which to read the pin. The third argument, @channel@, is the pin to read, similar to the Arduino function. The value of the pin (@HIGH@ or @LOW@) is returned.

h3. Input/output pins

Analog input and output pins are provided on dedicated headers, labelled "IN" and "OUT" respectively.

The 8 analog inputs are ordered sequentially from 0 to 7 starting from the one closer to P9 and moving towards P8.

The 8 analog outputs are not sequential but their numbers are silkscreened on the PCB.

Digital input/output pins are available on P8 and P9 connectors. The correspondency between physical pins and the digital pin numbers used in the software is outlined below.

Refer to the interactive diagram to find your way around the available pins on the cape: http://www.astridbin.com/bbb_diagram/ .

 Pin     Digital in/out number

 P8_07    0

 P8_08    1

 P8_09    2

 P8_10    3

 P8_11    4

 P8_12    5

 P9_12    6

 P9_14    7

 P8_15    8

 P8_16    9

 P9_16   10

 P8_18   11

 P8_27   12

 P8_28   13

 P8_29   14

 P8_30   15