libiio Direct Access

pyadi-iio is built on-top of libiio, specifically its python bindings pylibiio. However, pyadi-iio tries to limit or shape the top-level access of certain properties of drivers exposed by libiio and its structure so users do not have to understand how libiio works. This is great until you need access to something not directly exposed by one of pyadi-iio’s classes. Fortunately, there is an easy way to directly access the libiio python API when necessary.

libiio Entry Points

The main object interface to libiio is through the ctx property, which is available in every device-specific class. The context is used internally by ctx to do all libiio specific operations. Here is an example of using the ctx property with pyadi-iio and libiio:

import adi
import iio

sdr = adi.Pluto("ip:pluto.local")
ctx = iio.Context("ip:pluto.local")

for d1, d2 in zip(sdr.ctx.devices, ctx.devices):
    print(d1.name, "|", d2.name)

Output:

ad9361-phy | ad9361-phy
xadc | xadc
cf-ad9361-dds-core-lpc | cf-ad9361-dds-core-lpc
cf-ad9361-lpc | cf-ad9361-lpc

By convention device-specific classes will populate the main control driver as property _ctrl, the RX driver associated with data (DMA) as _rxadc, and the TX driver associated with data (DMA) and DDSs as _txdac. However, this is not always guaranteed depending on class implementation.

Please refer to the libiio python API for documentation on using libiio directly.

Examples

Here is an example of setting the enable state machine on Pluto through the libiio API through pyadi-iio:

import adi

sdr = adi.Pluto()

phy = sdr.ctx.find_device("ad9361-phy")
# View current mode
print(phy.attrs["ensm_mode"].value)
# View options
print(phy.attrs["ensm_mode_available"].value)
# Update mode
phy.attrs["ensm_mode"].value = "alert"
# View new mode
print(phy.attrs["ensm_mode"].value)

Output:

fdd
sleep wait alert fdd pinctrl pinctrl_fdd_indep
alert

Here we can print all libiio debug attributes:

import adi

sdr = adi.Pluto()

phy = sdr.ctx.find_device("ad9361-phy")
for dattr in phy.debug_attrs:
    print(dattr, phy.debug_attrs[dattr])

Output:

digital_tune digital_tune
calibration_switch_control calibration_switch_control
multichip_sync multichip_sync
gaininfo_rx2 gaininfo_rx2
gaininfo_rx1 gaininfo_rx1
bist_timing_analysis bist_timing_analysis
gpo_set gpo_set
bist_tone bist_tone
bist_prbs bist_prbs
loopback loopback
initialize initialize
adi,bb-clk-change-dig-tune-enable adi,bb-clk-change-dig-tune-enable
adi,axi-half-dac-rate-enable adi,axi-half-dac-rate-enable
adi,txmon-2-lo-cm adi,txmon-2-lo-cm
adi,txmon-1-lo-cm adi,txmon-1-lo-cm
adi,txmon-2-front-end-gain adi,txmon-2-front-end-gain
adi,txmon-1-front-end-gain adi,txmon-1-front-end-gain
...

On some devices it is possible to access registers. This must be done through the Device classes of the context:

import adi

sdr = adi.Pluto()

phy = sdr.ctx.find_device("ad9361-phy")
# Read product ID register
pi = phy.reg_read(0x37)
print(f"ID: {hex(pi)}")
# Enable near-end loopback in the HDL core
rxfpga = sdr.ctx.find_device("cf-ad9361-lpc")
rxfpga.reg_write(0x80000418, 0x1)  # I channel
rxfpga.reg_write(0x80000458, 0x1)  # Q channel

Output:

ID: 0xa

libiio v1.X support

pyadi-iio supports libiio v1.X and v0.X. However, the libiio python bindings are not available on PyPI for v1.X and they are currently unstable. If you require stable operation, please use libiio v0.X. Its also possible that not all ecosystem features are available yet for v1.X. Please report any issues you find with v1.X.