Webinar #3 Decoder Exercise

This repository contains the exercise for the third NeXosim webinar for ESA ASCEND.

The exercise aims to demonstrate the process involved in implementing a decoder model, utilizing the nexosim-bytes-utils crate, for the purpose of integrating the SerialPort model into a hardware-in-the-loop simulation.

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The program goes over multiple test cases, demonstrating various challenges involved in parsing incoming data from external hardware.

The participant's goal is to transform the data broadcast via the SerialPort.bytes_out output port into a TcPacket, utilizing the ByteDecoderModel API and the TcPacket::from_bytes function.

The TcPacket::from_bytes function needs an NSP message with SLIP framing removed to construct a TcPacket instance.

To achieve the goal the participant must modify the implementation of the Decoder struct in lib.rs

Useful Documentation

• The bytes crate's Buf trait methods:
  • buf.advance()
  • buf.has_remaining()
  • buf.get_u8()
  • buf.chunk()
• nexosim-bytes-utils::decode module
• serial-port model

Prerequisites

The socat package is used to connect the two serial ports in the demo setup. It can be installed with:

$ sudo apt update && sudo apt install socat

Usage

Before running the program, in a separate terminal, the setup script has to be executed.

$ ./setup.sh

This might require setting execution permission for the file.

$ chmod +x setup.sh