Installation and Use of PiPro (load_pi.exe) vivek_nadkarni@trimble.com December 18, 2008 The current web page for PiPro is http://teller.eng.trimble.com/calvinHome/GPSRxEng/ObservableAnalysis/piline.htm This README file can be obtained from this web page. The Background section is a slightly modified excerpt from http://teller.eng.trimble.com/calvinHome/GPSRxEng/ObservableAnalysis/piline_old.htm Also, see this web page for instructions on how to do non-zero baseline processing. Some of the information in that web page may no longer be valid, but I don't know which parts are no longer valid. Background: PiLine is a software package originally developed for UNIX at Trimble in the late 1980's. It comprised of a baseline processor that would also output residuals given data from two stations and a fixed baseline. This code has been updated and a PC based DLL produced. On top of the DLL there are currently two applications, PiLab maintained by Timo Allison (a download is available), and load_pi also known as PiPro. PiLab is an interactive package and is not covered here, PiPro is configured through a simple configuration file with command line options. PiPro is designed to process large files and/or multiple files in scripts producing results that can be easily published on the Intranet. In addition several CSV files are created so that further analysis can be performed. The latest version of PiPro was written using Matlab R2007b. The Matlab code was compiled into a stand-alone executable which can be run legally on any machine without requiring a Matlab License. Installation Instructions for PiPro (load_pi.exe): 1. All of the files for PiPro are located in the Unreleased directory: <\\uss-am-dat-05\Groups\Unreleased\EngCon\Survey-Eng\TNL\Tools\PiPro\> The latest version is the directory PiPro_v208. You can also download the files from the Installation section of the website: http://calvin.eng.trimble.com/GPSRxEng/ObservableAnalysis/piline.htm The installation consists of three files: (1) This README file - README_pipro.txt. (2) The Matlab Component Runtime (MCR) - MCRInstaller_R2007b.exe. (3) The PiPro installation Zipfile - PiPro_v208.zip. Download these three files into a temporary download directory. Note: If you want to install an older version of PiPro from the Unreleased directory: The MCR is a large file (about 150MB). It is not replicated in every release directory e.g. PiPro_v200, PiPro_v201. When a new release is available, the MCR is moved to the newest release. For example, during the release of PiPro_v201, the file MCRInstaller_R2006b.exe has been moved from the PiPro_v200 directory to the PiPro_v201 directory. So if you want to run an older release, you may need to get the MCR from the directory of a newer release. For example to install PiPro_v200, you will need the MCR from PiPro_v201. 2. Install the Matlab Component Runtime (MCR) for Matlab Release 2007b which provides the Matlab engine. This only needs to be done once per release of Matlab. Installing the same MCR multiple times won't cause any harm. Also, according to The Mathworks, multiple releases (e.g. 2006a, 2006b etc) of the MCR can be installed and used simultaneously on a single computer without conflicts. The deployed application (e.g. load_pi.exe) uses the appropriate MCR file. 3. Extract PiPro_v208.zip from the zipfile. Use Winzip, PKzip or Windows XP or any other zip extrator. Three directories are generated AntennaConfiguration PiPro PiProTest A copy of this README file is also extracted README_pipro.txt 4. Install CFGBetaUpdate2008Dec12.exe from the AntennaConfiguration directory. This enables the use of antenna configuration information. This step is not necessary if you have any Trimble Office Software installed. Even if you do have Trimble office software installed, or have already installed this file previously, running this step will not cause any harm. The latest antenna files are stored at this location <\\uss-am-dat-05\Groups\Unreleased\Components\Tnl\Config Files\Devel\Install\> The current file is called CFGBetaUpdate2008Dec12.exe. If you want to be notified when new antenna files become available email terry_wortham@trimble.com and ask to be put on his notification list. 5. The PiPro directory contains two files: load_pi.exe load_pi.ctf Place these two files into a the desired installation directory for PiPro. This README assumes you are using C:\Programs\PiPro\ as the installation directory. 6. The PiProTest directory contains four files: base.T01 rover.T01 piline.ini runPiPro.bat Place these four files in the desired directory for test files. This README assumes you are using C:\Data\PiProTest. Verification of the Installation: 1. Edit C:\Data\PiProTest\runPiPro.bat. If you have used a different location for load_pi.exe than C:\Programs\PiPro\load_pi.exe, then change the script to point to the correct location. If there are any spaces in the path to load_pi.exe then you have to enclose the location, but not the input parameters, in quotation marks - "full path". 2. Start up a DOS-prompt. Type: C: cd C:\Data\PiProTest runPiPro.bat Wait for load_pi to complete running. 3. If the program runs properly, you will have a number of .png files in the PiProTest directory and a file called C:\Data\PiProTest\stats.htm . Open this file in your favorite browser. Click on the first link "Plot of pseudorange Double Difference residuals for all GPS satellites". Verify that the residuals look good - i.e. look like relatively white noise with a max-min of roughly 1 meter. Running PiPro on your own Data Files: 1. Create a new directory for your data files. Say you use C:\Data\MyPiProData\. Place your data files called myBase.T01 and myRover.T01 in this directory. If you have DAT files you can use a utility such as dat2t01 to convert the DAT files to the T01 format. 2. Copy over the batch file C:\Data\PiProTest\runPiPro.bat and the configuration file C:\Data\PiProTest\piline.ini into C:\Data\MyPiProData. 3. Edit piline.ini. * Update the base position and rover position with the ECEF (XYZ) positions of the base and rover antennas in the WGS-84 coordinate frame. The base and rover positions should be referenced to the phase center of the antennas. * Note that you can use the program geo.exe bundled with piPro to convert Latitude Longitude Altitude (LLA) positions to XYZ positions. * Replace base.T01 with myBase.T01 and rover.T01 with myRover.T01 in the piline.ini file. If you want to point to files that are not in the current directory, you can use the full path instead of just the file name. As before, if there are spaces in the file path or file name, enclose the file name in quotation marks - "full path". * The antenna types of the base and rover go on the same line as base or rover filenames. The antenna types in the test file are listed as 0. Antenna type 0 is of type "Unknown Ext" with all antenna model parameters zeroed out. This means that no antenna model is applied. If you are using a single antenna through a splitter to evaulate GPS receiver performance, this is preferred. If you are using two separate antennas, you should use the appropriate antenna types for your two separate antennas, for the most accurate results. The antenna types are listed in the file: C:\Program Files\Common Files\Trimble\Config\antenna.ini. For example, if you are using a Zephyr antenna, search for [Zephyr] in the INI file. You will see the following: [Zephyr] Name=Zephyr DCName=Zephyr Manufacturer=Trimble Class=Survey PartNumber=39105-00 CharCode=KZ Type=85 <--------- NOTE TYPE LISTED HERE MeasMethod0=0.00000,0.04600,0.00000,"Bottom of antenna mount" MeasMethod1=0.09370,0.00730,0.00000,"Top of notch" RINEXMethod=0 RINEXName=TRM39105.00 RINEXName=TRM ZEPHYR PhaseCorrTable=t3910500.pct NGSCorrTable=t3910500.ngs IFECorrTable=t3910500.ife Freq=2 GraphicsFile=39105_00.jpg This description shows that the Antenna Type is 85. You can replace the 0 next to myBase.T01 or myRover.T01 with with an 85 if you are using a Zephyr antenna. 4. PiPro currently does not support large files due to a memory size limitation in Windows XP and Matlab. If the files are large (e.g. 24 hour files), then you will need to decimate the files. You can use two second decimation for 12 hour files and five second decimation for 24 hour files. In order to do this, edit the runPiPro.bat script. Change the decimateIn parameter from 0 (no decimation) to 2 for two second decimation or to 5 for five second decimation. This is currently the last parameter on the load_pi.exe commandline. 5. Run C:\Data\MyPiProData\runPiPro.bat and view stats.htm. ---- X ---- X ----