Psychtoolbox>Datapixx.{mex*} subfunction

Datapixx(‘SetDacSchedule’, scheduleOnset, scheduleRate, maxScheduleFrames [, channelList=0] [, bufferBaseAddress=0] [, numBufferFrames=maxScheduleFrames]);

Configure a schedule for autonomous DAC waveform playback.
-“scheduleOnset” is the desired delay (in double precision seconds) between
schedule initiation, and when the first waveform sample is sent to the DACs.
-“scheduleRate” is the rate at which successive waveform samples are sent to the
DACs. scheduleRate has two formats. It can be a single number, or a 2 element
array. If it is a single number, then it specifies integer samples/second. If it
is a 2 element array, then the first element specifies the rate, and the second
element specifies the units of the rate.
If units = 1, then the rate is interpreted as integer samples/second.
If units = 2, then the rate is interpreted as integer samples/video frame.
If units = 3, then the rate is interpreted as double precision seconds/sample
(sample period).
Regardless of the actual format chosen, the resulting update rate cannot exceed
1 MHz.
-“maxScheduleFrames” has two modes, depending on whether the full waveform has a
fixed known length. If the waveform length is known (eg: 100000 samples), then
just pass 100000 to maxScheduleFrames. In this mode, once the DAC waveform
schedule is started with StartDacSchedule, the schedule will terminate
automatically when maxScheduleFrames has been reached. If the waveform length is
not known in advance, then pass 0 to maxScheduleFrames. In this mode, the
waveform will continue until the schedule is manually stopped using
StopDacSchedule.
-“channelList” is a list of the DAC channels which should be updated from the
waveform buffer. The list should contain 1 or more integers in the range 0 to
GetDacNumChannels-1.
The number of scheduled channels should equal the number of channels downloaded
in WriteDacBuffer. -“bufferBaseAddress” specifies the start of the RAM buffer
which holds the waveform data inside the Datapixx. Use WriteDacBuffer to
download the waveform data to this address before calling StartDacSchedule.
-“numBufferFrames” specifies the size of the waveform buffer in the Datapixx
RAM. For many applications, the Datapixx has enough RAM for WriteDacBuffer to
download multiple complete waveforms before initiating playback. In these cases,
numBufferFrames could be left at its default value of maxScheduleFrames. If
maxScheduleFrames is larger than numBufferFrames (or 0), then each time the
waveform frame counter reaches a multiple of numBufferFrames, the waveform
buffer address automatically wraps back to bufferBaseAddress. This circular
buffer effect can be used for streaming arbitrarily long waveforms into a DAC
schedule. Simply monitor freeBufferFrames returned by GetDacStatus, and use
WriteDacBuffer in streaming mode to append new waveform data into buffer space
which has already been played. The circular buffer effect can also be used to
implement periodic waveforms very efficiently. A long periodic toneburst could
be assigned a small buffer filled with only a single period of the waveform. The
periodic waveform will play continuously, and any WriteDacBuff into the waveform
buffer will immediately update the generated waveform.
Note that every call to StartDacSchedule must be preceeded by a call to
SetDacSchedule (ie: multiple calls to StartDacSchedule each require their own
call to SetDacSchedule)).
Note that schedule timing is implemented in hardware with microsecond precision.
See DatapixxDac*Demo files for examples.

###See also: WriteDacBuffer, StartDacSchedule, StopDacSchedule, GetDacStatus