[FieldTrip] support for Biosemi firmware 4.0?

Tue Jun 9 19:17:23 CEST 2020

Thank you, Robert.

Shortly after sending that inquiry, I learned from Biosemi that Fieldtrip (also
Lab Streaming Layer, and other third-party tools whose Biosemi interface
was implemented using the Biosemi SDK) are agnostic of ActiveTwo firmware
version. The firmware version only affects the communication between the
AD-box and the optical receiver / USB interface. The communication between
the driver and the acquisition software is the same regardless of firmware
version.

When time permits, I will have a look at the documentation and do some
testing.

Best regards,

Lloyd Smith
President
Cortech Solutions, Inc.

E-mail: LSmith at cortechsolutions.com
Tel: 910-362-1143 x202
Cell: 910-431-2811

On Thu, May 28, 2020 at 3:15 AM Robert Oostenveld <
r.oostenveld at donders.ru.nl> wrote:

> Hi Loyd,
>
> Welcome on the mailing list!
>
> The realtime interface to the Biosemi amplifiers was implemented and
> contributed by FieldTrip users, not by the core team. I recall that it had
> contributions from two separate groups. Also, we don’t have a Biosemi
> amplifier, so we don’t use it ourselves and cannot test ourselves.
>
> If I look at the commit history at
>
> https://github.com/fieldtrip/fieldtrip/commits/master/realtime/src/acquisition/biosemi
> and
>
> https://github.com/fieldtrip/fieldtrip/commits/master/realtime/src/acquisition/biosemi/biosemi2ft.cc
>
> I see it dates back to 2012 and that later changes mainly relate to
> streamlining the build process and Makefile. Part of the history details
> appears to be missing, since it predates the moment when we switched over
> from an internal Subversion server to GitHub. But most of it seems to be
> pre-2015, which suggests that it was written for firmware 3.0. I also
> assume that at the time firmware 4.0 was introduced on new devices, it was
> still slow to get updated on existing devices, which means that the code
> changes in 2015 (done by people that were not likely to have a brand-new
> device) were not related to the new firmware.
>
> It would be good if the documentation on
> http://www.fieldtriptoolbox.org/development/realtime/biosemi/ (which is
> maintained here
> <https://github.com/fieldtrip/website/blob/master/development/realtime/biosemi.md>)
> would be updated to reflect this. E.g. add a section about the different
> firmware versions, how to determine yourself which one is installed on your
> amplifier, etc. Possibly also test it both with a 3.0 and a 4.0 version of
> the amplifier and report on the results. Editing that page on the website
> is as simple as clicking on the pencil button on the upper right.
>
>
> All contributions are reviewed and stylistically corrected by me or
> another team member, so don’t worry if the markdown formatting is not
> totally correct yet.
>
> It would even be better if the source code of the Biosemi real-time
> interface was reviewed and would be updated to reflect the 4.0 firmware.
> Changes should be compatible with the 3.0 version, or a a copy of the
> exiting code should be kept to ensure that researchers with 3.0 version
> amplifiers can continue to use it.
>
> I am looking forward to the contribution of Biosemi or Cortech Solutions
> to improve the researchers’ experience with this hardware.
>
> best regards,
> Robert
>
>
>
>
>
>
> On 26 May 2020, at 19:42, Lloyd Smith <lsmith at cortechsolutions.com> wrote:
>
> Hi, all. First time posting here, so please pardon any lack of default
> knowledge. My company handles US/Canada sales and support for the Biosemi
> ActiveTwo EEG system, and I know a lot of our customers use Fieldtrip.
> Until now I have never had a pre-sales question from a customer about
> Fieldtrip. I was unable to find an answer in your archives, so I am posting
> it here.
>
> In mid-2015, Biosemi released firmware 4.0 for the optical receiver / USB
> interface. This eliminates the need to install a driver, instead utilizing
> a driver that ships with Windows 10. Most older ActiveTwo systems can be
> field-upgraded by end-users according to instructions at
> https://www.biosemi.com/faq/install_USB.htm.
>
> Thie page at your site -
> http://www.fieldtriptoolbox.org/development/realtime/biosemi/ - does not
> mention which optical receiver / USB interface firmware versions are
> compatible, which leaves open the question of whether firmware 4.0 is
> supported. Firmware 3.0 shipped from sometime before Spring 2011 until
> Spring of 2015, but all systems shipped from about June 2015 forward have
> firmware 4.0, and many older systems have been field-upgraded.
>
> Thanks in advance for any insight!
>
> Best regards,
>
> Lloyd Smith
> President
> Cortech Solutions, Inc.
>
> E-mail: LSmith at cortechsolutions.com
> Tel: 910-362-1143 x202
> Cell: 910-431-2811
>
>
>
> ------------------------------
> Cortech Solutions, Inc.
> 1409 Audubon Blvd, Suite B1
> Wilmington, NC 28403 USA
>
> Tel: 910-362-1143
> Fax: 910-378-3443
>
> Sales: sales at cortechsolutions.com
> Support / repairs: support at cortechsolutions.com
> Billing / administration: admin at cortechsolutions.com
>
> Web: www.cortechsolutions.com
>
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-- 
Cortech Solutions, Inc.1409 Audubon Blvd, Suite B1
Wilmington, NC 28403 USA

Tel: 910-362-1143
Fax: 910-378-3443

Sales: sales at cortechsolutions.com 
<mailto:sales at cortechsolutions.com>
Support / repairs: 
support at cortechsolutions.com <mailto:support at cortechsolutions.com>
Billing 
/ administration: admin at cortechsolutions.com 
<mailto:admin at cortechsolutions.com>

Web: www.cortechsolutions.com 
<http://www.cortechsolutions.com>

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