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Design Principles

Fundamental Architectural Concepts of REVA v4.0

Overview

REVA v4.0 was designed around a small number of core principles.

These principles influence every subsystem within the instrument.

Understanding them helps explain why the architecture is organized as it is.

Deterministic Timing

The primary design goal of REVA is deterministic waveform generation.

Waveform timing should remain independent from:

  • display activity,
  • button presses,
  • menu navigation,
  • EEPROM access.

The same settings should always produce the same waveform.

Separation of Responsibilities

Each subsystem performs a specific task.

Operator
    ↓
Packet Library
    ↓
Packet Executor
    ↓
Timer2 Scheduler
    ↓
Timer1 Carrier Engine
    ↓
Output Stage

This separation reduces complexity and improves maintainability.

Carrier Independence

Carrier generation is separated from packet generation.

Carrier Frequency

defines:

  • pulse timing,
  • pulse repetition rate.
Packet Geometry

defines:

  • burst timing,
  • packet structure,
  • envelope shape.

This separation allows one carrier frequency to be combined with many packet families.

Mathematical Organization

Packet families are organized according to mathematical relationships.

Examples include:

  • Harmonic
  • Fibonacci
  • Lucas
  • Golden Ratio
  • Prime

This organization improves navigation and reproducibility.

Compile-Time Configuration

Carrier frequency and packet category are selected within the firmware.

Example:

#define CARRIER_HZ 90000
#define ACTIVE_PACKET_CATEGORY CATEGORY_GOLDEN_RATIO

These parameters are considered part of experiment configuration.

Runtime controls are reserved for operational adjustments.

Runtime Simplicity

Only frequently adjusted parameters are exposed during operation.

Examples include:

  • family selection,
  • pulse scaling,
  • gap scaling.

This minimizes menu complexity.

Hardware Simplicity

REVA intentionally uses minimal hardware.

Core components include:

  • Arduino Nano
  • IR2304
  • OLED
  • Buttons

No additional timing hardware is required.

Reproducibility

A waveform should be reproducible from:

  • carrier frequency,
  • packet category,
  • family selection,
  • pulse scale,
  • gap scale.

These parameters fully describe the generated waveform.

Engineering Philosophy

REVA is not a collection of unrelated waveform generators.

It is a structured waveform synthesis system built around deterministic timing and mathematical packet geometry.

See Also