A comprehensive guide about RD files

Contents

• What is a RD file
• Where are RD files saved
• How to extract RD files from a unit
• How to do post processing with RD files

What is a RD file?

Rd files are the raw data file that most OxTS units record and save. Rd files include information like:

• Unit configuration details
• Raw data from the sensors
• Hardware configuration details
• Feature Codes

This allows customers to further process their data after collection, to do things like improvement general quality of data or achieve a higher accuracy using correction files.

OxTS units start to record RD files as soon as they are powered, with no 'start-recording' maneuvor needed. RD files are very important when it comes to troubleshooting, so it is good practice to always keep your RD files, especially when encounter problems with units.

Where are RD files saved?

RD files are automatically generated as soon as the unit is powered on, and will be saved in the unit. The simplest method to get to RD files is using FTP protocol.

• The files ending with .rd are the raw data files that contain a variety of information including configuration, raw GNSS information etc.
• They are tagged with the GPS time and date at the start of measurement for easy reference.
• You can drag these files off to your working folder for processing

How to extract RD files from a unit?

1. Connecting to an OxTS unit using Ethernet

PC configuration

Raw data files can be transferred using FTP, which requires that the sending and receiving devices are both in the same subnet. For successful FTP transfer, the IP address of the PC must therefore be in the same address range as the unit, but the IP address of the PC must be different to all other devices on the network.  For example, if the network consists of just the PC and the INS, the following IP addresses would be acceptable:

INS = 195.0.0.17     PC = 195.0.0.160

The IP address of the PC can be changed in the Network & Internet settings as follows:

Select Change adapter options:

Right click on your Ethernet connection and select Properties:

from the list of protocols in the Ethernet Properties window, select Internet Protocol Version 4 (TCP/IPv4):

In the IPv4 Properties window, select Use the following IP address and enter a suitable address:

After entering the IP address, press the Tab key and the Subnet mask field will automatically complete itself:

No settings are required for DNS server addresses when communicating with your INS, so you can now click OK to exit these windows and save your new settings.

Firewall settings

Communications can be blocked by a firewall in your PC, so the NAVsuite applications should be permitted access through the firewall.  When you first use a NAVsuite application, you should be asked to give the application this permission, which you should accept.  However, if you subsequently connect to the PC when you are connected through a different type of network (either Domain, Private or Home), your access might be blocked by the firewall.  This can be controlled in the Windows firewall by opening Windows Defender Firewall with Advanced Security, scrolling down the list of Inbound Rules to find the applications in the OxTS group, then double-clicking each of the applications in turn to open the Properties window.  In the Advanced tab, the different types of network for which access for the application is required can be ticked.

While this window is open, you should also check in the Protocols and Ports tab that the required protocols are not blocked.  FTP is part of TCP, so the required protocols are UDP and TCP, though the latest NAVsuite installer will fix the protocol field to Any.

2. Extract RD files using FTP protocol

OxTS units use the FTP protocol to host the files in the unit, so you can use any FTP capable client to get at the files, although in this guide we will refer only to the native Windows browser.

• Connect to the RT via the Ethernet cable and follow the relevant process; either work equally well but using Windows Explorer is usually the simplest method.
• Change your PC to be on the same IP range as the RT - i.e. If the RT unit is 195.0.0.79 make sure your PC is something different to the RT and other devices that may be on the network such as 195.0.0.160
• Connect via FTP and Copy, move or delete the RD files using the relevant process below:
• Open windows explorer (Any folder or "My Computer" will do initially) and type ftp://195.0.0.xx(where xx is the IP address of your unit) into the Address Bar.
• This should return a folder as above. The raw data files use reverse date format in their naming.
• You may now simply copy, move or delete the files as required 

Special Note: You should not add anything alien to this folder or delete anything other than the rd files. Your configuration files are stored here and deleting, moving or renaming these is likely to result in you having to reload your system configuration from scratch. There is also a shortcut link called =USER. Please do not attempt to delete this or remove it.

How to do post processing with RD files?

1. Preparing for processing 

   Post processing a single file can generate a large number of output files so it is recommended to create folder with the name of the rd file and process within it, to avoid confusion and conflicts when processing the data.

2. Processing the RD files 

   In order to process the files, you need to have the latest version of NAVsuite installed. You can find it at this link: http://www.oxts.com/software/NAVsetup.zip.

   NAVsolve will then automatically associate itself with your rd files.

   When NAVsolve is opened, this is the home page we would see. There are five tabs on the left hand side, and if you click on one of them, corresponding information will show up on the right hand side.

   

   The procedure of post processing is to go through the top four tabs on the left hand side. (You can use batch process according to demands).

   -Source

   Click on 'source' on the left hand side and this is where you select data source.

   

   If the unit is connected to your PC, select the first option and the IP of the unit should automatically show up in the IP address bar.

   If the unit isn’t connected to your PC, select the second option and find the directory of your rd file in your PC.

   The third option is for ncom file. If you would like processing for ncom files, find the directory of your ncom files in your PC.

   At the bottom of this page, please choose the folder you want to extract configuration files to and the location of your soon to be processed files.

   -Preview 

   This page provides a preview of some basic information contained in the data set. This is very helpful when it comes to troubleshooting.

                                                                                                                                                                      -Process This is the main part of post processing.                                                                                   a. Process tab                                                                                                                                           Before process the data, you have the option to review configuration.                                             

   In here you can check or revise the configuration to output the RT to different location.

    

   Then choose whether to process using one of two options:

   • Simulated (real time) recreate the behaviour of the system in real-time

   Good for diagnosis analysis and good GNSS environment conditions

   • Combined (forwards/backwards) - blends two results to crate the best output

   Good for bad GNSS environments and optimum performance.

   This option should be used with good initialisations, at both the beginning and end of testing, as bad initialisation at either end may output bad results, in comparison to the simulated (real-time) option.

   For example: At the end of a testing session, a driver parks their car in a garage and GPS signal is lost, but the device is still on for a reasonable amount of time until they power off the device.  As a result, the measurements drift off due to no GPS signal to correct it.  Now once the combined processing algorithm begins the backwards calculations, it skips much of the data and results in the algorithm taking an unsuitable point for initialisation, thus producing a bad output.  This is due to the algorithm taking an average of selected points from both the forward and backward files, as illustrated below.

                 

   You must avoid this problem by driving in a straight line before turning the device off and entering any garage or any area that may cause drifts, at the end of your testing as shown:

                                                b. Base station tab

   If using a base station to supply RINEX corrections (skip this step if no base station was used)

   • Select the corrections file from your working directory
   • These will either be downloaded from a local service, or logged in real-time
   • For RINEX files only the observation file is needed for most systems (the .**o file)
   • More detail on processing with a RINEX file can be found here             

c. Local coordinate tab

If no local coordinate has been set up in configuration, you have the option to set it up in this tab.

d. Advanced setting

Advanced features for specific requirments can be found here. Please refer to articles of related topics for detail.

After all above, click on the process button on the bottom right, and an NCOM file will be outputted.

-Export

In here you can output the processed data with the option of different file types, what measurements to output, and also you can output data base on triggers.

a. Format

You can use the post-process wizard to output the data to a file type for use with other software:

• CSV
• POS
• OTA
• 3DP

b. Files

Find the destinated directory for your processed data here, and the file names by default are usually like this:

'Process_200106_104953_191119_101734'

200106_104953 is the time when you start processing, it goes by year/month/day_hour/minute/second

191119_101734 is the time the data is collected, it goes by year/month/day_hour/minute/second

You can also choose to output data on trigger in this page. The start and stop condition can either be the rising or falling edge.

c. Measurements

Add or delete measurements in this page. Click on the 'Add measurements' button or right click on any measurement and then click on 'delete'.

d. Graph

Basic information about data is provided here.

As now post processing is done, you will get a folder with NCOM file(processed data), different configuration files and process log file. Normally the point of interest will be the NCOM or XCOM file in the secondary folder named as the way the data is processed (sim/bwd/fwd/cmb). Double click on the file and NAVgraph should be launched automatically to view the data.