Telemetry Bandwidth

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Telemetry Burst describes the allocation of telemetry packets in ExpressLRS added in #472. There are two types of packets, LINK and DATA. LINK is the standard link statistics and is always available, and DATA is "Advanced Telemetry" which is telemetry coming from the flight controller and shares bandwidth with MSP transfers. Burst mode attempts to maintain a minimum rate of LINK packets and use the rest of the available telemetry slots for DATA.

The LINK rate chosen was one every 512ms, roughly 2 per second but slightly higher to allow more rates to have an additional burst packet at lower ratios.

Air Rate Telem Ratio Telem Interval (ms) Packets/second Burst Count Bandwidth (no Burst) Bandwidth (Burst)
500 1:128 256 3.9 1 78bps 78bps
500 1:64 128 7.8 3 156bps 234bps
500 1:32 64 15.6 7 312bps 547bps
500 1:16 32 31.2 15 625bps 1172bps
500 1:8 16 62.5 31 1250bps 2422bps
500 1:4 8 125.0 63 2500bps 4922bps
500 1:2 4 250.0 127 5000bps 9922bps
Air Rate Telem Ratio Telem Interval (ms) Packets/second Burst Count Bandwidth (no Burst) Bandwidth (Burst)
250 1:128 512 2.0 1 39bps 39bps
250 1:64 256 3.9 1 78bps 78bps
250 1:32 128 7.8 3 156bps 234bps
250 1:16 64 15.6 7 312bps 547bps
250 1:8 32 31.2 15 625bps 1172bps
250 1:4 16 62.5 31 1250bps 2422bps
250 1:2 8 125.0 63 2500bps 4922bps
Air Rate Telem Ratio Telem Interval (ms) Packets/second Burst Count Bandwidth (no Burst) Bandwidth (Burst)
200 1:128 640 1.6 1 31bps 31bps
200 1:64 320 3.1 1 62bps 62bps
200 1:32 160 6.2 2 125bps 167bps
200 1:16 80 12.5 5 250bps 417bps
200 1:8 40 25.0 11 500bps 917bps
200 1:4 20 50.0 24 1000bps 1920bps
200 1:2 10 100.0 50 2000bps 3922bps
Air Rate Telem Ratio Telem Interval (ms) Packets/second Burst Count Bandwidth (no Burst) Bandwidth (Burst)
150 1:128 853 1.2 1 23bps 23bps
150 1:64 426 2.3 1 47bps 47bps
150 1:32 213 4.7 1 94bps 94bps
150 1:16 106 9.4 3 188bps 281bps
150 1:8 53 18.8 8 375bps 667bps
150 1:4 26 37.5 18 750bps 1421bps
150 1:2 13 75.0 37 1500bps 2921bps
Air Rate Telem Ratio Telem Interval (ms) Packets/second Burst Count Bandwidth (no Burst) Bandwidth (Burst)
100 1:128 1280 0.8 1 16bps 16bps
100 1:64 640 1.6 1 31bps 31bps
100 1:32 320 3.1 1 62bps 62bps
100 1:16 160 6.2 2 125bps 167bps
100 1:8 80 12.5 5 250bps 417bps
100 1:4 40 25.0 11 500bps 917bps
100 1:2 20 50.0 24 1000bps 1920bps
Air Rate Telem Ratio Telem Interval (ms) Packets/second Burst Count Bandwidth (no Burst) Bandwidth (Burst)
50 1:128 2560 0.4 1 8bps 8bps
50 1:64 1280 0.8 1 16bps 16bps
50 1:32 640 1.6 1 31bps 31bps
50 1:16 320 3.1 1 62bps 62bps
50 1:8 160 6.2 2 125bps 167bps
50 1:4 80 12.5 5 250bps 417bps
50 1:2 40 25.0 11 500bps 917bps
Air Rate Telem Ratio Telem Interval (ms) Packets/second Burst Count Bandwidth (no Burst) Bandwidth (Burst)
25 1:128 5120 0.2 1 4bps 4bps
25 1:64 2560 0.4 1 8bps 8bps
25 1:32 1280 0.8 1 16bps 16bps
25 1:16 640 1.6 1 31bps 31bps
25 1:8 320 3.1 1 62bps 62bps
25 1:4 160 6.2 2 125bps 167bps
25 1:2 80 12.5 5 250bps 417bps
// Source code for table generator
int main(void)
{
  for (uint8_t rate=RATE_500HZ; rate<RATE_4HZ; ++rate)
  {
    uint32_t hz = RateEnumToHz((expresslrs_RFrates_e)rate);
    printf("| Air Rate | Telem Ratio | Telem Interval (ms) | Packets/second | Bandwidth (no Burst) | Bandwidth (Burst)\n");
    if (rate == RATE_500HZ) printf("|---|---|---|---|---|---|\n");
    for (uint8_t ratio=TLM_RATIO_1_128; ratio<TLM_RATIO_ENUM_MAX; ++ratio)
    {
      uint32_t tlmRatio = TLMratioEnumToValue((expresslrs_tlm_ratio_e)ratio);
      float telemPps = (float)hz / tlmRatio;
      uint32_t telemInterval = 1000 * tlmRatio / hz;
      uint32_t tlmBurst = TELEM_MIN_LINK_INTERVAL * hz / tlmRatio / 1000;
      // Reserve one slot for LINK telemetry 
      if (tlmBurst > 1)
        --tlmBurst;
      else
        tlmBurst = 1;

      printf("%u | 1:%u | %u | %.1f | %u | %.0fbps | %.0fbps\n",
        hz, tlmRatio, telemInterval, telemPps, tlmBurst, telemPps*1/2*5*8,
        5*8*telemPps*tlmBurst/(tlmBurst+1));
    }
  }

  return 0;
}