trx-rs/docs/Architecture.md

trx-rs Architecture

Table of Contents

1. Project Purpose
2. Technology Stack
3. High-Level Architecture
4. Crate Layout
5. Core Library (trx-core)
6. Protocol Layer (trx-protocol)
7. Server (trx-server)
8. Backend Abstraction (trx-backend)
9. Client (trx-client)
10. Frontend System (trx-frontend)
11. Signal Decoders
12. DSP & Spectrum Pipeline
13. Plugin System
14. Configuration
15. Concurrency Model
16. Authentication & Security
17. Data Flow Diagrams

---

Project Purpose

trx-rs is a modular amateur radio transceiver control daemon written in Rust. It separates radio hardware access (server) from user-facing control interfaces (client), enabling:

• Remote control of transceivers over TCP networks
• Multi-rig operation with per-rig isolation and routing
• SDR integration with real-time DSP (demodulation, spectrum, decode)
• Pluggable backends for different radio hardware
• Multiple frontends — web UI, Hamlib-compatible rigctl, JSON-over-TCP
• Signal decoding — APRS, CW, FT8, WSPR, RDS — with live streaming and logging
• Uplinks — PSKReporter, APRS-IS IGate

Target users are amateur radio operators who want networked, automated, or multi-radio control from a single host or across a LAN.

---

Technology Stack

Layer	Technology
Language	Rust (2021 edition)
Async runtime	Tokio
Web framework	Actix-web (HTTP frontend)
Serialization	Serde / JSON
Config format	TOML
Audio codec	Opus
SDR interface	soapysdr crate (wraps SoapySDR C library)
CAT serial	tokio-serial
CLI	clap
Logging	tracing / tracing-subscriber
FTx decode	trx-ftx (pure Rust)

---

High-Level Architecture

graph TD
    subgraph server["trx-server"]
        HW["Radio Hardware"] <-->|"CAT protocol<br/>serial / TCP"| Backend["Rig Backend<br/>(ft817 / ft450d / sdr)"]
        Backend --> RigTask["rig_task.rs<br/>(state machine)"]
        RigTask --> Listener["listener.rs<br/>(JSON TCP :4530)"]
        RigTask --> Audio["audio.rs<br/>(Opus :4531)"]
        Audio --> Decoders["Decoders<br/>(APRS, CW, FT8, WSPR, RDS)"]
        Decoders --> Uplinks["PSKReporter / APRS-IS"]
    end

    subgraph client["trx-client"]
        Remote["remote_client.rs<br/>(polls state, routes commands)"]
        Remote <-->|"mpsc / watch channels"| HTTP["trx-frontend-http<br/>(Web UI :8080)"]
        Remote <-->|"mpsc / watch channels"| Rigctl["trx-frontend-rigctl<br/>(rigctl :4532)"]
        Remote <-->|"mpsc / watch channels"| JSON["trx-frontend-http-json<br/>(JSON/TCP)"]
    end

    Listener <-->|"JSON TCP :4530"| Remote
    Audio -->|"Opus TCP :4531"| Remote

    HTTP & Rigctl & JSON <--> Users["End Users<br/>(Browser / Hamlib / Custom tools)"]

The server and client are separate binaries. They communicate over JSON-over-TCP (control) and Opus-encoded TCP (audio). Both binaries can load shared-library plugins at startup.

---

Crate Layout

trx-rs/                          # Workspace root
├── Cargo.toml                   # Workspace manifest (shared dependencies)
│
└── src/
    ├── trx-core/                # Core types, traits, state machine
    ├── trx-protocol/            # Client↔server message types, auth, codec
    ├── trx-app/                 # Shared app helpers (config loading, plugins, logging)
    │
    ├── trx-server/              # Server binary
    │   ├── src/
    │   │   ├── main.rs
    │   │   ├── config.rs
    │   │   ├── rig_task.rs      # Per-rig polling loop
    │   │   ├── listener.rs      # JSON TCP server (:4530)
    │   │   ├── audio.rs         # Opus audio server (:4531)
    │   │   ├── pskreporter.rs   # PSKReporter uplink
    │   │   └── aprsfi.rs        # APRS-IS IGate uplink
    │   │
    │   └── trx-backend/         # Backend abstraction + factory
    │       ├── src/lib.rs       # RegistrationContext, RigAccess enum
    │       ├── trx-backend-ft817/    # Yaesu FT-817 CAT
    │       ├── trx-backend-ft450d/   # Yaesu FT-450D CAT
    │       └── trx-backend-soapysdr/ # SoapySDR SDR (RX-only)
    │           ├── src/
    │           │   ├── lib.rs        # SoapySdrRig impl
    │           │   ├── real_iq_source.rs
    │           │   ├── dsp/          # DSP pipeline, FIR, oscillator, AGC
    │           │   ├── demod/        # AM, FM, WFM, SSB, CW demodulators
    │           │   └── spectrum.rs   # FFT spectrum generation
    │
    ├── trx-client/              # Client binary
    │   ├── src/
    │   │   ├── main.rs
    │   │   ├── config.rs
    │   │   ├── remote_client.rs # TCP connection to server
    │   │   └── audio_client.rs  # Audio stream handler
    │   │
    │   └── trx-frontend/        # Frontend abstraction + registration
    │       ├── src/lib.rs       # FrontendSpawner trait, FrontendRuntimeContext
    │       ├── trx-frontend-http/      # Actix-web: REST + SSE + WebSocket
    │       ├── trx-frontend-http-json/ # JSON-over-TCP thin control frontend
    │       └── trx-frontend-rigctl/    # Hamlib-compatible rigctl TCP (:4532)
    │
    └── decoders/
        ├── trx-aprs/            # APRS packet decoder
        ├── trx-cw/              # CW / Morse decoder
        ├── trx-ftx/             # Pure Rust FTx decoder (FT8/FT4/FT2)
        ├── trx-wspr/            # WSPR beacon decoder
        ├── trx-rds/             # FM RDS decoder
        └── trx-decode-log/      # JSON Lines log rotation for decoded frames

---

Core Library (trx-core)

Path: src/trx-core/src/

The foundation of the system. All other crates depend on trx-core for shared types and traits.

Key Re-exports (lib.rs)

pub use rig::command::RigCommand;
pub use rig::request::RigRequest;
pub use rig::response::{RigError, RigResult};
pub use rig::state::{RigMode, RigSnapshot, RigState, RigFilterState, SpectrumData};
pub use rig::AudioSource;
pub use decode::DecodedMessage;
pub use audio::AudioStreamInfo;

Rig State (rig/state.rs)

The RigState struct is the canonical snapshot of a rig at any point in time:

pub struct RigState {
    pub rig_info: Option<RigInfo>,
    pub status: RigStatus,
    pub initialized: bool,
    pub control: RigControl,
    pub server_callsign: Option<String>,
    pub spectrum: Option<SpectrumData>,   // FFT frame from SDR
    pub filter: Option<RigFilterState>,   // Runtime DSP parameters
    // ... decoder enable flags, CW params, etc.
}

pub struct RigStatus {
    pub freq: Freq,
    pub mode: RigMode,
    pub tx_en: bool,
    pub vfo: Option<RigVfo>,
    pub tx: Option<RigTxStatus>,   // power, SWR, ALC
    pub rx: Option<RigRxStatus>,   // signal strength
    pub lock: Option<bool>,
}

pub enum RigMode {
    LSB, USB, CW, CWR, AM, WFM, FM, DIG, PKT, Other(String)
}

Rig Commands (rig/command.rs)

All control actions are represented as enum variants:

pub enum RigCommand {
    // Basic control
    GetSnapshot, SetFreq(Freq), SetMode(RigMode), SetPtt(bool),
    PowerOn, PowerOff, ToggleVfo, Lock, Unlock,
    // TX
    GetTxLimit, SetTxLimit(u8),
    // Decoders
    SetAprsDecodeEnabled(bool), SetCwDecodeEnabled(bool),
    SetFt8DecodeEnabled(bool), SetWsprDecodeEnabled(bool),
    ResetAprsDecoder, ResetCwDecoder, ResetFt8Decoder, ResetWsprDecoder,
    // CW keyer
    SetCwAuto(bool), SetCwWpm(u32), SetCwToneHz(u32),
    // SDR DSP
    SetBandwidth(u32), SetFirTaps(u32), SetSdrGain(f64),
    SetCenterFreq(Freq), GetSpectrum,
    // WFM
    SetWfmDeemphasis(u32), SetWfmStereo(bool), SetWfmDenoise(bool),
}

State Machine (rig/controller/machine.rs)

Manages the lifecycle of a rig connection:

Disconnected → Connecting → Initializing → PoweredOff
                                       ↘
                                        Ready ⇄ Transmitting
                                          ↓
                                        Error
                                          ↓ (recoverable)
                                        Connecting

pub enum RigMachineState {
    Disconnected,
    Connecting,
    Initializing,
    PoweredOff,
    Ready,
    Transmitting,
    Error(RigStateError),
}

Transitions are triggered by RigEvent (Connected, PoweredOn, PttOn, Error, etc.) and processed by process_event(&mut self, event: RigEvent).

Command Handlers (rig/controller/handlers.rs)

Each command implements RigCommandHandler:

pub trait RigCommandHandler: Debug + Send + Sync {
    fn name(&self) -> &'static str;
    fn can_execute(&self, ctx: &dyn CommandContext) -> ValidationResult;
    fn execute<'a>(
        &'a self, executor: &'a mut dyn CommandExecutor
    ) -> Pin<Box<dyn Future<Output = DynResult<CommandResult>> + Send + 'a>>;
}

pub enum ValidationResult {
    Ok,
    InvalidState(String),   // Wrong machine state
    InvalidParams(String),  // Bad parameters
    Locked,                 // Rig is locked
}

Event System (rig/controller/events.rs)

Observers subscribe via the RigListener trait. RigEventEmitter maintains a list of Arc<dyn RigListener> and calls them on state changes.

pub trait RigListener: Send + Sync {
    fn on_frequency_change(&self, old: Option<Freq>, new: Freq) {}
    fn on_mode_change(&self, old: Option<&RigMode>, new: &RigMode) {}
    fn on_ptt_change(&self, transmitting: bool) {}
    fn on_state_change(&self, old: &RigMachineState, new: &RigMachineState) {}
    fn on_meter_update(&self, rx: Option<&RigRxStatus>, tx: Option<&RigTxStatus>) {}
    fn on_lock_change(&self, locked: bool) {}
    fn on_power_change(&self, powered: bool) {}
}

Operational Policies (rig/controller/policies.rs)

Govern reconnection and polling behaviour:

pub trait RetryPolicy: Send {
    fn next_delay(&mut self) -> Duration;
}

pub struct ExponentialBackoff {
    max_attempts: u32,
    base_delay: Duration,
    max_delay: Duration,
    // Delays include ±25% randomized jitter to prevent thundering herd
}

pub trait PollingPolicy: Send {
    fn next_interval(&mut self) -> Duration;
}

pub struct AdaptivePolling {
    idle_interval: Duration,
    tx_interval: Duration, // faster polling during TX
}

Audio Wire Format (audio.rs)

[ 1 byte type ][ 4 bytes BE length ][ N bytes payload ]

Types:
  0x00  AudioStreamInfo  (sample rate, channels, frame duration)
  0x01  RX audio frame   (Opus-encoded PCM)
  0x02  TX audio frame   (Opus-encoded PCM)
  0x03  APRS decode
  0x04  CW decode
  0x05  FT8 decode
  0x06  WSPR decode

Error Types (rig/response.rs)

pub struct RigError {
    pub message: String,
    pub kind: RigErrorKind,
}

pub enum RigErrorKind {
    Transient,   // Retry-able (timeout, busy)
    Permanent,   // Don't retry (unsupported operation)
}

pub type RigResult<T>  = Result<T, RigError>;
pub type DynResult<T>  = Result<T, Box<dyn std::error::Error + Send + Sync>>;

---

Protocol Layer (trx-protocol)

Path: src/trx-protocol/src/

Bridges the internal RigCommand/RigState world to JSON messages exchanged over TCP.

Message Types (types.rs)

// Client → Server
pub struct ClientEnvelope {
    pub token: Option<String>,    // Auth token
    pub rig_id: Option<String>,   // Multi-rig routing (None = default rig)
    pub cmd: ClientCommand,
}

pub enum ClientCommand {
    GetState, GetRigs,
    SetFreq { freq_hz: u64 }, SetCenterFreq { freq_hz: u64 },
    SetMode { mode: String }, SetPtt { ptt: bool },
    PowerOn, PowerOff, ToggleVfo, Lock, Unlock,
    GetTxLimit, SetTxLimit { limit: u8 },
    SetBandwidth { bandwidth_hz: u32 }, SetFirTaps { taps: u32 },
    SetSdrGain { gain_db: f64 },
    SetWfmDeemphasis { deemphasis_us: u32 },
    SetWfmStereo { enabled: bool }, SetWfmDenoise { enabled: bool },
    SetAprsDecodeEnabled { enabled: bool }, /* ... other decoders ... */
    GetSpectrum,
    // ...
}

// Server → Client
pub struct ClientResponse {
    pub success: bool,
    pub rig_id: Option<String>,
    pub state: Option<RigSnapshot>,   // Updated rig state
    pub rigs: Option<Vec<RigEntry>>,  // Response to GetRigs
    pub error: Option<String>,
}

pub struct RigEntry {
    pub rig_id: String,
    pub display_name: Option<String>,
    pub state: RigSnapshot,
    pub audio_port: Option<u16>,
}

Type Mapping (mapping.rs)

client_command_to_rig(ClientCommand) → RigCommand and the reverse conversion ensure the protocol types stay decoupled from the core domain model.

Authentication (auth.rs)

pub trait TokenValidator: Send + Sync {
    fn validate(&self, token: &str) -> bool;
}

pub struct SimpleTokenValidator { tokens: HashSet<String> }
pub struct NoAuthValidator;   // Always returns true (debug/local use)

---

Server (trx-server)

Path: src/trx-server/src/

Startup Sequence

1. Parse CLI / TOML config (config.rs)
2. Register backends via RegistrationContext (built-ins + plugins)
3. For each configured rig:
   • Build or pre-configure the rig backend
   • Spawn run_rig_task() as a Tokio task
4. Spawn run_listener() (JSON TCP on :4530)
5. Spawn audio streaming server (:4531)
6. Wait for shutdown signal

Multi-Rig Routing

Rigs are stored in Arc<HashMap<String, RigHandle>>. Each RigHandle contains:

• mpsc::Sender<RigRequest> — send commands to the rig task
• watch::Receiver<RigState> — read latest state

listener.rs routes incoming ClientEnvelope.rig_id to the correct handle. If rig_id is absent, the server's default rig is used.

Auto-generated IDs follow the pattern {model}_{index} (e.g., ft817_0, soapysdr_1) when not explicitly set in config.

Rig Task (rig_task.rs)

Each rig runs an independent async loop:

connect → initialize → poll loop
              ↓ on error
          retry with ExponentialBackoff
              ↓ on persistent error
          Error state → wait for recovery

The task:

• Drives the RigStateMachine through state transitions
• Polls rig status at AdaptivePolling intervals (faster during TX)
• Handles incoming RigCommands from mpsc::Receiver
• Broadcasts RigState snapshots via watch::Sender

JSON TCP Listener (listener.rs)

Accepts connections on port 4530. Per connection:

1. Read newline-delimited JSON (ClientEnvelope)
2. Validate token
3. Route to rig by rig_id
4. Convert ClientCommand → RigCommand and send to rig task
5. Await result and return ClientResponse

Audio Server (audio.rs)

Separate TCP listener on port 4531. Per connection:

1. Send AudioStreamInfo header
2. Send buffered decoder history (APRS, CW, FT8, WSPR, RDS frames)
3. Stream Opus-encoded RX audio frames as they arrive
4. Interleave decoder messages (0x03–0x06 frame types)

DecoderHistories maintains ring buffers of recent decoded events so late-connecting clients get context.

Uplinks

Module	Purpose
pskreporter.rs	Posts FT8/WSPR spots to pskreporter.net
aprsfi.rs	Forwards APRS packets to APRS-IS network (IGate)

Both are optional, configured per-rig.

---

Backend Abstraction (trx-backend)

Path: src/trx-server/trx-backend/

Factory Pattern (src/lib.rs)

pub enum RigAccess {
    Serial { path: String, baud: u32 },
    Tcp    { addr: String },
    Sdr    { args: String },
}

type BackendFactory = fn(RigAccess) -> DynResult<Box<dyn RigCat>>;

pub struct RegistrationContext {
    factories: HashMap<String, BackendFactory>,
}

impl RegistrationContext {
    pub fn register_backend(&mut self, name: &str, factory: BackendFactory);
    pub fn build_rig(&self, name: &str, access: RigAccess) -> DynResult<Box<dyn RigCat>>;
}

Built-in registrations (via register_builtin_backends_on):

• "ft817" → Ft817::new
• "ft450d" → Ft450d::new
• "soapysdr" → SoapySdrRig::new_from_config(SoapySdrConfig { ... }) (if soapysdr feature enabled)

RigCat Trait (from trx-core)

All backends implement RigCat:

pub trait RigCat: Rig {
    async fn get_status(&mut self) -> RigResult<RigStatus>;
    async fn set_freq(&mut self, freq: Freq) -> RigResult<()>;
    async fn set_mode(&mut self, mode: RigMode) -> RigResult<()>;
    async fn set_ptt(&mut self, on: bool) -> RigResult<()>;
    async fn power_on(&mut self) -> RigResult<()>;
    async fn power_off(&mut self) -> RigResult<()>;
    async fn toggle_vfo(&mut self) -> RigResult<()>;
    // ... more operations
}

FT-817 Backend (trx-backend-ft817/)

• CAT protocol over serial (9600 baud default)
• BCD-encoded frequency/mode commands
• VFO A/B tracking
• Meter reads: S-meter, TX power, SWR, ALC
• Bands: 160m through 70cm + GHz receive

FT-450D Backend (trx-backend-ft450d/)

• Similar structure to FT-817
• Uses FT-450D-specific CAT command set

SoapySDR Backend (trx-backend-soapysdr/)

RX-only SDR backend with real-time DSP:

pub struct SoapySdrRig {
    freq: Freq,
    mode: RigMode,
    pipeline: dsp::SdrPipeline,       // Multi-channel DSP
    bandwidth_hz: u32,
    fir_taps: u32,
    spectrum_buf: Arc<Mutex<Option<Vec<f32>>>>,
    center_offset_hz: i64,
    wfm_deemphasis_us: u32,
    wfm_stereo: bool,
    wfm_denoise: bool,
    gain_db: f64,
}

---

Client (trx-client)

Path: src/trx-client/src/

Startup Sequence

1. Parse CLI / TOML config
2. Register frontends via FrontendRegistrationContext (built-ins + plugins)
3. Spawn run_remote_client() — connects to server, drives watch::Sender<RigState>
4. Spawn enabled frontends (HTTP, rigctl, http-json)
5. Wait for shutdown

Remote Client (remote_client.rs)

Maintains the server TCP connection:

pub struct RemoteClientConfig {
    pub addr: String,
    pub token: Option<String>,
    pub selected_rig_id: Arc<Mutex<Option<String>>>,
    pub known_rigs: Arc<Mutex<Vec<RemoteRigEntry>>>,
    pub poll_interval: Duration,
    pub spectrum: Arc<Mutex<SharedSpectrum>>,
}

Workflow:

1. Connect to addr (host:4530)
2. Poll GetState at configured interval (default 750 ms)
3. Poll GetSpectrum at ~40 ms (25 fps) if backend supports it
4. Forward commands from frontends (mpsc::Receiver<RigRequest>) to server
5. Broadcast received RigState to all frontends via watch::Sender

Multi-rig: selected_rig_id can be changed at runtime to switch which rig the client targets. known_rigs is populated by periodic GetRigs calls.

Audio Client (audio_client.rs)

Connects to the audio port (:4531) and relays:

• Opus-encoded audio frames → local PCM broadcast channel
• Decoder messages → frontend display

---

Frontend System (trx-frontend)

Path: src/trx-client/trx-frontend/

Abstraction (src/lib.rs)

pub trait FrontendSpawner {
    fn spawn_frontend(
        state_rx: watch::Receiver<RigState>,
        rig_tx: mpsc::Sender<RigRequest>,
        callsign: Option<String>,
        listen_addr: SocketAddr,
        context: Arc<FrontendRuntimeContext>,
    ) -> JoinHandle<()>;
}

pub struct FrontendRuntimeContext {
    pub rigctl_clients: AtomicUsize,
    pub rigctl_addr: Option<SocketAddr>,
    pub http_clients: AtomicUsize,
    pub known_rigs: Arc<Mutex<Vec<RemoteRigEntry>>>,
    pub selected_rig_id: Arc<Mutex<Option<String>>>,
    pub spectrum: Arc<Mutex<SharedSpectrum>>,
}

HTTP Frontend (trx-frontend-http/)

Built on Actix-web, serves a browser-based control panel.

REST Endpoints:

Method	Path	Description
GET	/status	Current rig state + frontend metadata
POST	/cmd/{command}	Execute a rig command
GET	/events	SSE stream of state changes
GET	/audio	WebSocket audio stream
GET	/favicon.png	Static asset

Web UI features: frequency display/entry, mode selector, PTT indicator, S-meter/TX-power/SWR meters, decoder toggles, decode history, spectrum waterfall (SDR), rig picker (multi-rig).

Rigctl Frontend (trx-frontend-rigctl/)

Hamlib-compatible plaintext TCP interface on port 4532. Allows WSJT-X, JS8Call, and other Hamlib-aware applications to control the rig without modification.

HTTP-JSON Frontend (trx-frontend-http-json/)

JSON-over-TCP frontend on an ephemeral (or configured) port. Thin wrapper that passes ClientCommand/ClientResponse pairs — useful for scripting or automation tools.

---

Signal Decoders

Path: src/decoders/

All decoders run as background Tokio tasks inside trx-server. They subscribe to the PCM audio broadcast channel from the active rig and publish decoded messages.

Crate	Decoder	Notes
trx-aprs	APRS (AX.25)	Forwards to APRS-IS if enabled
trx-cw	CW / Morse	Auto WPM detection
trx-ftx	FTx	Pure Rust FT8/FT4/FT2 decoder; posts to PSKReporter
trx-wspr	WSPR beacons	Posts to PSKReporter
trx-rds	FM RDS	Station name, radiotext, time
trx-decode-log	Logging infrastructure	JSON Lines, date-rotated files

Control commands (e.g., SetAprsDecodeEnabled(bool), ResetCwDecoder) are routed through rig_task.rs to the active decoder tasks.

Decoded events are multiplexed onto the audio stream wire protocol (0x03–0x06 frame types) and also buffered in DecoderHistories for replay to newly connected clients.

---

DSP & Spectrum Pipeline

Path: src/trx-server/trx-backend/trx-backend-soapysdr/src/

Architecture

IQ Samples (from SoapySDR device)
    ↓
SdrPipeline (per-channel)
    ├── Channel 0: Mixer → FIR Filter → Demod → AGC → PCM
    ├── Channel 1: Mixer → FIR Filter → Demod → AGC → PCM
    └── ...
    ↓
Audio broadcast channel (Vec<f32>)
    ↓
Decoders / Audio server

Demodulators (demod/)

Module	Mode
am.rs	AM (envelope detection)
fm.rs	Narrowband FM
wfm.rs	Wideband FM (stereo + deemphasis + denoise)
ssb.rs	LSB and USB
cw.rs	CW (Morse, beat-frequency oscillator)

WFM demodulator supports:

• Stereo pilot detection and L+R/L−R matrix decoding
• Configurable de-emphasis time constant (50 us EU / 75 us US)
• Optional noise reduction

Spectrum (spectrum.rs)

Real-time FFT of the mixer output is stored in spectrum_buf and snapshotted on demand:

pub struct SpectrumData {
    pub magnitudes: Vec<f32>,   // FFT magnitude bins (linear)
    pub low_hz: f64,
    pub high_hz: f64,
    pub center_hz: f64,
}

Clients poll via RigCommand::GetSpectrum → ClientCommand::GetSpectrum. The remote client polls at ~25 fps and caches in SharedSpectrum. The HTTP frontend reads this cache to drive the waterfall display.

---

Plugin System

Path: src/trx-app/src/plugins.rs

Both trx-server and trx-client support dynamic plugins loaded at startup.

Search Paths (in order)

1. ./plugins/
2. ~/.config/trx-rs/plugins/
3. Directories in TRX_PLUGIN_DIRS environment variable (: on Unix, ; on Windows)

Backend Plugins

Export symbol: trx_register_backend(context: *mut RegistrationContext)

Plugins call context.register_backend("my-rig", factory_fn) to add new rig drivers without rebuilding the server binary.

Frontend Plugins

Export symbol: trx_register_frontend(context: *mut FrontendRegistrationContext)

Plugins call context.register_frontend("my-ui", spawner_fn) to add new control interfaces.

An example plugin is provided at examples/trx-plugin-example/ (not a workspace member).

---

Configuration

Format: TOML. Generated with --print-config flag.

Search order:

1. --config <path> CLI argument
2. ./trx-server.toml / ./trx-client.toml
3. ~/.config/trx-rs/trx-server.toml
4. /etc/trx-rs/trx-server.toml

Server Config Structure

[general]
callsign   = "W5XYZ"
log_level  = "info"
latitude   = 35.5
longitude  = -97.5

[listen]
addr       = "127.0.0.1"
port       = 4530
audio_port = 4531

[rig]                           # Legacy single-rig flat config
model      = "ft817"
[rig.access]
type       = "serial"
path       = "/dev/ttyUSB0"
baud       = 9600

[behavior]
max_retries        = 3
retry_delay_secs   = 1
polling_interval_ms = 250

[audio]
sample_rate        = 48000
frame_duration_ms  = 20
dev                = ""         # CPAL device name (empty = default)

[sdr]                           # SoapySDR global params
args        = "driver=rtlsdr"
sample_rate = 2000000
bandwidth_hz = 2000000
gain_mode   = "manual"
gain_db     = 25.0
center_offset_hz = 0

[[sdr.channels]]
if_hz             = 0
mode              = "USB"
audio_bandwidth_hz = 2800
fir_taps          = 64

[pskreporter]
enabled    = true
callsign   = "W5XYZ"
gridsquare = "EM13AH"

[aprsfi]
enabled    = true
callsign   = "W5XYZ-11"

[decode_logs]
enabled = true
dir     = "~/.trx-rs/decode-logs"

# Multi-rig (takes priority over flat [rig] section)
[[rigs]]
id    = "ft817_0"
name  = "HF Transceiver"
[rigs.rig]
model = "ft817"
[rigs.rig.access]
type  = "serial"
path  = "/dev/ttyUSB0"
baud  = 9600

[[rigs]]
id    = "sdr_0"
name  = "VHF/UHF SDR"
[rigs.rig]
model = "soapysdr"
[rigs.rig.access]
type  = "sdr"
args  = "driver=rtlsdr"

Client Config Structure

[remote]
url              = "localhost:4530"
rig_id           = ""             # Empty = server default rig
poll_interval_ms = 750

[remote.auth]
token = ""

[frontends.http]
enabled = true
listen  = "127.0.0.1"
port    = 8080

[frontends.rigctl]
enabled = true
listen  = "127.0.0.1"
port    = 4532

[frontends.http_json]
enabled = false
port    = 0

---

Concurrency Model

The system is built on Tokio and uses channels for all cross-task communication:

Channel	Type	Purpose
rig_tx / rig_rx	mpsc	Frontend → rig task (commands)
state_tx / state_rx	watch	Rig task → frontends (state updates)
audio_tx / audio_rx	broadcast	Rig → decoders / audio server (PCM frames)
shutdown_tx / shutdown_rx	watch	Main → all tasks (graceful shutdown signal)

Task Tree (server)

main
 ├── rig_task [per rig]       — polls hardware, drives state machine
 ├── listener                 — accepts JSON TCP connections
 │    └── per-connection task — reads commands, sends responses
 ├── audio_server             — accepts audio TCP connections
 │    └── per-connection task — streams Opus frames
 ├── decoder tasks            — APRS, CW, FT8, WSPR, RDS
 ├── pskreporter              — uplink task
 └── aprsfi                   — uplink task

Task Tree (client)

main
 ├── remote_client            — polls server, maintains state_tx
 ├── audio_client             — streams audio from server
 ├── http_frontend            — Actix-web server
 ├── rigctl_frontend          — Hamlib TCP server
 └── http_json_frontend       — JSON-over-TCP server

---

Authentication & Security

Token-Based Auth (JSON TCP)

• Clients include token in every ClientEnvelope
• Server validates via TokenValidator trait
• SimpleTokenValidator — HashSet<String> loaded from config
• NoAuthValidator — always passes (debug / local-only mode)

HTTP Frontend Auth

• Optional token or HTTP Basic Auth middleware
• Configured in [frontends.http.auth]
• Rate limiting supported

Transport Security

No built-in TLS. For remote use, tunnel over SSH or place behind a TLS-terminating reverse proxy (nginx, Caddy, etc.).

---

Data Flow Diagrams

Command Flow (set frequency)

Browser → POST /cmd/set_freq?hz=14225000
  ↓ trx-frontend-http
RigRequest::Command(RigCommand::SetFreq(14225000))
  ↓ mpsc channel (rig_tx)
remote_client.rs
  ↓ TCP
listener.rs (server)
  ↓ mpsc channel
rig_task.rs → backend.set_freq(14225000)
  ↓ CAT serial / SoapySDR API
Radio hardware
  ↑ ACK
rig_task.rs updates RigState → watch::Sender
  ↑ TCP
remote_client.rs receives ClientResponse
  ↑ watch::Sender
trx-frontend-http sends SSE event to browser

State Update Flow (polling)

rig_task.rs polls rig_status() every ~250 ms
  → RigState updated → watch::Sender<RigState>
remote_client.rs receives via watch::Receiver
  → broadcasts to frontends via watch::Sender<RigState>
HTTP frontend reads watch::Receiver
  → pushes SSE "state" event to connected browsers

Spectrum Update Flow

SoapySdrRig::run_spectrum_snapshot()
  → FFT of IQ buffer → SpectrumData stored in Arc<Mutex<>>
remote_client.rs polls GetSpectrum every 40 ms
  → stores SpectrumData in SharedSpectrum (Arc<Mutex<>>)
HTTP frontend reads SharedSpectrum
  → renders waterfall in browser via WebSocket or polling

Audio Flow

SoapySDR IQ → DSP pipeline → PCM (Vec<f32>)
  → broadcast::Sender<Vec<f32>>
  ↙ (decoders subscribe)   ↘ (audio server subscribes)
APRS/CW/FT8/WSPR/RDS        Opus encode
decode tasks                   ↓ TCP
  ↓                        audio client (trx-client)
DecoderHistories buffer        ↓
  ↓                        broadcast locally
listener connections           ↓
stream decoder messages    HTTP WebSocket / local speakers

---

Detailed Component Notes

Rig Task Internals (rig_task.rs — 1,315 lines)

The rig task is the heart of the server. Key implementation details:

• Command batching: Accumulates pending requests before processing sequentially in FIFO order.
• Spectrum deduplication: Concurrent GetSpectrum requests are collapsed — one DSP computation broadcasts to all waiting responders.
• Adaptive polling: Poll interval adjusts based on TX state (100ms during TX, 500ms idle).
• Grace period: 800ms pause on polling after power-on/off operations to let hardware settle.
• VFO priming: Optional initialization sequence that toggles VFO A/B to populate the state cache.
• Per-rig decoder histories: Each rig maintains independent Arc<DecoderHistories> for all 11 decoder types.
• Configurable timeouts: command_exec_timeout (default 10s) and poll_refresh_timeout (default 8s) are configurable via RigTaskConfig and the TOML [timeouts] section.
• Crash recovery: Rig tasks are monitored; on crash, an Error state is broadcast to clients via the watch channel so they see the failure instead of silent timeout.

Audio Pipeline (audio.rs — 3,977 lines)

The audio module handles decoder history storage and stream management:

• DecoderHistories: Per-rig mutable store for 11 decoder history queues (AIS, VDES, APRS, HF_APRS, CW, FT8, FT4, FT2, WSPR, WXSAT, LRPT).
• Time-based retention: 24h TTL on all history with periodic pruning.
• Capacity bounds: Per-decoder max of 10,000 entries (MAX_HISTORY_ENTRIES) prevents unbounded memory growth on busy channels.
• Atomic total count: AtomicUsize with CAS loop avoids acquiring 11 mutex locks in snapshot_all().
• Lock poisoning recovery with logging: Uses lock_or_recover() helper that logs a warning when recovering from a poisoned mutex.
• StreamErrorLogger: Suppresses duplicate stream errors with 60s periodic summaries and error classification (alsa_poll_failure, input/output_stream_error).
• Device enumeration helpers: find_input_device() and find_output_device() extract the repeated device lookup logic from run_capture()/run_playback().
• CRC filtering: APRS records filtered by crc_ok before storage.

Remote Client Dual-Connection Model

remote_client.rs maintains two independent TCP connections to the server:

1. Main connection (port 4530): State polling, command forwarding, rig discovery.
2. Spectrum connection (dedicated): Polls GetSpectrum at 50ms intervals (20 fps) independently to avoid blocking the main connection during command processing.

Constants: CONNECT_TIMEOUT: 5s, IO_TIMEOUT: 15s, SPECTRUM_IO_TIMEOUT: 3s. Exponential backoff with jitter on reconnect.

FrontendRuntimeContext Sub-Structs

The FrontendRuntimeContext struct in trx-frontend/src/lib.rs is decomposed into coherent sub-structs:

Sub-struct	Purpose	Key fields
AudioContext	Audio streaming channels	rx, tx, info, decode_rx, clients
DecodeHistoryContext	Decode history for all types	ais, vdes, aprs, hf_aprs, cw, ft8, ft4, ft2, wspr
HttpAuthConfig	HTTP auth settings	enabled, rx_passphrase, session_ttl_secs, tokens
HttpUiConfig	HTTP UI display config	show_sdr_gain_control, initial_map_zoom, spectrum_*
RigRoutingContext	Remote rig state & routing	active_rig_id, remote_rigs, rig_states, server_connected
OwnerInfo	Station metadata	callsign, website_url, ais_vessel_url_base
VChanContext	Virtual channel audio	audio, audio_cmd, destroyed, rig_audio_cmd
SpectrumContext	Spectrum data	sender, per_rig
PerRigAudioContext	Per-rig audio channels	rx, info

Decoder Implementation Patterns

All real-time decoders follow a consistent pattern:

// 1. Stateful decoder struct with sample buffer
pub struct XxxDecoder { sample_buf: Vec<f32>, ... }

// 2. Block/sample processing
pub fn process_block(&mut self, samples: &[f32]) { ... }

// 3. Result extraction
pub fn decode_if_ready(&mut self) -> Vec<XxxResult> { ... }

Decoder	Algorithm	Sample Rate	Key Constants
FT8/FT4/FT2	Waterfall + LDPC/OSD	Varies	MAX_LDPC_ITERATIONS=20, MAX_CANDIDATES=120
CW	Goertzel tone detection	Varies	10ms windows, tone range 300–1200 Hz
APRS	Bell 202 AFSK (1200/2200 Hz)	9600	HDLC framing, NRZI, CRC-16-CCITT
AIS	GMSK 9600 baud	9600	Narrowband FM input
WSPR	Fano decoder	12000	162 symbols, 120s slot, 1.46 Hz spacing
RDS	RRC matched filter + Costas PLL	Native	57 kHz subcarrier, 1187.5 bps, OSD FEC
VDES	pi/4-QPSK 76.8 ksps	100k	Burst detection, partial Turbo FEC

Backend Reliability Workarounds (FT-817)

The FT-817 CAT backend (trx-backend-ft817/) includes empirical workarounds for hardware quirks:

• Duplicate frame sends: set_mode() and set_ptt() send CAT frames twice with 80ms delay (radio sometimes drops first frame).
• Panel unlock before commands: Clears stale bytes from the serial buffer.
• Power-on dummy frame: CPU wakes before CAT framing locks; dummy frame ensures readiness.
• VFO state inference: Infers VFO A/B by matching frequencies against cached values (fragile when frequencies collide).
• Read timeout: 800ms per CAT read operation (not configurable).