AT AT-LA500 User manual

RELEASE 3.4 – JUNE 2009 1
USER MANUAL
Active Technologies S.r.l.
www.activetechnologies.it
AT-LA500
USB Logic Analyzer

AT LA500 – USER MANUAL CONTENTS
RELEASE 3.4 – JUNE 2009 3
Contents
ACTIVE TECHNOLOGIES S.R.L. .................................................................................................................................. 1
USB LOGIC ANALYZER .................................................................................................................................................. 1
INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................................................................................ 7
OVERVIEW .......................................................................................................................................................................... 7
OPERATING PRINCIPLES...................................................................................................................................................... 7
GETTING STARTED ......................................................................................................................................................... 9
HARDWARE REQUIREMENTS .............................................................................................................................................. 9
Minimum system requirements ..................................................................................................................................... 9
Suggested requirements ................................................................................................................................................ 9
INSTRUMENT DESCRIPTION .............................................................................................................................................. 10
PROBES DESCRIPTION ....................................................................................................................................................... 12
INSTRUMENT DISCONNECTION ......................................................................................................................................... 13
PROBE CONNECTION ......................................................................................................................................................... 13
SOFTWARE LOADING ........................................................................................................................................................ 14
GUIDE TO THE FIRST ACQUISITION ................................................................................................................................... 15
Probe connection ........................................................................................................................................................ 15
Software loading ......................................................................................................................................................... 15
Create a Workspace .................................................................................................................................................... 15
AT-LA500 SOFTWARE ................................................................................................................................................... 19
MENU BAR ........................................................................................................................................................................ 20
ile .............................................................................................................................................................................. 20
View ............................................................................................................................................................................. 20
Tools ............................................................................................................................................................................ 20
Window ....................................................................................................................................................................... 20
Help ............................................................................................................................................................................. 20
STATUS BAR ..................................................................................................................................................................... 21
TOOL BAR ......................................................................................................................................................................... 21
SOLUTION EXPLORER ....................................................................................................................................................... 22
SIGNAL DEFINITION ......................................................................................................................................................... 22
Adding a signal ........................................................................................................................................................... 23
Adding a bus ............................................................................................................................................................... 23
Removing a signal or a bus ........................................................................................................................................ 23
Editing a signal or bus name ...................................................................................................................................... 24
SETTINGS .......................................................................................................................................................................... 24
SAMPLING......................................................................................................................................................................... 24
Normal Timing Analysis ............................................................................................................................................. 24
State Analysis .............................................................................................................................................................. 26
NORMAL AND STATE ANALYSIS TRIGGER ....................................................................................................................... 28
Trigger Levels ............................................................................................................................................................. 28
Edges and Levels ........................................................................................................................................................ 29
Conditions on edges.................................................................................................................................................... 29
Conditions on logic levels .......................................................................................................................................... 29
Relationship between trigger conditions .................................................................................................................... 30
Pretrigger, PretriggerHS and DelayHS ..................................................................................................................... 30
I2C TRIGGER ..................................................................................................................................................................... 32
Address ........................................................................................................................................................................ 32
Address&Data ............................................................................................................................................................ 34
Pretrigger .................................................................................................................................................................... 35
SPI/µWIRE TRIGGER ........................................................................................................................................................ 36
SPI Trigger Options.................................................................................................................................................... 37
Pretrigger .................................................................................................................................................................... 37
UART/RS232 TRIGGER ................................................................................................................................................... 38
UART Trigger Options ............................................................................................................................................... 39
Pretrigger .................................................................................................................................................................... 39

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PROBES ............................................................................................................................................................................. 40
DATA AC UISITION ...................................................................................................................................................... 42
CHANNEL STATUS ............................................................................................................................................................ 42
Signal Definition Values ............................................................................................................................................. 42
Pod Status ................................................................................................................................................................... 42
START A DATA ACQUISITION ............................................................................................................................................ 43
STOPPING THE ACQUISITION ............................................................................................................................................. 43
TIPS FOR A GOOD ACQUISITION ........................................................................................................................................ 43
DATA VISUALIZATION ................................................................................................................................................. 45
MIXED SIGNAL DISPLAY MODE ....................................................................................................................................... 45
Analog-Digital Delay Alignement window ................................................................................................................ 45
WAVEFORM VIEW ............................................................................................................................................................ 46
Create a Waveform View window .............................................................................................................................. 46
Zoom ........................................................................................................................................................................... 48
Graph Property ........................................................................................................................................................... 49
Cursors ........................................................................................................................................................................ 50
Go To a Selected Target ............................................................................................................................................. 51
Search ......................................................................................................................................................................... 53
Serial Protocol Interpreter ......................................................................................................................................... 55
STATE LISTING ................................................................................................................................................................. 56
Create a State Listing window ................................................................................................................................... 56
Cursors ........................................................................................................................................................................ 57
Browse the State Listing window and export data ..................................................................................................... 58
Search ......................................................................................................................................................................... 59
Serial Protocol Interpreter ......................................................................................................................................... 60
AT-XSS EXPANSION BUS .............................................................................................................................................. 60
DIGITAL PATTERN GENERATOR-SAMPLER (OPTIONAL) ............................................................................... 62
PROBES DESCRIPTION ....................................................................................................................................................... 63
SIGNALS DESCRIPTION ..................................................................................................................................................... 64
COMMAND BAR ................................................................................................................................................................ 65
PROJECT WINDOW ............................................................................................................................................................ 65
TREE FUNCTIONALITIES ................................................................................................................................................... 66
SETTINGS .......................................................................................................................................................................... 66
GENERAL .......................................................................................................................................................................... 66
SERIALIZER (SDK ONLY) ................................................................................................................................................. 67
CLOCK GENERATOR ......................................................................................................................................................... 69
TRIGGERING ..................................................................................................................................................................... 70
Edges and Levels ........................................................................................................................................................ 70
Conditions on edges.................................................................................................................................................... 71
Conditions on logic levels .......................................................................................................................................... 71
Relationship between trigger conditions .................................................................................................................... 72
SIGNAL DEFINITION ..................................................................................................................................................... 73
Add a signal ................................................................................................................................................................ 73
Add a bus .................................................................................................................................................................... 73
Remove a signal or a bus ........................................................................................................................................... 74
Edit a signal or bus name ........................................................................................................................................... 74
STROBE .............................................................................................................................................................................. 75
DIGITAL EDITOR ............................................................................................................................................................ 76
Basic Waveform Commands ....................................................................................................................................... 76
New Waveform window .............................................................................................................................................. 76
Digital Editor Window ............................................................................................................................................... 77
Zoom ........................................................................................................................................................................... 78
Digital Editor Window Toolbar ................................................................................................................................. 80
Data Editor ................................................................................................................................................................. 83

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Waveform View Settings ............................................................................................................................................. 83
Cursors ........................................................................................................................................................................ 85
Go To a Selected Target ............................................................................................................................................. 86
Search ......................................................................................................................................................................... 86
Waveform Sequencer Editor ....................................................................................................................................... 88
DATA VISUALIZATION ................................................................................................................................................. 91
WAVEFORM VIEW ............................................................................................................................................................ 91
Create a Waveform View window .............................................................................................................................. 91
STATE LISTING ................................................................................................................................................................. 94
Create a State Listing window ................................................................................................................................... 94
Cursors ........................................................................................................................................................................ 95
Search ......................................................................................................................................................................... 97

AT LA500 – USER MANUAL INTRODUCTION
RELEASE 3.4 – JUNE 2009 7
Introduction
Overview
AT LA is an instrument able to acquire digital data through 36 channels, divided in 4 banks of 9
channels each and to visualize their time behavior thanks to the dedicated software.
AT LA is available in different configurations, depending on the maximum available memory
(varying from 2M to 4M samples).
AT LA is connected to the system under test by means of probes with different electrical
characteristics, depending on the signals to be acquired. Each probe supports 18 channels, divided
in two banks of 9 channels each. Each probe is hot pluggable and is automatically recognized. Four
independent and programmable thresholds are available (one for each bank of 9 channels) and used
by active probes to discriminate between low and high levels.
Data acquisition starts when a triggering event is detected by the instrument. The trigger can be
configured by the user by selecting the suitable conditions on signal edges or on the input signal
levels. Furthermore, it is possible to generate internally a trigger event so that data acquisition is
independent of applied signals and it is performed automatically (free acquisition) or enabled by the
user (manual acquisition).
AT LA can also trigger on events occurring on many serial protocols (i.e. I2C, SPI, RS232) and
then analyze the packets of data transferred.
Once data acquisition is terminated, data are transferred to the PC through a USB 2.0 or a USB 1.1
connection and then visualized as waveforms or values.
AT LA can sample input signals by using an internal clock signal (Time Analysis), whose
frequency can be reduced on the basis of the signal to be acquired, or it can synchronize signal
sampling to a signal clock provided by the system under test (State Analysis).
Operating principles
Digital signals acquisition means: i) to sample input signals, ii) to convert this values in logic values
(0 and 1), iii) to organize these values in a set of waveforms.
To establish the logic value of a sampled signal, it is necessary to compare the input value to a
reference voltage, called threshold, that can assume a fixed value or can be varied depending on the
used probe. If the input value is greater then the threshold, it will be converted to a high logic state
(1), otherwise it will be converted to a low logic state (0).

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RELEASE 3.4 – JUNE 2009 8
To detect the trigger event starting data acquisition the signal status must be monitored
continuously. The operating principle of a Logic Analyzer can then be schematically represented as:
Note: This manual refers to a single AT Logic Analyzer. However, since up to 8 AT-LA can be
connected together to increase the number of examined channels up to 288.

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Getting started
Hardware requirements
Minimum system requirements
• Microsoft™ Windows® 2000 or XP operating system;
• Pentium® III processor;
• 128 MBytes RAM;
• 100 MBytes available on hard disk for software installation;
• 800x600 video resolution;
• USB 1.1 connection.
Suggested requirements
• Microsoft™ Windows® XP operating system;
• Pentium® IV processor;
• 512 MBytes RAM;
• 1024x768 video resolution;
• USB 2.0 connection.

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Instrument description
Ch. 35 - 18 Ch. 17 - 0
Pod B
50 0 MS/ s USB Logi c Anal y zer
AT-LA500 Status
Pod A
AT LA500 – Front view
AT LA500 – Rear view
USBAT EXPANSION BUSTRI ER OUT TRI ER IN DC INPOWER
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