Selecting the Tools to use as an SPI Master to Provide a Clock Signal and Capture the Data Output of a Device
2015-02-25
Rena
Question from the Customer:

I am trying to use the Beagle I2C/SPI Protocol Analyzer and the Data Center Software to read the I2C bus to capture the data output from an LIS302DL accelerometer. The accelerometer I am using requires a clock signal from the SPI master device. Is there a way that the Beagle can generate this clock signal, or are there other tools to consider?

Response from Technical Support:

Thanks for your question! The Beagle I2C/SPI Analyzer is a non-intrusive, passive bus monitor, so it cannot actively communicate on the I2C/SPI bus, and cannot generate an I2C clock.

For an I2C Master device that generates an I2C clock, we recommend using the Promira™ Serial Platform or the Aardvark I2C/SPI Host Adapter. Both tools can be used with the Control Center Serial Software or if you require more customization, the Promira or Aardvark Software API.

Promira Serial Platform Figure 1: Promira Serial Platform

The Promira platform is an advanced serial device. The current release of the Promira platform supports the I2C protocol when used with the I2C Active – Level 1 Application or the SPI protocol when used with the SPI Active – Level 1 Application. New, more advanced applications will be available later this year. Listed below is a summary of the current key features of the Promira platform:

  • I2C master/slave transactions up to 1 MHz

  • SPI Master clock speeds up to 12.5 MHz and SPI Slave clock speeds up to 8 MHz

  • Level shifting 0.9 V – 3.3 V

  • USB 2.0 and Ethernet connectivity

  • GPIO signal pins

Aardvark I2C/SPI Host Adapter Figure 2: Aardvark I2C/SPI Host Adapter

The Aardvark adapter is a general purpose device that can actively communicate on the bus, and supports Master and Slave capabilities with I2C or SPI features.

  • I2C Master and Slave clock speeds up to 800 kHz

  • I2C multi-master support

  • SPI master clock speeds up to 8 MHz

  • SPI Slave clock speeds up to 4 MHz

  • GPIO signal pins

Additional resources that you may find helpful include the following:

We hope this answers your question. If you have other questions about our SPI host adapters or other Total Phase products, feel free to email us at sales@totalphase.com, or if you already own one of our devices and have a technical question, please submit a request for technical support.