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?

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.

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

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:

• Beagle Protocol Analyzer User Manual
• Promira Serial Platform User Manual
• Aardvark I2C/SPI Host Adapter User Manual
• Data Center Software user Manual
• Control Center Serial Software User Manual
• Promira API Document
• Aardvark API Document

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.