Question from the Customer:
We have the Cheetah SPI Host Adapter, and are starting to work with SPI target devices with various logic voltage levels. However, we would like emulate a slave and work at voltage levels less than 3.3 V. We think that using a Level Shifter Board will help us, but we would really like to minimize the number of boards in our test setup. What do you recommend?
Thanks for your question! The Level Shifter Board can definitely help you to work at various low signal voltage levels; it supports 1.2V, 1.5V, 1.8V, 2.5V, 3.0V and 3.3V.
Figure 1: Level Shifter BoardHowever, since you would prefer to not have extra accessory boards and need slave capability, we recommend the Promira Serial Platform with the SPI applications. The Promira platform has integrated, built-in level-shifting and specifically, the SPI Active Level 2 Application offers the clock speeds that you are looking for.
Figure 2: Promira Serial PlatformThe table below provides a quick glance of the applications’ capabilities. Please note that the SPI write and read performance will vary as the you go to lower voltages, due to physical limitations, but the Promira platform will maximize the speeds you get at any voltage.
Figure 3: Comparison ChartAdditional resources that you may find helpful include the following:
- Promira Serial Platform Quick Start Guide
- Promira Serial Platform User Manual
- Cheetah SPI Host Adapter User Manual
- Level Shifter Board User Manual
We hope this answers your questions. If you have other questions about our serial platforms, board accessories 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.