I recently acquired the Promira Serial Platform with the SPI Active - Level 3 Application.  I will be using the SPI interface to erase, write, and read a Flash memory part repeatedly during an environmental test. Which software package should I use?

Also, I need to I capture read/write errors.  What are your recommendations?

Thanks for your questions!  We have two recommendations – a selection of free software applications that you can use with your Promira platform, as well as one of the Total Phase Beagle protocol analyzers.

Overview of the Promira Serial Platform

With the SPI Active - Level 3 Application (single, dual, and quad SPI), the Promira platform supports active communication on the bus, high speed programming up to 80 MHz as a Master and 20 MHz as a Slave. It can be used with one of our Total Phase software applications to communicate with any standard SPI device.

Recommended Software Applications

Listed below are three software applications that can be used with the Promira platform:

Control Center Serial Software provides access to the Promira platform functionality, and eliminates the need to write custom software. It has also a batch scripting capability with the Promira XML Batch Script Language.

Flash Center Software is used to quickly erase, program, and verify I2C and SPI based EEPROM and Flash memory chips. It has a user-extensible XML parts library with built-in support for EEPROMs and serial Flash chips from major manufacturers.

Promira Software API I2C/SPI Active can be used to control the Promira Serial Platform, as well as write a custom program to achieve the specific user goals. The API comes with support for multiple OS (Windows, Linux, and Mac) and multiple languages (C, Python, Visual Basic, and C#), and includes examples.  For additional information, please refer to the API Documentation section of the Promira Serial Platform I2C/SPI Active User Manual.

How to Capture Read/Write Errors

For capturing errors and other data, we recommend using protocol analyzers. Total Phase Beagle protocol analyzers are designed to non-intrusively monitor the bus, and provide advanced monitoring features that the Promira Serial Platform – or any host adapter – does not support.

For your plans, monitoring SPI data and capturing errors, we recommend using the Beagle I2C/SPI Protocol Analyzer with the Data Center Software.

• The Beagle I2C/SPI Protocol Analyzer is a robust and fast device, capable of monitoring SPI up to 24 MHz and I2C up to 4 MHz
• The Data Center Software is the only protocol analysis software in the industry with true real-time performance. This application provides an easy to use interface that captures and displays SPI (and other) bus data.

Additional resources that you may find helpful include the following:

• Promira Serial Platform I2C/SPI Active User Manual
• Promira Serial Platform Quick Start Guide
• Control Center Serial Software User Manual
• Flash Center Software User Manual
• Beagle Protocol Analyzer User Manual
• Data Center Software User Manual

We hope this answers your questions. If you have other questions about our analyzers, host adapters or other Total Phase products, feel free to email us at sales@totalphase.com. You can also request a demo specific for your application.