Analyzer User Manual. Analyzer User Manual.
Contents
New features with version 2.00
Using the trigger to start acquisition
BonusData AG presents the new Serial Data Analyzer for Vending Machine Protocols. It connects to the USB port and is especially designed for developers working in the field with a Laptop. It's actually the first low cost Serial Data Analyzer with very accurate timing measurement features. It run's on Microsoft Windows 98/SE/ME/2000/XP and needs no additional external power supply.
New features with version 2.00
The installation procedure is quite simple. Install the Analyzer Application Software by inserting the Analyzer CD-ROM and run Setup.exe. Of course, the Analyzer can also be used without using the USB/MDB interface.
The interface requires a driver (EZUSB.SYS) for normal operation. To install it, just connect the interface with your computer, it will be automatically detected. Windows will then search for the EZUSB.SYS driver which is on the shipped Analyzer CD-ROM. Some Window versions need's a reboot after the driver installation for proper operation.
USB to MDB interface with five LED indicators:
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The green LED "Ready" indicates the status of the interface The red LED's TXD1 and TXD2 are not used with the analyzer application The red LED's RXD1 and RXD2 are hard wired to the serial data lines and display the line activities |
Note: When the interface is connected to the USB it gets power and the LED's may display random indications.
The green LED will by off until the interface is ready.
When the Analyzer application is started, the firmware of the USB interface will automatically download to the interface. This happens while the BonusData Logo is displayed on the screen. Then the interface firmware will initialize the interface and get ready for data acquisition. Finally the green LED is activated to indicate ready for acquisition.
To configure Analyzer for the correct protocol by a click on "Options -> Settings" and you see the property dialog:
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Analyzer properties:
Note: With just one interface connected, this MUST be set to #1 |
After the installation, the timing setup contains the default values according the protocol specifications. This setup is used for the timing search function. The acquired data file is checked against this values to indicate any timings outside the specification.
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Timing properties: Response timeout: The time to get an answer from the peripheral. See also: Accuracy below Inter character timeout: The time between two bytes within the data stream. |
The comment setup offers the possibility to define default information to display inside the comment editor, when adding some comment to an acquired data file.
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Comment setup: The information of this dialog is default when you add comment with the comment editor. See also: Comment Editor |
The comment editor allows you to add any comment to the acquired data file.
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Open comment editor with default information:
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Use the acquisition bar to record serial data.
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Start button: To start serial data acquisition Stop button: To stop acquisition LED indicator: Green steady to indicate stopped Red flashing to indicate acquisition Counter to display the number of bytes acquired |
The acquired data are continuously written to the disk as it is acquired.
With real-time mode: The acquired data are displayed in real-time.
Without real-time mode: On stop, the new acquired data is displayed to the screen for analyze.
Using the trigger to start acquisition
The trigger functionality is very important to acquire data under difficult circumstances. If you enter some trigger data, the analyzer will start when you click the start button but no data are acquired until the trigger byte pattern is recognized. This allows to wait for a certain occurrence and then just record this snippet of data. Without trigger the acquisition files could grow very large. Large files will slow down display and makes it troublesome to find the occurrence of interest.
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Trigger setup dialog:
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The search function allows to search for a certain byte pattern. All patterns matching the search will be colored in green to visualize and find it easy.
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Byte pattern search setup dialog:
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Search timing will compare the acquired data bytes against the timing setup. The response timeout and inter character timeout are actually checked. See Timing search setup. Each occurrence of timing exceed is colored in yellow to easy find.
Important notes:
The filter functionality applied to files already acquired. It will just hide some data when the file is displayed.
The filter is a MDB protocol specific feature and applies only if the protocol is set to MDB/ICP Multi Drop Bus. See: Analyzer configuration
The filter setup allows:
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Filter setup dialog:
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Use your mouse and the analyzer bar to analyze the the acquired data files:
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The analyzer bar display's detailed information for each acquired byte:
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Note: The displayed time units are in sec (seconds) or ms (milliseconds) with an auto range algorithm.
Use the mouse to analyze the acquired data. The mouse buttons will have some special functions.
| Left button: | To set a measurement mark, the background is black marked. The timing information of the marked byte is displayed in the analyzer bar. |
| Right button: | To set a reference mark, the background is red marked. The reference is used to display the time to reference in the analyzer bar. |
Inter character time:
Just click a byte of the same direction, but not the first:
The analyzer bar will display the inter character time in "To Previous". Note: Accuracy
Response time measurement:
Just click the first byte of the response
The analyzer bar will display the response time in "To Previous". Note: Accuracy
Frame transmission time:
Set the reference to the first byte of the frame then click the last byte of the frame
The analyzer bar will display the frame transmission time in "To Reference".
The USB interface has an internal timer which increments every 50 us (micro seconds). So the time stamp added to each byte may vary from 0...50 us.
At 9600 Baud this means +/- 0.5 bit time inaccuracy.
The diagram below shows how the time stamps are added to each byte.
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The time stamp is added at the begin of the stop bit. Note: To get the exact response time, a byte transmission time must be subtracted |
To calculate a byte transmission time for 9600,8,N,1 use following formula:
ByteTransmissionTime = (Startbit+Databit+Parity|Modebit+Stopbit) / (Baudrate) = (1+8+0+1) / 9600 = 1.04 ms
| Dimensions: | W x L x H = 40 x 80 x 22 mm |
| USB: | Type 'B' connector, according USB-2 specification |
| Serial ports: | 2 ports with baudrates from 50 Baud to 57'600 Baud |
| Interfaces: | MDB-Master, MDB-Slave Executive-Master, Executive-Slave BDV-Master, BDV-Slave 2 x RS-232 without modem handshake |
| Weight: | 40 Gram |
| Color: | Black |
| LED Indicators: | RXD1, TXD1 for the serial link #1 RXD2, TXD2 for the serial link #2 Ready for the interface status |
| Connector: | Molex part # 39-29-1128 |
| Resolution: | 50us for acquisition, 100 us for display |
Each recorded character is stored with 6 bytes of information:
Byte 0 = Flags:
| Bit 0: | Reserved | Not used |
| Bit 1: | Reserved | Not used |
| Bit 2: | Mode | Set on 9th data bit set. |
| Bit 3: | Reserved | Not used |
| Bit 4: | Reserved | Not used |
| Bit 5: | Parity | Set on parity bit set |
| Bit 6: | Framing | Set on framing error |
| Bit 7: | Direction | Set on direction master => slave |
Byte 1: ASCII code of recorded character
Byte 2..5: Absolute time with resolution 50 us
If a comment is added (with version 2.00+) the file has a header with following structure:
Byte 0..5: All zero
Byte 6..7: Reserved, Not used
Byte 8..11: Offset to start of data
Byte 12: Start of comment
The current version is 2.00 build 09.07.2003
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