Project Summary

Hardware and software designers use a variety of measurement tools to help verify and validate their designs. Specifically they use oscilloscopes for fast digital and analog signal validation, and logic analyzers for slower, yet many simultaneous signals. One frequently expressed desire from our customer base is to have the ability to view interactions between these two types of signals. Traditionally, there have been methods of viewing both types of signals in one instrument, namely oscilloscope modules installed into logic analyzer systems, which do give good results, but they are limited to the capabilities of the existing oscilloscope modules. The advantage would be to be able to extend this capability to separate, standalone oscilloscope instruments.

Both the oscilloscope and the logic analyzer data are accessible from a local area network (LAN), the logic analyzer through a .COM interface and the oscilloscope through TCP/IP. Additionally, there are methods of physical interactions between the logic analyzer and the oscilloscope to assure that data is stored at close to the same time with a fixed delay between the two. The objective of this project is to develop a high level application on the PC that is able to read data from both instruments and then present them to the user in a time correlated fashion, including all appropriate data viewing options.

Requirements Overview

This project does not require an extensive knowledge of hardware design, but does utilize basic digital and analog data displays (analog and digital timing diagrams). It does require a knowledge of basic networking and user interface/application design. The basic features of the application are as follows:

· Create an application using a high level language in the Windows® 98/NT environment. The only requirement is that the language be com-enabled.

· Read the TLA 700 logic analyzer data through a .COM interface

· Read the oscilloscope data from specified oscilloscopes through a TCP/IP interface

· Display digital, analog and bus data formats

· Allow basic data viewing manipulation features such as channel selection, magnification, data scrolling

· Allow input of different constant time differences between the two instruments

Tool Requirements

This project will require access to a TLA logic analyzer, one or more types of oscilloscopes with the added option for LAN accessibility, and a data source. These either already exist at Purdue or will be provided to the project.

Purdue will provide the PC’s running Windows® 98/NT and all software tools.

Benefit to Tektronix

We would intend on giving this tool to our customers to utilize both logic analyzers and oscilloscopes. This would both enhance the usage of the instruments and also help stimulate sales for one or both instruments.

Example Display

Following is an example of a data display, but very much a superset of the requirements. This is a display generated from the logic analyzer with an internal oscilloscope module. Note all forms of waveforms, single digital, single analog and multiple channels combined into a bus format.