3 Application

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3.1 General

The main application window is divided into two sections. The top section contains the modules for use with the Aardvark adapter. Depending on the selected mode, different modules will appear in the main display. The available modules are I2C , SPI and GPIO. Each one has different features and functionality which are explained in Section 4. Modules.

The bottom section of the application contains the Transaction Log. The log keeps track of all transactions that the Aardvark adapter sends or receives.

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3.2 Transaction Log

Elements of the Transaction Log

Figure 10: The Transaction Log
The Transaction Log records all transactions that are performed by the Aardvark adapter. This log can be saved as a file for future reference.

The Transaction log is a scrolling list of all the transactions that the Aardvark adapter sends or receives. Note that traffic recorded as an I2C bus monitor do not appear in the transaction log. The information is arranged in the following columns.

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Time

Time of the transaction. This information is displayed in the format:

     YYYY-MM-DD hh:mm:ss.xxx

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Module (Mod.)

The module that logged the transaction. This can be either “I2C”, “SPI”, or “GPIO”. Log entries from for different modules have different background colors to make them easier to identify.

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Read/Write (R/W)

This column is only used by I2C and SPI

Whether the transaction was a read transaction (“R”) or a write transaction (“W”).

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Master/Slave (M/S)

This column is only used by I2C and SPI

Indicates the mode that the attached Aardvark adapter is functioning in. If the Aardvark unit is operating as a master, then an “M” appears. In the Aardvark unit is operating as a slave, then an, “S” appears.

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Features (Feat.)

This column is only used by I2C and SPI

This is a string that indicates the features that were active during the transaction.

I2C 

I2C features are encoded in the string: “TCS”

     T - 10-bit Addressing
     C - Combined FMT
     S - No Stop

If the feature is not being used, then a “-” appears in place of the character. More information about the specific features can be found in Section 4.1 I2C .

For example, in a transaction that uses 10-bit addressing and the no stop feature, the feature string would be “T-S”.

SPI

SPI data exchange parameters are string encoded. The order of the parameters is:

Polarity (“R” or “F”)

Rising (“R”) or Falling (“F”)

Phase (“S” or “s”)

Sample/Setup (“S”) or Setup/Sample (“s”)

Bit Order (“M” or “L”)

Most Significant Bit First - MSB (“M”)
Least Significant Bit First - LSB (“L”)

SS Polarity (“L” or “H”)

SS Active Low (“L”)
SS Active High (“H”)

If a feature is not being used, then a “-” appears in the place of the character. More information about the SPI Bit Protocol can be found in Section 4.2 SPI

For example, in a transaction that uses Falling polarity, Setup/Sample Phase and Most Significant Bit First, the feature string would be: “FsM-”

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Bitrate (B.R.)

This column is only used by I2C and SPI

Indicates the speed of the transaction in kbps. The value logged in this column many differ from the bitrate specified. The value reported here is the actual bit rate returned by the Aardvark adapter.

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Address (Addr.)

This column is only used by I2C 

The address that was the target of the transaction.

In the case of I2C master, the address is the slave address that the master targeted for communication.

In the case of I2C slave, the address will be the address of the Aardvark adapter unless the Aardvark slave is answering a general call in which case 0x80 will appear in the address column.

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Length (Len.)

This column is only used by I2C and SPI

The number of bytes in the transaction. In the case where bytes are dropped from the transmission, “DB” will appear in this column to indicate that the message was truncated and bytes were dropped from the end of the message.

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Data

I2C and SPI

The message in hexadecimal.

GPIO

The GPIO values in the log is the OR-ed values of the pins involved. The pins have the following values:

     SCL  = 0x01
     SDA  = 0x02
     MISO = 0x04
     SCK  = 0x08
     MOSI = 0x10
     SS   = 0x20

Set

The data is in the format:

OUT:0xXX DIRECTION:0xXX PULLUPS:0xXX

Get

The data is in the format:

IN:0xXX DIRECTION:0xXX PULLUPS:0xXX

OUT and IN

1 indicates that the pin has been set logic high and 0 indicated logic low. For example, if SCL, MOSI and SS where set to logic high, then the value of OUT would be: 0x31.

     0x01 | 0x10 | 0x20 = 0x31

DIRECTION

1 indicates that the direction is out and 0 indicates that the direction is in. For example, if SDA, MISO and SS were set to output and the rest of the pins to input, the value of DIRECTION would be: 0x26.

     0x02 | 0x04 | 0x20 = 0x26

PULLUPS

1 indicates that the pullup is on and 0 indicates the pullup is off. For example, if MISO, SCK, MOSI and SS had their pullups turned on, the value of PULLUP would be: 0x3c.

     0x04 | 0x08 | 0x10 | 0x20 = 0x3c

More information about GPIO can be found in Section 4.3 GPIO.

Transaction Viewer

Figure 11: The Transaction Viewer

The transaction viewer is a convenient way to view the full details of a transaction. To see an transaction in the Transaction Viewer, double-click on an entry in the transaction log.

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Save Data

The transaction data can be saved in a binary file. Click on the “Save Data” button to bring up the save file dialog. This binary file can later be loaded as a message in I2C or SPI.

Clear Log

Deletes all entries from the Transaction Log.

Note that all transactions are cleared immediately when the button is pressed.

Save To File

The data in the log can be exported in a comma separated values (CSV) format by clicking on the “Save To File” button. You will be prompted for a filename to save the data.

The log file has a header with the following information:

     Export Time: [time of export]
     Port [port number]
     Aardvark HW_Version: [hw version]
     FW_Version: [fw version]

After the header, all transactions are appended, one per line. The column order in the exported file is the same as the order columns in the transaction log.