The Aardvark I2C/SPI Host Adapter is a fast and powerful I2C bus and SPI bus host adapter through USB. It allows a developer to interface a Windows, Linux, or Mac OS X PC via USB to a downstream embedded system environment and transfer serial messages using the I2C and SPI protocols.
Not sure which product is right for your needs? The Product Selector Guide provides a summary table of key features for each Total Phase product.
Comparison Chart: See how the Aardvark Host Adapter compares to other I2C Host Adapters on the market.
Key Features
Overview
- I2C master and slave up to 400 kHz
- I2C multi-master support
- SPI master up to 8 MHz
- SPI slave up to 4 MHz
- GPIO with selectable pins
What is Included
- Aardvark I2C Host Adapter Unit
- 6 foot USB A->B cable
- Software CD:
- Windows USB Drivers
- Linux USB Hot Plug Configuration files
- Control Center™ Software
- Aardvark LabVIEW Driver
- Rosetta Language Bindings: C/C++, Python, Visual Basic
- Examples
- Datasheet
- Documentation
Specifications
I2C
True 400 kbps performance over higher bandwidth USB versus
slower RS-232.- Supports standard mode (100 kbps) and fast (400 kbps) mode as well as various speeds ranging from 1 kHz to 800 kHz.
- Supports inter-bit and inter-byte clock stretching.
- Supports multi-master.
- Master transmit and receive.
- Asynchronous slave transmit and receive.
- Software configurable I2C pull-up resistors.
- Software configurable target power pins to power downstream devices.
- Repeated Start, 10-bit slave addressing, and Combined Format transactions.
The Aardvark I2C/SPI Host Adapter is compatible with:
- Display Data Channel (DDC)
- System Management Bus (SMBus)
- Power Management Bus (PMBus)
- Smart Battery Bus (SBBus)
- Intelligent Platform Management Interface (IPMI)
- Two-Wire Interface (TWI)
Learn more about I2C in the I2C Background Article.
SPI
- Operates in master or slave mode.
- Up to 8 Mbps master signaling rate.
- Up to 4 Mbps slave signaling rate.
- Full duplex master transmit/receive.
- Asynchronous slave transmit/receive.
- Software configurable target power pins to power downstream devices.
- Software configurable Slave Select (SS) polarity in master mode.
Learn more about SPI in the SPI Background article.
GPIO - General Purpose IO
- I2C and SPI pins can be repurposed for more general use, allowing them to be used for custom signals on target systems.
- GPIO functionality can also be combined with I2C or SPI to interact with your target system.
- GPIO configuration is cached internally to preserve settings between operational modes.
Future-Proof
The Aardvark adapter is completely field-upgradable via USB. Total Phase is committed to improving the Aardvark adapter and making these improvements available to our customers free of charge. There are no yearly support contracts and no software update fees.
Updates will be available for download from our website's Downloads section.
Testimonials
Here is what some happy Aardvark I2C/SPI Host Adapter customers had to say.
Share your success story too, email us at sales@totalphase.com.
"The Aardvark I2C/SPI Host Adapter is great! With the Aardvark adapter, we were able to use existing production boards and interface multiple Aardvark adapters at once to program through multiple addresses. It worked well and was easy to use."
"We love the Aardvark I2C/SPI Host Adapter! We have four or five Aardvark adapters that we use to program our digital potentiometer, and it works great. We have already recommended the Aardvark adapter to our colleagues."
"We highly recommend this solution to others. The free, support APIs from Total Phase were key for us. We wrote all the PC application code in Python in minutes and, with the Aardvark I2C/SPI Host Adapter, we were able to quickly provide a manufacturing test and calibration platform for a time-critical design."
"I am a very satisfied customer. I needed a USB-to-SPI adapter and contemplated engineering my own. However, I found the Aardvark I2C/SPI Host Adapter and it offers a lot of value for the cost. There is no way anyone could engineer an equivalent device for $250."
"The Aardvark I2C/SPI Host Adapter allows our customers to easily access I2C and SPI features on our evaluation board from their PC. It is a consistent debugging tool and has always performed well."
"SDC Labs is involved in a lot of HDMI video projects, which includes working with EDID (Extended Display Identification Data). We use the Aardvark I2C/SPI Host Adapter extensively to reprogram EDID EEPROMS and are very happy with its performance."
Software
Control Center Software
The Control Center™ Software is a graphical application that provides an easy way to get developers up and running quickly. The Control Center eliminates the need to write custom software to control your Aardvark adapter and is FREE!
Some features include:
- Full access to all
Aardvark I2C/SPI Host Adapter functionality. - Batch scripting capability with the Aardvark XML Batch Script language.
- Logging of all transactions in and out of the adapter.
- Control of multiple devices simultaneously.
Learn more about the Control Center Software.
Aardvark LabVIEW Driver
The Aardvark LabVIEW Driver is a free, open source driver for use with LabVIEW. All Aardvark API functions are supported. The driver comes complete with example I2C, SPI and GPIO applications.
Learn more about the Aardvark LabVIEW Driver.
Rosetta Language Bindings - Development API
- Develop custom solutions in C/C++, C#, VB, .NET, Python
- Clean API is well-documented and easy to integrate
- Fully Windows, Linux, and Mac OS X compatible
- Separate 32-bit and 64-bit versions are available for all three platforms
- Royalty-free API can be used without licensing fees
Learn more about Rosetta Language Bindings and the API.
Compatibility
The Aardvark I2C/SPI Host Adapter was engineered from the very beginning to be a cross-platform device. The software and utilities for the Aardvark Adapter function on Windows, Linux and Mac OS X so that you can develop software for your preferred platform.
Windows
The software is officially supported on Windows XP (SP2 or later, 32-bit and 64-bit), Windows Vista (32-bit and 64-bit), and Windows 7 (32-bit and 64-bit).
Linux
The software has been designed for Red Hat Enterprise Linux 4 and 5 with kernel 2.6. Customers have reported successful operation with SuSE and Ubuntu distributions. Please be aware that there may be significant differences and idiosyncracies in the way that different distributions of Linux operate. As such, Total Phase may not be able to support your particular distribution of Linux. Support will be offered on a case-by-case basis.
Mac OS X
The software is supported on Intel versions of Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard and 10.6 Snow Leopard.
64-bit Support
The graphical software will run on 64-bit Windows, Linux, and Mac OS X systems as a 32-bit application. However, separate 32-bit and 64-bit versions of the API libraries are provided to allow custom applications to be built for either architecture.
Prices
| Part Number | Description | Quantity | Unit Price |
|---|---|---|---|
| TP240141 | Aardvark I2C/SPI Host Adapter - v4.00 | 1 | 250.00 |
| 10 | 237.50 | ||
| 25 | 225.00 | ||
| 50 | Call |
For a customized quote, please use our automated quote system.
For orders of 50 units or more, email us at Total Phase Sales.
Total Phase reserves the right to change the price without notice.
Please note that the price does not include sales tax, importation tariffs, duties, and other taxes. The customer is solely responsible for paying these fees. Your local distributor's price may differ from the suggested retail price because of importation taxes and fees.
Related Products
Downloads
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USB Drivers (Windows)
V2.02
2009-11-18
|
|
USB drivers for the Aardvark I2C/SPI Host Adapter, Beagle Analyzers, and Cheetah Host Adapters. Ensure the drivers are installed before plugging in any Total Phase device. The Windows installer contains the 32-bit and 64-bit USB drivers. Refer to the device datasheet for more information regarding which versions of Windows are supported. Version 2.02 contains a minor update to the installer to support Windows 7, but uses the same USB drivers as version 2.00. |
|
USB Drivers (Linux)
V2.00
2008-07-18
|
|
USB drivers for the Aardvark I2C/SPI Host Adapter, Beagle Analyzers, and Cheetah Host Adapters. Ensure the drivers are installed before plugging in any Total Phase device. This package contains the configuration files for all Total Phase devices. Refer to README.txt and the datasheet for more details on how the Total Phase devices use the built-in USB drivers in Linux. |
|
Aardvark I2C/SPI Host Adapter Datasheet
V5.12
2010-06-25
|
|
This document contains the complete datasheet of the Aardvark I2C/SPI Host Adapter, covering usage, programming, and engineering specifications. None |
|
Aardvark Software API and Shared Library
V5.12
2010-06-25
|
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Rosetta Language Bindings - 32-bit and 64-bit Software API and Shared Library for C, C#, Python, .NET, VB.NET, and VB6 Note that this software requires an update of the firmware to version 3.50 Please read the UPGRADE.txt in the package because some API calls have been changed. |
|
Aardvark LabVIEW Driver (Windows)
V5.03
2009-02-16
|
|
Free, open-source 32-bit LabVIEW Driver for the Aardvark I2C/SPI Host Adapter Installation instructions can be found in the README.txt file. Note that this software requires an update of the firmware to version 3.40 |
|
Aardvark Firmware update utility
V3.50
2009-08-07
|
|
Firmware update utility. Note that this firmware requires an update of the software to version 3.00 Unzip into a temporary folder and run aaflash-win32.exe (Windows), aaflash-linux (Linux), or aaflash-darwin (Mac OS X) from the command line. Please read the README.txt in the package as there are significant changes in the way the driver functions since version 3.00. |
|
Control Center Software User's Manual
V3.53
2009-08-07
|
|
User's manual for the Control Center Software. None |
|
Control Center Software
V3.53
2009-08-07
|
|
GUI Application for the Aardvark I2C/SPI Host Adapter Refer to the User's Manual for system requirements. Note that this software requires an update of the firmware to version 3.50 |
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Flash Center Software User's Manual
V1.20
2008-07-18
|
|
User's manual for the Flash Center software None |
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Flash Center Software
V1.20
2008-07-18
|
|
Flash Center Software Refer to the User's Manual for system requirements. |
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