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Support Question of the Week: Synchronizing Output from a USB 2.0 Analyzer
kelly

Q: I'm working on analyzing data on a USB 2.0 bus and I would like to synchronize the USB data with an external device. I was looking on your website and I see that you have three USB protocol analyzers. Would I be able to use any of these to trigger another device?

A: Thanks for your question! Total Phase does offer three USB protocol analyzers, each of which have different uses and benefits dependent on the engineer's need. Let's go over the three USB protocol analyzers Total Phase offers first.

  • The Beagle USB 12 Protocol Analyzer monitors Full- and Low-speed USB traffic. Real-time USB descriptor decoding for the captured data on the USB bus is also available.
  • The Beagle USB 480 Protocol Analyzer is a High-speed USB monitor. Engineers can take advantage of the real-time USB class-level decoding feature when the Beagle USB 480 analyzer is used with the Data Center Software.
USB class-level decoding displayed for a USB 3.0 device

  • The Beagle USB 5000 v2 SuperSpeed Protocol Analyzer series is the pinnacle of Total Phase's USB protocol analyzer line. This award-winning series provides SuperSpeed USB protocol analyzer, complete with interactive features such as advanced match/action triggering and multi-analyzer synchronization. The Beagle USB 500 v2 series comes in three different types, with each analyzer field upgradeable and geared towards the developer's specific needs.
Beagle USB 5000 v2 SuperSpeed Protocol Analyzer

Regarding your question about synchronizing with an external device, you have two options with our Beagle USB protocol analyzer line. Since you are working with USB 2.0, you can use either the Beagle USB 480 analyzer or any of the Beagle USB 5000 v2 analyzers.

The Beagle USB 480 analyzer includes four digital inputs and four digital outputs to communicate with external logic. Use the digital outputs to activate on any packet or event. For more information on the Digital I/O port in the Beagle USB 480 analyzer, see the datasheet here.

Like the Beagle USB 480 analyzer, the Beagle USB 5000 v2 analyzer also has four digital inputs and four digital outputs for synchronizing USB 2.0 traffic with external logic. In addition, the Beagle USB 5000 v2 analyzer provides a more sophisticated system for determining when to activate a digital output. An engineer can use the state-based match/action trigger system to set up a condition, such as a sequence of specific packets, and include a digital output to trigger an external device, such as an oscilloscope.

For a more detailed understanding on how to set up a match/action trigger with a digital output, watch this quick demonstration video.

We hope this answers your question! If you have any more questions about our Beagle USB analyzers or any other Total Phase products, feel free to contact us at sales@totalphase.com or support@totalphase.com.