I2C SPI USB CAN eSPI Cable Testing View All Videos Quick Start Guides Software Downloads App Notes White Papers User Manuals Knowledge Base Sales Support About Us
Products Blog Sales Support Contact Search
How Do I Switch from SPI Host Adapter GUI to Custom Software?
Rena Ayeras

Question from the Customer:

I am currently using the Cheetah SPI Host Adapter as a master device and another device as a slave, which is controlled through SPI. When I use the Cheetah GUI, I successfully write commands to the slave. However, I need to write a Python script to execute this same write command without the GUI. What are my options? Is source code available?

Response from Technical Support:

Thanks for your question! All Total Phase products include royalty-free API software, including the Cheetah Software API.

API Resources

The API packages include many functional code samples in multiple software languages:  C, Python, Visual Basic, and cheetah .dll /.h/.c files.

Here is a summary of API scripts that you can use as is, or modify as needed for your specifications:

  • detect - Detect Cheetah devices attached to the system.
  • blast - Shift a running 8-bit counter via SPI.
  • timing - Demonstrate the insertion of user defined delays in the middle of an SPI shifting sequence.
  • eeprom - Read from or write to an SPI serial EEPROM, such as the Atmel AT25080A found on the Activity Board.
  • flash - Read, write, verify, or erase a high-speed SPI flash memory. For early development, take a look at our SPI Flash demo board which includes the ST Micro M25P32
  • async - Demonstrate the use of the advanced asynchronous SPI shifting API.

For you, the eeprom.py script could be a good starting point. It demonstrates how to read from or write to an SPI serial EEPROM. Additional tools to consider are our activity boards, such as the High-Speed SPI Flash Demo Board, which includes M25P32, high-speed low voltage flash memory. You can emulate the same to test, develop, and debug your slave device.

For a full set of tools, we also have the SPI Development Kit, which includes a Beagle I2C/SPI Protocol Analyzer, a High-Speed SPI Flash Demo Board, as well as the Cheetah SPI Host Adapter.

Here is an article to look at for more information about using API:

Here is an overview about using activity boards:

We hope this answers your question. Additional resources that you may find helpful include the following:

If you want more information, feel free to contact us with your questions, or request a demo that applies to your application.