Support Question of the Week: How Do I Configure Beagle Protocol Analyzers to Monitor Both I2C and SPI buses?

I need to simultaneously monitor both the I2C bus and the SPI bus. I  have one  Beagle^TM I2C/SPI Protocol Analyzer, as well as one Beagle USB 480 Protocol Analyzer. The setup  I need:

• One USB analyzer (Beagle 480)
• One SPI analyzer
• One  I2C analyzer

Is it possible to have two Data Center^TM Software instances running one analyzer  to support both protocols,  or do I need a second SPI/I2C analyzer?

Thanks for the question! The Beagle I2C/SPI analyzer can monitor the I2C bus and the SPI bus. However, the Beagle I2C/SPI analyzer cannot monitor I2C and SPI buses at the same time. For your application, we recommend using two Beagle I2C/SPI analyzers, one Beagle 480 analyzer, and three Data Center instances. The setup would be as follows:

• One Beagle USB 480 monitors USB
• One Beagle I2C/SPI monitors I2C
• Another Beagle I2C/SPI monitors SPI
• Three Data Center Software instances would support each protocol analyzer.

Using the Data Center Software, each Beagle I2C Protocol Analyzer can be configured as follows:

 To configure a Beagle I2C/SPI Protocol Analyzer for I2C:

1. Click Analyzer > Device Settings.
2. Choose I2C in the Capture Protocol option.
3. Choose 10MHz for the Sampling Rate option.
4. Enable Target Power and I2C Pull-ups based on the parameters of the target system.
5. Click OK to close the Device Settings.

Figure 1: I2C Protocol Configuration

To configure a Beagle I2C/SPI Protocol Analyzer for SPI :

1. Click Analyzer > Device Settings.
2. Choose SPI in the Capture Protocol option.
3. Choose 50MHz for the Sampling Rate option.
4. Enable Target Power based on the parameters of the target system.
5. Configure the MSB First, Rising edge, and Slave Select polarity based on the parameters of the target system.
6. Click OK to close the Device Settings.

Figure 2: SPI Protocol Configuration

For more information, please refer to the following documents:

Beagle I2C/SPI Protocol Analyzer Quick Start Guide
Beagle Protocol Analyzer User Manual
Data Center Software User Manual
Total Phase Products
Product Selector Guide

We hope this answers your question. If you have other questions about our Beagle protocol analyzers or other Total Phase products, feel free to email us at sales@totalphase.com or submit a request for technical support.