Configurable protocol decoders designed to simplify custom protocol design, debug
CHESTNUT RIDGE, N.Y., 8 March 2013.Teledyne LeCroy Corp. has introduced Manchester and NRZ (non-return-to-zero) configurable protocol decoders for a wide range of oscilloscope platforms.
Teledyne LeCroy’s Manchester and NRZ protocol decoders aid in the process of designing and debugging custom protocols by providing broad flexibility in terms of physical layer characteristics, protocol word, and frame structure, as well as other parameters.
Users can specify physical layer characteristics for Manchester- or NRZ-encoded signals and bit rates from 10 bits/s to 10 Gbits/s. Idle states, sync bits, and header and footer information can all be configured to decode custom preambles or CRC details.
The decoders define the grouping of bits into words, and words into frames, which makes short work of analysis for custom and/or proprietary protocols based on those generic encoding schemes. Decoded information is displayed with a color-coded overlay which expands or contracts as the user adjusts the oscilloscope timebase or zooms in on the waveform for more details.
Many of today’s data-communication protocols are built on Manchester or NRZ encoding. Protocols range from specialized buses such as Digital Addressable Lighting Interface (DALI) for control of building lighting and the Peripheral Sensor Interface 5 (PSI5) used to connect sensors to controllers to proprietary, custom buses used for non-standardized applications. In all of these cases, basic Manchester and NRZ schemes are modified to create the more complex, specialized protocols.
Designers around the globe are developing and debugging systems with these protocols and looking for bus analysis tools to simplify the process, says a representative.
Decoding is flexible: data mode can be in bits or words; viewing in hex, ASCII, or decimal; and bit order may be either LSB or MSB.
Powerful search capabilities allow users to search long captures of decoded Manchester and NRZ waveforms for specific bus details such as data, sync, or interframe gap. Decoded data is displayed in an interactive table. Clicking on any line in the table opens a zoomed view of that instance in the waveform.
Teledyne LeCroy’s Manchester and NRZ protocol decode software options are both priced at $1,450.
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Courtney E. Howard | Chief Editor, Intelligent Aerospace
Courtney enjoys writing about all things high-tech in PennWell’s burgeoning Aerospace and Defense Group, which encompasses Intelligent Aerospace and Military & Aerospace Electronics. She’s also a self-proclaimed social-media maven, mil-aero nerd, and avid avionics and space geek. Connect with Courtney at [email protected], @coho on Twitter, on LinkedIn, and on Google+.
