LeCroy Adds FlexRay Test Features

July 17th, 2007

LeCroy now offers FlexRay trigger and decode capabilities for the company’s WaveRunner Xi series of oscilloscopes. The feature correlates physical layer signals with protocol layer data in one display, and the FlexRay trigger hardware is completely integrated inside the oscilloscope. This not only provides a unique look into data on the bus but greatly simplifies how designers work. The introduction of FlexRay trigger and decode expands LeCroy’s existing suite of automotive and embedded system test tools, which include CAN, LIN, I2C, SPI, UART and RS-232.

The FlexRay trigger can isolate static and dynamic slot IDs, cycle count number, frame qualifiers and symbols while the decoder shows a color-coded overlay directly on top of the physical layer waveform. Since the trigger is not a node on the FlexRay network, no network re-programming is required. The user simply connects a differential probe to the bus and captures data. The user interface is easy to navigate, and the touch screen display provides easy access to all protocol triggers. Supported FlexRay protocol triggers include static and dynamic IDs, Frame Cycle Count, Frame Qualifiers (NFI, SyFI, StFI) and TSS Symbol. As with other serial data solutions, LeCroy features conditional triggering to set a trigger condition of in range, out of range, less than or greater than. This is ideal for trigging on a range of slot IDs or cycle numbers.

LeCroy uses patented algorithms to deconstruct physical layer serial data signals and display decoded data with visually intuitive color coded overlays. These overlays clearly identify different parts of the data being captured and allow the user to quickly identify the data of interest, speeding up the debugging process for I2C, SPI, UART, RS-232, LIN and now FlexRay. In addition, LeCroy offers the ability to decode four signals simultaneously. These four signals can all be FlexRay or any combination of the supported protocols. Along with displaying decoded data overlaid on the waveform, an interactive table is provided. Entries in this table can be selected and automatically zoomed to prevent the need to scroll through long records. To further simplify how data is located, a search function is built in to the zoom trace to quickly locate a specific slot ID or cycle number. This advanced set of tools works on live data as well as math functions and waveforms stored in memory.

The FlexRay Trigger and Decode costs $3,995.

Entry Filed under: Network Test, Test Equipment