Handheld I²C Bus Analyzer

1. Project Overview
   

The goal of our project, a Handheld I2C Protocol Bus Analyzer, is to create a low cost solution for analyzing busses running the I2C Protocol. Most solutions for analyzing I2C run at either low clock speeds or directly interface with and require a computer to use. The few handheld products available are limited to the 100 kHz mode and are fairly expensive. Products analyzing up to our target speed of 400 kHz can be up to $4000 dollars. In some situations, a small handheld device is more practical and usable and there is not a device that is small, portable, gives real time feedback, and can analyze bus speeds over 100 kHz.

The solution we envision is a small, battery powered handheld device that allows for capture of I2C transactions and displays them on a display. The display and buttons would allow the user to interact with the data displayed on the screen and would allow the user to navigate the user interface.

Goals for the project include making the product RoHS compliant, ESD and over-current protection on the capturing interface, and capturing the data and display it in close to real time.

Our mentor has suggested that we only support up to the 400 kHz range as this and the 100kHz mode are the most commonly used in I2C. Our mentor found the format of EasyI2C[1] product to be a clear and useful format to display the information in and we will be using a format similar to this one.

Requirements of the project include:
- Battery Powered
- Support for I2C modes: standard mode (100kbps) and fast mode (400kbps)
- Support single write, single read, and combined messages
- Be able to capture at least 256 transactions
- Don’t disturb the I2C bus
- Display start/stop bits and address/data bytes along with any protocol errors on a display screen

Requirements for software interface:
- Easy to use and understand
- Quick and responsive to user input
- Cleanly display data and transaction information
- Detect errors in the transactions and inform the user of these occurrences
- Optional Feature: record and download a log file onto a SD card

2. Background Research
   
3. System Requirements and Desired Features
   
4. Design Solutions
   
5. Top Level Block Design
   5.1. Data Capturing Circuit
   5.2. Microcontroller
   5.3. Microcontroller Code
   5.4. Power Regulating Circuit
   5.5. Push Buttons
   5.6. Screen
   5.7. Enclosure
   5.8. Battery
   
6. Testing
   
7. Project Timeline
   
8. System Test Evidence
   
9. Expo Materials
   

Final Video

Team members:

Alex Pearson Email: pearsoal@onid.NOSPAM.edu * Replace NOSPAM with orst
Brandon Del Bel Email: delbelb@engr.NOSPAM.edu * Replace NOSPAM with orst
Abdullah Alshayea Email: alshayea@engr.NOSPAM.edu * Replace NOSPAM with orst

Mentor: Roger Traylor
Email: traylor@ece.NOSPAM.edu * Replace NOSPAM with orst

Responsibilities Contract

References:
[1]. http://www.easyi2c.com/downloads.html [Accessed 06 December 2010]