I received to test a little board based on the Cypress CY7C68013A.
Here some notes about this experience.
The CY7C68013A USB Logic Analyzer is a small board made by a Chinese company (
Lcsoft)
sold on Ebay from a China reseller as a Logic Analyzer tool.
It's a small board based on a Cypress CY7C68013A micro-controller (an 8051 clone).
First impressions
The board arrived in a small padded envelop, without any cable, documentation and software.
Quite useless due the totally lack of information.
Looking over the net didn't return too much information, there are very few seller of this product.
On some Ebay auctions for this board, there were present some links to the schematics and software, however these links seems not working.
Being only in Chinese is not really helpful to understand what is going on, also if it appears a "button" is available, but it is disabled (gray one).
Also the download material available on these links, is information-less.
Are basically 3 rar files named 0000.rar, 1111.rar and 2222.rar, not really self explaining.
I had to contact the vendor of the board, and he initially answered back giving me the link to the same URL I discovered not working.
After another round of contacts, the vendor sent me the files via email.
The software
As I mentioned earlier, the software associated to this board, is coming in three "anonymous" RAR files :
- 0000.rar
- 1111.rar
- 2222.rar
0000.rar
This file contains other rar files, some of them named in Chinese and thus with wrong/illegal names in English.
Fortunately, at least under Linux, almost all in the end was accessible.
Without entering too much in detail here some contents, for what I can say (no documentation is present) :
- -rw-r--r-- 1 1118001 2007-01-02 00:13 56pin.rar
Source code for the board firmware.
There are different directories and is not clear if all the code present is part of what is written on the chip or if there are testing code, experiments, ecc.
There is NO documentation, nor information, nor about the necessary tools to compile the code and how to load it in the chip.
- -rw-r--r-- 1 1701745 2007-01-02 00:13 Logic Software 1.0.21.rar
Windows version Logic analyzer program in binary, no documentation.
It is from the USBee Suite .
- -rw-r--r-- 1 229606 2007-01-02 00:13 Schematic.rar
Schematic and BOM of the board
1111.rar
This file contains a single zip file, that in the end contains a MSIA loader (Microsoft stuff)
- -rw-r--r-- 1 11416917 2009-02-18 02:13 axsw.zip
2222.rar
Also this file contains a single zip file that contains some USB drivers for Windows.
- -rw-r--r-- 1 8372169 2010-05-05 11:21 usbeesuitesw.zip
To better organize the received material, I created a new tree , changing some names to better identify the pieces :
- drwxr-xr-x 7 4096 2010-11-01 16:23 Firmware
This directory contains the firmware supposedly on board
- drwxr-xr-x 2 4096 2011-03-18 12:29 LogicAnalyzer
It seems a logic analyzer code. Not sure if is equivalent to the UsbeeSuite or it is part
- drwxr-xr-x 2 4096 2011-03-18 07:05 Msia
Microsoft libraries
- drwxr-xr-x 2 4096 2007-01-02 03:37 Schematics
Schematics of the board
- drwxr-xr-x 2 4096 2011-03-18 07:05 UsbeeSuite
Usbee Suite 1.5.7
The hardware
The schematic present in the received files, it just illustrates the board "as is", without any indication about how to use it for the Logic Analyzer function.
Doing some tests using the program
Logic under Windows (1.0.21), it seems that the 8 inputs used are located in the port B, where PB0 is the Input 1, PB1 the input 2 and so on.
The pins not connected to a probe input, reports an high value (+5V), i.e. seems the inputs are pulled up.
Also from the tests it seems the board can support max 8Mhz as input frequency.
The possible selection of the program Logic (12 Mhz, 16 Mhz and 24 Mhz) are not working.
The program automatically reduce them to lower values if selected.
From some tests, it appears that all the selections of frequency are working, however the combination of the frequency and the number of samples can cause the program to "scale down" the frequency selection.
When the jumper close to the Eeprom is removed, the board is not seen anymore as Logic Analyzer but as Cypress development board.
Probably in the Eeprom are stored the codes and/or firmware for the Logic analyzer.
The cable
The analyzer arrived without any cable, so I looked around to see what was the best approach.
Some sellers of the board (and similar one)
sells a cable that can be connected to the board, but I didn't like it for the price, the endless waiting time (from Honk Kong) and the appearance.
So I decided to buy the cable used by the Logic original hardware and build a simple adapter board to connect it.
I bought the cable from
Sparkfun (
TOL-09225).
Here a couple of pictures of the adapter board to connect the cable to the logic analyzer.
The Logic Analyzer
Exploring the received files, I didn't find a single piece of documentation about how to set up both software and hardware, the logic analyzer functionality.
From some comments and the nature of the code, I think that the package (hardware and software) is a clone (hack ?) of the USBee LX series of
USB instruments .
There is also another Logic analyzer code, the Logic, from
Saleae , that exist also for
Linux .
So in order to see if the board is actually working, here are some required steps :
- try to install on a Windows machine the included software :
- USBee Logic Analyzer Suite
- Microsoft Net extensions
- Saleae Logic analyzer (Version 1.0.21)
- check the installed software in order to find hardware hook up info
- connect the hardware to the PC and see if is working and discover how to use the board I/O
- try to do the same with the Linux version
Install code
Logic 1.0.21 (Windows)
One for the Windows code in the received files, is from the
Saleae, Logic, version 1.0.21.
The program requires some .Net libraries, I suspect the ones received with the rest of the code.
However the installation checks and installs them from the Microsoft website directly.
The .Net framework installation takes some time, so it is mandatory to have patience.
After restarted the computer and completed the installation, it is possible to launch Logic, after connecting the board.
The board is recognized and the program is able to read the signals.
Status :
working
Logic 1.1.4 (Ubuntu)
The Ubuntu (32 bit) version tested is the 1.1.4.
There is no need to install the code, however in the Driver directory there is an udev entry and a small script capable to copy the udev rule under /etc/udev.
So far the board is recognized (plug in) but on I have a not identified "access" problem.
lsusb recognize the board as "Lakeview Research"
Bus 001 Device 021: ID 0925:3881 Lakeview Research
Device Descriptor:
bLength 18
bDescriptorType 1
bcdUSB 2.00
bDeviceClass 255 Vendor Specific Class
bDeviceSubClass 255 Vendor Specific Subclass
bDeviceProtocol 255 Vendor Specific Protocol
bMaxPacketSize0 64
idVendor 0x0925 Lakeview Research
idProduct 0x3881
bcdDevice 0.00
iManufacturer 1
iProduct 2
iSerial 0
bNumConfigurations 1
Configuration Descriptor:
bLength 9
bDescriptorType 2
wTotalLength 46
bNumInterfaces 1
bConfigurationValue 1
iConfiguration 0
bmAttributes 0x80
(Bus Powered)
MaxPower 100mA
Interface Descriptor:
bLength 9
bDescriptorType 4
bInterfaceNumber 0
bAlternateSetting 0
bNumEndpoints 4
bInterfaceClass 255 Vendor Specific Class
bInterfaceSubClass 255 Vendor Specific Subclass
bInterfaceProtocol 255 Vendor Specific Protocol
iInterface 0
Endpoint Descriptor:
bLength 7
bDescriptorType 5
bEndpointAddress 0x01 EP 1 OUT
bmAttributes 2
Transfer Type Bulk
Synch Type None
Usage Type Data
wMaxPacketSize 0x0200 1x 512 bytes
bInterval 0
Endpoint Descriptor:
bLength 7
bDescriptorType 5
bEndpointAddress 0x81 EP 1 IN
bmAttributes 2
Transfer Type Bulk
Synch Type None
Usage Type Data
wMaxPacketSize 0x0200 1x 512 bytes
bInterval 0
Endpoint Descriptor:
bLength 7
bDescriptorType 5
bEndpointAddress 0x82 EP 2 IN
bmAttributes 2
Transfer Type Bulk
Synch Type None
Usage Type Data
wMaxPacketSize 0x0200 1x 512 bytes
bInterval 0
Endpoint Descriptor:
bLength 7
bDescriptorType 5
bEndpointAddress 0x06 EP 6 OUT
bmAttributes 2
Transfer Type Bulk
Synch Type None
Usage Type Data
wMaxPacketSize 0x0200 1x 512 bytes
bInterval 0
can't get device qualifier: Connection timed out
can't get debug descriptor: Connection timed out
cannot read device status, Connection timed out (110)
However some info I found suggest that the board should give more information.
Status :
NOT working
Logic 1.1.9 (Ubuntu)
The Ubuntu (32 bit) version tested is the 1.1.9.
There is no need to install the code, however in the Driver directory there is an udev entry and a small script capable to copy the udev rule under /etc/udev.
So far the board is recognized (plug in) but on I have a not identified "access" problem.
lsusb recognize the board as "Lakeview Research".
Status : working
Logic 1.1.4 (Windows)
I installed also the new version of Logic, the 1.1.4, under Windows.
The installation was successful, however like the Ubuntu version, is not full recognizing the board, aborting immediately after the board is connected to the USB.
A collateral effect I had so far, is that the board is not working anymore also with the 1.0.21 version of Logic until the new Logic program 1.1.4 is dis-installed and the computer restarted.
Status :
NOT working (not yet tested with the update)
Logic 1.0.33 (Windows)
On the
Saleae website is also present an older version of Logic, but greater than the one present in the received files from the board vendor.
The version, only for Windows, is called 1.0.33 (present also in this website) and is working.
Status :
working
USBee Suite 1.5.7 (Windows)
The other included Logic analyzer application is the USBee Suite, version 1.5.7.
The installation went well, no errors (on my Win XP machine) but the code it crash as soon as it starts, after the splashscreen.
Doesn't matter to have the board connected or not to the computer.
Status :
NOT working
Conclusion
The board is working basically only with the version of Logic 1.0.21 and Logic 1.0.33 under Windows and with limitations (max. available frequency).
The lack of information make really complicate to try to study the reason of the failure with newer version of the Logic or Linux version, but I think has to do with a lack of information to the USB udev.
Also in order to use the board is necessary to :
- buy a set of 9 probes
- prepare a piggy back circuit to adapt the probe connettor
Since the board is "generic" the probe connection are not linear but the ones available on the market are.
- eventually optoisolate/protect the inputs
- put the board in a case
For the price is sure an interesting object, but the lack of information and the reduced capabilities if compared with "official" products can reduce the usefulness of the product.
If having reduced capabilities, like be forced to use Windows instead of Linux and the limit in the frequency input, having to build the case for the board, play with the received material and lack of information (that this article tries to fix), then it can make sense to spend the money.
Otherwise I think the full price of the "originals" like the
Saleae Logic are more than well justified.
