Create and export analog measurements

[GerhardH]

Hi all,

I am using Logic 2 to trace multiple digital and analog channels. (See screenshort for reference.)

For some of the digital channels we use high level analyzers.
For the analog channels I create analog measurement using Ctrl-G.

Currently I create the analog measurements manually using Ctrl-G but I would like to do this automated.
Either based on some threshold (i.e. >100 mV) or based on a digital channel (maybe with chopping ~5µsec on start and end of that pulse).
I did not find any extensions or built in options to do that.
Is there some mechanism available to support that?

Also, currently I can only check the results in that window on the right side of the GUI.
Is there some way to export these measurements into a CSV file?
Preferrably the export should go into same file as the exported data from some high level analyzers to properly align the measurements with decoded data.
Is there some support for that?

Best Regards
Gerhard

[timreyes]

@GerhardH Unfortunately, we don’t have an automated way of adding measurement boxes to the waveform. We’re tracking a feature request below that might end up being useful for you as well.

Read Measurement (and Extensions) via Automation API - Logic 2 - Ideas and...

The feature request post above relates to using our Automation API, however, your feature request looks like it adds one extra requirement, being that our Automation API should be able to parse the captured data for voltage values, and other values, so that it can be used to determine whether a measurement box should be drawn over that region. I don’t think we specify this requirement in the feature request post above, but I’ve added a comment for you so we remember your requirement.

As for exporting measurements, we don’t have a way of exporting to a csv file, however, we do provide the ability to copy the measurement results to the clipboard via the button in the image below.

Can you let me know if that works out for you?

[GerhardH]

Hi Tim,

thanks for your reply.

I tried copying the measurement to clipboard.
Unfortunately that only copies 1 single measurement. And it copies only the values ΔT and VRMS.
The (start) timestamp itself is not copied.
That means I have no hint where that result should go into the csv file created for the HLA output.

In the screenshot the relation between measured values from A10, UART data received via D8 and SPI data written on D5/H1 shall be verified.

Currently I create 10 to 15 measurements. I just zoom into areas that look interesting, create the analog measurement and check manually with the UART and SPI data. That’s rather slow.
In total there are some hundred of these measurements to be done per test run.

Maybe we need to read the data from the saved .sal file afterwards and insert into the .csv file with some script.

[timreyes]

@GerhardH We’ll likely need to modify the way our measurement system works to support your requirements.

Your comment below was interesting, and is likely a common use case for automating measurements.

@GerhardH

That means I have no hint where that result should go into the csv file created for the HLA output.

In the screenshot the relation between measured values from A10, UART data received via D8 and SPI data written on D5/H1 shall be verified.

Can you help me understand the purpose behind the measurements you are making? Also, can you share an example of how you’d prefer your csv file to look? If you can share an example (small) csv file that includes the measurement values you want, in the format that you want, alongside any other data you are exporting, feel free to send that over to help give us an idea of what kind of export format you are looking for and I can send that over to our team here for feedback.

@GerhardH

Maybe we need to read the data from the saved .sal file afterwards and insert into the .csv file with some script.

We’ve loosely documented our .sal file format, which can be found below.

Logic 2 Capture Format (.sal)

We occasionally get questions about the .sal capture format, and although our usual response is that it’s not stable and shouldn’t be relied on, there have been enough requests for more information (see: Provide .sal file translation through an API - Logic 2 - Ideas and Feature Requests - Saleae) that we thought it was worth creating a dedicated post where we could answer questions. DISCLAIMER: We do not officially support or maintain compatibility with past or future version of the .sal format…

Alternatively, you can export the raw captured data as per the instructions below in case you wanted to run your own post-process script on it to run your own custom measurements via external means.

Exporting Data

[GerhardH]

Hi Tim,

thanks for the link regarding sal format.

Regarding the purpose of the measurement:
We control the output power of a transmitter.
Our MCU receives some command PDUs via UART. Basically information about requested output power.
We then compare measured output power and send instructions to some SPI device if we need adjustments.
The analog measurement I want to create, refers to the voltage on a power detector.

The purpose of the measurements is to verify that the adjustments happen correctly and in time.
For this I would like to combine the serial data from UART, from SPI and the voltage from power detector into one file that can then be analyzed by some script etc…

Regarding desired output file:

For UART (built-int Async Serial analyzer) I get these fields:

Name,             Type,      Start, Duration, data, error
"Async Serial",   "data",    10050, 45µs,     0x30

For our own High Level Analyzer I get these:

Name,             Type,      Start, Duration,  Rx, Tx
"Own SPI HLA",    "compact", 10450, 100µs,  150,
"Own SPI HLA",    "compact", 10450, 100µs,    ,  75

The data from the analog measurement could provide these fields:

Name,             Type,      Start, Duration, VRMS
"Analog measure", "analog",  10000, 900µs,  635mV

Together the result could look like this:

Name,             Type,      Start, Duration, data, error, Rx, Tx, VRMS
"Analog measure", "analog",  10000, 900µs,    ,     ,       ,   ,   635mV
"Async Serial",   "data",    10050, 45µs,     0x30,         ,   ,
"Async Serial",   "data",    10100, 45µs,     0x31,         ,   ,
"Own SPI HLA",    "compact", 10450, 100µs,    ,     ,       150,
"Own SPI HLA",    "compact"  10575, 100µs,    ,     ,       ,    77

[timreyes]

@GerhardH Thanks for the added information — this is great! I’ll share all of this with the rest of the team here.