UART and/or Serial Support?

[clafollette01]

Is there anyway to set up the logic analyzer for UART buses?

Best regards,

Cameron

[crossrulz]

This was one of the first things I put on my feedback when I got one of the first VirtualBenches on the market.  Last I checked, it is still not there.  But the need for UART in the logic analyzer is something I am mostly certain I will need sometime soon.

[KeaneSenses]

Hi clafolette and crossrulz,

Thanks for posting regarding this - VB today does not support UART decoding.  However, while I cannot make any guarantees, UART is being actively considered for future software updates as we too believe it would be a valuable feature.

[crossrulz]

And yesterday was the "sometime soon".

But as an extension, it would be nice to actually have an RS-232 port or two on the VirtualBench.  Even a TTL UART would be useful in the applications I am currently running into (direct communications with microchips and/or their peripherals).  I am currently using 2 USB-RS232 adapters for my testing.  If you want to take this to the next extreme, allow for probing the RS-232 signals coming in on the port (useful for verifying Baud Rate).

[J3S]

Also today in year 2019 it would be usefull to have the posibility to select UART as bus on the Logic analyser.

Do you have any update regarding this topic?

[agporsch]

October 2020, still no UART support.

I need to switch over to (https://www.saleae.com/) in order to decode UART.

I really like the VB, but lack of UART support really limits my use for the instrument.

[jhgorse]

Rather than relying solely on NI to develop this as part of the MSO application, what can we do to enable the serial protocol decoding?

In the larger scope, this is where NI might benefit from Open Sourcing pieces of their products. I would be interested in seeing what I could do to help achieve this feature. It keeps coming up in my workflows and the tools available are not adequate.

For example, Saleae does not support differential pairs. Period. Their resolution is to measure the high side. Works when it works. Does not work when it doesn't.

https://support.saleae.com/protocol-analyzers/analyzer-user-guides/decode-differential-and-high-volt...

They do parse serial protocol. Frame errors, stop bits, parity, all the pieces.

They do not appear to handle layers above the serial decode, such as Modbus or OSDP or other RS485/422/232 based protocols.

Lastly, and perhaps most importantly, Saleae can select only 3 voltage threshold levels for digital decoding: 1.2, 1.8, and 3.3V+.

https://support.saleae.com/user-guide/supported-voltages

This is troublesome. Think about how often impedances change on differential lines, such as every time a device talks on the bus. Not good.

So while the Saleae is a best in class user interface, the hardware is limited. I'd like to see NI embrace the fire they started, of Software Defined Hardware, and unlock the fuller potential of their excellent hardware with better software.

Cheers,

Joe Gorse

[crossrulz]

I will add that you can use the VirtualBench (VB8012) with Digilent Waveforms (shows up as a ADP-5250).  Waveforms does have the UART decode.  I have not yet tried it with the VirtualBench yet.

[jhgorse]

I just saw that. Trying to get Digilent to work with my VB 8012. It is not working yet.