Getting Started

The Active-Pro Firmware Debugger and Logic Analyzer Overview

An Active-Pro Firmware Debugger and Logic Analyzer is a tool for debugging todays embedded firmware systems. It gives you clear, concise insight into your designs operation so you can find and fix bugs quickly.  It captures and displays Logic Analyzer digital data, Oscilloscope analog data, I2C, SPI and UART decoded data and the new Active-Pro Firmware Debugger interface.  The Active-Pro uses a simple 1-wire (UART) or 2-wire (GPIO) interface to your firmware using simple string output calls (c printf, c++ cout, Python print(), etc.).  This gives you access to data that is not contained on an external bus and shows you the internal information that only your embedded firmware knows.  It also streams data to disk allowing captures that can outlast you and ensure your elusive bug is captured.

The Active-Pro Firmware Debugger and Logic Analyzer pod is a box that attaches to your computer using a USB cable.  It also attaches to your circuit under test using the provided test leads and clips.  Your microprocessor then sends debug information to be displayed using the Active-Pro Software.

Installing the Software

To install the Active-Pro software on your computer you must download the installation package.

Click here to download the Active-Pro software.

Connecting the Hardware

To connect the Active-Pro to your computer, use the included USB A to USB-C cable and plug it into any available USB port.  Your computer will find and install the appropriate driver (the CDC USB Com Port Driver). 

Now connect the Active-Pro to your target device.  Below are the pinouts of the Active-Pro pod. 

• GND - You MUST connect this signal to the ground of your circuit.  This provides the reference 0V level for the entire device. All 3 GND signals are connected together using resettable polyfuses and you can use any of them to ground the system. Using the GND closest to the signals you are using will minimize your signals noise into the unit.

• Digital Inputs - These inputs are for digital logic signals. They are used for general purpose logic inputs, hardware bus decoders (I2C, UART, SPI…), and Active Firmware Debugger interfaces. They are also labeled A, B, C and D for each of the 4 pairs of bus/processor connections.

• Active Firmware Debugger Device inputs A, B, C and D - Each connected device/processor (A, B, C and D) uses 1 (UART) or 2 (GPIO) signals for communication.  In 1-wire mode connect to the least significant bit of the pair .  In 2-wire mode, the two signals for each device are automatically detected and configured.

• Channels not used by Device A or Device B (set to Logic) become General Purpose Logic Analyzer Inputs

• Analog Inputs (CH1, CH2, CH3 and CH4) - These are the Analog Input channels. CH1 and CH2 are single ended analog inputs referenced to GND. The other channels can operate in a single ended or differential mode, with CH3 single ended (CH4 is unused) or CH3/+ and CH4/- differential.

• D0 and D1 Digital Outputs - These signals are the digital output channels.

• A0 and A1 Analog Outputs - These signals are the analog output channels

The included test leads have matching colors for all of the the label colors.  These colors are important as they match the colors on the software display.  To connect the lead to the Active-Pro, plug the square end of the wire onto the pin on the Active-Pro.  Then use the clip to connect to your circuit IC's, headers or discrete components you want to measure.  If you have the luxury of designing a board, you can put a header in the design for easy access to the GND and other signals you want to monitor.

Demo Mode

In the Demo mode, you can see an example trace capture by clicking the Capture button without the Active-Pro attached.  This loads a trace that includes a number of serial busses and lets you see how the ACTIVE-Pro can decode the bus traffic, manipulate the waveform data, and use the features of the ACTIVE-Pro.

Testing Your Circuit Using the ACTIVE-Pro

In order to quickly get up and running using The ACTIVE-Pro application, here is a step by step list of the things you need to do to view a waveform trace, after you have installed the software and hardware.

●         Plug in the ACTIVE-Pro Firmware Logic Analyzer - Plug the ACTIVE into your computer USB port.

●         Connect Ground - Connect the GND wire to the Ground of your circuit you would like to test.  You can either use the socket to plug onto a header post, or connect it to one of the mini-grabber clips and then attach it to the Ground.

●         Connect Signals - Connect any of the ACTIVE inputs on the ACTIVE Firmware Debugger to your circuit you would like to test.  You can either use the socket to plug onto a header post, or connect it to one of the mini-grabber clips and then attach it to your signal of choice.

●         Run the ACTIVE-Pro Software - Run the ACTIVE-Pro Application from the Start Menu.

●         Choose your Inputs - Select which inputs you would like to capture.

●         Press the Capture button - This will capture and display the current activity on all of the signals.

●         View the Waveforms - You can then scroll the display, either by using the slider bars, or by clicking and dragging on the waveform itself.  You can also use the mouse scroll wheel to zoom the waveform.

●         Make Measurements - You can make simple measurements by using the Cursors.  Double click the left mouse button to place one cursor and click the right mouse button to place the second.  The resulting measurements are then displayed in the top Measurements section of the display.