White Paper

Web Powered Decode

Introduction
offering protocol decode capabilities
Each month a new consumer to address these challenges has existed
“When I needed to electronic device enters the average on the market for some time.
American household. Oftentimes,
decode I2C, for a each device is smaller and more However, a new approach, using
powerful than the prior generation. contemporary web and cloud-based
special project, I The advancements in serial bus technologies simplifies the day to day
communications yielded performance tasks of design engineers and can
could easily upload and cost benefits that unlock many of reduce the time required for
these features that have changed our troubleshooting and debugging. This
a signal to day to day lives. paper highlights the capabilities and
advantages you unlock when you use
GradientOne, and The advantages of serial bus web technologies in conjunction with
communications come with unique test instruments during the test
not only decode the troubleshooting and debugging engineering process.
challenges due to the fact that data is
data, but also easily sent in a standard conformant
frame. Engineers need to have the
search and knowledge and tools to support the
wide range of serial bus protocols
navigate to find the (UART/RS-232, I2C, SPI, USB, CAN, LIN,
and more) in the market today.
insights I needed.” Test and measurement equipment

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Current Approaches
If a user needs to perform analysis of serial bus protocols for debugging an embedded device, they typically
have 3 options:

1. Dedicated hardware: a dedicated piece of hardware such as a protocol analyzer or logic analyzer
performing decode functions typically starts in the hundreds of dollars and go well over thousands of
dollars.
2. Oscilloscope modules: some oscilloscopes offer an upgrade option that enables decode features on
the oscilloscope. These typically start in the thousands of dollars range.
3. Manual decode: decode the signal by hand or by writing your own software program.

These options bring their own pros and cons associated with what is available when in the lab, costs, and
ease of use.

With GradientOne, the cloud supplies compute horsepower for decoding and the web browser delivers
contemporary usability for interactivity and navigability.

How It Works
Simple automation of waveform storage

GradientOne stores and indexes test results. Waveforms, measurements, and test metadata are catalogued and
organized for easy access and search. Engineers can dive deep into results from a recent test or go back months or
years to analyze test results based off field escalations or to plan subsequent product updates.

Test results are uploaded directly using test automation for a variety of oscilloscopes from Rigol, Tektronix, and
Keysight.

The steps are:

1. Download the GradientOne client for the computer that is connected to your scope
2. Set up your test:
• connect the probes to your device under test
• configure your oscilloscope
• configure your device under test
3. Run your test by clicking “Get Trace” via your web browser
4. The test executes, and the data is automatically uploaded (Fig. 1) to GradientOne

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 (Fig.1)
Uploading a waveform using the browser

GradientOne also offers users the ability to upload a CSV file directly to the cloud platform. This approach also
provides storage capabilities; however, things like the screenshot, measurements, and other metadata won’t be
included.

Step 1 (Fig.2).

Fig. 2

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Step 2 (Fig. 3).

Fig. 3

Step 3 (Fig. 4).

Fig. 4

Decode features

Once the waveform is stored, the user applies GradientOne’s decode algorithms to the signal. In this example a
UART signal configured for decode (Fig. 5).

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 Fig. 5
The UART decode is computed and overlaid on the plot (Fig. 6). The decode table, including the decode information,
timing information, etc. is presented below the waveform (Fig. 7).

Fig. 6

Fig.7

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The second example is of an I2C signal decoded by GradientOne (Fig. 8).

Fig. 8

Protocol Search

GradientOne offers users a robust set of search features (Fig. 9) to enable finding specific pieces of information in the
signal:

• Start bits
• Stop bits
• Addresses
• Single Byte
• Multi-byte

In the example above, a long I2C signal was captured and the decode table was created (Fig. 10). If a user wanted to
look for a specific set of bytes in a unique order, they could select the Multi-byte search option and enter a series of
bytes. The matching byte patterns would then be presented in a table (Fig. 11) along with a timestamp. Click on that
row and the plot will adjust to that specific byte.

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 Fig. 9

Fig. 10

Fig. 11

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Signal visualization & interaction

GradientOne delivers all the capabilities of the web browser to the user for visualizing the signal and interacting with
the data.

Zoom in (Fig. 12) using the mouse or touchpad to get a closer look at the signal.

Fig. 12

Markers and annotations (Fig. 13) provide the ability to place markers on the plot using the mouse and add
commentary for other teammates to review.

Fig. 13

You can also measure waveform time and voltage parameters by adjusting the cursors (Fig. 14).

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 Fig. 14
Download

One of the advantages of storing test results and protocol information on GradientOne’s platform is that it can be
retrieved in the future and downloaded for use in other systems. The data can be downloaded in CSV, Matlab
format, or JSON (Fig. 15).

Fig. 15
Collaborate

To share a test’s results with other members of your team, there’s no need to download anything, cut and paste,
build a presentation, or attach a file to a message. Simply use the built-in collaboration (Fig. 16) features for sharing
or commenting to accelerate the internal communications and review process for your team.

Fig. 16

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A New Approach To Protocol Decode
GradientOne is revolutionizing test engineering. New capabilities enabled by cloud computing and the ubiquity of
the web browser make complex tasks simple, while enabling a new set of features that empower engineers to be
better at their jobs while saving time and money. If you'd like to start using web based protocol decode or other
features, you can start using GradientOne for free.

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