SPI Protocol Validation Suite & Services

SPI Protocol Validation Suite & Services

DATA SHEET
Download Datasheet - SPI Protocol Validation Suite Specifications

Product Details

  • Overview
  • Functional Coverage ​
  • Parametric Coverage
  • Features
  • FAQ
Overview

The Serial Peripheral Interface (SPI) is a synchronous serial communication interface specification used for short-distance communication, primarily in embedded systems 

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As a part of product validation, it’s important to validate the product’s conformance against the protocol specification to ensure the interoperability of the product. As the complexity of the protocol and product increases, the validation time of the protocol interfaces also increases which in turn reduces the RTM. Performing the protocol conformance testing in the traditional way needs a lot of time and effort. 

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Soliton’s SPI Validation Suite is an off-the-shelf validation tool using NI’s PXI platform, which helps to validate the devices’ compliance with the timing and electrical specifications of the SPI protocol. The tool can also validate the device’s tolerance to and recovery from a variety of SPI faults & exceptions and provides a comprehensive set of reports. Users have claimed that using this automated solution for SPI Validation has brought down the test time/ validation time from few days to few hours.  ​

Functional Coverage ​
MODES
  • Mode 0
  • Mode 1
  • Mode 2
  • Mode 3
FUNCTIONAL TESTS
  • Register Write
  • Register Read
  • Write N Bytes
  • Read N Bytes ​
PROTOCOL FEATURES
  • Half Duplex 4 Wire/ 3 Wire Operation
  • MSB / LSB Bit Ordering
  • MSB / LSB Byte Ordering
FAULT TESTS
  • Skip Chip Select(CS) assertion
  • Add clocks to address/data bytes
  • Skip clocks from address/data bytes
  • Invert the Clock Polarity & Clock Phase
  • Send invalid Register Address, invalid Data Byte
Parametric Coverage
SPI Timing Parameters​
  • fSCLK SCLK Frequency​
  • SCLK High SCLK High Period
  • SCLK Low SCLK Low Period
  • CS Lead CS Assertion to SCLK Rise Edge
  • CS Trial SCLK Fall Edge to CS De-assertion
  • MOSI Setup Data Setup Time
  • MOSI Hold Data Hold Time
  • CS Idle End CS De-assertion Time
  • CS Idle Start CS Assertion Time
  • tvd;SDO Data Valid Time
Electrical IO Parameters
  • VIL  Low-Level Input Voltage
  • VIH High-Level Input Voltage
Features
Features of SPI Protocol Validation
  • ISO 9001 Certified Product
  • Simple, Flexible, Modular, and Light Bench Setup
  • Easy to use SPI Protocol Exerciser and Debugger to perform various SPI transactions with controllable timings/voltage levels
  • Protocol compliance testing with zero coding
  • Comprehensive reporting feature to report the test pass/fail reports
  • Generates Full Compliance reports in less than 2 hours
  • Reproduce failure cases in a few clicks
  • Easy to build and test custom device-specific tests
  • Automation Capability (DLLs/APIs) from external programming environment/automation frameworks like LabVIEW, C#, Python, TestStand, etc​
  • Leverage Soliton’s experience in protocol validation and debugging
FAQ
What kind of engagement models are offered for SPI Validation​?

We offer 2 engagement models. In the First mode, the user can purchase a license of the SPI Validation Suite and do the validation in-house. In the second mode, the user can send us 3 DUT's, we will do the validation and send the test reports in 3 working days​.

How is this product different from existing Protocol Exercisers, Debugger or Analyzers?​

This product is mainly used for performing functional and electrical compliance validation of the SPI devices (post-silicon validation) whereas the other existing protocol exercisers, debuggers, or analyzers are used for performing basic functional tests during the device bring up​

Can't I build a home-grown solution instead?​

While this is certainly an option, we expect that it will take a highly experienced automation engineer between 3-6 months to create a first version of a similar tool. To create a robust and flexible tool takes experience, and we have been improving this tool over the last 3 years since its release. We believe it is worth the cost to skip the learning curve and avail of our comprehensive report or validation suite.​

What else can I do with NI's PXI chassis/modules?​

The PXIe-657x module is a general-purpose programmable pattern generator and acquisition device with deep memory. It can be used for other protocol validation tools from us. Also, it can be programmed using LabVIEW or other programming languages to emulate any synchronous digital protocol. NI’s PXI chassis supports high bandwidth and synchronization-friendly control and reads back from a huge variety of digital, analog, and special-purpose modules in a compact form factor.​

What is the interposer board referenced in the system diagram?​

The Protocol Validation Suite requires custom external circuitry for signal conditioning. Each purchase comes with a complimentary interposer board, which is a separate PCB designed and delivered by us. ​

Which oscilloscope models are supported?​

The Protocol Validation Suite supports any NI scope by default. The tool has a flexible architecture that allows the support of other oscilloscope models. We can help you in building the oscilloscope plugin for one of your oscilloscopes​

What type of documentation and training will be available for each solution?​

User manuals, Getting started guides, and tutorial videos are available for each solution and can be easily accessed from within the product. Additionally, we will provide short live training sessions upon request. ​

Can the tool be used for out-of-the-box validation?

Yes, The tool comes with out of box test scripts which can be used for validation after entering the device-specific details​

Why was SPI Master- SPI Slave terms are renamed to SPI Controller SPI-Target?

As a part of terminology replacement efforts, we have deprecated the Master-Slave terminologies and replaced them with Controller-Target terminologies in our documents

Peek and Poke GUI for exercise and debug the SPI communication manually. User can configure any allowed timing/voltage parameters to debug the transactions. ​
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Peek and Poke GUI for exercise and debug the SPI communication manually. User can configure any allowed timing/voltage parameters to debug the transactions. ​
Automated Test Screen which is used to execute the test created and generate the compliance report​
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Automated Test Screen which is used to execute the test created and generate the compliance report​
Report Viewer Screen to visualize and debug the test reports generated by the tool after executing the validation tests​
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Report Viewer Screen to visualize and debug the test reports generated by the tool after executing the validation tests​
Peek and Poke GUI for exercise and debug the SPI communication manually. User can configure any allowed timing/voltage parameters to debug the transactions. ​
Automated Test Screen which is used to execute the test created and generate the compliance report​
Report Viewer Screen to visualize and debug the test reports generated by the tool after executing the validation tests​
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Technical Documentation

Soliton’s SPI Validation Suite is an off-the-shelf validation tool using NI’s PXI platform, which helps to validate the devices’ compliance with the timing and electrical specifications of the SPI protocol. It contains the below components.

  • NI PXIe 657x – Digital Pattern Generation Card with the PXIe Chassis setup 
  • Soliton PVS Interposer Board ​
  • Oscilloscope – For performing voltage measurements ​
  • Soliton SPI Validation Suite Software compatible with Windows OS (Win 10) 
For more details, download the datasheet
Download Datasheet - SPI Protocol Validation Suite Specifications

Hardware

Soliton’s SPI Validation suite is based on the NI – PXI Platform and the NI part configuration lists the hardware required to perform the validation​

The solution also needs a custom Interposer Board for signal conditioning purposes.

The DUT can be connected through the Berg Connector​
The DUT can be connected through the Berg Connector​

Support & Training

For any queries, contact us at [email protected]. We will respond within 1 Business day.

 

TYPICAL USER BASE FOR SPI VALIDATION SUITE

 

  • Design Engineers, Test Engineers, Post Silicon Validation Engineers, Engineering Managers, Validation Managers, Lab Managers, etc. from the Semiconductor Industry
  • Post Silicon validation of Chips with SPI interface​
  • Semiconductor Chip Manufacturers making SPI Devices​
  • Companies making Memory, EEPROM, Flash, Sensors, ADC, DAC, Audio Codec, Digital POTs, and other devices with SPI interface. These companies need to adhere to and test against their SPI specification​
  • Semiconductor devices that have a Microwire interface​
  • Devices with a Three-wire serial bus interface

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OTHER PROTOCOL VALIDATION SERVICES OFFERED BY SOLITON

 

I2C Protocol Validation     I3C Protocol Validation     SPMI Protocol Validation     RFFE Protocol Validation

 

UART Protocol Validation     SMBus Protocol Validation     PMBus Protocol Validation