The protocols I use on CAN, serial, Ethernet, Wifi are all part of a easyIPC package designed to co-exist in a complex network. This is at the core of the systems and I need a tool that can visualize the messages that pass on various levels. This tool is called a “Protocol Analyzer” and without this you will waste hours trying to figure out what happens.
I use the name “Protocol Analyzer” or just “Analyzer” for this project. It actually consist of several projects that add up to a package of hardware and software. The concept is simple – I will use my existing adapters or Hat’s to collect data from – basically sit in 3-state and copy messages up to the PC where I can present them and analyze their content and sequence/timing etc.
My QT based framework is excellent for this. I basically just need to add a fast, virtual grid component and create some kind of database on log files. It’s a bit of work, but I have experience from doing this in the past and have been using analyzers for years in telecom so I know what I want and why I want it. I have listed some basic objectives below:
| Req | Description |
| 1 | Be able to display messages real-time with max 250ms delay from capture until visualization on screen. |
| 2 | Be able to synchronize time stamps and adjust time differences if needed. |
| 3 | Be able to use disk as endless storage so we can leave the log part of the analyzer on and revisit message sequences afterwards. |
| 4 | Intelligent filtering of what is displayed so we can focus on what we look for. |
| 5 | Capable of recognizing proprietary messages that we add through XML spec. |
| 6 | Capable of testing rules like message sequences and content checks and visualize errors automatically. |
| 7 | Log raw Message content only. The rest should be a presentation issue based on XML settings. |
I will add more to this list later. You will start seeing screenshots of this project soon.