Looking for a powerful I2C Analyzer for monitoring, decoding or debugging? Real-time data capture, decoding, filtering and display of I2C packets?

i2c analyzer
Inter-Integrated Circuit or I²C is a multi-master serial communication bus. It is used to connect low-speed devices to microcontrollers, processors or motherboards. Many manufacturers now support I2C bus, mainly because there is no licensing for I2C protocol implementation.

There is also one similar standard that is widely used, the SMBus. It is a subset of I2C and defines more strict definitions of electrical and protocol requirements. Modern I2C systems are very close to SMBus specifications and in practice there is no sharp line between these two standards. With any I2C analyzer you can monitor and decode SMBus communications.



There are only two wires needed for I2C communication. Both are open-drain lines with pull-up resistors using either 5 V or 3.3 V, although other voltages may be used. I2C communication uses 7-bit addresses where bit 0 is set for reading and cleared for writing. Typical bus speed is 100 kbit/s, but many devices support also 400 kbit/s or even more. Since the clock is generated by the master I2C controller it is possible to use also arbitrarily low clock frequencies for SCL clock.

To analyze and debug I2C bus you need an I2C analyzer. They come in various configurations and with different capabilities, from PC oscilloscope to complete logic analyzer and dedicated professional I2C analyzers. Usually they interface with PC via USB and come with a powerful software which supports real-time data capture, decoding, filtering and display of I2C packets.

Many I2C analyzers support also SPI bus. With typical I2C analyzer you can also simulate a microcontroller, program EEPROM and configure any I2C device. Most devices also provide real-time capture functions and detailed bus decoding and filtering. Here are listed some of the most popular analyzers.

Beagle I2C/SPI Protocol Analyzer

The Beagle I2C Analyzer is a high performance bus monitoring tool which supports also SPI protocol. Being small and portable it is a perfect tool for embedded engineers developing microcontoller projects. Beagle I2C Analyzer allows  non-intrusive I2C monitoring up to 4 Mhz and SPI monitoring up to 24 MHz. It allows also non-intrusive monitoring of MDIO up to 20 MHz. The software is compatible with Windows, Mac OS X and Linux and allows display and capture in real-time of I2C, SPI, or MDIO packets. With the Beagle I2C/SPI Protocol Analyzer you get USB cable, software and drivers on CD and documentation.

BusPro-I Bus Analyzer and Exerciser

This is a cheap and powerful I2C analyzer designed for debugging, analyzing and troubleshooting I2C bus circuits. It can be used to monitor and capture bus traffic in real-time, or to generate i2C packets for communication with I2C devices on the bus. Targeted Applications for BusPro-I are low-level hardware debugging, software debugging and in-system programming.

CAS-1000-I2C/E Bus Analyzer and Exerciser

This is a powerful and flexible analyzer with many features to test, debug and validate I2C communication. It has all the functionality of the BusPro-I analyzer and provides a lot of advanced additional features suitable for IC verification and parametric testing. This I2C analyzer can monitor and capture in real-time I2C bus packets, generate I2C communication, validate compliance to I2C bus specifications or measure electrical and timing parameters. it can also simulate glitches, clock stretching or timing skews. This is an advanced I2C analyzer targeting integrated circuit design, design verifications, testing compliance with i2C bus specifications, low-level hardware debugging and in-system programming.

Diolan I2C/SPI Adapter - U2C-12

This is a all-in-one low cost USB analyzer. It supports I2S, SPI and GPIO. With this I2C analyzer and powerful software you can turn your computer into a comprehensive I2C and SPI analyzer and master device. If you have programming skills you can also use the API to integrate U2C-12 functions into your software. U2C-12 is very flexible, you can define clock frequency, I2C transactions and command or work directly with the I2C lines. You can also connect more than one U2C-12 interface to the computer.

Telos I2C tools

Telos offers many I2C monitors, interfaces and tools. Their product line starts with low-cost Connii MM 2.0 interface and continues with the Tracii XL, Tracii 400, and I2C Negative Tester. They are also offering I2C Level Shifter, I2C Galvanic Isolation/Level Shifter and various I2C Accessories.

QBridge USB-I2C

This is a low-cost USB device to connect to the I2C bus. It is powered from the USB bus and supports bus speeds up ti 400 kbit/s. The software runs under windows and you get also API and Microsoft Visual C++ 6.0 and Visual Basic 6.0 examples.

Byte Paradigm I2CXpress

This is an I2C interface for low-speed and fast I Mbps bus speeds. It works as a master and analyzer. It comes with a 8PI Control Panel software which provides a TCL/tk scripting environment.

DigiView Logic Analyzers

DigiView Logic Analyzer hardware and software is a set of sophisticated tools to analyze synchronous and asynchronous serial signals from RS-232 and RS485 to SPI and I2C. This is a professional logic analyzer with many advanced features.

EasyI2C

This is a low cost protocol analyzer for I2C, TWI and SMBus. It is simple to use, even if you are brand-new to the I2C protocol. Perfect for students and advanced engineers. Easy connection via USB interface  to PC and 3 connections to your I2C circuit. EasyI2C shows what happens on the bus, whether normal, unexpected, or an illegal condition (a bus error). The analyzer handles 0 - 400KHz bus speeds with no clock stretching. Results are displayed with a simple Windows application which captures and displays data. Results can be saved for further protocol analysis.