HP's New Benchtop Analyzers Offer the Power and Flexibility of Full-Featured Systems at Half the Price; Deep Memory, LAN Connectivity and Hard Drive Help Users Get to Root Cause of Problems Quickly

Business Wire, Oct 12, 1995

PALO ALTO, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Oct. 12, 1995-- Hewlett-Packard Company today becomes the first logic-analyzer vendor to offer 500K of acquisition memory, Ethernet LAN connectivity and software-performance analysis in a benchtop logic analyzer for about half the price of most full-featured logic analysis systems.

"Lower prices for high performance provide tremendous value for customers working on embedded systems," said Patrick J. Byrne, research and development (R&D) manager for logic analyzers at HP's Colorado Springs Division.

A LOGIC ANALYZER FOR SOFTWARE DESIGNERS

The three models in the HP 1670 series offer software developers 64K of acquisition memory with an option to increase to 500K. Deep acquisition memory lets software designers see long periods of code execution -- useful because the cause of a problem may occur much earlier than the symptom.

"We believe that lowering the price for deep memory will allow more people who write code for embedded-processor systems to use logic analyzers effectively in their work," said Don J. Smith, R&D project manager at HP's Colorado Springs Division. "The 500K-memory-depth option gives users power and flexibility without a big charge to their capital expenditures."

ETHERNET LAN

Ethernet LAN capability eliminates the difficulty of verifying logic-analyzer data against design information. When benchtop logic analyzers are used as stand-alone instruments, they have no direct connection to the computing environment. This forces designers to lay a hardcopy printout of logic-analyzer data next to the computer screen to make side-by-side comparisons between their hardware simulations and their logic-analyzer data. The addition of Ethernet LAN capability eliminates this inefficiency and provides two additional benefits. First, it allows logic-analyzer users to consult more easily with others when troubleshooting a problem. For example, an R&D technician troubleshooting a prototype board might call a designer in another building for help. The designer, in turn, can transfer the data files to be analyzed via file transfer protocol (FTP) or network file server (NFS) or use X11 Windows to bring the logic-analyzer display up on a workstation or PC. The designer then can examine the data directly, make additional measurements, modify the logic-analyzer trigger conditions and acquire more data.

A second benefit, an X Window interface, lets users who have separate lab and office areas choose where they want to work.

HARD-DISK DRIVE

The addition of a 290MB hard-disk drive and the Ethernet LAN allows design teams to use the HP software analyzer. They can compare a code trace from a microprocessor with the original high-level-language program, such as C , easily. Cross-compiling the source code to show the high-level-language constructs beside the equivalent assembly language's address number is no longer necessary. The result is that matching a hardcopy of the inverse-assembled state listing address-for-address to the cross-compiled output becomes a thing of the past.

The HP software analyzer helps designers of low-level software pinpoint bugs more quickly by using data collected in the logic analyzer to highlight lines in the source code.

A LOGIC ANALYZER FOR HARDWARE DESIGNERS

The HP 1660C series for hardware designers includes a 290MB hard-disk drive, an optional Ethernet LAN connection and support for the HP software analyzer.

Eight models, with varying channel counts to suit users' needs, offer 500-MHz timing with five modes of timing analysis and 100-MHz state analysis. The CS models are equipped with a two-channel 1-GSa/s oscilloscope.

UPGRADE OPTIONS

To protect current users' investments and provide security for expanding needs, HP offers several upgrade options for its benchtop logic analyzers. With the exception of the HP 1664A, current owners of HP 1660A series logic analyzers can upgrade to the new C or CS models. The 1660C models can be upgraded to CS (integrated oscilloscope) models. Also, most models can be upgraded to a higher channel count.

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