ViewComm Async Product Family

• Overview
• Views
• Find Criteria
• ViewComm Filters
• Specifications

Overview

The ViewComm System (VCS) Async Family offers a uniquely hot and deep solution for passively monitoring or interactively testing asynchronous communications links, devices, software, and protocols. VCS lets you see what's on the link. Use powerful Find capability to locate what you need to see fast! Filters give you a leg up by excluding from view all but what you specify you want to see.

The following three products are available:

Views

Events View - Shows data, timestamps, and special events (e.g. start of frame, control characters, and more)
	Frame View - Choose a protocol stack, then this view lists packets. Choose a packet and another pane shows a tree view of the protocol elements in the packet, hex or other radix pane, character pane, and other optional panes. Expand the protocol decode tree to see what is inside the packet. Errors are clearly highlighted.
Statistics View - Summarises data transfer, frames, errors, utilisation, and more. Some types of statistics also offer graphic views.
	Transmit View - If you are interactively testing software or a communications device, you can send from the keyboard or a file.
Breakout Box View - Shows real-time state of modem control and status lines. When reviewing a capture file, the Signals View shows the same information and you can zoom in to examine signal configuration changes in detail.

Find Criteria

VCS Async, Async Plus, and Viewer can locate anything you can define in a buffer or capture file

• String in Decode pane (Frame View) (e.g. "Missing the beginning of the VJ")
• Pattern (anywhere in data stream)
• Timestamp (absolute or relative) - capable to nearest microsecond
• Go To Frame or Event number
• Special Events (e.g. Broken Frame, Buffer Overflow, Start or End of Frame, and about 25 more errors and things.
• Signal configuration. Check DSR, RTS, etc. and set to find when one or more changed, or changed from off to on, on to off, or the exact configuration is matched.
• Errors - UART overrun, parity, framing error - set to find when one or more occurred, one or more changed, one or more was off, or the exact conditions are met.
• NOTE: This description of Find does not apply to ViewComm Classic

ViewComm Filters

• What are Filters? You can capture incoming data to a buffer and a file. If you have a lot of something like PPP or TCP/IP protocol frames captured, you may want to examine only those frames which meet certain criteria. This way, the Frame View would list only those you wish to examine. This can save a tremendous amount of time in troubleshooting or working on a problem. The VCS Filter capability is very flexible and extensive. Here are some of the criteria on which you can apply a filter. You can name filter setups and save them to files for reuse, thus avoiding set up time.
• Node and Conversation: You can specify IP or MAC addresses for source and/or destination, and include or exclude frames meeting this criterion from the Summary Pane in Frame View.
• Protocol: Include or exclude from display packets containing specified protocols.
• Pattern Match: Include or exclude frames containing specified byte patterns (including ASCII characters, hex, octal, or binary bytes.
• BPF (tcpdump syntax): The Berkeley Packet Filtering system, implemented in Unix as tcpdump, provides a rich syntax for defining simple or complex filtering criteria.

Specifications

• Data Interfaces: RS-232, converters may be used for other interfaces
• Operating Modes: Single & Dual Port Monitoring, Source DTE, Source DCE
• Protocol Decodes: Async PPP, PPP, SLIP, TCP/IP with auto-traversing, custom
• Timestamp Options: Absolute or Relative. 1.68 seconds down to under 1 microsecond
• Baud Rates: Up to 115.2 Kbps, including user-specified rates
• Bit Order: LSB first (normal) or MSB first (reversed setting)
• Flow Control: RTS/CTS or DTR/DSR hardware handshaking or XON/XOFF software flow control. User may define XON and XOFF characters.
• Character Sets: ASCII, 7-bit ASCII, EBCDIC, Baudot
• Parity: None, Even, Odd, Mark, Space
• Word Length: 5, 6, 7, or 8 bits
• Stop Bits: 1, 1 1/2, or 2
• Capture Modes: Buffer or buffer to hard disk. Capture file size limited only by drive
• System Requirements: PC or laptop with Pentium or higher processor. 32 Mb RAM, 16 Mb hard disk space plus space for your capture files
• Operating Systems: Windows 95, 98, Me, NT 4, 2000 (and XP with brief workaround)
• Serial Ports: One or two serial ports, depending upon test configuration. Supports COM1 through COM64.
• Serial Hardware: Normal 16550 or higher. 16650 works but characters may not be received in proper sequence. We recommend not using 16650.

For more information please contact the MicroWay sales team:
Head Office MicroWay Pty Ltd PO Box 84, Braeside, Victoria, 3195, Australia Ph: 1300 553 313 Fax: 1300 132 709 sales@microway.com.au		Sydney Sales Office MicroWay Pty Ltd PO Box 1733, Crows Nest, NSW 1585, Australia Tel: 1300 553 313 Fax: 1300 132 709 sales@microway.com.au