Total Phase Advanced Cable Tester User manual

Total Phase Advanced Cable Tester User

Manual

This document describes the Advanced Cable Tester web software

applications, the Advanced Cable Tester Hardware, and how to

use both.

The Advanced Cable Tester provides an easy-to-use web interface

that allows for remote operation and logging. Using the Promira

platform's connectivity, the Advanced Cable Tester can be

operated over USB or over Ethernet. The Advanced Cable Tester

can also be conﬁgured to operate in a stand-alone mode that does

not require a host PC. The LEDs on the device provide straight-

forward pass/fail information for the qualiﬁcation of cables without

the need for the graphical interface.

Supported products:

Advanced Cable Tester

User Manual v1.13.001

September 14, 2018

Advanced Cable Tester User Manual v1.13.001

1 General Overview

1.1 Revision History

Always read the CHANGES.txt ﬁle included in the Promira Serial Platform update

package for more details

1.1.1 Release 1.13

Version 1.13 FW/1.13 Web - This release provides enhanced speed, removes some eye

diagram display issues, ﬁxes other bugs, and adds the USB A to Lightning cable test.

1.1.2 Release 1.11

Version 1.11 FW/1.11 Web - This release provides enhanced behavior, ﬁxes some bugs,

adds color coding for resistor detection, and is required for v1.00 adapters.

1.1.3 Release 1.10

Version 1.10 FW/1.10 Web - This is the second release of the advanced cable tester that

ﬁxes some errors and includes the use of legacy adapters.

1.1.4 Release 0.90

Version 0.90 - This is the ﬁrst release of the advanced cable tester.

1.2 General Description

The Advanced Cable Tester is a set of applications for the Promira™ Serial Platform that

provides the ability to test USB cables. The Total Phase Advanced Cable Tester - Level 1

Application provides continuity testing, DC resistance measurement, and E-Marker

veriﬁcation. The Total Phase Advanced Cable Tester - Level 2 Application provides

additional capabilities to evaluate cable signal integrity at up to 12Gbps. Both application

levels use the Advanced Cable Tester Hardware, pictured below.

This document describes the Advanced Cable Tester web software applications, the

Advanced Cable Tester Hardware and how to use both.

Advanced Cable Tester User Manual v1.13.001

Figure 1 : ACT Hardware

Figure 2 : ACT System

Primarily targeted at USB cables, the main hardware natively supports testing Type-C-to-

Type-C cables. Adapter cards are available to enable testing cables that terminate in

USB 3.1 Standard-A, USB 3.1 Micro-B, and Lightning USB2.

Continuity testing checks all pins for continuity, preventing dangerous situations like

shorts of VBUS to data signals, VBUS/GND reversal, etc., which could damage devices.

DC Resistance ("DCR") and IR Drop testing conﬁrms that each power pin (VBUS and

GND) is capable of carrying the required current to meet the applicable speciﬁcation. For

Type-C cables, each power pin is individually measured, then the cable as a whole is

tested.

Advanced Cable Tester User Manual v1.13.001

E-Marker testing reads the data from all E-Markers present on the cable, then validates

the advertised data and power capabilities against the actual measured parameters of

the cable. Additionally, the values of ﬁelds such as Vendor ID, Product ID, Test ID,

ﬁrmware and hardware versions can be speciﬁed by the operator, for easy pass/fail

determination of cables through a QA process.

The Advanced Cable Tester provides an easy-to-use web interface that allows for remote

operation and logging. Using the Promira platform's connectivity, the Advanced Cable

Tester can be operated over USB or over Ethernet. The Advanced Cable Tester can also

be conﬁgured to operate in a stand-alone mode that does not require a host PC. The

LEDs on the device provide straight-forward pass/fail information for the qualiﬁcation of

cables without the need for the graphical interface.

Advanced Cable Tester User Manual v1.13.001

2 Device Speciﬁcations

2.1 Hardware Connectors and LED Indicators

Table 1 : Connector Description

Connector Purpose

Promira platform Connects to Promira platform via included 40mm 34pin ribbon cable

U Type-C connector for connecting to one plug of the cable under test.

Typically conﬁgured as the functional Source when testing Type-C cables.

D Similar function to the U connector, but typically conﬁgured as the

functional Sink when testing Type-C cables.

Table 2 : LED Function and Description

LED Purpose and Meaning

Advanced

Cable Tester

LEDs

Data Indicates data signal integrity is within expected values. Only valid for

the Advanced Cable Tester - Level 2 Application.

Oﬀ:Test not performed (Level 1 application)

Green: Indicates that signal integrity passed.

Red: Indicates a signal integrity or other data line failure.

Amps Indicates power-related test result of the cable.

Green: Cable shows no power-related failures, and can carry its

speciﬁed current.

Red: Power-related failure, such as shorts/opens, out-of-spec IR

Drop/DCR, etc.

Status Oﬀ:Not ready or Test in Progress

Green: Test completed and passed

Red: Test completed and failed

Blue ﬂashing: Idle or waiting for cable attachment

Note While idle or waiting for cable, the Data or Amps LEDs will illuminate

green to indicate an adapter is present, blue to indicate that a USB

Type C plug has been detected, or blue-green to indicate that a cable

has been detected in the attached adapter, corresponding to the

"D"and "U" receptacles.

Advanced Cable Tester User Manual v1.13.001

Promira LEDs Left Blank: Normal state

Middle Blue ﬂashing: Test in progress

Oﬀ:Idle

Right Green: Advanced Cable Tester application running

Blue: No application running (Promira idle)

2.2 Software Speciﬁcations

• Test Proﬁles: Held in non-volatile storage on the Promira platform

• Test Results: Up to 1000 sets of results are kept in a circular buﬀer in RAM. Test

results are cleared upon power cycle.

2.3 Physical Speciﬁcations

• DC Characteristics: Power Consumption: 900mA @ 5 V with Promira platform

• Dimensions: W x D x L: 77.5 x 29.2 x 115.6 mm (3.05 x 1.15 x 4.55 in)

• Weight: 125 g (4.41 oz)

• Operating Temperature: 10°35° C (50°95° F) non-condensing

Advanced Cable Tester User Manual v1.13.001

3 Promira Serial Platform Overview

The Promira Serial Platform is a multi-purpose test platform. Total Phase separately

licenses many other applications for other types of test and development. This includes

Host Adapter and Analysis applications for I2C, SPI, eSPI, etc. The Advanced Cable

Tester Applications are just a few possibilities for the platform. Details about the Promira

Serial Platform are included in the separate Promira Serial Platform System User Manual

(https://www.totalphase.com/support/articles/204227283). A brief overview of essential

usage details is included here.

3.1 Basic Connectivity

The basic interface to the Promira Serial Platform is via USB or Ethernet. In either case,

the USB micro-B interface is used for power (see below). Communication between the

end user platform and the Promira is via TCP/IP over Ethernet-over-USB or via TCP/IP

over Ethernet. The Ethernet over USB connection is established using the RNDIS or

ECM protocol. In this case, the Promira will act as a DHCP server, provide an IP address

t your PC/Mac in the 10.0.0.0/24 range.

When using the physical Ethernet connection, the Promira platform can use a static IP

address or act as a DHCP client, depending on network requirements. It is most

convenient to use the Promira Utility (https://www.totalphase.com/products/promira-

update-utility) software to discover the address that was assigned. The utility software

can connect to the Promira via USB or Ethernet connection. The Promira Utility software

can also be used to conﬁgure a static IP address for the Promria platform (and therefore

the Advanced Cable Tester).

3.2 Powering the Promira and ACT

In the case where an Ethernet connection is used, it is necessary to power the Promira

platform (and the Advanced Cable Tester) via a USB power adapter with a Micro-B

cable. It is essential that this is a high-quality power supply, capable of supplying a

minimum of 5V at 1A of current, and with all relevant safety certiﬁcations. If a power

adapter does not provide enough power, the Promira platform and the Advanced Cable

Tester Hardware may not have enough power to operate properly and thus cannot

ensure valid testing.

After the Promira platform is conﬁgured, the Advaned Cable Tester Application is simply

accessed via HTTP from an HTML5-compatible web browser. This could be a mobile

Advanced Cable Tester User Manual v1.13.001

phone, tablet, or most often a PC. Please consult the Quick Start Guide at the end of this

manual or on our website at Quick Start Guide (http://www.totalphase.com/support/

articles/235050988).

3.3 Update Process

In order to update your Promira databases properly, you must follow the below procedure

to backup any custom proﬁles you have created, reset the proﬁle database, and then

restore any custom proﬁles.

The full update sequence is:

1. Start the Promira Utility (v1.35 or later available at Download) and use it put the

Promira in ﬁrmware update mode:

a. Click the Promira button.

b. Find your Promira device in the list. If it doesnt appear yet, wait a little while

for it to ﬁnish booting and enumerating, then click the button to refresh the

list.

c. Select the Promira which was found, and click OK.

d. Click the Update License/Firmware button.

2. Copy the new ﬁrmware (.pmu ﬁle) to the Promiras disk. Typically your PC will

notify you that a new disk has been detected, and give you the option to browse it.

You may need to manually navigate to it using Finder or Explorer.

3. Eject the USB disk

4. Power-cycle the Promira the ﬁrmware will be automatically updated, which will

take about a minute to complete, during which time the LEDs will blink blue.

5. Wait for the right-most LED to illuminate green, then login to the Advanced Cable

Tester.

6. Open the "Proﬁle Management" screen.

Advanced Cable Tester User Manual v1.13.001

7. Select your ﬁrst custom proﬁle. (Standard proﬁles are marked with a *; custom

proﬁles are not marked).

8. Hold down the Shift key on your keyboard and click on the last custom proﬁle. (Be

sure youve scrolled to the end of the listbox).

9. Click Export and a <ﬁlename>.json ﬁle will be downloaded to your

computer, make sure to save this.

Advanced Cable Tester User Manual v1.13.001

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