Vector VH6501 User Manual

VH6501CAN Disturbance Interface

Manual

Version 1.0|English

Imprint

Vector Informatik GmbH
Ingersheimer Straße 24
D-70499 Stuttgart

The information and data given in this user manual can be changed without prior notice. No part of this manual may be reproduced in any
form or by any means without the written permission of the publisher, regardless of which method or which instruments, electronic or
mechanical, are used. All technical information, drafts, etc. ar e liable to law of copyright protection.

© Copyright 2017, Vector Informatik GmbH. All rights reserved.

Contents

Contents

1 Introduction 4

1.1 About this User Manual 5

1.1.1 Certification 6

1.1.2 Warranty 6

1.1.3 Registered Trademarks 6

1.2 Important Notes 7

1.2.1 Safety Instructions and Hazard Warnings 7

1.2.1.1 Proper Use and Intended Purpose 7

1.2.1.2 Hazards 8

1.2.1.3 Disclaimer 8

2 Device Description 9

2.1 Scope of Delivery 10

2.2 Introduction 10

2.3 Accessories 10

2.4 Connectors Bus Side 11

2.5 Connectors USB Side 14

2.6 LEDs 17

2.7 Technical Data 19

3 Getting Started 21

3.1 Driver Installation 22

3.2 Device Configuration 24

4 Vector Hardware Configuration 25

4.1 General Information 26

4.2 Tool Description 27

4.2.1 Introduction 27

4.2.2 Tree View 28

5 Time Synchronization 31

5.1 General Information 32

5.2 Software Sync 34

5.3 Hardware Sync 35

VH6501 Manual Version 1.0 3

1 Introduction

1 Introduction

In this chapter you find the following information:

1.1 About this User Manual 5

1.1.1 Certification 6

1.1.2 Warranty 6

1.1.3 Registered Trademarks 6

1.2 Important Notes 7

1.2.1 Safety Instructions and Hazard Warnings 7

VH6501 Manual Version 1.0 4

1 Introduction

1.1 About this User Manual

Conventions In the two following charts you will find the conventions used in the user manual

regarding utilized spellings and symbols.

Style Utilization

bold Blocks, surface elements, window- and dialog names of the soft-

ware. Accentuation of warnings and advices.

[OK]
File|Save

Microsoft Legally protected proper names and side notes.

Source Code

Hyperlink Hyperlinks and references.
<CTRL>+<S> Notation for shortcuts.

Symbol Utilization

File name and source code.

This symbol calls your attention to warnings.

Push buttons in brackets
Notation for menus and menu entries

Here you can obtain supplemental information.

Here you can find additional information.

Here is an example that has been prepared for you.

Step-by-step instructions provide assistance at these points.

Instructions on editing files are found at these points.

This symbol warns you not to edit the specified file.

VH6501 Manual Version 1.0 5

1.1.1 Certification

1 Introduction

Certified Quality
Management System

Vector Informatik GmbH has ISO 9001:2008 certification. The ISO standard is a glob­ally recognized standard.

1.1.2 Warranty

Restriction
of warranty

We reserve the right to change the contents of the documentation and the software
without notice. Vector Informatik GmbH assumes no liability for correct contents or
damages which are resulted from the usage of the documentation. We are grateful for
references to mistakes or for suggestions for improvement to be able to offer you
even more efficient products in the future.

1.1.3 Registered Trademarks

Registered
trademarks

All trademarks mentioned in this documentation and if necessary third party
registered are absolutely subject to the conditions of each valid label right and the
rights of particular registered proprietor. All trademarks, trade names or company
names are or can be trademarks or registered trademarks of their particular pro­prietors. All rights which are not expressly allowed are reserved. If an explicit label of
trademarks, which are used in this documentation, fails, should not mean that a name
is free of third party rights.

> Windows, Windows 7, Windows 8.1, Windows 10

are trademarks of the Microsoft Corporation.

VH6501 Manual Version 1.0 6

1.2 Important Notes

1.2.1 Safety Instructions and Hazard Warnings

Caution!

In order to avoid personal injuries and damage to property, you have to read and
understand the following safety instructions and hazard warnings prior to installation
and use of this interface. Keep this documentation (manual) always near the inter­face.

1.2.1.1 Proper Use and Intended Purpose

Caution!

The interface is designed for analyzing, controlling and otherwise influencing control
systems and electronic control units. This includes, inter alia, bus systems like
CAN, LIN, K-Line, MOST, FlexRay, Ethernet, BroadR-Reach and/or ARINC 429.

1 Introduction

The interface may only be operated in a closed state. In particular, printed circuits
must not be visible. The interface may only be operated (i) according to the instruc­tions and descriptions of this manual; (ii) with the electric power supply designed for
the interface, e.g. USB-powered power supply; and (iii) with accessories man­ufactured or approved by Vector.

The interface is exclusively designed for use by skilled personnel as its operation
may result in serious personal injuries and damage to property. Therefore, only
those persons may operate the interface who (i) have understood the possible
effects of the actions which may be caused by the interface; (ii) are specifically
trained in the handling with the interface, bus systems and the system intended to
be influenced; and (iii) have sufficient experience in using the interface safely.

The knowledge necessary for the operation of the interface can be acquired in work­shops and internal or external seminars offered by Vector. Additional and interface
specific information, such as „Known Issues“, are available in the „Vector Know­ledgeBase“on Vector´s website at www.vector.com. Please consult the „Vector
KnowledgeBase“for updated information prior to the operation of the interface.

VH6501 Manual Version 1.0 7

1.2.1.2 Hazards

1.2.1.3 Disclaimer

1 Introduction

Caution!

The interface may control and/or otherwise influence the behavior of control sys­tems and electronic control units. Serious hazards for life, body and property may
arise, in particular, without limitation, by interventions in safety relevant systems
(e.g. by deactivating or otherwise manipulating the engine management, steering,
airbag and/or braking system) and/or if the interface is operated in public areas (e.g.
public traffic, airspace). Therefore, you must always ensure that the interface is
used in a safe manner. This includes, inter alia, the ability to put the system in
which the interface is used into a safe state at any time (e.g. by „emergency shut­down“), in particular, without limitation, in the event of errors or hazards.

Comply with all safety standards and public regulations which are relevant for the
operation of the system. Before you operate the system in public areas, it should be
tested on a site which is not accessible to the public and specifically prepared for
performing test drives in order to reduce hazards.

Caution!

Claims based on defects and liability claims against Vector are excluded to the
extent damages or errors are caused by improper use of the interface or use not
according to its intended purpose. The same applies to damages or errors arising
from insufficient training or lack of experience of personnel using the interface.

VH6501 Manual Version 1.0 8

2 Device Description

2 Device Description

In this chapter you find the following information:

2.1 Scope of Delivery 10

2.2 Introduction 10

2.3 Accessories 10

2.4 Connectors Bus Side 11

2.5 Connectors USB Side 14

2.6 LEDs 17

2.7 Technical Data 19

VH6501 Manual Version 1.0 9

2 Device Description

2.1 Scope of Delivery

Contents The delivery includes:

> VH6501 Interface

> Vector Power Supply 12 V / 1.25 A (part number 05024)

> USB2.0 cable (part number 05011)

2.2 Introduction

About the VH6501 With the VH6501, you can cause specific and reproducible disturbances on the CAN

bus, its physical properties and the logical level (recessive or dominant).

The VH6501 offers the following capabilities:

> Forcing freely definable sequences of recessive or dominant disturbance pulses

> Disturbance of specific frames via trigger

> Manipulation of the bit fields of CAN/CAN FD frames

Figure 1: VH6501

The main features of the VH6501 interface are:

> Full-featured CAN network interface

(can be used by several applications at the same time)

> Disturbance functionalities for CAN/CAN FD

(CANoe only)

> External trigger

> Second channel for dedicated digital-analog input/output tasks

> 5x LED indicating activities and status

> Software time sync

> Hardware time sync (via SYNCcableXL)

2.3 Accessories

Reference

Information on available accessories can be found in the separate accessories
manual on the Vector Driver Disk in \Documentation\Accessories.

VH6501 Manual Version 1.0 10

2.4 Connectors Bus Side

CAN GND

CH1

5

4

3

2

1

6

7

8

9

5

4

3

2

1

6

7

8

9

CAN High

CAN Low

Vdisturb

male

female

Front side

Figure 2: VH6501 with D-SUB9 connectors

> CH1 (2x D-SUB9)

The VH6501 has a female and a male D-SUB9 connector. The pin assignment of
both connectors is identical. Both connectors are interconnected.

2 Device Description

Pin Assignment

1 Not connected

2 CAN Low

CAN High*
3 CAN GND

4 Not connected
5 Not connected
6 Not connected

7 CAN High

CAN Low*

8 Not connected

9 V

disturb

-27V...+27V

(male only)

* CAN High and CAN Low can be electronically swapped at the female connector

Note

V

can be used to simulate external disturbances and electrical shorts by apply-

disturb

ing voltage between -27V...+27V against CAN GND (pin 3). If not required, pin 9
can be left unconnected. Further information can be found in section Technical Data
on page 19.

VH6501 Manual Version 1.0 11

2 Device Description

PC

CAN
CH1

VH6501

Time Stamp Clock

USB

CAN

ECU

CAN

ECU

CAN

ECU

CAN

ECU

H

L

CANoe

CAN

CAN
CH1

VH6501

Time Stamp Clock

USB

CAN

ECU

CAN

ECU

CAN

ECU

CAN

ECU

CAN

PC

CANoe

By connecting the device via both terminals, you can use the VH6501 as a bypass
interface that does not change the topology of the existing CAN network:

Figure 3: VH6501 as bypass interface

Note

The female and male connector are not split or isolated by the device, i.e. dis­turbances and triggers on the bus always affect both sides. The VH6501 cannot be
used as a gateway.

By connecting the device to an existing CAN network via one terminal, you can
use the VH6501 as network interface. This setup adds a new stub to the existing
CAN network.

Figure 4: VH6501 as network interface

VH6501 Manual Version 1.0 12

2 Device Description

3 1

2

> External Trigger

This connector (Binder type 711) can be used to trigger other devices, e.g. an
oscilloscope.

Pin Assignment

1 Not connected

2 Trigger output

- 0V (low)
- 5V (high)
- 50 Ohm
- adjustable edge and pulse duration via CANoe

3 GND

VH6501 Manual Version 1.0 13

2.5 Connectors USB Side

1

Analog GND

1

2

3

4

5

9

8

7

6

6

Digital In 0

5

Digital Out

Digital GND

Analog In

4

Digital In 1

8

9

Back side

Figure 5: Connectors on the USBside

Device connectors > USB

Connect your PC and the VH6501 via USB to install and to use the device. Use
the USB2.0 compliant cable found in the delivery (USB extension cables may gen­erate faults between the PC and the device).

2 Device Description

Note

On USB connection, the powered device executes a calibration process as well
as a self diagnosis on the transceiver and the digital disturbance unit. This pro­cess takes approx. 1second.

> CH2-IO (D-SUB9)

Use this D-SUB9 connector for dedicated digital-analog input/output tasks. The
pin assignment for CH2 is as follows:

Pin Assignment

1 Analog In

2 Not connected
3 Not connected

4 Digital In 0 / Trigger In*
5 Digital In 1 / Trigger In*
6 Analog GND

7 Not connected

8 Digital Out
9 Digital GND

* You can use these pinsas external trigger to send user-defined or frame-based sequences. Fur­thermor e, it ispossible to use the digitalinputs as additionaltrigger enable for CANoe trigger con­ditions.An external trigger cannot be used if a trigger enable is configured. Use either Digital In 0 or
Digital In 1 as trigger/trigger enable. Parallel usage of both inputs isnot supported.

Reference

Details on the internal interconnection of the input/ouput pins can be found on
the next page.

VH6501 Manual Version 1.0 14

2 Device Description

To Processor

Digital GND

Vcc

Digital GND Digital GND

Digital Input 0/1

Isolation

20k

Vref

200k

OUT

IN-

IN+

33 V

370 pF

From Processor

Digital Output

Digital GND

Isolation

33 V

370 pF

To Processor

Analog GND

Vcc

Analog Input

100k

1M

33 V

370 pF

Analog GND

22 pF

ADC

15k

10k

Analog GND

OUT

IN+

IN-

Isolation

INOUT

Details on CH2 The internal interconnection of the input/ouput pins is as follows:

Internal
interconnection of
digital input 0/1

Figure 6: Digital input 0/1

Internal
interconnection of
digital output

Internal
interconnection of
analog input

Figure 7: Digital output

Figure 8: Analog input

VH6501 Manual Version 1.0 15

2 Device Description

VCC

1

2

3

Power

1

2

3

Sync

GND

Sync

GND

Power/Sync

Power/Sync

SYNC

GND

Power

3

1

2

Extended measuring
range of the

In normal operation, voltages up to 18 V can be applied and measured at the ana­log input. The cutoff frequency fc(-3 dB) for AC voltages is approx. 7.2 kHz.

analog input

For measurements above 18 V (max. 50 V), an external series resistor has to be
applied to the analog input. The series resistor R
input voltage U

to be measured and can be calculated as follows:

input

depends on the maximum

ext

The cutoff frequency for AC voltages is also affected by the external series res­istor:

Examples 24 V 32 V 36 V 48 V

R

ext

R

(E96) 374 kΩ

ext

367 kΩ 856 kΩ 1100 kΩ 1833 kΩ

(24.12 V)

866 kΩ

(32.17 V)

1100 kΩ

(36.00 V)

1870 kΩ

(48.60 V)

fc(-3 dB) 1148 Hz 496 Hz 390 Hz 230 Hz

Device connectors
(continued)

> Host (Ethernet)

Host connector (100BASE-TX and 1000BASE-T). Reserved for future purposes.

> 2x Power/Sync (Binder connectors)

The VH6501 has two power/sync connectors (Binder type 711) which can be used
for time synchronization of different Vector devices (see section Time Syn­chronization on page 31) or for power. It does not matter which connector is used
to supply the device.

Figure 9: Internal wiring of the power/sync connector

Pin Assignment

1 Power supply (6 V … <60 V DC, typ. 12 V)
2 Synchronization line
3 Ground

VH6501 Manual Version 1.0 16

2.6 LEDs

2 Device Description

Figure 10: Top LEDs on VH6501

> Trigger

Multicolored LED which indicates the trigger state.

Color Description

Off No active trigger.
Green Waiting for (multiple) trigger. This state remains until the last trigger

has been released in the application.

Red Self test error. Please try to reboot the device. If the error still remains,

please contact our support.

> Digital

Multicolored LED which indicates the state of the digital disturbances.

Color Description

Off No digital disturbance/sequence transmission.
Green Digital output in progress. For short sequences, this state remains at

least for 0.5s. For long sequences, this state remains as long as the
output is in progress.

Red At start-up: Calibration error. Please try to reboot the device. If the

error still remains, please contact our support.

At runtime: Error in digital disturbance/sequence transmission. Trans­mission is stopped due to high current, electrical short or overvoltage
of the transceiver. Please check your hardware setup and your CANoe
configuration.

> Analog

Multicolored LED which indicates the state of the analog disturbances.

Color Description

Off No analog disturbances.
Green Analog output in progress.
Red Error while analog disturbances selected. Possible reasons: high cur-

rent at electrical shorts or overvoltage at transceiver/resistors.
Affected resistors and electrical shorts will be automatically removed.
Please check your hardware setup and your CANoe configuration.

VH6501 Manual Version 1.0 17

> CH1

Multicolored channel LEDs which indicates the bus activity for CAN.

Color Description

Green Data frames have been transmitted or received correctly.
Orange CAN: Error frames have been transmitted or received.
Red CAN: Bus off.

CAN: The flashing frequency depends on the bus load.

> Status

Multicolored LED indicating the device status.

Color Description

Green On: Running measurement.

Flashing: Device is ready for operation.

Orange On: Device executes update.

Flashing: Device start up.

Red Error. Device not working.

2 Device Description

VH6501 Manual Version 1.0 18

2.7 Technical Data

CAN/CAN FD channel 1x D-SUB9 (TJA1057 Piggyback)

Analog input 10 bit

Digital input Range 0 V...32 V

Digital output Open Drain

Time stamps Resolution: 8 ns

PC interface USB 2.0
External power supply 6 V... <60 V DC

Power consumption Typical 7W
Temperature range

(ambient temp. of the device)
Relative humidity

of ambient air
Dimensions (LxWxH) Approx. 155 mm x 111 mm x 45 mm
Weight Approx. 600 g
Operating system requirements Windows 7 SP1 (32 bit / 64 bit)

Software requirements CANoe version 10.0 SP2 (or higher)

2 Device Description

CAN2.0: 2 MBit/s
CAN FD: up to 8 MBit/s

Input 0 V...18 V
Voltage tolerance up to 50 V
(with series resistor)
Sampling rate up to 1 kHz

Schmitt trigger high 2.7 V, low 2.2 V
Hysteresis 0.5 V
Input frequencies up to 1 kHz

External supply up to 32 V
Current max. 500 mA
Short circuit / over voltage protected

Accuracy (in device): 1 µs
Accuracy software sync: typ. 50 µs
Accuracy hardware sync: typ. 1 µs

Power-up: 9 V DC

Operation: -40 °C ... +60 °C
Storage: -40 °C ... +85 °C

15 %...95 %, non-condensing

Windows 8.1 (32 bit / 64 bit)
Windows 10 (64 bit)

VH6501 Manual Version 1.0 19

2 Device Description

GND

RCAN High to Vbat/GND

disabled/
500 Ohm ...
23655 Ohm

Vdisturb GND

CCAN High to CAN Low

disabled/
100 pF ...
10 nF

E-Switch

E-Swap

CAN High

CAN Low

CAN High

CAN Low

or CAN Low

or CAN High

DSUB-9

male

DSUB-9

female

GND

GND

RCAN High to CAN Low

disabled/
500 Ohm ...
23655 Ohm

R

CAN Low to Vbat/GND

disabled/
500 Ohm ...
23655 Ohm

E-Switch

E-Switch

Vdisturb

Vdisturb Vdisturb

Changeable resistors
and capacitor

The following block diagram depicts the resistors and the capacitor which can be con­trolled via CANoe. In addition, CAN High and CANLow can be swapped at the
female connector if required.

Resistor values Ohm

500 525 570 605 735 800
905 1000 1495 1660 1965 2260

2485 3240 3720 4130 4945 9180

14505 23655

Capacitor values pF

100 126 133 223 440 460
485 510 566 600 643 688
762 825 909 1000 1303 1499

1803 2200 3197 4700 10000

Caution!

The VH6501 has an internal protection against incorrect resistor/voltage com­bination that could lead to electronic damages. If V
resistor is <=1kOhm, the affected resistor will be disabled .

Note

The internal protection does work as long as CAN High and CANLow are not extern­ally fed.

Note

According to the technical specification of the TJA1057 transceiver, the range of the
voltage difference of CAN High andCAN Low is -27V ... 27V.

is >30V and the value of a

disturb

VH6501 Manual Version 1.0 20

3 Getting Started

3 Getting Started

In this chapter you find the following information:

3.1 Driver Installation 22

3.2 Device Configuration 24

VH6501 Manual Version 1.0 21

3.1 Driver Installation

3 Getting Started

General
information

The Vector Driver Disk offers a driver setup which allows the installation or the
removal of Vector devices.

Note

Please note that you will need Administrator Rights for the following steps.

Step by Step Procedure

1. Execute the driver setup from the autostart menu or directly from
\Drivers\Setup.exe before the device is connected to the PC with the
included USB cable.

If you have already connected the device to the PC, the Windows found new
Hardware wizard appears. Close this wizard and then execute the driver setup.

2. Click [Next] in the driver setup dialog. The initialization process starts.

VH6501 Manual Version 1.0 22

3 Getting Started

3. In the driver selection dialog, select your devices to be installed (or to be unin­stalled).

4. Click [Install] to execute the driver installation, or [Uninstall] to remove exist-
ing drivers.

5. A confirmation dialog appears. Click [Close] to exit. After successful instal-
lation, the device is ready for operation and can be connected to the PC with
the included USB cable and powered by supplying external voltage (e.g. with
an appropriate cable offered by Vector).

6. Install or update your CANoe to version 10.0 SP2 or higher.

VH6501 Manual Version 1.0 23

3 Getting Started

3.2 Device Configuration

Configuration Before the installed device can be used in an application, it must be properly con-

figured for the needed use case. This configuration is done with the Vector Hardware

Config tool which comes with the driver installation. The tool can be found in Win-
dows | Start | Settings | Control Panel | Vector Hardware and manages all

installed Vector devices.

Reference

Further details on Vector Hardware Config can be found in the installation instruc-
tions (see section Vector Hardware Configuration on page 25).

Reference

Further details on the configuration with CANoe can be found in the according online
help.

VH6501 Manual Version 1.0 24

4 Vector Hardware Configuration

4 Vector Hardware Configuration

In this chapter you find the following information:

4.1 General Information 26

4.2 Tool Description 27

4.2.1 Introduction 27

4.2.2 Tree View 28

VH6501 Manual Version 1.0 25

4.1 General Information

4 Vector Hardware Configuration

Executing Vector
Hardware Config

Control Panel
Windows 7

Control Panel
Windows 8.1

After the successful driver installation you will find the configuration application
Vector Hardware in the Control Panel (see below). The tool gives you information
about the connected and installed Vector devices. There are also several settings that
can be changed.

Figure 11: Icon in Control Panel

> Category view

Windows Start | Control Panel | Hardware and Sound,
click Vector Hardware in the list.

> Symbols view

Windows Start | Control Panel,
click Vector Hardware in the list.

> Category view

<Windows key>+<X> | Control Panel | Hardware and Sound,
click Vector Hardware in the list.

> Symbols view

<Windows key>+<X> | Control Panel,

click Vector Hardware in the list.

Control Panel
Windows 10

> Category view

<Windows key>+<X> | Control Panel | Hardware and Sound,
click Vector Hardware in the list.

> Symbols view

<Windows key>+<X> | Control Panel,

click Vector Hardware in the list.

VH6501 Manual Version 1.0 26

4.2 Tool Description

physical CH1

CAN

physical CH2

LIN

Vector Device 1

Vector Device 2

physical CH1

FlexRay

physical CH2

CAN

not assigned

l

ogical channel

CAN 1

Application

l

ogical channel

LIN 1

l

ogical channel

CAN 1

l

ogical channel

FlexRay 1

l

ogical channel

CAN 2

4.2.1 Introduction

Vector
Hardware Config

Figure 12: General view of Vector Hardware Config

4 Vector Hardware Configuration

Logical and physical
channels

Vector Hardware Config enables the channel configuration between installed Vector
devices and applications. Applications use so-called logical channels which are hard­ware independent and have to be assigned to real hardware channels.

Figure 13: Concept of channel assignments

VH6501 Manual Version 1.0 27

Figure 14: Channel assignment in Vector Hardware Config

4.2.2 Tree View

4 Vector Hardware Configuration

Accessing
Vector devices

The tool is split into two windows. The left window has a tree view and lets you
access the installed Vector devices, the right window displays the details of the selec­tion. The following nodes are available in the tree view:

Hardware The Hardware section lists the installed Vector devices. Each device item has phys-

ical channels which can be assigned to any number of logical channels (e.g.
CANalyzer CAN 1). A logical channel can be assigned to only one physical channel.

Figure 15: Hardware

Application In Application, all available applications are displayed in a tree view. According to

each application, the assignments of logical and physical channels are displayed in
the right part of the window. If no assignment exists, the information Not assigned
appears. The assignment can be edited via a right-click.

Figure 16: Application

VH6501 Manual Version 1.0 28

4 Vector Hardware Configuration

Global settings Global settings contains global device configuration possibilities, e.g. software time

synchronization, transmit queue size, configuration flags or the number of virtual CAN
devices.

Figure 17: Global settings

Driver status Driver status offers an overall status information of devices and applications cur-

rently in use. You can see whether the channels are connected to the bus (online/off­line) and whether the time synchronization is activated or not (Time-Sync-On/Time­Sync-Off).

Figure 18: Dr iver status

VH6501 Manual Version 1.0 29

4 Vector Hardware Configuration

License The License section contains information on all current available licenses (Vector bus

devices, Vector License USB dongle devices).

Figure 19: License

Reference

You will find a detailed description of Vector Hardware Config in the online help
(Help | Contents).

VH6501 Manual Version 1.0 30

5 Time Synchronization

5 Time Synchronization

In this chapter you find the following information:

5.1 General Information 32

5.2 Software Sync 34

5.3 Hardware Sync 35

VH6501 Manual Version 1.0 31

5.1 General Information

CAN

Vector

CAN Interface

CH1

CH2

Time Stamp Clock

PC

CANalyzer/CANoe

USB

5 Time Synchronization

Time stamps
and events

Generating
time stamps

Time stamps are useful when analyzing incoming or outgoing data or event
sequences on a specific bus.

Figure 20: Time stamps of two CAN channels in CANalyzer

Each event which is sent or received by a Vector network interface has an accurate
time stamp. Time stamps are generated for each channel in the Vector network inter­face. The base for these time stamps is a common hardware clock in the device.

Figure 21: Common time stamp clock for each channel

If the measurement setup requires more than one Vector network interface, a syn­chronization of all connected interfaces and their hardware clocks is needed.

Due to manufacturing and temperature tolerances, the hardware clocks may vary in
speed, so time stamps of various Vector devices drift over time.

VH6501 Manual Version 1.0 32

5 Time Synchronization

CAN

FlexRay

Vector

CAN Interface

CH1

CH2

Time Stamp Clock

PC

Vector

FR Interface

CHA

CHB

Time Stamp Clock

sec

0.000000

0.100376

0.200382

0.300372

0.400406

0.500593

0.600242

sec

0.000000

0.1003

83

0.200

982

0.30

1456

0.40

2612

0.50

3885

0.60

4092

CANalyzer/CANoe

USB

USB

Figure 22: Example of unsynchronized network interfaces. Independent time stamps drift apart

To compensate for these time stamp deviations between the Vector network inter­faces, the time stamps can be either synchronized by software or by hardware (see
next section).

Note

The accuracy of the software and hardware sync depends on the interface. Further
information on specific values can be found in the technical data of the respective
devices.

VH6501 Manual Version 1.0 33

5.2 Software Sync

CAN

FlexRay

Vector

CAN Interface

CH1

CH2

Time Stamp Clock

Vector

FR Interface

CHA

CHB

Time Stamp Clock

synchronization

by software (PC clock)

sec

0.000000

1.100

356

1.200

362

2.300

362

2.400

356

3.500

353

3.600

362

PC

sec

0.000000

1.100

413

1.200

421

2.300

429

2.400

419

3.500

415

3.600

420

PC clock

CANalyzer/CANoe

USB

USB

5 Time Synchronization

Synchronization
by software

The software time synchronization is driver-based and available for all applications
without any restrictions. The time stamp deviations from different Vector network inter­faces are calculated and synchronized to the common PC clock. For this purpose no
further hardware setup is required.

Figure 23: Time stamps of devices are synchronized to the PC clock

The setting of the software time synchronization can be changed in the Vector Hard-

ware Config tool in General information | Settings | Software time syn­chronization.

Figure 24: Switching on the software synchronization

> YES

The software time synchronization is active.

> NO

The software time synchronization is not active. Use this setting only if the Vector
network interfaces are being synchronized over the sync line or if only a single
device is used.

VH6501 Manual Version 1.0 34

5.3 Hardware Sync

VN1630A

VN5610A

VN1640A

Multi
SYNCbox
external

VN1640A

USB PC

PC

VN7570

SYNCcable XL

SYNCcable XL

SYNCcable XL

SYNCcable XL

USB PC

Vector Devices

USB PC

USB PC

USB PC

VN5610A

VN8912A

Power

VN5610A

VN1640A

Multi

SYNCbox

external

VN1640A

USB VN8912A

USB PC

SYNCcable XL

SYNCcable XL

SYNCcable XL

SYNCcable XL

Power

Power

5 Time Synchronization

Synchronization
by hardware

A more accurate time synchronization of multiple devices is provided by the hardware
synchronization which has to be supported by the application (e.g. CANalyzer,
CANoe). Two Vector network interfaces can therefore be connected with the
SYNCcableXL (see accessories manual, part number 05018).

In order to synchronize up to five devices at the same time, a distribution box is avail­able (see accessories manual, part number 05085).

Figure 25: Example of a time synchronization with multipledevices

Figure 26: Example of a time synchronization with VN8912A and additional devices

At each falling edge on the sync line which is initiated by the application, the Vector
network interface generates a time stamp that is provided to the application. This

VH6501 Manual Version 1.0 35

5 Time Synchronization

CANalyzer/CANoe

CAN

FlexRay

Vector

CAN Interface

CH2

Time Stamp Clock

USB

Vector

FR Interface

CHB

Master Time Stamp Clock

synchronization

by hardware (SYNCcable)

sec

0.000000

1.10037

5

1.20038

1

2.30037

1

2.40040

5

3.50059

2

3.60024

1

CH1

CHA

sec

0.000000

1.100376

1.200382

2.300372

2.400406

3.500593

3.600242

PC

USB

allows the application to calculate the deviations between the network interfaces and
to synchronize the time stamps to a common time base (master clock) which is
defined by the application.

Figure 27: Time stamps are synchronized to the master clock

Note

The hardware synchronization must be supported by the application. For further
information please refer to the relevant application manual. Please note that the soft­ware synchronization must be disabled (see Vector Hardware Config | General
information | Settings | Software time synchronization) if the hardware syn­chronization is used.

VH6501 Manual Version 1.0 36

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