User guide

7. Network Analyzer
The Simplicity Network Analyzer enables debugging of complex wireless systems. This tool captures a trace of wireless network activity
that can be examined in detail live or at a later time.
Figure 7.1. Simplicity Network Analyzer
The Simplicity Network Analyzer incorporates all the features of Silicon Labs’ Ember Desktop software. More than simply a packet sniff-
er,
the Network Analyzer works with the data sniffer interface on the Silicon Labs wireless chips to provide direct feedback from the
baseband radio of each device, allowing any supported radio to report detailed packet transmission and reception data, such as time-
stamps, link quality (or LQI), receive sensitivity (or RSSI), and CRC pass/fail results, all without any software overhead.
With Simplicity Studio, any PTI-enabled Silicon Labs platform can record the radio activity regardless of the application firmware that is
being used, so there’s no need to have a dedicated sniffer device installed to catch the traffic. The Network Analyzer also enables cap-
ture from multiple sources simultaneously into the same log file without falsely duplicating packets. This enables the developer to com-
pare how well different radios in the network heard the same transmission.
In cases when detail is not desired, Network Analyzer makes it easier to understand the workings of a complex wireless protocol. Rela-
ted packet events are automatically grouped into a [Transactions] pane within the capture view, allowing for quicker parsing of what’s
happening during that portion of the traffic log. Quickly access statistics like total duration, number of related packets, number of point-
to-point and end-to-end retries, and unexpected conditions like requests with missing responses or deliveries where expected acknowl-
edgments are missing.
7.1 Filtering Events and Data
Filters can be applied to live or pre-captured traffic and can be entered via the [Expression Builder] by selecting one of the suggested
filters in the context menu of the [Transactions] or [Events] pane or by manually entering or editing text in the [Filter Bar].
Filters can be chained together using regular expressions to produce more specific results. Filters can also double as search criteria
with the rest of the surrounding events for context.
When the developer finds an item of interest, add a bookmark for future reference. This is great for annotating captures during debug-
ging or collaborating with other users.
AN0822: Simplicity Studio™ User Guide
Network Analyzer
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