Ocean Optics NeoFox Engineering Note - Manual (Page 2)

NeoFox Communication Interfaces
2 013-20000-010-04-201211
Architecture Overview
Variables and Parameters
All communication with the NeoFox centers upon either reading or setting variables on the hardware device. For
instance, a developer may want to set the number of scans to average parameter or read the current sensor
temperature value. In either case, there is a specific variable in the system’s memory which should be set or
read. This document includes reference information for all public variables and also describes the various
methods with which to interact with these variables.
Communication Architecture
The diagram below illustrates the various layers involved in NeoFox’s communication stack. Developers may
want to interact with the device at any level. This document will provide enough information to do so by
documenting the DLL interface and the serial interface. The two other interfaces – the driver interface and the
hardware interface can be inferred through knowledge of the serial interface and developer information from
FTDI.
NeoFox Viewer
NeoFox DLL
USB Driver
UART-USB Bridge
Software
Hardware
Microprocessor
The NeoFox Viewer is a graphical user interface that
allows end users to interact with the NeoFox
The NeoFox DLL accepts high level function calls from
applications and abstracts the lower level drivers from
programmers.
The USB driver is provided by FTDI - the manufacturer of
the UART-USB Bridge chip. It accepts function calls from
the DLL and sends USB commands to the hardware.
The UART-USB bridge chip accepts USB commands from
a host computer and communicates with the microprocessor
through a UART.
The microprocessor communicates via a serial
communications interface through its UART. It does not
natively handle USB communications.
DLL Interface
Driver Interface
Hardware Interface
Serial Interface