There are several steps. It's not hard, but it is a little tedious. We promise that it is worth the effort. Timing Designer is a wonderful tool. We have the full version of this product and have been using it for several years. It's not cheap, but it is well worth it if you do complex timing diagrams even a few times a year. In our experience, it's the best way to verify complex system timing.

These steps have been updated 2003 May 07, but since web sites are constantly changing, the details may vary by the time you read this. If you can't figure out where to get the files, please email Forte first (it's their product, and you are a potential customer) and if that still leaves questions, then contact us.

Get the Forte Timing Designer Pro demo online at http://www.timingdesigner.com/timingdesigner.asp -- click on the "download" link in the upper left of the page, and you will be asked to register first. Do this, then once you receive your link via email, click on it. This will take you to the 'Confirm Email Address" page. You won't have a password (and you don't need one) so do not try to "sign in" on this page. Instead, click "Timing Designer" from the list of products along the top edge of the page. Then on the new Timing Designer page, click "Downloads", accept the license agreement and then - finally - select the version of Timing Designer (Linux, Solaris, Windows, etc) which you want. It's about a 13 MByte download. You will be using it in 'unlicensed mode'. When TimingDesigner is run without a license, it runs in demonstration (TimingViewer) mode, with the Save and Undo features disabled. You can still use the tool and calculate HSIO timing waveforms for which we have created templates (we have the full licensed version of Timing Designer). Now click on the file you downloaded and run the installer. Now start the program. It wil ask you for a license file, but you don't have one so click 'cancel', then 'OK' to use TimingViewer in read-only mode.

Download this PDF file which documents HSIO bus timing and tells you how to obtain and use the interactive bus timing calculator, Forte Timing Designer Pro. It will draw accurate timing diagrams on your PC screen, given your inputs about how you will use the bus. If you follow the instructions in the PDF file and get the reader/aclculator for the timing diagrams, then you will want to download these pre-made HSIO Timing Data Files to use with the Timing Designer. Follow the Timing Designer installation instructions below.

Now you can load one of the *.td diagram files included in the Data Files link above. The file JStik_HS_IO_Timing.td includes read and write timing. You need to see the Parameter Window to adjust the timing, so on the taskbar click on Window->Parameter Window. Timing Designer doesn't let us 'protect' cells, so you need to be careful to only enter data in the correct cells. Refer to the PDF document for the names of the cells which are OK for you to modify. These are the cells located below labels "USER_INPUTX". Here's a screen capture with the entry cells outlined in red. Changes you make to the parameter cells instantly take effect in the timing diagram.

If you double-click on the diagram of a timing signal you can see the min and max edges in the attributes popup box.

More detail on this to come soon. Please post any questions to the JStik user group.