TraceKit

The open-source toolkit for reverse engineering ANY system from captured waveforms—analog or digital, simple or complex

TraceKit provides comprehensive signal analysis across analog and digital domains. Analyze audio amplifiers (THD, SNR), power supplies (ripple, efficiency), RF baseband, sensors, control systems, logic circuits, IoT protocols (UART, SPI, I2C, CAN + 16 more), and mixed-signal systems. Features include IEEE-compliant measurements (181, 1241, 1459, 2414), spectral analysis (FFT, PSD, wavelets), power analysis (AC/DC, efficiency), protocol decoding and reverse engineering (state machine inference, CRC recovery), and compliance validation (EMC, power quality).

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Why TraceKit?

Challenge	TraceKit Solution
Analyzing audio amplifier distortion	THD, SNR, SINAD with IEEE 1241 compliance
Characterizing power supply ripple	AC/DC power analysis, efficiency, ripple metrics
Unknown protocol on captured waveform	Protocol inference with automatic parameter detection
Analyzing proprietary bus protocols	State machine learning from captured traffic
Validating signal integrity	IEEE-compliant measurements (181, 1241, 2414)
Debugging embedded systems	16+ protocol decoders (UART, SPI, I2C, CAN, JTAG...)
EMC pre-compliance testing	CISPR/FCC limit mask testing with reports
RF baseband spectral analysis	FFT, PSD, spectrograms with windowing options

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Key Capabilities

Analog Signal Analysis

• Audio Analysis - THD, SNR, SINAD, ENOB, harmonic distortion (IEEE 1241-2010)
• Power Analysis - AC/DC power, efficiency, ripple, power factor (IEEE 1459), SOA testing
• RF/Spectral - FFT, PSD, spectrograms, wavelets, frequency-domain characterization
• Waveform Measurements - Rise/fall time, frequency, duty cycle, overshoot (IEEE 181-2011)

Digital Signal Analysis

• Protocol Decoders - UART, SPI, I2C, CAN, CAN-FD, 1-Wire, LIN, JTAG, SWD, I2S, USB, HDLC, Manchester, FlexRay
• Protocol Inference - CRC reverse engineering, L* active learning, state machine learning, field boundary detection
• Signal Integrity - Jitter decomposition, eye diagrams, S-parameter analysis, TDR (IEEE 2414-2020)

Automotive Protocols

• CAN Bus Reverse Engineering - Message discovery, signal extraction, DBC generation, checksum detection
• Automotive Decoders - OBD-II (54 PIDs), J1939 (154 PGNs), UDS (17 services), DTC database (210 codes)

Compliance & Validation

• EMC Compliance - CISPR/FCC/CE limit mask testing with automated reporting
• File Format Support - Tektronix WFM, Rigol, Sigrok, VCD, PCAP, TDMS, WAV, CSV, HDF5, Touchstone, BLF, ASC, MDF

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Quick Start

Installation

# Using pip
pip install tracekit

# From source
git clone https://github.com/lair-click-bats/tracekit.git
cd tracekit
pip install -e ".[dev]"

30-Second Example

import tracekit as tk

# Load waveform (auto-detects format)
trace = tk.load("capture.wfm")

# Make measurements
print(f"Rise time: {tk.rise_time(trace):.2e} s")
print(f"Frequency: {tk.frequency(trace):.2f} Hz")

# Decode protocol
uart = tk.decode_uart(trace, baudrate=115200)
for frame in uart:
    print(f"UART: {frame.data.hex()}")

→ See docs/getting-started.md for complete introduction

→ See examples/ for 50+ working code examples

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Documentation

For Users

• Getting Started - 5-minute introduction with examples
• User Guide - Comprehensive usage guide
• API Reference - Complete Python API documentation
• Tutorials - Step-by-step learning path
• Examples - 50+ working examples organized by category
• Guides - Task-focused how-to guides

For Developers

• CONTRIBUTING.md - Development workflow, PR process, commit format
• Testing Guide - Running and writing tests
• CLAUDE.md - AI context: how to work effectively in this repo
• CHANGELOG.md - Version history and release notes

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Core Features

Signal Analysis

IEEE-compliant measurements for characterization and validation. TraceKit implements standards IEEE 181-2011 (pulse), IEEE 1241-2010 (ADC), IEEE 2414-2020 (jitter).

→ See docs/api/analysis.md for full measurement API

Protocol Decoding

Decode embedded protocols directly from waveforms. Supports 16+ protocols including serial (UART, SPI, I2C), automotive (CAN, LIN, FlexRay), and debug (JTAG, SWD).

→ See docs/reference/protocol-decoders.md for protocol list

→ See examples/04_protocol_decoding/ for examples

Spectral Analysis

Frequency-domain analysis with IEEE 1241-2010 compliance. FFT, PSD, ADC quality metrics (SNR, THD, SINAD, ENOB, SFDR), time-frequency analysis.

→ See docs/tutorials/04-spectral-analysis.md

Signal Integrity

High-speed digital validation: jitter measurements (IEEE 2414-2020), eye diagrams, S-parameters, TDR, channel equalization.

→ See docs/guides/signal-integrity.md

Protocol Reverse Engineering

Analyze unknown protocols with:

• CRC Polynomial Reverse Engineering - Recover CRC parameters from samples
• L* Active Learning - Infer protocol state machines from traffic
• Field Boundary Detection - Automatically detect binary field boundaries
• Wireshark Dissector Export - Generate Wireshark dissectors from definitions

→ See CHANGELOG.md [Unreleased] section for latest features

→ See examples/05_export/ for Wireshark export examples

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File Formats

Format	Extensions	Description
Tektronix WFM	.wfm	Tektronix oscilloscopes
Rigol WFM	.wfm	Rigol oscilloscopes
Sigrok	.sr	Sigrok/PulseView captures
VCD	.vcd	Value Change Dump (digital)
PCAP	.pcap, .pcapng	Network packet captures
TDMS	.tdms	NI LabVIEW
Touchstone	.s1p, .s2p, etc.	S-parameter data
WAV	.wav	Audio waveforms
CSV	.csv	Generic time-series
HDF5	.h5, .hdf5	Scientific data
NumPy	.npz	NumPy arrays

→ See docs/guides/loading-waveforms.md for format details

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IEEE Standards Compliance

TraceKit implements measurements according to industry standards:

Standard	Domain	Measurements
IEEE 181-2011	Pulse measurements	Rise/fall time, slew rate
IEEE 1057-2017	Digitizer characterization	Timing analysis
IEEE 1241-2010	ADC testing	SNR, SINAD, ENOB, THD, SFDR
IEEE 2414-2020	Jitter measurements	TIE, period jitter, RJ/DJ
IEEE 1459	Power measurements	Power quality analysis
IEC 61000-4-7	Power quality	Harmonics analysis

→ See docs/reference/standards-compliance.md

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Development

Quick Start

# Install with development dependencies
pip install -e ".[dev]"

# Run tests
pytest tests/unit -v

# Quality checks
ruff check src/ tests/
ruff format src/ tests/
mypy src/

→ See CONTRIBUTING.md for complete development guide

→ See docs/testing/index.md for testing strategy

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Project Structure

tracekit/
├── src/tracekit/       # Source code
│   ├── loaders/        # File format parsers
│   ├── analyzers/      # Signal analysis (waveform, digital, spectral, jitter, protocols)
│   ├── inference/      # Protocol reverse engineering
│   ├── export/         # Wireshark dissectors, data export
│   └── reporting/      # Report generation
├── tests/              # Test suite (17,000+ tests)
│   ├── unit/           # Unit tests
│   ├── integration/    # Integration tests
│   └── compliance/     # Standards compliance tests
├── docs/               # Documentation
├── examples/           # 50+ working code examples
└── scripts/            # Development utilities

→ See docs/index.md for documentation structure

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Links

• Documentation: docs/index.md
• Repository: github.com/lair-click-bats/tracekit
• Issues: github.com/lair-click-bats/tracekit/issues
• Changelog: CHANGELOG.md
• Contributing: CONTRIBUTING.md
• License: MIT

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Citation

If you use TraceKit in your research, please cite:

@software{tracekit2026,
  title = {TraceKit: Analog and Digital Signal Reverse Engineering Toolkit},
  author = {TraceKit Contributors},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://github.com/lair-click-bats/tracekit}
}