System and method for providing diagnostic information

A method for providing diagnostic information in a data processing system, the method comprising:

• sampling baseband signals in time domain;
• converting the baseband signals to digitized signals;
• storing the digitized signals in a system memory;
• converting the digitized signals to processed signals in frequency domain using a fast Fourier transform;
• providing the processed signals to a system memory via a system bus;
• capturing the processed signals from the system bus;
• compressing the processed signals to generate compressed signals;
• packing the compressed signals to generate packed signals;
• and
• generating a diagnostic message from the packed signals, the diagnostic message having a packing structure with a data payload extended beyond a data payload defined by a diagnostic standard, the extended data payload being preceded by a single header.

A data processing system comprising:

• a system bus;
• an analog-to-digital converter having an input for sampling a baseband signal, and an output coupled to the system bus for providing a digitized signal representative of the baseband signal;
• a signal processing block coupled to the system bus for converting the digitized signal to a processed signal in the frequency domain;
• a first memory, coupled to the system bus, for storing the processed signal;
• a compression unit, coupled to the system bus, for capturing the processed signal and compressing the processed signal to produce a compressed signal;
• a packing unit, coupled to the compression unit, for packing the compressed signal to produce a packed signal;
• and
• a debug unit, coupled to the packing unit, for converting the packed signal to a diagnostic message having a packing structure with a data payload extended beyond a data payload defined by a diagnostic standard, the extended data payload being preceded by a single header.