Skip to content

What's in Evaluation Studio 1.0

Evaluation Studio 1.0 is the first general release of Analog Devices' new evaluation software platform, and the successor to ACE. This is a Day 1 release, so rather than list individual changes, these notes describe what the product does and what you get when you install it. Full details of features available in the User Guide.

About these notes

From 1.1 onward, release notes follow the standard format:

  • New features — capabilities that did not exist in the previous release
  • Improvements — changes to existing behaviour, performance, or usability
  • Bug fixes — defects resolved since the previous release
  • Known issues — problems we are aware of, with workarounds where they exist

Notes for earlier releases are reachable from the version selector at the top of the page.

Plug-ins are versioned and released independently of the application. Changes to an individual product plug-in are described in that plug-in's own release notes, not here.

At a glance

  • A modern replacement for ACE — rebuilt from the ground up around a faster, cleaner interface and a plug-in model that lets ADI ship support for new products without shipping a new application. Evaluation Studio is built using ADI's Harmonic Design System for its user interface and will be accessible cross-platform on all Desktop operating systems.
  • Everything in one place — hardware discovery, register access, data capture, analysis, and export in a single window, with multiple boards open side by side. Evaluation Studio offers a more flexible modern base for future development and new features to enable more ADI hardware across the platform than its predecessor.
  • Built for automation — every action in the application is also available to scripts, a REST API, and AI assistants, so a workflow you click through once can be repeated without you.
  • Sessions you can save and share — capture your whole setup to a file and restore it later, on your bench or someone else's.

Hardware and connection

Evaluation Studio finds your hardware for you and gets out of the way.

  • Automatic detection. Connected evaluation boards and controllers appear on the Home screen as cards showing connection status. A refresh button rescans at any time. For supported hardware technology Evaluation Studio will automatically detect and prompt an install for the required software enabling a truly plug-and-play experience when connecting new devices.
  • Multiple boards at once. Each open board gets its own tab. Switch between them freely without losing configuration.
  • Virtual hardware. Many plug-ins provide a virtual device, so you can explore a product's interface, learn the workflow, or build a script before the board arrives.
  • Guided setup. If a board needs a plug-in you don't have, Evaluation Studio tells you which one and offers to install it.

Plug-ins: support for your product

Product support is delivered as plug-ins, which means new parts and updates reach you without waiting for a new release of the application.

  • Built-in Plug-in Manager. Browse, search, filter, and sort available plug-ins, then install, update, or remove them — individually or several at a time — without leaving the application or running a separate installer.
  • Updates when you want them. Available updates are flagged on the Updates tab, and you choose when to apply them.
  • Your own repositories. Add, edit, and remove plug-in sources in Settings, with a live indicator showing whether each one is reachable. Pre-release plug-ins are hidden by default and are not always going to be available, however when necessary early product plug-in versions can now be made accessible in-app at the discretion of the software owner, don't be surprised if there are no pre-release options available, these releases aim to be infrequent and for a limited time only.
  • Offline and restricted benches. Export a plug-in and everything it depends on to a single .evalzip bundle, carry it to a machine with no network access, and import it there — double-clicking the file opens it directly in Evaluation Studio. Visit the Evaluation Studio website to find a full list of offline plug-ins available for download.

See Plug-in Management.

Device configuration and register access

  • Memory Map view. Browse register maps, registers, and bitfields in one tree, with address, access rights, bit ranges, and values shown together. Values display in hex or decimal.
  • Read and write with intent. Act on a single selection or the entire map, and reset everything back to device defaults in one click.
  • Register Editor. Open any register for a closer look: toggle individual bits in a binary editor, or set bitfields through the switches and drop-downs defined by the device, each with its description and bit range.
  • Save and reuse configurations. Export a register map to CSV and import it later to put a device back into a known state.

See Memory Map.

Data capture and analysis

  • Single or continuous capture. Take a one-off measurement, or stream continuously and watch the effect of parameter changes as you make them.
  • Three analysis views, built in.
    • FFT
    • Histogram
    • Waveform
  • Multi-channel by default. Overlay channels on one chart or toggle them individually, and zoom, pan, and reset the view as you explore.
  • See more at once. Split the analysis area into one, two, three, or four views to compare analysis types side by side, or pop a chart out into its own window.
  • Take the data with you. Download raw captured data and analysis results as CSV for further work in your own tools.
  • Connect an LLM of your choice to take advantage of AI assistants to help you interpret the results, or to automate the capture and analysis process.

See Analysis and Standard Analyzers.

Saving your session

  • Workspaces. Save the state of your bench — the systems you had open, the hardware they were bound to, the plug-ins in use, and the configuration of every device — to a single workspace file.
  • Pick up where you left off. Reopening a workspace re-establishes hardware connections, installs any plug-ins that are missing, and restores your settings.
  • Portable between benches. If the original hardware isn't present — a different unit is plugged in, or you've opened the file on another machine — Evaluation Studio asks you to map each system to available hardware rather than failing.

See Workspaces.

Automation and scripting

Everything you can do in the interface is available programmatically, through the same underlying operations the buttons use.

  • Python SDK. A typed Python client with editor autocompletion for hardware control, device configuration, capture, and analysis — suitable for automated test sequences and characterisation sweeps.
  • REST API. A documented HTTP interface with an OpenAPI specification, usable from any language or from PowerShell. Disabled by default; enable it in Settings when you need it.
  • AI assistants. Evaluation Studio ships an MCP server, so assistants such as Claude, GitHub Copilot, and Cursor can drive the application: launch it, open hardware, run captures, and read results. Settings generates a ready-to-paste configuration for your client of choice — no manual setup.
  • Extended by plug-ins. Product plug-ins add their own operations, which appear automatically across all three surfaces.

See Scripting and Connect an AI Assistant.

Diagnostics and troubleshooting

  • Log view. A live feed of information, warnings, and errors, filterable by type, with one-click access to the underlying log file and its folder. A new log is written for every session. This view is under review and will be improved in future releases, but it is already useful for troubleshooting and reporting issues so please be sure to include logs and summaries when requesting support.
  • Transaction Recorder. Record a sequence of operations as you perform them, review each one with its parameters, timings, and outcome, then export the sequence to a file — and import and replay it later. Useful for reproducing an issue, sharing a procedure, or turning a manual workflow into a repeatable one.

See Logs and Recording.

Installation, settings, and privacy

  • Single guided installer. One wizard installs the application, the drivers you select (including libiio and Apollo dongle drivers), and a starting set of plug-ins — no separate downloads or manual driver hunting. Typical installation takes under a minute.
  • You choose where things go. Set the application and plug-in install locations during setup, and change the plug-in path and user data path later in Settings.
  • Light and dark themes, switchable at any time and remembered between sessions.
  • Privacy by default. Evaluation Studio can send anonymous usage and diagnostic data to help us improve the product. It asks you once, on first launch, and collects nothing unless you opt in. You can change your decision at any time in Settings.

See Setup, Settings, and Update Evaluation Studio.

Moving from ACE

If you're coming from ACE, the core concepts carry over and should feel familiar — boards, register maps, captures, analysis — but the experience differs in a few ways worth knowing and the future of the product is now focused on Evaluation Studio. The table below highlights some of the differences between ACE and Evaluation Studio 1.0:

ACE Evaluation Studio 1.0
Product support Bundled with the application Installed on demand from the built-in Plug-in Manager
Automation Limited scripting Python SDK, REST API, and AI assistant support
Sessions Manual reconfiguration Workspaces save and restore your entire setup with room for expanded feature sets
Installation Separate installers and drivers One installer covering application, drivers, and plug-ins
Cross Platform N/A Built on a cross-platform framework, Windows first with Linux & MacOS support coming
Harmonic Design N/A Built to meet the evolving design and user experience needs as defined for all emerging ADI products

IMPORTANT NOTE:

Existing ACE plug-ins do not run in Evaluation Studio. ADI is migrating product support across on a case-by-case basis; if you don't see your part yet, check the Plug-in Manager after each release or contact your ADI representative to put in a software request for review.

Some products will remain on ACE for the foreseeable future, and some will be supported in both ACE and Evaluation Studio for a time. The goal is to have all new product support delivered through Evaluation Studio over time. ACE will continue to support existing products but new product development on the tool will start to reduce and eventually migrate completely to Evaluation Studio.

Please reach out to your ADI representative for more information on the future of ACE and Evaluation Studio support for your products if you have any further questions.

Known limitations in 1.0

  • Windows is the only supported OS. The application is built on cross-platform technology and macOS and Linux support is planned, but the 1.0 installer targets Windows.
  • Plug-in availability varies. Product support is being migrated from ACE progressively. Availability for a given part is shown in the Plug-in Manager. New product releases are already on the horizon and will start to release in the platform in the coming months, so please check back regularly for new plug-ins.
  • The REST API and AI assistant integration are off by default. Both are local-only and must be enabled in Settings before use.
  • First launch is slower than subsequent ones — resources are cached after first run to help improve product and plug-in load times.

Getting started

  1. Set up Evaluation Studio
  2. Run your first evaluation session
  3. Find your way around

Getting help

  • Report an Issue — how to get problems to us
  • Contact your ADI representative or the Evaluation Studio team for anything not covered above. Attaching the log file from the Logs view helps us help you faster.

Thank you for using Evaluation Studio! We look forward to your feedback and suggestions as we continue to improve the product.