Oscilloscope Capabilities

and Demonstration
April 2004
Trace Hitt
Account Manager
Tektronix, Inc.

Oscilloscopes
Why Do We Need Them?
To Verify:
Measure and Control Known Operation
Calibrate
Characterize
Analyze
To Troubleshoot:
Find Unknown Operation
Search for a Problem or Defect
Test for Limits
Observe New Phenomena Through Research

How Can They Give Us

Incorrect Information?
By:
Not showing waveshape information that really
exists - when detail of interest occurs during holdoff,
between samples, or is too fast for the writing speed
of the oscilloscope to display
Showing waveshape information that does not exist

- such as aliasing, aberrations or distortion

Evaluate Your Needs

The key to any good oscilloscope

system is its ability to accurately
reproduce your waveform.

Agenda
Bandwidth and Rise Time
Acquisition and Display Modes
Sampling and Digitizing
Aliasing, Sample Rate and Interpolation
Waveform Capture Rate
Triggering Modes
DPO

Select the Right Bandwidth

0 dB
6 div at 50 kHz

- 3 dB
4.2 div at 100 MHz

Bandwidth is sine wave frequency

where amplitude is down 30% or 3dB.
Bandwidth x Risetime = 0.35*
i.e. 100 MHz Bandwidth will have 3.5 nsec Rise Time
When system bandwidth increases, system rise time
decreases.
* This constant is based
on a one pole model. For higher

bandwidth instruments, this constant can range as high as 0.45.

Rise Time of Step Waveform

100%
90%

10%
0%

Rise Time of Waveform, tr

Bandwidth and Amplitude Accuracy

0.1

0.2

0.3

0.4

0.5

} 3%
Sine Wave
Amplitude

Sine Wave Frequency

0.6 0.7 0.8 0.9 1.0

100%
97.5
95
92.5
90
87.5
85
82.5
80
77.5
75
72.5
70.7 (- 3 dB)

0.35*

BW =
At the 3dB bandwidth frequency, the vertical amplitude error
trise
will be approximately 30%.
Vertical amplitude error specification is typically 3% maximum
for the oscilloscope.
When you depend on the specified maximum vertical amplitude error, divide the
specified bandwidth by 3 to 5 as a rule of thumb, unless otherwise stated.

Measurement System
Bandwidth Requirements
Calculated
Signal
Bandwidth

= 0.35*
trise

Measurement
Bandwidth
for 3%
Rolloff
Error

Measurement
Bandwidth
For 1.5%
Rolloff
Error

Device
Under
Test

Typical
Signal
Rise Times

Analog Video,
ElectroMechanical

5 - 20 ns

17.5 - 70
MHz

58 233
MHz

87.5 - 350 MHz

TTL,
Digital TV

2 ns

175 MHz

580 MHz

875 MHz

CMOS

500 ps

700 MHz

2.33 GHz

3.5 GHz

HDTV,
LV CMOS

200 ps

1.75 GHz

5.8 GHz

8.75 GHz

trise (displayed) =

(trise (scope + probe) )2 + (trise (source) )2

Choose the Right Voltage Probe

For the Application
Type

Bandwidth

Rise Time

Input C

Input R

1X Passive
Probe

15 MHz

23 ns

100 pF

1M

10X Passive
Probe

100 MHz 500 MHz

3.5 ns 700 ps

13 pF 8 pF

10 M

Z0 Passive
Probe

3 GHz 9 GHz

120 ps 40 ps

1 pF 0.15 pF

500

Active Probe

500 MHz 6 GHz

700 ps 80 ps

2 pF 0.4 pF

1M20 k

Vertical Position
Moves the Volts/Div Reference Point On Screen
Is Expressed In Divisions

Ref at
+4 Divs

Ref at
-4 Divs
Possible
Display Screens

Vertical Offset
Changes the Volts/Div Reference From 0 to Some

Other Voltage
Is Expressed In Volts

+5 Volts

100 mV/Div

What About Horizontal Time Resolution?

Two criteria are affected when improving resolution

(decreasing time) between samples for a given time

window.
You need ...
More Sample Rate (Speed) for less time between
acquisition samples.
More record length (Memory), or total number of
acquisition points.

DSO Acquisition Modes

Can Help Isolate Signal Details
Sample

When time per division is increased for a given displayed

record length, displayed sample rate is decreased.

Peak Detect

Detects peaks between displayed samples.

Envelope
Accumulates peaks over multiple acquisitions.
High Resolution
Box car averages between displayed samples.
Average
Averages (normal or weighted) over multiple acquisitions.

Digital Peak Detect Can Discover

Glitches Between Displayed Samples
Glitch
Displayed Samples

Screen
Trace

Glitch falls between

sample points and
would be missed in
sample mode.
Max

Glitch

Min

Screen
Max
Trace
Max
Min

Max

Displayed Samples

Max
Min

More samples taken

for peak detect.

Min

Min

Additional samples taken, min/max displayed,

glitch captured in peak detect mode.

Envelope Mode Can Accumulate Noise

Average Mode Can Filter Out Noise

First Trace

Envelope Mode
Shows Maximum
Noise

Second Trace

Average Mode
Reduces Noise

Hi-Res Mode Is a Low Pass Filter That

Improves Resolution for Each Acquisition
As time/division is increased, better vertical amplitude resolution
and noise removal can occur for a single triggered acquisition, at
lower bandwidth. Used for High Resolution Acquisition Mode.
Actual
Signal

Averaged
Display
Points

Time Between
Actual Samples

Digitized Samples to be Averaged For the Next Display Point

Digital Storage Oscilloscope Display Modes

Can Help to Better See the Waveform
Dots

Replaces old acquired and displayed dots with

new ones.

Vectors

Joins the acquisition dots in time with straight lines.

Persistence or Accumulate
Holds acquired and displayed dots for a defined
amount of time. Infinite persistence holds acquired and
displayed dots until erased.

Dot Mode Displays

Can Be Hard To Interpret

Vector Mode, or Linear Interpolation

Can Help To See The Real Signal

Sampling and Digitizing

What Happens To The Samples?
Record Length Is Equal To
The Total Number of Acquisition Points
Signal

Sampling

Digitizing

10111001

(Sample,
Hold)

Memory
Storage
1
0
1
10111001
1
1
0
0
1

(Convert to
Number)

Acquisition Time Window =

Record Length
Sample Rate

1
1
1
1
0
1
0
1

0
0
1
. . . . . 1
0
1
1
0

(Sequence
Store)
Scope
Screen

Real Time Digitizing (RTD) Acquires a

Complete Waveform With One Trigger
Samples Single-shot Events in Real Time
With Samples Equally Spaced in Time
With Selectable Pre/Post Trigger

Pre-trigger

Post-trigger
Trigger

Equivalent Time Digitizing (ETD)

Acquires a Waveform Over Many Triggers
Uses repetitive sampling to

reconstruct the shape of a high

frequency repeating waveform over
many triggered acquisition cycles
Allows bandwidth to increase to the

DSOs analog bandwidth

Random Equivalent Time Digitizing

Digitized samples are accumulated randomly before and after
each trigger point. Time must be measured from the trigger point
to the next sample in order to correctly place the digitized
samples in the display memory.
T1

S1

S2

S3

Random Equivalent Time Digitizing

Digitized samples are accumulated randomly before and after
each trigger point. Time must be measured from the trigger point
to the next sample in order to correctly place the digitized
samples in the display memory.
T1

S1

S2

T2

S3

S4

S5

S6

Random Equivalent Time Digitizing

Digitized samples are accumulated randomly before and after
each trigger point. Time must be measured from the trigger point
to the next sample in order to correctly place the digitized
samples in the display memory.
T1

S1

S2

T2

S3

S4

S5

T3

S6

S7

S8

S9

Random Equivalent Time Digitizing

Digitized samples are accumulated randomly before and after
each trigger point. Time must be measured from the trigger point
to the next sample in order to correctly place the digitized
samples in the display memory.
T1

S1

S2

T2

S3

S4

S5

T3

S6

S7

S8

S9

TN

Multiple samples per trigger

provide faster update rate.
Pre/post trigger capability is
preserved.

S(T1)

S(TN)

Sequential Equivalent Time Digitizing

Digitized samples are accumulated in time sequence after each
trigger point with one sample per trigger.
T1

S1

Sequential Equivalent Time Digitizing

Digitized samples are accumulated in time sequence after each
trigger point with one sample per trigger.
T1

S1

T2

S2

Sequential Equivalent Time Digitizing

Digitized samples are accumulated in time sequence after each
trigger point with one sample per trigger.
T1

S1

T2

S2

T3

S3

Sequential Equivalent Time Digitizing

Digitized samples are accumulated in time sequence after each
trigger point with one sample per trigger.
T1

S1

T2

T3

S2

S3
TN

No Pre-trigger

S1

SN

What Happens When Too Few Samples

Are Acquired?

Aliasing
or
False Waveform
Reproduction

Single Event Bandwidth

Must Have Enough Sample Points to Reconstruct

Waveform
Is Determined By the DSOs Analog Bandwidth,
Maximum Sample Rate, and Method of Waveform
Reconstruction

Amplitude

Time

Actual Aliasing
Will Display False Waveform Reproduction
Caused by Under Sampling the Signal
Cannot be Corrected With Digital Signal Processing Because
the Maximum Sinewave Frequency In the Waveform Is More
Than Half of the Digitized Sample Rate

Reproduces the Waveform Shape at a Lower Frequency

Nyquist Theory Violated

Slow Sample Rate

Can Miss Important Signal Details
Slower sample rate means more time between samples.

Slow Sample Rate

Misses High Speed Details

Fast Sample Rate

and/or Peak Detect Mode
Captures High Speed Details

Perceptual Aliasing
Can Exist When Nyquist Theory Is Satisfied
The Eye
Cannot
Interpret or
Connect Dots
in the Proper
Sequence
Improved by
Connecting
the Dots

Perceptual Aliasing
Can Be Reduced With Interpolation
The Eye
Cannot
Interpret or
Connect Dots
in the Proper
Sequence

Sine Interpolation
Improved by
Connecting
the Dots

Linear Interpolation

More Waveform Capture Rate

Displays More Details of Complex Signals
Analog Real-Time

Digital Storage

DPO

More Waveform Capture Rate

Will Capture More Waveform Anomalies
On a Repeating Signal

Waveform Capture Rate

For Different Oscilloscopes
Waveform Capture Rate
(Waveforms/Second)
1000000

Analog Real Time

2467B with
Micro Channel Plate
Up To 500,000 Waveforms/Sec

100000

TDS7000 with DPX

Enhanced DPO Acquisition
>400,000 Waveforms/Sec

10000
1000

TDS1000/TDS2000
>180 Waveforms/Sec

TDS3000B with DPO

Acquisition >3500 Waveforms/Sec

100

Typical DSO
<100 Waveforms/Sec

10
1
0.1

5 ms/div

Sweep Speed (Log Scale)

500 ps/div

Typical DSO Acquisition Misses

Infrequent Waveform Information

Fast Waveform Capture Rate

Captures Infrequent Waveform Anomalies

Triggering System Controls

Allow for Isolating the Signal of Interest
Signal

Vertical
System

Display
System

Internal
Triggers

External
Trigger
Source

(Channel, Line)

Coupling

(AC/DC, HF/LF Rej)

Trigger
System

Horizontal
System

Level (P-P Auto, Norm)

Slope
Mode (Auto, TV, Single Sweep, Glitch,

Width, Runt, Slew Rate, Setup/Hold, Logic)

Holdoff

Advanced Triggering Allows for

Acquiring Specific Signal Details
Pulse (Width, Glitch, Runt, Slew Rate, Setup/Hold)
Logic (And, Or, Nand, Nor)

Timing (Four Channels)

State (Three Channels + One Clock)
TV/Video
Field Selection
Line Counting

Pulse Width Triggering

Accept only (or reject only) those triggers defined by
pulse widths that are between two defined time limits,
with +/- polarity selected.
(+)

T1
Time

T2
(-)

Accept Only is the same as Within Limits or Equal To +/- 5%

Reject Only is the same as Outside Limits or Not Equal To +/- 5%

Pulse Glitch Triggering

Accept only (or reject only) those triggers defined by
pulse widths that are below a defined time limit,
with +/-/either polarity selected.
(+)
Time

(Either)
(-)

Accept Only is the same as Less Than the defined time

Reject Onlyis the same as More Than the defined time

Pulse Runt Triggering

Accept only those triggers defined by pulses that enter
and exit between two defined amplitude thresholds,
with +/-/either polarity selected.
(+)
Time

(Either)
(-)

Slew Rate Triggering

Trigger if the time interval from the low-to-high
and/or high-to-low thresholds is slower (larger) than,
or faster (smaller) than a specified time,
with +/-/either polarity selected.
High
Threshold

+ Polarity
Low-to-High
Time Interval

- Polarity
High-to-Low
Time Interval

Time
Low
Threshold

Trigger If
Slower Than
Trigger If Faster Than

Trigger If
Slower Than
Trigger If Faster Than

Setup/Hold Triggering
Trigger if a + or - data edge (transition) occurs within
the defined setup and hold time window of the
positive (or negative, if selected) clock edge.
Clock Source
(Any Channel)

Time

Trigger
Reference

Clock
Level
Hold Time Violation

Data Source
(Any Channel)

Data
Level
Setup Time Violation

Setup Time

Trigger
Reference

Hold Time

A Breakthrough Solution
The Digital Phosphor Oscilloscope
Digital Phosphor Oscilloscope

An instrument that digitizes electrical signals and

displays, stores, and analyzes three dimensions of
signal information in real time.

Digital
Phosphor

DPO

Amp

A/D

Acquisition
Rasterizer

DPX
Waveform Imaging
Processor
Display
Memory

Display

uP

Parallel
Processing

DPO Is Not A Persistence Mode

Analog

DSO Persistence

DPO

DPOs provide intensity grading, in real-time, as part of the

acquisition system

Limited only by acquisition (trigger) rate

Provides intensity graded display information on dynamic signals
Captures dynamic signal variations, in real-time, enabling the user

to see actual signal behavior

Allows vector waveforms
Rapidly builds a statistical representation of actual signal behavior

DPO Helps to Solve

Todays Measurement Challenges
Dynamic-Complex Signals

Example: Composite Video

Need: Accurate representation of dynamic-complex signal
Challenges: Make measurement on:
Multiple modulation types
Multiple periods
Highly dynamic signals
Detailed signal information over
long time intervals
Distribution of occurrence
information

DPO Helps to Solve

Todays Measurement Challenges
Infrequent Event Capture

Example: Metastable event in high speed logic

Need: Detection and analysis of rare signal events
Challenges: Find and analyze infrequent faulty digital
signals that have:
Low frequency of occurrence
Potentially non-repetitive
characteristics
Vastly different durations
from the primary signal
Highly dynamic characteristics
Unknown characteristics

DPO Helps to Solve

Todays Measurement Challenges
Edge Jitter Evaluation

Example: High speed optical communications links

Need: Understanding of signal edge timing characteristics
Challengers: Analyze optical communications signals that
have:
Highly dynamic characteristics
Distribution of occurrence
information
Critical timing issues
Behaviors that require rapid
statistical characterization

DPO Helps to Solve

Todays Measurement Challenges
Long-Time Interval Capture

Example: Hard disk drive read channel

Need: Detecting subtle patterns of signal behavior over
long time intervals
Challenges: Find and characterize disk drive signal faults
and variations that have:
Rapid signal variations within
long time window
Multiple time windows
Distribution of occurrence
information

DPO Helps to Solve

Todays Measurement Challenges
Complex Modulation

Example: Digital Cellular (Constellation Diagram)

Need: Detect phase and offset of I and Q signals
Challenges: Analyze and characterize digital cellular inphase (I) and quadrature (Q) signal details that have:
Highly dynamic characteristics
Qualitative and quantitative
information
Distribution of occurrence
information
Dual axis bandwidth
characteristics

Evaluate Your Needs

Choose
the
Right Oscilloscope

Advantages of
Digital Storage
Allows Up to 7 GHz Bandwidth Acquisitions for

Single-shot Events
Finds Glitches with Peak Detect/Envelope
Finds Anomalies with DPX Enhanced DPO
Acquisition
Acquires Waveforms Before the Trigger
Allows High Resolution Single-shot Averaging
Makes Accurate Timing Measurements
Provides Highest Bandwidth with Equivalent Time
Digitizing
Enables Digital Signal Processing
Allows a Color Display

Advantages of
Digital Phosphor Oscilloscope (DPO)
Simulates the Characteristics of an Analog Real

Time Oscilloscopes Fast Waveform Capture Rate

and Intensity Graded Display
Provides Intensity and/or Color Graded Display
Showing Distribution of Amplitude Over Time, All In
Real Time
Integrates An Image Over Many Real Time Traces of
the Signal

Advanced Triggering
Can Provide:
Pulse Characteristic Selection

Width, Glitch, Runt, Slew Rate, Setup/Hold

Logic Condition Qualification
Filtering
HF/LF/Noise Reject
TV/Video Triggering

Remember Probing and

Vertical Amplifier Issues
Such as:
Loading Effects
Differential Measurements
Current Sensing
High Voltage Breakdown
Transducer Characteristics
Vertical Range and Linearity
Vertical Sensitivity
SMT Connection

For Ease of Use and Productivity

Consider:
Human Interface Issues
Auto Set
Limit Testing
Cursors/Readout
Store/Recall Settings/Waveforms
Floppy Disk Storage
Color Displays
Programmability
Printer/Plotter/Computer Interfaces
Accessories

Thank You
For Your Attendance

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