Application of Digital Oscilloscope in University Laboratories

The digital oscilloscope is a commonly used electronic measuring instrument, which has certain applications in many industries. Among them, the digital oscilloscope is an indispensable experimental equipment in the electronic laboratories of colleges and universities, and it provides great help for experiments in measurement and analysis. Today, I will introduce the application of digital oscilloscopes in college laboratories in detail, hoping to help everyone.

Although we have entered the digital information age, we still live in a continuously changing analog world. The rapid development of digital technology has not hindered the advancement of analog products. Analog products are actively adding digital processing functions, and mixed-signal devices that combine digital and analog technologies will become the next major development direction.

In our university laboratories, digital products cannot be separated from analog products. Various new applications have put forward new requirements for analog products, and also affect the development direction of analog products. Take the current hot 3G mobile phone as an example. In fact, the digital algorithm problem has been solved long ago, but the power standby time, sound effect, backlight, etc. cannot meet the needs of users, and these all belong to the scope of analog technology.

In addition, signal transmission is a very important technical link in modern engineering. Usually, multi-core cables are used to transmit analog signals and digital signals independently in multiple lines. However, in signal transmission, digital signals will interfere with analog signals. The current solution is to design a system that uses a single-chip microcomputer to achieve mixed transmission of analog and digital signals in a single line. The testing and debugging of this requires the oscilloscope to be able to analyze and display digital and analog signals at the same time.

Experiments related to digital and analog mixed signals are becoming more and more common in university laboratories. Using a DS1000 oscilloscope, you can simultaneously collect 16-channel DAC (digital-to-analog converter) digital signals and two-channel output analog signals. This performance brings great convenience to the development, measurement and debugging of digital and analog mixed signals.

Bandwidth, sampling rate and storage depth meet the requirements

In university laboratories, the main technical indicators we focus on are bandwidth, sampling rate and storage depth. Net bandwidth has always been the main consideration in the process of purchasing an oscilloscope. Eye diagram analysis depends on the main technical indicators of the oscilloscope. The performance of the oscilloscope in terms of bandwidth, sampling rate, triggering and measurement accuracy determines its efficiency in solving high-speed system design problems. When we do experiments, in order to ensure the amplitude and rising edge accuracy of the test signal, the bandwidth of the selected oscilloscope should be 3 to 5 times the frequency of the measured signal, and accurate measurement should be 8 to 10 times or more. Therefore, the 100MHz bandwidth provided by the RIGOL-DS1000 series oscilloscope meets the measurement needs of some higher frequencies during the experiment. In addition, university laboratories also have certain requirements for sampling rate. The sampling rate is a variable indicator. As the scanning time slows down, the sampling rate also decreases accordingly. In the final analysis, the actual value of the sampling rate depends on the time base and storage depth. The 1MB storage depth provided by the RIGOL-DS1000 series oscilloscope can provide a very high sampling rate, and the most accurate data can be obtained when doing experiments.

Multiple trigger functions improve laboratory work efficiency

Oscilloscope triggering determines the signals that can be captured, viewed, and measured with an oscilloscope, and is just as important as bandwidth and sampling rate. Of course, the trigger system has its own key specifications. Designers who choose to measure fast serial signals with an oscilloscope may assume that the trigger path has the same bandwidth as the oscilloscope's specified bandwidth. In fact, the relevant specification is "trigger sensitivity." This specification reflects a simple problem: when capturing signals near the top of the frequency range, the signal amplitude requirement is that the trigger sensitivity matches the analog sampling bandwidth.

In the laboratory, we often need to observe the changing process of some special signals, but the oscilloscopes used before only have the function of rising or falling edge triggering. One of the triggering modes of the DS1000 series oscilloscopes is rising & falling edge triggering, which solves this problem. Slope triggering determines the trigger based on the speed of the rising/falling time of the signal, which is more flexible and accurate than edge triggering. Among the triggering functions of the DS1000 series oscilloscopes, the alternating triggering function shows obvious advantages. The alternating triggering function is the reproduction of the function of the analog oscilloscope in the digital oscilloscope. This function ensures that even two asynchronous signals can be stably triggered at the same time, greatly improving the work efficiency of the laboratory.

Automatic measurement function, powerful software functions, easy to learn and apply

The powerful software functions of the DS1000 series oscilloscope greatly facilitate the human-computer dialogue. For buttons that you don't understand or can't use, just press and hold for a few seconds and the corresponding help information will appear on the display screen. This saves you the tedious process of looking up the manual. In the process of teaching and student self-study, it has achieved good results.

The DS1000 series oscilloscopes also have 20 automatic measurement functions, which greatly reduces the difficulty of operation and improves the accuracy of data for students who have just started using oscilloscopes.

In the development of peripheral interfaces, the DS1000 series oscilloscopes have added USB HOST interfaces and RS-232 ports, which facilitate communication with computers and data storage and demonstration, and have good applications in software testing. They support mobile storage and direct printing functions. The waveforms displayed on the oscilloscope can be stored and transferred, which brings great convenience to students in their graduation projects and teachers in their teaching process.

TFT color display, small size and low price

In terms of appearance, the TFT color display screen of the DS1000 series is beautiful and has strong visibility. The small size can save floor space, and multiple instruments can be used and measured on a limited laboratory bench, which is more convenient to carry. Signals can be collected and stored outside, and analyzed again when returning to the laboratory. In addition, the oscilloscope itself also has the function of recording and storing waveform signals for 1000 frames. All of the above advantages are particularly valuable when the price is guaranteed to be low, which is suitable for use in electronic laboratories in colleges and universities.