Enable TekHSI high-speed interface function to accelerate the remote transmission of waveform data

Since version 2.10, TekScope software and Tektronix oscilloscopes (such as 4B Series MSO) have introduced TekHSI high-speed interface technology, which allows you to transfer waveforms up to 10 times faster than SCPI. This is because the performance of SCPI standard Curve and Curvestream depends on the specific implementation of the instrument, while TekHSI has been optimized and designed for high performance and scalability. TekHSI uses an optimized binary protocol specifically for high-speed data transmission.

Enabling TekHSI on the oscilloscope

To start using TekHSI, you first need to enable the TekHSI feature on your oscilloscope (requires oscilloscope firmware version v2.10 and above). To enable TekHSI on supported oscilloscopes (Tektronix 4/5/6 Series MSO), navigate to the Utility > I/O menu and expand the HIGH SPEED INTERFACE. Enable the feature and define a custom port as needed, as shown in Figure 1.

Figure: Enabling TekHSI on supported oscilloscopes

As a TekScope PC user, you do not need to enable HSI on your oscilloscope. When you add a new oscilloscope, upon connection, TekScope PC will perform a discovery process to identify if the oscilloscope supports TekHSI. If so, TekScope PC will use TekHSI for all acquisitions; if not, it will fall back to SCPI trace commands.

Relieve pressure on instrument resources based on offline waveform analysis

Offline waveform viewing allows engineers to analyze acquired data without an oscilloscope, which is often an expensive shared resource. With offline software, you can easily share data with other team members, suppliers or customers. Most oscilloscopes have large screen displays and small form factors. Since TekScope PC software runs on a PC, you can view captured waveforms anywhere without an oscilloscope.

Extensible debugging and analysis capabilities, activated on demand

TekScope PC with oscilloscope is the perfect tool to expand debugging and analysis capabilities and accelerate design cycles.

Decoding Serial Bus

The entry-level license of TekScope PC software supports three common serial buses: I2C, SPI and RS-232. Using other versions of the license will support up to 25 different buses, including USB, Ethernet, MIPI DSI and SPMI. These buses are widely used in industries such as embedded, automotive, consumer, industrial and defense. By analyzing serial bus transactions, multi-bus decoding can be performed simultaneously, with search/mark functions and different ways to visualize decoded information.

Figure: RS-232 serial bus decoding

Professional analysis functions such as jitter analysis, power measurement or motor drive

You can also choose specialized add-on packages based on your test needs, including jitter analysis, power measurement or motor drive analysis, allowing you to analyze data acquired on any oscilloscope, even those that do not offer these analysis options. Because TekScope PC software has access to more computing resources, multiple waveforms can be quickly and easily viewed and analyzed.

Analyzing data and simulations from multiple instruments using TekScope PC software also eliminates discrepancies in results caused by different algorithms used or different implementations in different instrument software. The measurement algorithms are also clearly documented in the help system, ensuring you have confidence in your results. Once the analysis is complete, you can generate a report to share or archive the results. You can specify the information in the report by including options such as plots or configuration details.

Figure: Automatic measurement based on offline waveform files

Remote control and synchronization of multiple oscilloscopes

TekScope PC software also allows you to view and analyze data from multiple oscilloscopes on the same screen, rearrange channel information, stack groups, zoom, and add cursors or measurements in a seamless interface. This feature supports up to four oscilloscopes and 32 channels. The multi-oscilloscope analysis solution enables you to remotely control the acquisition settings of all oscilloscopes at the same time without having to set up each oscilloscope individually. Once the data is acquired on the TekScope PC software, you can perform measurements and data analysis on all channels of different oscilloscopes at the same time.

Figure: Analyzing 12 channels of three oscilloscopes simultaneously