Oscilloscope Basics & Background

Tektronix mixed-signal oscilloscope MSOToday’s technology is fundamentally balanced on an increasingly fine line between the analogue and digital domains; as data speeds increase — both within and between devices — the ‘ideal world’ of fast, clean digital transitions becomes evermore difficult to achieve. This presents new and escalating challenges when verifying faster digital signals that exhibit more and more analogue-like features. As a result it is becoming necessary to remove the hard line between digital and analogue.

AA PhaseNoise2 introIn the first part of this article a simple phase noise measurement technique with a resolution of 10 ps was explained. There are other techniques, which could enhance the performance of the measurement to sub-picoseconds. That is the subject of this article.

 

 

 

oscilloscope spectrum analyzer functionWhether it is for a land survey searching for minerals on Earth, or for a space exploration in search of alien life forms, the analysis of any signal boils down to looking at its time and frequency information. While an oscilloscope displays a signal with respect to time, a spectrum analyzer shows it with respect to frequency. Both of these tools are very important in any signal analysis application. This article explains the difference between oscilloscope and spectrum analyzer using examples.

Spectrum digitizer as an alternative to an oscilloscopeCan a digitizer be used as an oscilloscope? What is the difference between an oscilloscope and a digitizer? Should I better use a digitizer or an oscilloscope in my next application? These are interesting questions and the best way to start to answer these is the look up the dictionary definition of an oscilloscope: "An electronic instrument used to measure changing electric voltages. It displays the waveforms of electric oscillations on a screen."

  1. 10 Tips for selecting an Oscilloscope
  2. Oscilloscope Probes – Vital Link in the Measurement Chain
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