Ultrafast digitisers and AWGs receive a digital pulse generator option

After introducing the Digital Pulse Generator (DPG) option for its medium-speed products, Spectrum Instrumentation has added the same feature to its ultrafast digitisers (with up to 10GS/s speed) and AWG. Provided for the complete product line, the low-cost option adds three to four independent digital sources for generating pulses and pulse streams. This new capability makes them excellent for various automated test and measurement applications. For example, the DPG option can be added to 200+ products to produce the stimulus and trigger signals required for machine or experiment control in systems deploying AI, robotics and mechatronics, for closed-loop testing, or even when assessing electronic circuits, components and sensors.

With the DPG option installed, the products can produce digital pulses with a timing resolution based on the device's sampling clock. For instance, the DPG, together with one of the company's flagship 33xx series digitisers, can produce up to four separate pulse streams, each with timing resolution down to just 3.2 ns. At the same time, the 12-bit digitiser card can acquire incoming electronic signals by sampling them at rates up to 10GS/s.

The DPG is implemented employing the onboard FPGA technology of the product. The design permits the units to perform regular tasks of acquiring or generating analog waveforms in parallel with pulse generation. The digital pulses are output via front panel Multi-Purpose I/O connectors and are suited for today's most common digital circuitry. The pulse amplitude levels are 3.3V low voltage TTL; TTL is compatible with high impedance loads.

Control of the DPG is through a simple programming structure that permits adjustment of the pulse characteristics, whether generating single pulses, pulse trains or continuous pulse streams. Key parameters, such as the pulse width, period, phase, or the number of pulses in a pulse train, are all programmable. Once enabled, it will output the pre-programmed pulses on the assigned Multi-Purpose I/O connector as soon as it receives a valid trigger. The trigger can be generated by software or from one of many possible sources for maximum flexibility. These include all the product's regular internal and external trigger sources or even one of the other DPG channels. As the pulse generator outputs are intrinsically synchronised to the product's acquisition or replay functionality, they are perfect for producing enabling or switching signals (e.g. for signal actuating). Furthermore, cascading the different pulse generators creates a convenient way to transform pulse repetition time scales.