Test measurement device and waveform display method

Abstract

To selectively display only a waveform of interest from many acquired waveforms with an intuitive operation.SOLUTION: A test measurement device acquires a plurality of waveforms from a device under test, stores the waveforms in a memory, and displays the plurality of acquired waveforms on a display section by overlaying the acquired waveforms. A user can visually select a waveform of interest by drawing a box such as regions of interest 302, 304, and 306 from a user input section. Then, the test measurement device updates the waveform display of the display section so as to display only a waveform determined to be in the regions of interest 302, 304, and 306 from the plurality of acquired waveforms.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 3

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] The disclosed technology relates to devices and methods related to test and measurement systems, and more particularly to a test and measurement device and waveform display method that filters multiple acquired waveforms to selectively display specific waveforms. [Background technology]

[0002] Traditional test and measurement instruments typically acquire and store one record (acquisition) at a time. This single acquisition is available for both simple visual inspection and analytical inspection using cursors, mathematical operations, measurements, etc. When the user presses the "Stop" button on the test and measurement instrument, only the most recent acquisition is available for analysis. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0003] [Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2009-258108 [Patent Document 2] Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2009-236918 [Patent Document 3] Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2008-267994 [Patent Document 4] Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2008-232968 [Non-patent literature]

[0004] [Non-Patent Document 1] "5 Series MSO Mixed Signal Oscilloscope" data sheet, mentioning "Segmented Memory Acquisition Mode with FastFrame," Tektronix, [online], [retrieved March 4, 2021], Internet<https: / / jp.tek.com / datasheet / 5-series-mso> Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0005] Some conventional test and measurement instruments offer additional acquisition modes, such as FastFrame acquisition, segmented memory acquisition, ultra-segmented acquisition, and history, which result in a large number of acquisitions being stored in the test and measurement instrument's memory. Multiple acquisitions are either displayed one at a time (which requires the user to scroll through multiple acquisitions) or are overlaid on top of each other. To find the acquisition of interest, the user must manually scroll through thousands, or even millions, of acquisitions.

[0006] Examples of the presently disclosed technology address these and other deficiencies of the prior art. [Means for solving the problem]

[0007] The test and measurement instrument disclosed herein includes an input configured to acquire multiple waveforms from a device under test, a memory configured to store the multiple waveforms, a user input configured to receive selection criteria, and one or more processors. After the multiple waveforms are acquired, the one or more processors render the multiple waveforms on a display, receive visual selection criteria from the user input indicating filtering criteria (e.g., regions of interest in the displayed multiple waveforms), determine which waveforms in the multiple waveforms fall within the filtering criteria, and render only those waveforms associated with the regions of interest on the display. This test and measurement instrument allows a user to quickly visually filter multiple acquired waveforms without manually scrolling through thousands or even millions of acquired data.

[0008] Aspects, features and advantages of embodiments of the present invention will become apparent from the following description of the embodiments, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0009] [Figure 1] FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a test and measurement instrument in accordance with an embodiment of the disclosed technique. [Figure 2] FIG. 2 is a diagram of an example of a graphical user interface displayed on a test and measurement instrument in accordance with an example of the disclosed technology. [Figure 3] FIG. 3 is a diagram of an example of a graphical user interface prompting user selections for a test and measurement device in accordance with an example of the disclosed technology. [Figure 4] FIG. 4 is an illustration of an example graphical user interface for filtering waveforms based on user selection criteria in accordance with an example of the disclosed technique. [Figure 5] FIG. 5 is a flowchart of the operation of a test and measurement instrument according to an example of the disclosed technology. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0010] FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an example test and measurement instrument 100, such as an oscilloscope, for implementing embodiments of the disclosed technology. The test and measurement instrument 100 includes one or more ports 102, which may be any type of electrical signal transmission medium. The ports 102 may include receiving circuitry, transmitting circuitry, and transceivers. Each port 102 is a channel of the test and measurement instrument 100. The ports 102 are coupled to one or more processors 104 for processing signals or waveforms received at the ports 102 from one or more devices under test. While only one processor 104 is shown in FIG. 1 for simplicity, those skilled in the art will recognize that multiple processors 104 of various types may be used in combination rather than a single processor 104.

[0011] Port 102 may also be connected to a measurement unit within test and measurement instrument 100, which is not shown for simplicity. Such a measurement unit may include any component capable of measuring multiple characteristics (e.g., voltage, amperage, amplitude, etc.) of the signal received through port 102. The test and measurement instrument may also include additional hardware and processors, such as conditioning circuits, analog-to-digital converters, or other circuitry that converts the received signal into a waveform for further analysis. The resulting waveform is then stored in memory 106 in addition to being displayed on display 108.

[0012] The one or more processors 104 may be configured to execute instructions from memory 106 to perform methods and related processes, such as displaying and modifying a graphical user interface (GUI) of an embodiment of the disclosed technology, as indicated in those instructions. Memory 106 may be implemented as one or more processor caches, random access memory (RAM), read-only memory (ROM), solid-state memory, a hard disk drive, or any other form of memory. Memory 106 serves as a medium for storing data, computer program products, and other instructions.

[0013] A user input 110 is coupled to the one or more processors 104. The user input 110 may include a keyboard, mouse, trackball, touchscreen, or any other control device that a user can use to interact with the GUI on the display 108. The display 108 may be a digital screen, cathode ray tube-based display, or other monitor that displays waveforms, measurements, and other data to the user. While these components of the test and measurement instrument 100 are depicted as being integrated within the test and measurement instrument 100, one skilled in the art will understand that any of these components may be external to the test and measurement instrument 100 and may be coupled to the instrument 100 in any conventional manner (e.g., via wired or wireless communication media or mechanisms). For example, in some embodiments, the display 108 may be remote from the test and measurement instrument 100.

[0014] 2 shows an example GUI 200. The GUI 200 can display multiple acquisitions (waveform data) 202 acquired by the test and measurement instrument 100 and stored in the memory 106. The GUI 200 shows multiple acquisitions overlaid on top of each other, allowing users to easily identify intermittent (or rare) events or portions of potential interest in the acquired signals at a glance.

[0015] As mentioned above, conventional test and measurement instruments 100 display all acquired data (acquisitions) at once, requiring the user to manually scroll or scan through the acquired data to find the signal of interest. In some embodiments, GUI 200 can indicate the frequency of signal occurrence, for example, by color coding or distinguishing waveforms.

[0016] For example, signals or events that occur more frequently may be shown in warmer colors such as red, orange, or yellow, while less frequent events may be shown in cooler colors such as purple, indigo, or blue. Alternatively, more frequent events may be shown with thicker lines, and less frequent events may be shown with thinner lines, as shown in Figure 2.

[0017] Once the acquired waveforms are displayed, the user may decide to examine or further view only specific waveforms. Figure 3 illustrates a GUI 300 showing a user's selection of a waveform or region of interest.

[0018] In the GUI 300, all of the acquired waveforms are overlaid and displayed to the user. As shown in FIG. 3 , the user has selected three regions of interest 302, 304, and 306 in this example. The regions of interest 302, 304, and 306 can be selected via the user input unit 110, such as by drawing the selected region of interest using a cursor 308 displayed on the GUI. While the regions of interest 302, 304, and 306 are displayed as boxes, examples of the disclosed technology are not limited to this configuration. The regions of interest selected by the user via the user input unit 110 can be any shape, such as, but not limited to, a circle, a triangle, or a freely formed shape. The region of interest or selection criteria do not have to be a shape, but can be a waveform characteristic (or characteristics) such as a particular amplitude, frequency, pulse width, etc.

[0019] In this example, once the regions of interest 302, 304, and 306 have been identified, the one or more processors 104 may determine which waveforms among the acquired waveforms fall within the regions of interest 302, 304, and 306. Once these waveforms are identified, only those waveforms that fall within the regions of interest 302, 304, and 306 are displayed on the display 108, as shown in GUI 400 of FIGURE 4. In this manner, it will be appreciated that the regions of interest 302, 304, and 306 may be referred to as visual filtering criteria or visual selection criteria, as they function as criteria for visually selecting (filtering) waveforms of interest to a user from among the multiple acquired waveforms.

[0020] 5 is a flowchart illustrating an example of the operation of the test and measurement instrument 100 according to an example of the disclosed technology. During operation of the test and measurement instrument 100, multiple waveforms are acquired from a device under test in step 500. While the number of acquired waveforms need only be at least one, embodiments of the disclosed technology may be particularly useful when a large number of waveforms are acquired, such as, but not limited to, hundreds, thousands, or millions of waveforms. In step 502, the acquired waveforms are stored in memory 106. After the waveforms are acquired, the one or more processors 104 cause a GUI to be displayed on the display 108 in step 504, which displays all of the acquired waveforms superimposed (overlaid) on one another.

[0021] In step 506, the user input 110 may be used to select one or more regions of interest, thereby indicating the regions of interest to be displayed on the GUI. In step 508, one or more processors may determine which, if any, waveforms from the acquired waveforms fall within the selected regions of interest. A region of interest may be selected by a user by drawing a shape (figure) on the waveform (or portion of the waveform) that the user wants to include. That is, the region of interest indicates which points are to be included as points of interest. In another example, the region of interest may be drawn in a way that excludes anything within the shape (figure). That is, the region of interest may be shown to be outside the shape, and the interior of the shape may be shown to be excluded from the region of interest.

[0022] In some examples, there may be multiple types of regions of interest. In one embodiment, a user may select as waveforms of interest all waveforms that fall within at least one of the selected regions of interest. In another embodiment, a user may select as waveforms of interest only waveforms that fall within all of the selected regions of interest. That is, a user may select different combinations of types of regions of interest. Criteria for region of interest selection may include, for example, a "must hit" region of interest, a "must not hit" region of interest, or a "don't care" whether a region of interest is hit or not. That is, the one or more processors 104 may filter the acquired waveforms based on the user-selected regions of interest to remove from the GUI waveforms that do not meet the user-set region of interest selection criteria.

[0023] In some examples, waveforms from multiple ports 102 may be acquired and displayed. Multiple waveforms acquired for a particular port may be displayed, for example, overlaid on top of each other, or multiple windows may be provided, each window displaying multiple waveforms for a particular port. Filtering criteria may be based on the waveforms in the multiple windows. For example, a signal from a device under test may be received at one port and a temperature signal may be received at another port. A user may select criteria for both signals to filter the acquired waveforms. For example, a user may select a region of interest and other filtering criteria for the signal from the device under test, but may also specify that they are only interested in data where the temperature signal exceeds a certain threshold.

[0024] Once filtered, the one or more processors 104 may perform various operations on the filtered waveform, such as various measurements, and may suggest region of interest criteria to the user, such as trigger criteria previously set by the user during data acquisition.

[0025] At step 510, waveforms that meet the user-selected criteria are displayed. At step 512, a new selection or change of the current region of interest may be received via user input 110. The one or more processors 104 then return to step 510 and filter the acquired waveforms according to the new region of interest. That is, as regions of interest are changed, moved, added, or deleted, the acquired waveforms displayed in the GUI are automatically shown or hidden depending on the region of interest, allowing the user to quickly, easily, and intuitively find the particular acquired data (waveform data) that interests them without having to manually search through thousands, or even millions, of acquired data.

[0026] Aspects of the disclosed technology may operate on specially created hardware, firmware, digital signal processors, or specially programmed general-purpose computers, including processors that operate according to programmed instructions. The terms "controller" or "processor" herein contemplate microprocessors, microcomputers, ASICs, and dedicated hardware controllers, among others. Aspects of the disclosed technology may be implemented as computer-usable data and computer-executable instructions, such as one or more program modules, executed by one or more computers (including a monitoring module) or other devices. Generally, program modules include routines, programs, objects, components, data structures, etc., which, when executed by a processor in a computer or other device, perform particular tasks or implement particular abstract data formats. Computer-executable instructions may be stored in computer-readable storage media, such as hard disks, optical disks, removable storage media, solid-state memory, RAM, etc. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the functionality of the program modules may be combined or distributed as desired in various embodiments. Furthermore, such functionality may be embodied in whole or in part in firmware or hardware equivalents, such as integrated circuits, field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), etc. Certain data structures may be used to more effectively implement one or more aspects of the disclosed technology, and such data structures are considered within the scope of the computer-executable instructions and computer-usable data described herein.

[0027] The disclosed aspects may, in some cases, be implemented in hardware, firmware, software, or any combination thereof. The disclosed aspects may also be implemented as instructions carried by or stored on one or more computer-readable media, which may be read and executed by one or more processors. Such instructions may be referred to as a computer program product. As used herein, computer-readable media refers to any medium that can be accessed by a computing device. By way of example, and not limitation, computer-readable media may include computer storage media and communication media.

[0028] "Computer storage media" means any medium that can be used to store computer-readable information. By way of example and not limitation, computer storage media may include random access memory (RAM), read-only memory (ROM), electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), flash memory and other memory technologies, compact disc read-only memory (CD-ROM), digital video disc (DVD) and other optical disk storage, magnetic cassettes, magnetic tape, magnetic disk storage and other magnetic storage devices, and any other volatile or nonvolatile, removable or non-removable medium implemented in any technology. "Computer storage media" excludes signals themselves and transitory forms of signal transmission.

[0029] A communication medium means any medium usable for communicating computer-readable information. By way of example, and not limitation, communication media may include coaxial cable, fiber optic cable, air, or any other medium suitable for communicating electrical, optical, radio frequency (RF), infrared, acoustic, or other types of signals. Example

[0030] The following examples are provided to aid in understanding the technology disclosed in this application. Embodiments of the technology may include one or more of the examples described below, and any combination thereof.

[0031] Example 1 is a test and measurement apparatus comprising an input unit configured to acquire a plurality of waveforms from a device under test, a memory configured to store the acquired waveforms, a user input unit configured to receive selection criteria, and one or more processors, wherein the one or more processors cause the acquired waveforms to be drawn on a display unit, receive selection criteria from the user input unit indicating an area of ​​interest in the displayed acquired waveforms, determine which waveforms among the acquired waveforms are within the area of ​​interest, and draw only the waveforms related to the area of ​​interest on the display unit.

[0032] Example 2 is the test and measurement instrument of Example 1, wherein the selection criteria include a plurality of regions of interest, and the one or more processors are further configured to determine which waveforms in the acquired waveforms are within at least one region of interest among the plurality of regions of interest, and to render only the waveforms associated with the at least one region of interest on the display.

[0033] Example 3 is the test and measurement instrument of Example 2, wherein the one or more processors are further configured to determine which waveforms among the acquired waveforms are within all of the regions of interest, and to render only waveforms associated with all of the regions of interest on the display.

[0034] Example 4 is the test and measurement instrument of any of Examples 1 to 3, wherein the selection criteria is a first selection criteria, and the one or more processors are further configured to receive, from the user input, a second selection criteria indicating a second region of interest in the displayed acquired waveforms, determine which waveforms in the acquired waveforms are within the second region of interest, and render only the waveforms associated with the second region of interest on the display.

[0035] Example 5 is the test and measurement instrument of any of Examples 1 to 3, wherein the selection criterion is a first selection criterion, and the one or more processors are further configured to receive a second selection criterion from the user input unit indicating a change to the region of interest, determine which waveforms among the acquired waveforms are within the changed region of interest, and render only the waveforms associated with the changed region of interest on the display unit.

[0036] Example 6 is the test and measurement instrument of Example 5, wherein the modification of the region of interest is a process of adding a second region of interest, a process of deleting the region of interest, or a process of modifying a characteristic of the region of interest.

[0037] Example 7 is the test and measurement instrument of any of Examples 1-6, wherein the selection criteria include instructions for selecting a waveform characteristic, and the one or more processors determine the region of interest based on the waveform characteristic.

[0038] Example 8 is a method for selectively displaying acquired waveforms, comprising the steps of: displaying a plurality of acquired waveforms from a memory on a display; receiving visual filtering criteria from a user input; filtering the acquired waveforms from the memory based on the filtering criteria to determine a filtered waveform; and updating the display on the display to display only the filtered waveform from the acquired waveforms.

[0039] Example 9 is the method of example 8, wherein the filtering criteria includes a plurality of regions of interest, and the filtered waveform includes a waveform within at least one of the regions of interest among the acquired waveforms.

[0040] Example 10 is the method of example 9, wherein the filtered waveforms include all waveforms within the region of interest among the acquired waveforms.

[0041] Example 11 is the method of any of Examples 8 or 9, wherein the filtering criterion is a first filtering criterion, and the method further comprises: receiving a second filtering criterion from the user input; and filtering the retrieved waveform from the memory based on the second filtering criterion to determine a new filtered waveform.

[0042] A twelfth embodiment is the method of any one of the eighth to eleventh embodiments, further comprising a process of receiving an instruction to change the filtering criteria from the user input unit, and a process of filtering the waveform acquired from the memory based on the changed filtering criteria to determine a new filtered waveform.

[0043] Example 13 is the method of Example 12, wherein the modifying of the filtering criteria is adding a second filtering criterion, deleting the filtering criterion, or modifying a characteristic of the filtering criterion.

[0044] Example 14 is the method of any of Examples 8 to 13, wherein the filtering criteria include waveform characteristics.

[0045] Example 15 is a program including instructions that, when executed by one or more processors of a test and measurement instrument, cause the test and measurement instrument to display a plurality of acquired waveforms from a memory, receive filtering criteria from a user input, filter the acquired waveforms from the memory based on the filtering criteria to determine a filtered waveform, and update a waveform display to display only the filtered waveform.

[0046] Example 16 is the program of Example 15, wherein the filtering criteria include a plurality of regions of interest, and the filtered waveform includes a waveform that is within at least one of the regions of interest among the acquired waveforms.

[0047] Example 17 is the program of Example 15, wherein the filtering criteria include multiple regions of interest, and the filtered waveform includes waveforms that are within all of the regions of interest among the acquired waveforms.

[0048] Example 18 is the program of any of Examples 15 to 17, further including instructions that, when executed by one or more of the processors of the test and measurement device, cause the test and measurement device to receive a change in the filtering criteria from the user input unit, and filter the acquired waveform from the memory based on the changed filtering criteria to determine a second filtered waveform.

[0049] A nineteenth embodiment is the program according to the eighteenth embodiment, wherein the change of the filtering criteria is a process of adding a second filtering criteria, a process of deleting the filtering criteria, or a process of changing characteristics of the filtering criteria.

[0050] A twentieth embodiment is the program according to any one of the fifteenth to nineteenth embodiments, wherein the filtering criteria include waveform characteristics.

[0051] Although the above-described versions of the disclosed subject matter have many advantages that have been described or that will be apparent to those skilled in the art, not all of these advantages or features are required in every version of the disclosed devices, systems, or methods.

[0052] Additionally, the description of this application refers to specific features. It should be understood that the disclosure herein includes all possible combinations of these specific features. When a specific feature is disclosed in the context of a particular aspect or embodiment, that feature can also be used in the context of other aspects and embodiments, to the extent possible.

[0053] Furthermore, when this application refers to a method having two or more defined steps or processes, these defined steps or processes may be performed in any order or simultaneously, unless the circumstances preclude this possibility.

[0054] Although specific embodiments of the invention have been illustrated and described for purposes of illustration, it will be appreciated that various modifications can be made therein without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. Accordingly, the invention should not be limited except as by the appended claims. [Explanation of symbols]

[0055] 100 Test and measurement equipment Port 102 104 processors 106 memory 108 Display section 110 User input section 200 GUI 202 Acquired waveform data 300 GUI 302 Areas of Interest 304 Areas of Interest 306 Areas of Interest 308 Mouse Cursor 400 GUI

Claims

1. an input section configured to acquire waveforms from different portions of an input signal received from a device under test; a memory configured to store a plurality of said acquired waveforms; a display configured to display the acquired plurality of waveforms; a user input unit configured to receive from the user, as a selection criterion, a region of interest that defines a range of a vertical axis and a range of a horizontal axis for the user to specify a selected waveform to be selectively displayed from the plurality of acquired waveforms, the region of interest having a selection type; one or more processors Equipped with One or more of said processors: a process of overlaying the acquired waveforms and drawing them on the display unit; receiving the selection criteria from the user input unit after the acquired waveforms have been drawn; determining which waveforms of the acquired waveforms are within the region of interest; drawing on the display only the selected waveform associated with the region of interest according to the type of the region of interest; configured to: The type of selection is either that the waveform hits the region of interest or that the waveform does not hit the region of interest. Test and measurement equipment.

2. 2. The test and measurement instrument of claim 1, wherein the selection criteria include a plurality of regions of interest, and wherein the one or more processors are further configured to determine which waveforms in the acquired waveforms fall within at least one of the regions of interest and to render only those waveforms associated with at least one of the regions of interest on the display.

3. 2. The test and measurement instrument of claim 1, wherein the selection criteria include a plurality of regions of interest, and wherein the one or more processors are further configured to determine which waveforms in the acquired waveforms are within all of the regions of interest and to render only those waveforms associated with all of the regions of interest on the display.

4. 4. The test and measurement instrument of claim 1, wherein the selection criteria is a first selection criteria, and the one or more processors are further configured to receive from the user input a second selection criteria indicating a change to the region of interest, determine which waveforms among the acquired waveforms are within the changed region of interest, and render only the waveforms associated with the changed region of interest on the display.

5. 5. The test and measurement instrument of claim 1, wherein the selection criteria further include criteria relating to waveform characteristics, and wherein the one or more processors determine the region of interest based on the waveform characteristics.

6. 1. A method for selectively displaying acquired waveforms, comprising: acquiring waveforms from different portions of an input signal received from a device under test; storing the acquired waveforms in a memory; a process of overlaying the plurality of waveforms acquired from the memory and displaying them on a display unit; a process of receiving, from a user input unit, a region of interest that defines a range of a vertical axis and a range of a horizontal axis for a user to specify a filtered waveform to be selectively displayed from among the plurality of acquired waveforms, the region of interest having a type of filtering as a visual filtering criterion; determining a filtered waveform by filtering the waveforms obtained from the memory based on the filtering criteria and the filtering type; updating the display on the display unit to display only the filtered waveform from among the plurality of acquired waveforms; Equipped with A waveform display method in which the type of filtering is either that the waveform hits the region of interest or that the waveform does not hit the region of interest.

7. 7. The method of claim 6, wherein the filtering criteria includes a plurality of regions of interest, and the filtered waveform includes waveforms that fall within one or more of the regions of interest among the acquired waveforms.

8. 8. The waveform display method of claim 6 or 7, further comprising: a process of receiving an instruction to change the filtering criteria from the user input unit; and a process of filtering the waveform acquired from the memory based on the changed filtering criteria to determine a second filtered waveform.

9. 9. The method of claim 8, wherein the changing of the filtering criteria is a process of adding a second filtering criterion, a process of deleting the filtering criteria, or a process of changing the characteristics of the filtering criteria.

10. 10. A program comprising instructions that, when executed by one or more processors of a test and measurement instrument, cause the test and measurement instrument to perform the waveform display method of any one of claims 6 to 9.

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