Interleaved Acquisition System for High Bandwidth Signal Triggering
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current measurement systems, such as oscilloscopes and spectrum analyzers, are unable to consider the entire bandwidth of an input signal for triggering, leading to limitations in detecting events within the signal.
Innovation Solution
An interleaved acquisition system comprising a first and second acquisition and quantizer unit, and a trigger unit that de-interleaves and generates a de-interleaved quantized digitized input signal from the interleaved signals processed by these units, allowing for triggering without bandwidth limitations and ensuring no signal edges are discarded.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Speed
If the input signal is sampled and processed by multiple channels in an interleaved manner, then the measurement system can operate at full signal bandwidth, but each trigger processor only processes the under-sampled signal in its associated channel, limiting triggering capability
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges the trigger processing functions of multiple channels into a single trigger processor that receives de-interleaved signals from all channels. This allows the trigger processor to analyze the complete bandwidth signal and make triggering decisions based on the entire signal spectrum rather than individual channel segments.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces a de-interleaving unit as an intermediary component between the interleaved acquisition channels and the trigger processor. This mediator reconstructs the full bandwidth signal from the interleaved channel data, enabling the trigger processor to access the complete signal information for accurate event detection.
2Productivity
If multiple channels process the input signal in parallel, then acquisition speed increases, but the trigger system cannot consider the entire bandwidth for triggering decisions
Solution Approach 1:
The patent performs de-interleaving and signal reconstruction as a preliminary action before trigger detection. By reconstructing the full bandwidth signal from the parallel channel data before the trigger processor analyzes it, the system preserves both the high acquisition speed of parallel processing and the trigger detection accuracy that requires complete signal information.
Solution Approach 2:
The de-interleaving unit serves as an intermediary that transforms the parallel channel outputs into a unified full-bandwidth signal. This mediator enables the trigger processor to maintain high measurement precision by receiving complete signal information while the system benefits from the high productivity of parallel channel acquisition.
3Ease of operation
If each channel has its own trigger processor, then channel independence is maintained, but the system discards signal edges that occur between sampling points
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges the trigger processing function into a single unit that receives de-interleaved signals from all channels. This unified approach ensures that signal edges occurring between sampling points in any channel are captured and considered in the triggering decision, improving reliability while maintaining operational simplicity through centralized control.
Solution Approach 2:
The de-interleaving unit acts as an intermediary that combines information from all channels into a complete signal representation before trigger detection. This mediator ensures that no signal edges are discarded by providing the trigger processor with comprehensive signal information from all channels in a unified format.
Data Source
AI summary
An acquisition system includes a first acquisition and quantizer unit, a second acquisition and quantizer unit as well as a trigger unit. The first and second acquisition and quantizer units are configured to receive a respective interleaved digitized input signal, to acquire the respective interleaved digitized input signal, to quantize the respective interleaved digitized input signal, and to output a respective quantized interleaved digitized input signal. The trigger unit is configured to receive the respective quantized interleaved digitized input signals from the first and second acquisition and quantizer units. The trigger unit is further configured to de-interleave the respective quantized interleaved digitized input signals. The trigger unit is configured to generate a de-interleaved quantized digitized input signal. The trigger unit is also configured to detect an event in the de-interleaved quantized digitized input signal. Further, a method of acquiring a high bandwidth input signal is described.