Multi-Trigger Oscilloscope Signal Analysis with Trigger Combiner
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing data acquisition systems, such as oscilloscopes, often average signals from multiple channels, hiding key features of interest and requiring excessive memory to store all traces that satisfy a trigger criterion, making it difficult to visualize complex patterns and interpret timing differences in signal features.
Innovation Solution
A multi-trigger oscilloscope with a bank of trigger processors and a trigger combiner, using finite state machines and circular buffers to generate and combine trigger signals, allowing for separate display buffers for each trigger processor to store and display relevant data before and after the trigger point, enabling more insightful visualization of signal features.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Device complexity
If a single trigger processor is used for multiple channels, then device complexity is reduced, but the ability to detect complex patterns and preserve key signal features is degraded
Solution Approach 1:
The trigger system is segmented into multiple independent trigger processors, each capable of detecting specific patterns on particular channels. This segmentation allows complex multi-channel patterns to be detected with high precision while maintaining manageable system complexity through modular architecture.
Solution Approach 2:
Each trigger processor is designed with multi-functionality, capable of handling different trigger conditions and patterns. The universal trigger processor can be configured for various detection tasks, reducing the need for specialized hardware while maintaining detection precision.
2Loss of information
If all recorded data from multiple channels is stored and displayed, then complete signal information is preserved, but memory requirements and data processing complexity increase excessively
Solution Approach 1:
The system extracts and stores only the trigger event data and relevant signal portions from the complete multi-channel data stream. By taking out only the essential trigger-related information rather than storing all recorded data, memory requirements are significantly reduced while preserving the key signal features of interest.
Solution Approach 2:
Different storage and processing quality levels are applied to different parts of the data. Full-resolution data is stored for trigger-relevant channels and time periods, while non-critical data uses reduced storage. This local quality approach preserves important signal information while optimizing memory usage.
3Ease of operation
If trigger recordings proceed independently for each channel, then processing simplicity is maintained, but the ability to visualize correlated signal features across channels is degraded
Solution Approach 1:
Multiple independent channel recordings are merged and correlated based on trigger events. The system combines data from different channels around trigger points, allowing visualization of inter-channel relationships and correlated signal features while maintaining the simplicity of independent channel processing.
Solution Approach 2:
A central controller acts as an intermediary that coordinates the independent channel recordings. It collects trigger events from various channels and orchestrates the correlated display of multi-channel data, preserving inter-channel relationships without requiring complex real-time synchronization of all channels.
4Device complexity
If average of all recorded signals is displayed, then data processing is simplified, but key features of interest are hidden
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary sorting and organization of recorded signals based on trigger conditions before display. By pre-grouping signals that share common trigger characteristics, the system prepares the data for selective display of individual or grouped waveforms, preventing the loss of key features that would occur with simple averaging.
Data Source
AI summary
An apparatus and a method for using a signal analyzer are disclosed. The apparatus includes an input port having a first plurality of input channels. The input port generates a digital data stream from each of the first plurality of input channels. The apparatus also includes a trigger bank having a second plurality of trigger processors, each trigger processor receiving a digital data stream chosen from the digital data streams and generating a trigger output having one of a plurality of possible values from the digital data stream. A trigger combiner that receives each of the trigger outputs and generates a trigger signal if the combined trigger outputs satisfy a predetermined criterion. A controller copies the digital data streams to a memory and copies the trigger processor outputs to the memory in response to the trigger combiner generating the trigger signal.