Real-Time Oscilloscope Fast Worst-Case Eye Diagram Generation
Solution Overview
Problem
Real-time oscilloscopes require large amounts of data and extensive processing time to generate detailed eye diagrams, which negatively impacts efficiency and profitability, especially when analyzing high-speed digital signals with significant noise and jitter.
Innovation Solution
An improved real-time oscilloscope (IRTO) that includes signal conditioning circuitry, a digitizer, a clock and data recovery module, and a worst-case real-time eye diagram rendering module to quickly generate a fast worst-case eye diagram by selecting and displaying only the most critical waveform segments, reducing the need for extensive data processing.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If a real-time oscilloscope captures entire waveforms at high sampling rates to generate detailed eye diagrams, then measurement precision is improved, but test time increases significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the captured waveform data to identify and extract only the most significant waveform segments that contribute to eye diagram formation. Instead of processing all captured data points, the system divides the waveform into segments, evaluates their significance based on transition characteristics, and selects only those segments that provide critical information for accurate eye diagram generation. This segmentation approach maintains measurement precision while dramatically reducing the amount of data that requires processing.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent extracts and displays only the most critical waveform segments that contain essential information for eye diagram analysis. The system identifies segments with significant transitions and extracts them for display, removing unnecessary data points from the processing pipeline. This extraction principle allows the oscilloscope to generate accurate eye diagrams using a subset of the captured data, thereby reducing test time while preserving measurement precision.
2Measurement precision
If a real-time oscilloscope uses high sampling rates to capture fast transitions, then measurement precision is improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies segmentation to divide the high-volume data from high sampling rates into manageable waveform segments. Each segment is evaluated independently for its significance to eye diagram formation, allowing the system to process data in smaller chunks rather than handling the entire high-resolution waveform at once. This reduces computational complexity while maintaining the precision benefits of high sampling rates.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent implements partial action by processing only the necessary portion of captured data required for accurate eye diagram generation. Instead of processing all data points from high sampling rate captures, the system identifies and processes only those segments that contain critical transition information. This partial processing approach maintains signal characterization accuracy while significantly reducing device complexity and processing requirements.
3Measurement precision
If an oscilloscope displays comprehensive waveform data to ensure accurate eye diagram generation, then measurement precision is improved, but productivity decreases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts and displays only the most critical waveform segments that are essential for accurate eye diagram generation. By removing unnecessary waveform data from the display and processing pipeline, the system maintains measurement precision while increasing analysis throughput. The extraction focuses on segments containing significant transitions and eye-forming patterns, eliminating redundant data that does not contribute to measurement accuracy.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent segments waveform data to identify and display only those segments that contribute meaningfully to eye diagram accuracy. This segmentation allows the oscilloscope to present comprehensive information where needed while reducing overall data volume for display and processing. The segmented approach enables faster analysis throughput by focusing computational resources on critical segments rather than processing and displaying all captured waveform data uniformly.
Data Source
AI summary
Disclosed is an improved real-time oscilloscope (“IRTO”) for generating a fast worst-case real-time eye diagram from an input signal. The IRTO may include signal conditioning circuitry, a digitizer, an acquisition memory, a clock and data recovery (“CDR”) module, a worst-case real-time eye diagram rendering (“WRTER”) module, and a display.