Oscilloscope Trigger Enable Logic Circuit
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing test and measurement instruments, such as oscilloscopes, require manual or programmatic intervention to enter a triggering state, which can be ineffective in capturing real-time signal events due to lack of selectivity and slow communication channels, and complex trigger methods may not be sufficient for selective waveform capture.
Innovation Solution
The system allows users to define a trigger enable event on a received signal, enabling the oscilloscope to automatically arm and trigger based on real-time events, maintaining sequence trigger capabilities while enabling triggering based on real-time occurrences, with software or timeout resetting the trigger state.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If manual input or PI commands are used to set the oscilloscope in a trigger state, then the oscilloscope can be placed in a triggering state, but the selectivity of captured waveforms is crude and the communication channel is too slow to capture real-time signal events
Solution Approach 1:
The oscilloscope automatically detects trigger enable events on the received signal and arms the trigger system without requiring manual input or external PI commands. The system serves itself by monitoring the signal for predefined events and autonomously transitioning to the triggering state, thereby improving selectivity while eliminating complex manual control mechanisms
Solution Approach 2:
The user pre-defines trigger enable events and conditions before signal acquisition begins. The oscilloscope is configured in advance to recognize specific signal patterns or events that will automatically arm the trigger system. This preliminary configuration enables real-time automatic triggering without requiring complex runtime control or manual intervention
2Measurement precision
If complex trigger methods are used, then more triggering capabilities are available, but they are not selective enough to capture events of interest
Solution Approach 1:
The trigger system is segmented into two independent functional components: trigger enable events (which arm the system) and trigger events (which actually trigger waveform capture). This segmentation allows the system to first filter for specific enable conditions to arm triggering, then capture only when subsequent trigger events occur, significantly improving selectivity while maintaining high capture rates for relevant events
Solution Approach 2:
The trigger enable event acts as an intermediary condition between the raw signal and the trigger capture mechanism. Before the oscilloscope can trigger on a signal event, the signal must first satisfy the trigger enable condition, which serves as a filtering intermediary. This two-stage process enables highly selective capture of events of interest without missing relevant occurrences
3Measurement precision
If the oscilloscope triggers continuously without automatic arming, then all signal events are captured, but irrelevant waveforms are also captured reducing measurement precision
Solution Approach 1:
The oscilloscope automatically monitors the signal for trigger enable events and self-arms the trigger system when conditions are met, without requiring manual arming commands. This automatic self-service mechanism ensures that triggering only occurs when relevant events are detected, improving measurement precision while maintaining ease of operation through automated control
Solution Approach 2:
The system continuously monitors the received signal for trigger enable events and uses this feedback to automatically arm or disarm the trigger system. When the signal satisfies the predefined enable conditions, feedback triggers the arming state; when conditions are no longer met, feedback disarms the system. This closed-loop feedback mechanism ensures only relevant waveforms are captured while maintaining simple operation
Data Source
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AI summary
A test and measurement instrument, such as an oscilloscope, including one or more ports to receive one or more signals from a device under test, a trigger enable logic circuit configured to output a trigger enabled signal when a trigger enable event occurs within the one or more signals, the trigger enable event being a real-time event of the one or more signals, one or more trigger logic circuits configured to generate a plurality of trigger signals when the trigger enable signal is received, each trigger signal being generated when a trigger event occurs within one of the one or more signals, and an acquisition circuit configured to acquire and store data in a memory in response to each of the trigger signals.