Multi-Oscilloscope Trigger Synchronization for Precise Time Alignment
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional methods for synchronizing multiple oscilloscopes often suffer from unacceptable levels of jitter, triggering ambiguities, timing ambiguities, and timing delays, limiting their ability to display multiple input signals simultaneously with precise timing alignment.
Innovation Solution
A synchronization technique where a master oscilloscope generates a synchronized trigger pulse and a timing interpolation parameter, which is transmitted to slave oscilloscopes to ensure that the triggered edges of multiple input signals are time-aligned, using a system comprising clock generators, trigger signal generators, timing interpolation parameter generators, and slave signal transmission circuits.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If conventional synchronization techniques are used to coordinate multiple oscilloscopes, then multiple input signals can be displayed simultaneously, but the system suffers from unacceptable levels of jitter, triggering ambiguities, timing ambiguities, and timing delays
Solution Approach 1:
The synchronization system is divided into a master oscilloscope that generates reference trigger signals and slave oscilloscopes that receive and synchronize to these signals. Each oscilloscope operates semi-independently but coordinates through the master-slave architecture, allowing multiple signals to be displayed simultaneously while maintaining precise timing alignment through the reference signal distribution.
Solution Approach 2:
The master oscilloscope acts as an intermediary that generates and distributes synchronized trigger signals to all slave oscilloscopes. This intermediary component coordinates the timing of all oscilloscopes in the system, eliminating jitter and timing ambiguities by providing a common reference that all devices synchronize to, thereby resolving the timing precision issues while enabling multi-signal display capability.
2Adaptability or versatility
If multiple digital oscilloscopes are used to view more signals than a single oscilloscope can accommodate, then signal viewing capacity increases, but synchronization issues such as jitter and timing delays occur
Solution Approach 1:
Multiple oscilloscopes are merged into a coordinated system where the master oscilloscope's trigger output is combined with the slave oscilloscopes' input capabilities. This merging creates a unified measurement system that maintains synchronization reliability by having all devices reference the same trigger source, while collectively providing enhanced signal viewing capacity across multiple channels and devices.
Solution Approach 2:
The system implements feedback through the distribution of synchronized trigger signals from the master to slave oscilloscopes. The master oscilloscope's trigger output serves as a feedback reference that ensures all slave oscilloscopes maintain consistent timing, thereby improving synchronization reliability while enabling the expanded signal viewing capacity needed when multiple devices are used.
Data Source
AI summary
In an exemplary embodiment of the present invention, a master oscilloscope propagates a slave signal to one or more slave oscilloscopes. The slave signal includes a synchronized trigger pulse that is used in the master oscilloscope to provide a display of a first signal and also includes a timing interpolation parameter which indicates a timing delay applied in the master oscilloscope with respect to the synchronized trigger pulse when providing the display. A slave oscilloscope can use the synchronized trigger pulse and the timing interpolation parameter to provide a display of a second signal on the slave oscilloscope, thereby ensuring that a triggered edge of the second signal is time-aligned with a triggered edge of the first signal. This arrangement reduces/eliminates absolute as well as relative timing uncertainties when an observer observes the first signal displayed on the master oscilloscope and/or the second signal displayed on the slave oscilloscope.