Test & measurement
of equal length in this example. A code determines the selection of the phase shift. The common code is binary, where the code value switches between binary states, corresponding to a fixed phase shift controlled by the code sequence. The phase shift in this example is about 2 radians at each transition of the binary modulation signal. The waveform was created using SBench6, as shown in Figure 8.
IMPORTING WAVEFORMS FROM A DIGITIZER
As utilitarian as the function software generator is, many situations require acquired waveforms from a digitizer, another instrument, or a third-party software package. This permits actual acquired signals to be duplicated for development and testing. SBench6 makes it simple to transfer these waveforms in various data formats.
Figure 10: The sequence of operations, from left to right, to import the waveform from the host computer into the AWG.
The import selection under the file menu brings up the file format choices. Select the SBench6 format and navigate the location of the stored waveform. Pressing the Open button will import the waveform. The waveform will appear in the input channels panel under Import, as shown in Figure 11.
Figure 13: The imported waveform is listed in the Input Channels panel and is viewed in an analog display grid.
Once imported, the waveform is like any other SBench6 waveform and can be transferred to the output channel, measured, or processed.
Figure 11: The imported waveform, displayed in an Analog Display grid.
Figure 8: The SBench 6 function generator setup for generating the radar pulse with a Spectrum 63 series AWG
Transferring a waveform from a Spectrum Instrumentation digitizer to a 63 series AWG is accomplished by exporting acquired data from the digitizer to the host computer, as shown in Figure 9.
The imported waveform can be displayed on an analogue display grid and moved to an output channel. SBench6 is not your only choice for creating or transferring waveforms. Running under Windows or Linux, the AWGs are fully programmable using today’s most popular and powerful software languages. AWGs and digitizers are shipped with software development kits (SDKs) for C++, C#, Python,
VB.NET, Julia, and Java. Drivers are also provided for third-party software products LabVIEW and MATLAB. These tools can create and transfer waveforms but require specific programming.
Figure 9: Using SBench6, waveforms can be exported from the digitizer to the host computer.
Waveforms acquired in the digitizer are exported using the Export/Save item in the File menu. The waveform can be exported in any of the seven data
38
IMPORTING FROM ANOTHER TYPE OF INSTRUMENT OR SOFTWARE APPLICATION The AWG can also import waveforms from other types of instruments like digital oscilloscopes or third-party software applications. SBench6 can export MATLAB files directly, while for other sources ASCII files are used. As in the previous case, the SBench6 import function using the File pulldown is used. In this instance, the ASCII/CSV file type is selected. After selecting a target file, the Basic File Setup dialog appears in Figure 12. The basic file setup describes the characteristics
MULTIPLE CHANNEL OPERATION The Spectrum 63 series AWGs are available as PCIe cards and NETBOX instruments in single and dual-channel versions. For multi-input/multi-output (MIMO) applications requiring more channels, it’s possible to connect multiple PCIe cards together using Spectrum’s proprietary Star-Hub clock and trigger synchronization module. Star-Hub is an additional unit that can be installed on one card to allow phase stable synchronization of up to 8 AWG cards in a single system. Each card then shares a common clock and trigger, making it possible to create systems with up to sixteen channels clocked at 5 GS/s or eight channels up to 10 GS/s. Clock skew between single AWGs can be compensated in the range of ±127 ps.
CONCLUSION
The Spectrum 63 series of AWGs can generate almost any waveform with up to 10 GS/s sample rate, up to 3.5 GHz analogueue bandwidth, and 16-bit amplitude resolution, offering a perfect solution for almost every application. They are a way to generate high frequency, high purity, and low distortion waveforms using cost- effective off-the-shelf modular instruments.
Spectrum Instrumentation
spectrum-instrumentation.com
May 2025 Instrumentation Monthly
formats shown. The SBench6 format is used for transfers to the AWG. After selecting the SBench6 data format, the “Export channels to SBench6” dialog appears, allowing the user to select the desired waveform, or selected parts of it, to a selected file. Pressing the OK button transfers the waveform file to the computer. Using a separate instance of SBench6, the AWG can import the file from the computer. Figure 10 outlines the process.
Figure 12: The sequence of operations, from left to right, to import an ASCII-encoded waveform file into the AWG.
of the waveform contained in the ASCII file, including its length, the type of data values, numeric format, delineator character, sample rate, resolution, amplitude range, and the number of header lines to skip. Some entries, like the file length, are automatically derived from the file. The others must be entered to match the waveform file’s format. Pressing OK will import the file into SBench6, as shown in Figure 13.
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76
