Feature sponsored by Test & measurement
Fig 1: R&S MXO 4 oscilloscope feature an update rate exceeding 4.5 million waveforms/s to discover even infrequent events.
faults and including them in the overall analysis (see Fig 1). This not only enables development teams to see and isolate infrequent events more quickly, but get a better understanding of their designs and ultimately shorten testing times. This feature, which is unparalleled in the
industry, was made possible with a unique 200 Gbps processing ASIC (MXO-EP, see Fig 2), one of several new technology blocks developed by Rohde & Schwarz engineers and implemented in the R&S MXO 4 Series for the first time. High update rate, however, would be of no use, if the overall instrument was sluggish and unresponsive. The R&S MXO 4 maintains a fast update rate even when complex functions are active such as automated measurements, spectrum analysis or deep memory acquisitions. The custom ASIC based signal processing ensures smooth workflows.
LOWER MEASUREMENT NOISE AND HIGHEST VERTICAL RESOLUTION All R&S MXO 4 series oscilloscopes incorporate a 12-bit ADC that operates across all sample rates without any tradeoffs. This is a 16x improvement over a traditional 8-bit ADC architecture. Going further, the HD mode implemented in hardware for speed, achieves up to 18-bit vertical resolution which allows users to see more signal details that would otherwise be masked by noise (Fig. 3). In addition, the R&S MXO 4 offers the lowest noise of just 22 µV AC (RMS) at 1 mV/div.
The new oscilloscope offers an outstanding sensitivity down to 500 µV/div without any unexpected reduction in bandwidth. It offers the largest offset range, +/- 5V with a 500uV/div scaling on 50 Ohm path without any special probes, in its class to enable users to easily place the signal at the center of the screen. These attributes enable users to see DC and other signals with more precision than with any other oscilloscope in the market.
CAPTURE MORE WITH THE DEEPEST STANDARD MEMORY
Besides bandwidth and sample rate, memory depth is the most important attribute that
Instrumentation Monthly August 2023
Fig 2: Rohde & Schwarz incorporated its own 200 Gbps processing ASIC into the new R&S MXO 4 Continued on page 32...
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determines an oscilloscope’s ability to handle a large range of troubleshooting tasks. More acquisition memory gives oscilloscopes the ability to capture more time and retain rated bandwidth information with slower time base settings. With a standard acquisition memory of 400 Mpts on all four channels simultaneously, the R&S MXO 4 Series offers up to 100 times the standard memory of the primary competition. The additional memory also provides extra measurement capability when needed. The R&S MXO 4 oscilloscope additionally offers segmented memory as standard to efficiently capture signals of interest and ignore the times of inactivity. Examples include laser pulses, streams of serial bus activity and RF pulses. With History mode available all the time, users can dial back to see previously captured acquisitions or segments. For customers interested in analysing power up/down behavior or analysing larger time intervals an optional memory extension turns on 800 Mpts across two channels.
HIGH-PRECISION DIGITAL TRIGGER Triggering enables reliably capturing and displaying signals of interest. Nearly all scopes in the market have analogue technology. The measured signal is split into two paths, one for viewing the signal, and a separate for triggering. The analogue approach does not allow users to trigger on small signal changes, and applying filters to the trigger signal are limited. Rohde & Schwarz made triggering digital with a single signal path that encompasses both trigger and signal visualisation. Digital triggering proved to be significantly more precise and sensitive than analog triggering. It offers new possibilities for triggering on extremely fine signal details and filtered waveforms that previously was unavailable to users. Previously only found in higher performance oscilloscopes at higher price points, digital trigger comes standard with all R&S MXO 4 Series oscilloscopes. Realised with the MXO- EP ASIC, digital triggering implies a common path for the measurement signal and trigger versus a split path in older analogue trigger architectures. With a trigger sensitivity of 1/10 000 division, it can isolate difficult-to- find small physical layer anomalies in the presence of large signals (Fig. 4). No competitive oscilloscope has this degree of trigger sensitivity for isolated small signals. The digital trigger complements the 18-bit vertical architecture, giving users the ability to fully utilise the precision offered by the R&S MXO 4 Series. Full access to control all trigger hysteresis settings is another advantage with digital triggers. This provides greater flexibility for determining where to trigger, including how much trigger noise suppression is desired. All this while still maintaining a very short trigger rearm time of down to < 21 ns.
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