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WaveAce Integration with WaveStation APPLICATION BRIEF

August 3, 2012

Summary

Debugging sometimes

requires transfer of signals

from oscilloscope to waveform

generator. This document

describes how to transfer

signals from the WaveAce

oscilloscope to the

WaveStation waveform

generator and vice versa.

Introduction

All circuit designers hope for first-pass prototyping success, a scenario in

which the circuit or subsystem under test performs exactly as intended and

exhibits predictable, desired behavior. Unfortunately, this is rarely the

case. Rather, the “real world” intervenes, in which the circuit’s behavior is

not up to the design specification and requires debugging. Enter the

waveform generator and associated software for PCs, with which

engineers can create ideal waveforms, edit them, and transfer them to the

generator for use in debugging. Conversely, those less-than-ideal

waveforms found in the real world can be captured, analyzed, and stored

with an oscilloscope. Subsequently, they too can be transferred to the

waveform generator for use in further debug as a reference.

About the WaveStation

LeCroy’s WaveStation family of function/arbitrary waveform generators,

shown in Figure 1, serves as a vehicle for waveform creation. With 14-bit

resolution and a sample rate of 125 Msamples/sec., WaveStation creates

signals with great accuracy. That accuracy is enhanced by WaveStation’s

low jitter, low harmonic distortion, and low inter-channel skew. It also is

unusual amongst instruments in its class in that it comes standard with two

output channels, enabling it to drive differential signals.

Figure 1: Shown is LeCroy’s WaveStation 2052 function/arbitrary waveform

generator, which sports a bandwidth of 50 MHz, a 125-Msample/sec sampling

rate, 14-bit resolution, and 16 kpoints of memory per channel

Summary of content (6 pages)

PAGE 1
WaveAce Integration with WaveStation August 3, 2012 Summary Debugging sometimes requires transfer of signals from oscilloscope to waveform generator. This document describes how to transfer signals from the WaveAce oscilloscope to the WaveStation waveform generator and vice versa. APPLICATION BRIEF Introduction All circuit designers hope for first-pass prototyping success, a scenario in which the circuit or subsystem under test performs exactly as intended and exhibits predictable, desired behavior.
PAGE 2
About the WaveAce When teamed with an oscilloscope such as LeCroy’s WaveAce series of instruments, shown in Figure 2, WaveStation becomes a formidable debugging tool. The WaveAce oscilloscopes come in bandwidths from 40 MHz to 300 MHz and with sample rates of up to 2 GS/s. A long memory of up to 1 Mpts/channel (2 Mpts/channel when interleaved) means that a sizable record of a signal is retained.
PAGE 3
Transfers from WaveAce to WaveStation Getting signals from WaveStation into WaveAce is a simple matter of connecting the output of the signal generator to the input of the oscilloscope via coaxial cable. Transferring signals from WaveAce to WaveStation is even simpler once the USB connections with the PC are established. The following is a step-by-step procedure for sending a real-world signal from the WaveAce oscilloscope to the WaveStation arbitrary signal generator.
PAGE 4
Figure 4: National Instruments’ Measurement & Automation Explorer application automatically detects that the WaveAce 2034 oscilloscope is connected to the PC via USB 4. Open WaveStation software on the PC and click Communication in the menu bar. Then click on the Import Waveform from Scope option, which opens the dialog box shown in Figure 5. Be sure to check the appropriate channel box. Then click on Import.
PAGE 5
Figure 6: The waveform imported from the WaveAce oscilloscope as seen in the WaveStation software 6. Ensure that the WaveStation’s USB port is enabled for a USBRAW connection as discussed earlier. 7. Click the Send Wave button at the bottom of the WaveStation software’s interface. In the Send Wave dialog box, click Send. 8. On the WaveStation, ensure that the signal sent to the instrument is highlighted (it should be by default) and touch Select as shown in Figure 7.
PAGE 6
9. The signal from the WaveAce oscilloscope is now loaded into the WaveStation as shown in Figure 8. Compare this image with Figures 3 and 6. Figure 8: This screen capture from the WaveStation shows the imported waveform from the WaveAce oscilloscope as seen in Figures 3 and 6 Further Capabilities of WaveStation Software A great feature of the WaveStation utility is its ability to create customized waveforms.