OSCILLOSCOPE FUNDAMENTALS

Alexander Kuellmer
Application Engineer Digital Debug Tools
WHAT IS AN OSCILLOSCOPE?

► An oscilloscope is a device that allows you to see how voltage changes over time by displaying a
waveform of electronic signals
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WHAT IS AN OSCILLOSCOPE?
- TIME VS FREQUENCY DOMAIN Time Domain View

Amplitude
Time

Frequency Domain View

Frequency

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TYPICAL MEASUREMENTS WITH AN OSCILLOSCOPE
► Rise time / fall time
► Overshoot
► Ringing
► Voltage drop

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WHAT IS AN OSCILLOSCOPE?
- DIGITAL OSCILLOSCOPE BLOCK DIAGRAM
Included in oscilloscope Chassis

Digital
Trigger Signal
System Processing
(DSP) Independent
display paths

Analogue
Attenuator
Digital
Probing and Memory Display
Converter
Amplifier
(ADC)

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 Oscilloscope Basics

DIGITAL OSCILLOSCOPE
ANALOGUE TRIGGER UNIT
Two independent time
paths for triggering Included in oscilloscope chassis
and analogue digital
conversion Digital
Trigger Horizontal Signal
System System Processing
(DSP) Independent
display paths

Analogue
Attenuator
Digital Acquisition
Probing and Memory Display
Converter Processing
Amplifier
(ADC)

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 DIGITAL OSCILLOSCOPE
ANALOGUE TRIGGER UNIT Horizontal system realigns the time paths of
Two independent time trigger system and ADC output
paths for triggering Included in oscilloscope chassis
and analogue digital
conversion Digital
Trigger Horizontal Signal
System System Processing
(DSP) Independent
display paths

Analogue
Attenuator
Digital Acquisition
Probing and Memory Display
Converter Processing
Amplifier
(ADC)

7 Rohde & Schwarz Oscilloscope fundamentals

DIGITAL OSCILLOSCOPE
DIGITAL TRIGGER UNIT

Included in oscilloscope chassis

Digital
Signal
Processing
(DSP) Independent
display paths

Analogue
Attenuator Digital
Digital
Probing and Trigger Memory Display
Converter
Amplifier System
(ADC)

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WHAT IS ANALOG BANDWIDTH
• Bandwidth: is The most Crucial parameter when choosing an Oscilloscope
• Specified Bandwidth is equal to the frequency of the input sinusoidal signal attenuated by
3dB

RTP164 - 16GHz

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HOW MUCH OSCILLOSCOPE BANDWIDTH DO I NEED?
► Required scope bandwidth depends on test signals frequency components

► Bandwidth relates to rise time tr

∆𝑉𝑜𝑙𝑡𝑎𝑔𝑒
► If only a max. slew rate is given the rise time is calculated accordingly: 𝑡𝑟 =
𝑆𝑙𝑒𝑤 𝑅𝑎𝑡𝑒

► Estimating the Bandwidth needed

Investigating the units:
Rise time tr is expressed in [s]
𝑓𝑚𝑎𝑥 = 1/𝑡𝑟
Frequency is expressed in [Hz]

► As a rule of thumb 𝒇𝒎𝒂𝒙 can be estimated by using the equation 𝒇𝒎𝒂𝒙 = 𝟎. 𝟓/𝒕𝒓

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BANDWIDTH
TEST SIGNAL REQUIREMENTS
► Data rate of typical I/O interfaces

Oscilloscope Bandwidth Requirement

Interface Data Rate Clock Frequency
3rd harmonic 5th harmonic
I2C 3.4 Mbps 3.4 MHz 10.2 MHz 17 MHz
LAN 1G 125 Mbps 62.5 MHz 187.5 MHz 312.5 MHz
USB 2.0 480 Mbps 240 MHz 720 MHz 1200 MHz
SATA I 1.5 Gbps 750 MHz 2.25 GHz 3.75 GHz
DDR4 3.2 Gbps 1.6 GHz 4.8 GHz 8 GHz
PCIe 2.0 5.0 Gbps 2.5 GHz 7.5 GHz 12.5 GHz
PCIe 3.0 8.0 Gbps 4 GHz 12 GHz 20 GHz

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BANDWIDTH
TEST SIGNAL REQUIREMENTS
► Data rate of typical I/O interfaces

Oscilloscope Bandwidth Requirement

Interface Data Rate Clock Frequency
3rd harmonic 5th harmonic
I2C 3.4 Mbps 3.4 MHz 10.2 MHz 17 MHz
LAN 1G 125 Mbps Always
62.5 MHz remember the
187.5 MHz 312.5 MHz
USB 2.0
SATA I
480 Mbps
1.5 Gbps
“3240 to
MHz
750 MHz
5 times Rule”
720 MHz
2.25 GHz
1200 MHz
3.75 GHz
DDR4 3.2 Gbps 1.6 GHz 4.8 GHz 8 GHz
PCIe 2.0 5.0 Gbps 2.5 GHz 7.5 GHz 12.5 GHz
PCIe 3.0 8.0 Gbps 4 GHz 12 GHz 20 GHz

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SAMPLING RATE
► What is sample rate?

Sample rate is the number of samples (i.e. discrete values) a

digital oscilloscope can acquire per second.

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SAMPLING RATE
► Sampling rate is smaller than 2 x highest signal frequency
► Signal is not sampled fast enough -> aliasing
► False reconstructed (alias) waveform is displayed!!

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► Sampling Rate Video (Aliasing)

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RECORD LENGTH

𝑆𝑎𝑚𝑝𝑙𝑒 𝑅𝑎𝑡𝑒 𝑥 𝐴𝑐𝑞𝑢𝑖𝑠𝑖𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑇𝑖𝑚𝑒 = 𝑅𝑒𝑐𝑜𝑟𝑑 𝐿𝑒𝑛𝑔𝑡ℎ

𝑓𝑠𝑎𝑚𝑝𝑙𝑒 𝑥 𝑡𝑚𝑒𝑎𝑠 = 𝑛𝑠𝑎𝑚𝑝𝑙𝑒𝑠 with 𝑡𝑚𝑒𝑎𝑠 = 𝑇𝑖𝑚𝑒 𝑠𝑐𝑎𝑙𝑒 𝑥 [# 𝑜𝑓 𝐷𝑖𝑣𝑖𝑠𝑖𝑜𝑛𝑠]

𝐺𝑆𝑎 µ𝑠
10 × 100 × 10 div = 10 MSa
𝑠 𝑑𝑖𝑣
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 Memory
Depth

Caution:
Optimization has
always to be done,
considering that these 3
parameters rely on each other.

Measurement Sampling
Time Rate

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EMC – FAULT HUNTING:
WHY IS AN OSCILLOSCOPE A GOOD CHOICE?
WHAT IS AN OSCILLOSCOPE?
- TIME VS FREQUENCY DOMAIN Time Domain View

Amplitude
Time

Frequency Domain View

Frequency

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EMI ANALYSIS WITH OSCILLOSCOPES?
USUAL OBJECTIONS
► … but is the scope sensitive enough?
− Yes: 1mV/Div gives DANL of ~0 dBµV
(@500 MHz, 120 kHz RBW, 50 W)

► … but isn‘t it difficult to use?

− No: spectrum analyzer use model

► … but what about a (6 dB) EMI filter?

− Not necessary for EMI debugging

► … and what about limit lines?

− The mask tool includes limit line functionality

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FFT AS BASIS FOR EMI DEBUGGING WITH OSCILLOSCOPES
CONVENTIONAL FFT IMPLEMENTATION ON A SCOPE
Time Domain Frequency Domain

Dt = 1/Fs Fmax = Fs/2

x(t)
S(f) S(f)
Zoom
t Windowing FFT (f1…f2)
f f
f1 f2 f1 f2
Data acquisition Display

Record length T Df = 1/T

Disadvantages:
− Time domain settings define frequency domain
− Zoom in frequency domain does not give more details
− Correlated time-frequency analysis not possible

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R&S RTE/RTO/RTP – HIGH-PERFORMANCE FFT
IMPLEMENTATION WITH SPECTRUM ANALYZER USE MODEL
► Spectrum Analyzer Use Model
− Frequency domain controls time domain:
Record length and sampling rate are updated
automatically

► FFT for maximum performance

− Frequency zoom before FFT:
e.g. 500 MHz center / 10 MHz span: 20 MS/s
instead of 1 GS/s
Time Frequency
Fs = 2*BW BW = f2 - f1
Domain Domain

x(t)
S(f)

t Zoom Windowing FFT

Data acquisition f
f1 f2
Display
Record length
Df = 1/T
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23 Rohde & Schwarz EMC fault hunting
WHEN TO USE WHICH INSTRUMENT?
FROM COMPLIANCE TO EMI DEBUGGING
EMI Receiver Spectrum-/ Signalanalyzer Oscilloscope
► 6 dB Filters ► 3 dB Filters ► 3 dB Filter
► Preselector available ► High selectivity ► One shot analysis of whole
► Highest selectivity ► High sensitivity frequency range
► CISPR compliant detectors ► Analysis on wide frequency ► Measures down to DC
► Demodulation of signals range possible (today up to 8 ► Trigger capabilities for signal
possible GHz internal analysis BW separation
available) ► Mask testing in frequency
► Time domain scan reduces
sweep time to a minimum ► Demodulation of signals and time domain
possible ► Gated FFT possible
► Multichannel coherent
receiver

24 Rohde & SchwarzEMC fault hunting

WHEN TO USE WHICH INSTRUMENT?
FROM COMPLIANCE TO EMI DEBUGGING
EMI Receiver Spectrum-/ Signalanalyzer Oscilloscope
► 6 dB Filters ► 3 dB Filters ► 3 dB Filter
► Preselector avialable ► High selectivity ► One shot analysis of whole
► Highest selectivity ► High sensitivity frequency range
► CISPR compliant detectors ► Analysis on wide frequency ► Measures down to DC
► Demodulation of signals range possible (today up to 8 ► Trigger capabilities for signal
possible GHz internal analysis BW separation
available) ► Mask testing in frequency
► Time domain scan reduces
sweep time to a minimum ► Demodulation of signals and time domain
possible ► Gated FFT possible
► Multichannel coherent
receiver

25 Rohde & SchwarzEMC fault hunting

Find out more

www.rohde-schwarz.com/oscilloscopes

For further questions please contact

sales.germany@rohde-schwarz.com
with subject “Oscilloscope Fundamentals”