Oscilloscopes remain a hot topic on the RF DesignLine, so I had a virtual "sit down" with some leaders in the industry to see where the technology is, and where they think it is going. The following article includes some of the thoughts and remarks of Darren McCarthy, Technical Marketing Manager, RF Test, Tektronix, Inc.; Dave Rishavy, Business Segment Manager, High Performance Oscilloscopes, Agilent; and Ryan Verret, Baseband Product Manager, National Instruments.
After the interview, I've included some links to some of the most popular scope articles on the site.
RFDL: What is the status of the technology?
McCarthy: Digital oscilloscope technology has long surpassed analog scope technology. Sampling technology now extends to 50 Giga-Samples per second with real-time bandwidths to 20 GHz. The oscilloscope technology has enabled faster high-speed serial data designs and the discovery of the true high-frequency behavior of fast risetime phenomena.
Verret: While traditional digital oscilloscopes push the limits of sampling rate with 8-bit resolution, commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) analog-to-digital converters are enabling a new class of high-resolution digitizers with 12-16 bits of resolution and sampling rates high enough to accommodate the widest bandwidth and most complex digital modulation protocols. Field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs) also provide a cost-effective means of implementing digital downconversion to return complex (I/Q) data, which reduces data rates and simplifies subsequent demodulation. These digitizers are useful in RF test applications that require high dynamic range along with vector-based acquisition.
Rishavy: We continue to see customer need for low noise oscilloscopes that provide excellent dynamic range. Along with this, more accurate analysis of RF signals is demanding large trace depth.
RFDL: How do you see market opportunities?
Verret: With the latest digital communication protocols using more complex modulation schemes and wider bandwidths to achieve higher data rates, demands on RF test equipment are increasing. High-resolution digitizers offer the performance to test devices implementing these protocols today, with the flexibility to accommodate future standards tomorrow.
McCarthy: The consumer market continues to be driven primarily from high-speed serial digital interface technologies and the need for accurate measurements and design compliance. This includes SATA, PCIe, USB3.0, HDMI, and DisplayPort to name a few. The wireless design market also is a big driver for oscilloscope advances. Ultra-wideband technologies from RFID to satellite promise to un-tether many high-speed serial wired communications with standards such as WiMedia-UWB and adopters such as Wireless-USB, Bluetooth SIG, and video applications. Synthetic aperture radar, SAR, is also a developing market that can directly take advantage of current oscilloscope technology with direct measurements thru to the Ku-band.
Rishavy: RF engineers are increasingly using oscilloscopes for analyzing both the growing digital content in their radio designs along with direct radio signal analysis especially in the emerging ultra-wideband measurements. Technologies such as wireless USB, pulsed radar, WiMedia, "60GHz" UWB and other UWB technologies can couple the native wideband capabilities of an oscilloscope with vector signal analyzer software for powerful modulation domain measurements. We address this market opportunity by coupling our low noise (high dynamic range) oscilloscopes, the industry's deepest memory, and our powerful 89601A VSA Software.
RFDL: What do you wish every RF engineer knew about this topic?
Rishavy: That today's oscilloscopes have made major improvements in system digitizer performance which allow the modern scope to become a powerful tool for looking at wideband RF signals. (Agilent Scopes)
Verret: For many applications, high-resolution digitizers now offer the dynamic range and bandwidth needed to either test RF transmitters directly or through the use of a separate downconverter. Techniques such as undersampling push direct acquisition capabilities into the hundreds of megahertz, while downconverters extend acquisition frequencies into the microwave band. When compared to swept-spectrum methods, digitizer-based RF test offers speed advantages, greater instrumentation flexibility and modularity, and the versatility to perform demodulation for higher-level protocol tests.( National Instruments digitizers/oscilloscopes)
McCarthy: Tektronix oscilloscopes have the flexibility to perform RF measurements directly to 20GHz without the need for expensive and time consuming setup with downconverters and external calibration equipment. The phase, flatness, and linearity are ideal for wideband measurements and the ability to utilize the entire scope memory for RF measurement analysis is unique for Tektronix scopes. The flexibility of making multi-domain vector signal measurements with SignalVu, available on DPO7000 and DSA/DPO70000 series oscilloscopes, simplifies RF analysis over for a wide variety of radio and radar applications. (Tektronix Scopes)
Links to hot Scope articles on the RF DesignLine:
