Virtins technology VT DSO-2A20 User manual

VT DSO-2A20 Manual Rev. 1.1
Virtins Technology
VT DSO-2A20 Manual
This product is designed to be used by those who have some basic electronics and electrical
knowledge. It is absolutely dangerous to connect an unknown external voltage to the VT
DSO unit. Be sure that the voltage to be measured is less than the maximum allowed input
voltage.
Note: VIRTINS TECHNOLOGY reserves the right to make modifications to this manual at any time without
notice. This manual may contain typographical errors.
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
1 INSTALLATION AND QUICK START GUIDE..........................................................................................3
1.1 PACKAGE CONTENTS....................................................................................................................................3
1.2 MULTI-INSTRUMENT SOFTWARE INSTALLATION..........................................................................................4
1.3 HARDWARE DRIVER INSTALLATION .............................................................................................................4
1.3.1 Installation Procedure .........................................................................................................................4
1.3.2 Installation Verification.....................................................................................................................12
1.4 START MULTI-INSTRUMENT SOFTWARE.....................................................................................................13
1.5 ZEROING.....................................................................................................................................................13
1.6 PROBE CALIBRATION..................................................................................................................................14
1.7 HARD RESET...............................................................................................................................................15
1.8 FEATURE HIGHLIGHTS................................................................................................................................15
1.8.1 Hardware DSP based Bit Resolution Enhancement for Oscilloscope...............................................15
1.8.2 Oscilloscope Normal Frame Mode, Record Mode and Roll Mode....................................................17
1.8.3 Oscilloscope Digital Trigger and Trigger Frequency Rejection........................................................19
1.8.4 Oscilloscope Persistence Mode..........................................................................................................20
1.8.5 External Trigger Input Channel as a Digital Input Channel.............................................................20
1.8.6 Anti-aliasing filter for Spectrum Analyzer.........................................................................................20
1.8.7 Signal Generator DDS and Streaming Modes...................................................................................20
1.8.8 Signal Generator DDS Interpolation.................................................................................................21
1.8.9 Simultaneous Data Acquisition and Data Output..............................................................................21
1.8.10 Calibration and Re-Calibration.......................................................................................................22
1.8.11 Upgradable software, firmware, and hardware based DSP algorithm ...........................................23
1.9 NON-ROUTINE APPLICATIONS.....................................................................................................................23
1.9.1 Frequency Response Measurement....................................................................................................23
1.9.2 Distortion, Noise Level, and Crosstalk Measurements......................................................................26
1.9.3 Measurement of Derived Quantities ..................................................................................................26
1.9.4 Some Pre-configured Measurement Settings .....................................................................................26
2 SPECIFICATIONS.........................................................................................................................................30
2.1 VT DSO-2A20 HARDWARE SPECIFICATIONS.............................................................................................30
2.2 P2100 OSCILLOSCOPE PROBE HARDWARE SPECIFICATIONS.......................................................................35
2.3 MULTI-INSTRUMENT SOFTWARE SPECIFICATIONS......................................................................................35
2.4 SOFTWARE DEVELOPMENT INTERFACE SPECIFICATIONS............................................................................42
3 MULTI-INSTRUMENT SOFTWARE LICENSE INFORMATION.........................................................43
3.1 LICENSE TYPES...........................................................................................................................................43
3.2 LICENSE UPGRADE FROM ONE LEVEL TO ANOTHER ....................................................................................43
3.3 SOFTWARE UPGRADE FOR THE SAME LEVEL ...............................................................................................43
4 EXTENDED USE OF MULTI-INSTRUMENT SOFTWARE...................................................................44
5 MEASUREMENT EXAMPLES....................................................................................................................45
6 SAFETY INSTRUCTIONS............................................................................................................................47
7 WARRANTY...................................................................................................................................................47
8 DISCLAIMER.................................................................................................................................................47
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1 Installation and Quick Start Guide
This is one of the second-generation USB DSOs designed and developed by Virtins
Technology. This generation of USB DSOs features Virtins Technology’s unique hardware-
based DSP algorithm which enhances the performance and functionality dramatically without
adding extra hardware cost. When used in conjunction with Multi-Instrument®software, the
USB DSO converts any desktop, laptop, or tablet PC into a powerful oscilloscope, spectrum
analyzer, multimeter, data logger, signal generator and so forth, all of which work
simultaneously.
1.1 Package Contents
A standard VT DSO-2A20 Package contains the following items:
1) VT DSO unit with a hardware bundled Multi-Instrument Standard software license
2) 2 ×100 MHz Oscilloscope Probe P2100 (Old Tag: P6100) with two switchable positions:
×1, ×10
3) Signal Generator Test Lead (1 m)
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4) USB cable (1.5 m)
5) CD (contains the copy-protected Multi-Instrument software and VT DSO driver)
1.2 Multi-Instrument Software Installation
Insert the installation CD into your computer’s CD-ROM drive and follow the instruction on
the screen to install the Multi-Instrument software.
1.3 Hardware Driver Installation
1.3.1 Installation Procedure
The USB cable has one USB A-type connector at one end and one USB B-Type connector at
the other end. The A-type connector should be connected to a USB port of your computer
while the B-type connector should be connected to the DSO.
For some computers, the power from one USB port may not be enough for the DSO. In this
case, a USB cable with two USB A-type connectors at one end (one is black and the other is
red) and one USB B-Type connector at the other end can be used. The black A-type
connector should be connected to a USB port of your computer while the B-type connector
should be connected to the DSO unit. The red A-type connector should be connected to
another USB port of your computer if the USB port with which the black A-type connector
connected is not able to supply sufficient power to the unit.
Starting from Multi-Instrument 3.6, the VT DSO hardware driver will be installed
automatically during software installation, even without the connection of the DSO.
Therefore, the following driver installation procedures are more for manual installation and
troubleshooting purpose.
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For Windows XP (and similarly Windows Vista):
1) Wait for the “Found New Hardware Wizard” dialog to pop up. And then select “No, not
this time” and click “Next”.
2) Select “Install from a list or specific location (Advanced)” and click “Next”.
3) Choose “Search for the best driver in these locations” and “Browse…”, and then locate
the driver. The driver can be found at Multi-Instrument’s installation
directory\Drivers\VTUSB3\32bit or 64bit. Choose 32-bit or 64-driver according to your
Windows version. After that, press “Next”.
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4) The following dialog box will pop up. Click “Continue Anyway”.
5) Click “Finish”.
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6) Select “No, not this time” and click “Next”.
7) Select “Install from a list or specific location (Advanced)” and click “Next”.
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8) Choose “Search for the best driver in these locations” and “Browse…”, and then locate
the driver. The driver can be found at Multi-Instrument’s installation
directory\Drivers\VTUSB3\32bit or 64bit. Choose 32-bit or 64-driver according to your
Windows version. After that, press “Next”.
9) The following dialog box will pop up. Click “Continue Anyway”.
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10)Click “Finish”.
For Windows 8 (and similarly Windows 7) :
1) If there is an available internet connection, Windows 8 will silently connect to the
Windows Update website and search for the driver. The following dialog box will pop up.
Click “Close” or let it close automatically after failing to find the driver.
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2) The DSO driver has to be installed manually via Device Manager under Windows
Control Panel. The Device Manager can be accessed from Windows 8 Metro Start Screen
via [Charm Bar]>[Settings]>[Control Panel]>[Hardware and Sound]>[Device Manager].
In the Device Manager window, there will be an Unknown device under Other Device
with a yellow warning symbol to indicate that the driver for the device has not been
installed. Right click on the Unknown device and choose “Update Driver Software…”
on the pop-up menu.
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3) Choose “Browse my computer for driver software”.
4) Choose “Search for driver software in this location” and “Browse…”, and then locate the
driver. The driver can be found at Multi-Instrument’s installation
directory\Drivers\VTUSB3\32bit or 64bit. Choose 32-bit or 64-driver according to your
Windows version. After that, press “Next”.
5) Choose “Install” to start the driver installation.
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6) Press “Close” after the installation has been completed.
The driver is located in the Drivers\VTUSB3 directory in the CD. When you install the
Multi-Instrument software, a copy of the respective driver will also be installed in the
software installation directory \Drivers\VTUSB3.
Once the driver has been installed successfully, the LED on the DSO’s front panel will blink
red once.
Note: you may need to re-install the driver if you change to use another USB port of
your computer for the VT DSO unit. However, the installation CD is not required
during driver re-installation. To avoid driver re-installation, stick to a fixed USB port
of your computer for the VT DSO unit.
1.3.2 Installation Verification
If the hardware driver has already been installed, the LED on the DSO’s front panel will
blink red once whenever you attach the DSO to the computer. You can follow the steps in
the next section to start the Multi-Instrument software. If the software starts in licensed mode
(do not plug out the DSO), that means that the driver has been installed successfully.
Otherwise, please open the Windows Device Manager via [Start]>[Control
Panel]>[System]>[Hardware]>[Device Manager] (for Windows XP, and similarly for other
Windows versions), you should see “Virtins USB3.0 Generic Driver” under “Universal
Serial Bus controllers” category. If not, then re-installation of the hardware driver is required.
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1.4 Start Multi-Instrument Software
To start the Multi-Instrument software, on Windows desktop, click the MI icon directly, or
select [Start]>[All Programs]>[Multi-Instrument]>[VIRTINS Multi-Instrument] (for
Windows XP, and similarly for other Windows versions). The LED on the DSO panel will
keep blinking green very fast for a little while during the software startup. If the oscilloscope
is running, the LED will be steady green. If the signal generator is running, it will be steady
red. If both are running, it will be steady orange. If some error occurs, it will blink red at a
slow speed.
1.5 Zeroing
Connect the oscilloscope probe tip to its ground lead for both channels, and switch the
Trigger Mode to “Auto” (see the figure above). With the oscilloscope running, you should
see a horizontal line at 0V in the oscilloscope. If not, you should click “ ”和“”in the
toolbar and choose “Yes” to compensate the ground levels of both channels to zero. You may
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need to do this every time after you change the sampling parameters. If “No” is chosen
instead, the software DC compensation will have no effect.
For VT DSOs that support hardware offset adjustment, it is recommended to use that
function for zeroing instead (described in the following sections). To make sure that the
software DC compensation is inactive, go to [Setting]>[Calibration] and check the “Input DC
Offset”, make sure that the values are zero for both channels.
1.6 Probe Calibration
Connect the probe (at ×10 position) to the 1 kHz square wave output of the DSO, and then
adjust the sampling parameters such that the waveform displayed on the screen can be clearly
seen. You can also do this by simply clicking the “Auto” button at the upper right corner of
the screen.
Adjust the probe compensate capacitor at the end of the probe cable such that the square
wave looks normal, as shown below.
For VT DSOs (such as VT DSO-2810R and VT DSO-2820R) that do not have a built-in
analog signal generator, the probe calibration signal is generated digitally and output via a
dedicated pin.
For VT DSOs (such as VT DSO-2810 and VT DSO-2820) that have a built-in band-limited
(<5MHz) analog signal generator, the probe calibration signal is generated digitally and
output via the signal generator output BNC when the analog signal generator is not running.
For VT DSOs (such as VT DSO-2810E and VT DSO-2820E) that have a built-in wide-band
analog signal generator, the probe calibration signal is generated analogously and output via
the signal generator output BNC when the signal generator is not running. You can also
generate it using the signal generator.
The probe calibration output can be configured via [Setting]>[DAC Device] (see figure
below).
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You can choose to output either Rectangle or MLS signal. When MLS is selected, the
frequency value here refers to the clock frequency of the MLS generator rather than the
output signal frequency. By default, the Probe CAL signal output is enabled. You can disable
the signal output by un-ticking the “Probe CAL” checkbox. This will help to improve the
Signal-to-Noise ratio in the oscilloscope, especially when the measuring range is lower than
100 mV.
1.7 Hard Reset
A hard reset can be done via disconnecting the DSO from your computer and then re-connect
it to the computer again. You can only do this with the Multi-Instrument software closed.
1.8 Feature Highlights
The following sections highlight some unique features of the second-generation VT DSOs.
Most of these features are not available in other USB DSOs in the market. For a complete
description of functions, please refer to the Multi-Instrument software manual.
1.8.1 Hardware DSP based Bit Resolution Enhancement for Oscilloscope
Hardware DSP based bit resolution enhancement is a unique feature that is only found in the
second-generation VT DSOs. Virtins Technology is the first and currently the only company
to implement this feature in USB oscilloscopes. With this feature, an 8-bit ADC device
would be able to produce samples with an increased effective bit resolution as the sampling
frequency (defined here as its sample output rate) goes down. Theoretically, additional ½ bit
of resolution could be gained through some algorithm whenever the sampling frequency
decreases by a factor of 2. Therefore, an 8-bit ADC device could output samples with a 16-
bit effective bit resolution if the sampling frequency is 1/216 of its maximum sampling
frequency.
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To use the bit resolution enhancement feature, select “16Bit” in the Sampling Bit Resolution
combo box in the Sampling Parameter Toolbar. The actual effective bit resolution achieved
depends on the sampling frequency used and can go up 16 bits. Please refer to the hardware
specifications in the following chapter.
If “8Bit” is selected instead, it is still possible to partially utilize the bit resolution
enhancement feature. To enable this feature, go to [Setting]>[ADC Device] and select
“Effective Bit Resolution Enhancement” under Miscellaneous section (see figure below).
The effective number of bits (ENOB) of an 8-bit ADC device (when “8Bit” is selected in the
above figure) is always less than 8 bits due to noise and distortion. Enabling this feature will
make the ENOB of the device closer to 8 bits.
For a 10-bit ADC device, normally “16Bit” should be selected in order to make full use of
the bit resolution enhancement feature. “8Bit” is sometimes useful if a longer record length is
required under normal frame mode or a higher sampling rate is required for continuous
recording under streaming mode.
The above bit resolution enhancement is realized through hardware. It is also possible to
implement this feature through software. After the acquired data have been transferred from
the DSO into the computer, one can apply a moving average digital filter (a FIR filter with
equal filter coefficients) to them. A 2-tap moving average filter would increase the effective
bit resolution by ½ bit. A 216–tap moving average filter would turn an 8-bit ADC device into
a 16-bit one. However, software DSP based bit resolution enhancement has significant side
effects as compared to its hardware counterpart. (see table below)
Side Effects Hardware
DSP based
bit
resolution
enhancement
Software
DSP based
bit resolution
enhancement
Reduces the signal bandwidth (normally from 0 to ½ of the sampling
frequency) roughly by a factor equal to the number of taps used in the moving
average. As a result, high-frequency details of the signal, which should have
shown up, are lost. For instance, spikes will be widened and flattened, vertical
edges will become straight-line slopes, etc.
No Yes
Reduces the number of independent samples per frame by a factor equal to the No Yes
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number of taps used in the moving average, as the adjacent samples are
correlated after moving average.
Non-uniform behavior at the starting and/or the ending parts of the data frame
due to the fact that it is not possible to apply exactly the same moving average
filter there as the one applied to the middle part of the data frame.
No Yes
To use software DSP based bit resolution enhancement, right click anywhere within the
oscilloscope window and choose [Oscilloscope Processing]>“Digital Filtering”>
“Arbitrary”> “IIR Coefficients”. Then select an appropriate moving average filter file from
the IIR subdirectory. Software DSP based bit resolution enhancement is generally not
recommended when hardware DSP based bit resolution enhancement is available.
1.8.2 Oscilloscope Normal Frame Mode, Record Mode and Roll Mode
The second-generation VT DSOs support both normal frame and streaming modes. There are
two streaming modes: Record Mode and Roll Mode. The following is a comparison table of
these three modes.
Normal Frame Mode Record Mode Roll Mode
Max. Sampling
Frequency High Medium Low
Record Length Low
(limited by DSO
hardware buffer size)
High
(limited by hard disk
space)
Medium
(limited by computer
memory size)
Trigger Trigger per frame Trigger required at
startup (first frame) only Trigger required at
startup (first segment)
only
Discontinuity within each
data frame Absolutely no Normally no Normally no
Discontinuity between
adjacent data frames Most likely Normally no Normally no
Usage General purpose Used when Record
Length exceeds the limit
determined by the DSO
hardware buffer
Generally used to provide
instant display response
at very slow sweep speed.
Without it, the entire
frame of data must be
acquired first before the
display can be updated.
Also used when Record
Length exceeds the limit
determined by the DSO
hardware buffer
1.8.2.1 Normal Frame Mode
Normal frame mode is the most commonly used oscilloscope mode. Each data frame is
triggered and acquired individually. There may be discontinuity between two adjacent data
frames. The length of the data frame is limited by the DSO hardware buffer size. One major
advantage of this mode is that it supports the highest sampling frequency of the ADC device.
1.8.2.2 Record Mode
Record Mode can be activated using either of the following methods:
•Clicking the Record button in the Sampling Parameter Toolbar
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•Selecting “Record” in the Sweep Time combo box (at the bottom left corner of the
screen after clicking anywhere in the oscilloscope window) and then clicking the Run
button of the oscilloscope (at the upper left corner of the screen).
Click the Record button or oscilloscope Run button again to stop recording. When the
sampling frequency is high, the hard disk file used for recording will be filled up very
quickly, remember to click either of the above buttons to stop recording in time. To exit the
Record Mode, select an oscilloscope sweep time other than “Record” in the above Sweep
Time combo box.
Under Record Mode, raw ADC data will be written into the hard disk continuously in WAV
file format. Meanwhile, data analysis and display will still be performed in order to keep the
screen updated in real time. Priority is given to the former process in order to try the best to
ensure uninterrupted data recording. Whether the recorded data are continuous (i.e. the
adjacent frames of data are connected smoothly without missing any data in between) or not
depends on the system throughput, sampling frequency, bit resolution, number of sampling
channels, etc. The DAQ progress bar under the oscilloscope graph shows the recording
progress. The progress bar will be filled with some red color if the recorded data are not
continuous (see figures below). You can lower the sampling frequency and bit resolution,
and use single channel if possible, to get continuous data stream.
No discontinuity detected Discontinuity detected
During the recording process, the screen will still be updated. The oscilloscope frame width
can be adjusted via [Setting]>[Display]> “Record Mode”> “Frame Width” (in points).
When the recording process is stopped, the recorded file will be opened automatically. If it is
too big, it will be opened frame by frame. In this case, the Long Wave File Navigation
Toolbar (as shown below) will pop up to allow you to navigate through the file.
1.8.2.3 Roll Mode
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Roll Mode is activated by ticking the above “Roll” button in the Sampling Parameter Toolbar.
Under this mode, the oscilloscope frame is split into many segments with the length of each
segment equal to the Roll Width, which is set via [Setting]>[Display]>“Roll Mode”> “Roll
Width” (in points). The data displayed in the oscilloscope window will shift left by a step of
one Roll Width each time when a new segment of data arrives. The newly arrived data will
be shown in the right most portion of the graph. You can consider using Roll Mode if the
sweep time is too long (e.g. greater than 1 s) to avoid long time waiting for screen update.
The Roll Mode button is enabled when the Record Length per sweep is four times or more of
the Roll Width. Under the Roll Mode, whether the acquired data are continuous (i.e. the
adjacent segments of data are connected smoothly without missing any data in between) or
not depends on the system throughput, sampling frequency, bit resolution, number of
sampling channels, etc.
1.8.3 Oscilloscope Digital Trigger and Trigger Frequency Rejection
The second-generation VT DSOs use hardware based DSP algorithm for triggering and
trigger frequency rejection. This greatly improves the trigger stability and accuracy, even
with noisy signals.
1.8.3.1 Digital Triggering
The second-generation VT DSOs use a digital trigger instead of the conventional analog
trigger. The digital trigger is implemented through hardware. It is able to search for the
trigger event in the digitized samples in real time. Trigger jitter is a significant problem in
conventional analog trigger. It is caused by the disparity between the acquisition and trigger
circuits. Trigger jitter causes the waveform displayed on the screen to shift left and right as
the display is updated. A digital trigger, on the other hand, does not have this kind of jitter as
it shares the same physical path with the acquisition.
The Multi-Instrument software also features a specially designed algorithm which effectively
eliminates the lateral shaking of waveform display due to limited sampling rate compared
with the signal frequency (i.e. very few samples acquired per signal cycle).
1.8.3.2 Trigger Noise Rejection
Trigger Frequency Rejection can be used to filter out noises from the trigger signal to prevent
false triggering. The available options are: NIL (All-Pass), HFR (High Frequency Rejection),
NR0~NR4 (Noise Rejection), HN0~HNX (High Frequency Rejection + Noise Rejection).
There are different levels of noise rejection. For Levels 0~4, the hysteresis values are fixed
while for Level X, it is user-configurable via [Setting]>[ADC Device]> “Trigger Frequency
Rejection HNX”. You can configure whether to include high frequency rejection and specify
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the noise rejection hysteresis (in percentage) for HNX option. Please refer to the hardware
specifications in the next chapter for the detailed specification of the rest of options.
1.8.4 Oscilloscope Persistence Mode
Under persistence mode, up to 200 most recent waveforms are kept in the computer memory.
These waveforms can be superimposed/drawn in the oscilloscope window in three ways:
Phosphorescent, Rainbow, Equivalent Time Sampling. Persistence Mode can be activated by
right clicking anywhere within the oscilloscope window and select [Oscilloscope Chart
Option]> “Persistence”. Please refer to Multi-Instrument software manual for details.
1.8.5 External Trigger Input Channel as a Digital Input Channel
The external trigger input channel of a second-generation VT DSOs can be used as a digital
input channel. It is actually a 1-bit ADC with the threshold for digitization adjustable. This
channel can be configured via [Setting]>[ADC Device]> “Digital Channel Configuration”.
If the external trigger is selected as the trigger source, then the threshold for digitization can
also be adjusted by adjusting the trigger level in the main window. With two analog input
channels and one digital input channel, the oscilloscope can be used for mixed signal
measurements. It can also be used as a protocol analyzer for serial communications.
1.8.6 Anti-aliasing filter for Spectrum Analyzer
The USB DSOs in the market are generally equipped with only one fixed anti-aliasing filter
for the highest sampling frequency. Aliasing will still occur when the sampling frequency
goes down. This will cause wrong measurements in both the oscilloscope and the spectrum
analyzer. The second-generation VT DSOs solve this problem using anti-aliasing filters that
can adapt to the sampling frequency. 16-bit resolution should be used to fully utilize this
feature. Please refer to the hardware specifications for details.
1.8.7 Signal Generator DDS and Streaming Modes
The signal generator of the second-generation VT DSOs features advanced hardware based
DSP algorithm which supports both streaming and DDS (Direct Digital Synthesis) modes.
Complicated signals such as white noise, MLS, frequency sweep and amplitude sweep,
which generally are not found in other USB signal generators in the market, can be generated
using the second-generation VT DSOs, for both streaming and DDS modes.
Under streaming mode, the output data are computed, continuously if necessary, by the
Multi-Instrument software in the computer and then streamed continuously to the DAC
device for output. One advantage of using streaming mode is that you can fully utilize the
power of the Multi-Instrument software to generate very complicated signal at minimum
hardware cost. However, limited by the software computing and the streaming speed, this
mode is not able to provide high frequency output. Also, it may consume a lot of CPU time
when the output sampling frequency is high or the output signal is complicated. Whether the
output signal is continuous or not depends on the system throughput, sampling frequency, bit
resolution, number of sampling channels, etc.
Under DDS mode, the computer only needs to send the output signal parameters (such as
signal frequency, amplitude, waveform type or shape data, etc.) to the DAC device and the
DAC device will take care of the rest. No actual output data will be sent from the computer
to the DAC device. This greatly reduces the CPU work load and communication traffic
between the computer and the DAC device. Very high signal frequencies can be generated if
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