FROM EDN EUROPE: Scope introductions switch focus to general-purpose instruments
By Graham Prophet -- EDN, April 14, 2005
Much of the news in the oscilloscope market in the past few months has been made by instruments at the top end of the range, in both performance and price. Real-time bandwidths have been extended to 13 GHz and over, with pricing in the $100,000-region. However, the majority of tasks that scopes are required to perform do not need such exotic specifications. Real-time bandwidths under 1 GHz - well under, in most cases - are adequate, and this "volume" oscilloscope market has recently seen new introductions from two suppliers.
Yokogawa's DL9000 series ranges up to 1.5 GHz in bandwidth, with 10 Gsamples/sec sampling rates, and with memory up to 6.25 Mwords (Picture). The instruments' architecture is directed at maximising the number of sample points acquired per second, instead of only the waveforms per second. The DL9000s are structured around a custom chip, the advanced data stream engine, which combines signal processing and acquisition memory. With one such chip per channel (the instruments are four-channel units), there is no loss of speed for multi-channel operation. The scopes can acquire and display up to 450 million points per second. Frequency of event occurrence is shown by gradations of either colour or intensity on the screen. There are two models: 1.5 GHz or 1 GHz bandwidth. With ADCs shared across channels, the 1.5-GHz version offers a maximum sampling rate of 10 Gsamples/sec with two channels in use, or 5 Gsamples/sec with four. The 1-GHz version has 50% of the corresponding sample rates. Record (memory) lengths can be ordered at 6.25 or 2.5 Mwords/channel. Acquired waveforms are written to memory in segmented and indexed records, which can be searched or superimposed after acquisition is stopped. Measuring 350×200×178 mm, the DL9000s use a 213-mm screen and run Windows CE. Pricing is from 11,000 to 18,000€.
Agilent has taken a slightly different approach to the sub-1 GHz market with its 6000 series, a range of 12 scopes at 300, 500 and 1000 MHz bandwidth points (Picture). They use Agilent's MegaZoom display method, employing 256-level colour-intensity grading to show waveform details on an XGA screen. Memory depth is up to 8 Megapoints - 1 Mpoint is standard, with 2M and 8M upgrade levels. Maximum sample rate is up to 4 Gsamples/sec, and display update rate is up to 100,000 waveforms/sec.
Customers can order the 6000 series units with an integrated 16-channel logic analyser module for mixed-signal operation, or add the logic analysis later in an upgrade; basic instruments are 2- or 4-channel. The mixed-signal capability is built-in: purchasers can opt to enable it later by buying a software key and a hardware interconnect cable. Pricing is from 4,800 to 14,600€.
Yokogawa Europe, +31 33 464 1645, www.yokogawa.com/eu.
Agilent, +31 20 547 2000, www.agilent.com.
