Multi-scope control and synchronization system

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9651579-B2
Application number	US-201514724302-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	May 28, 2015
Priority date	Sep 12, 2014
Publication date	May 16, 2017
Grant date	May 16, 2017

Abstract

A test and measurement system for synchronizing multiple oscilloscopes including a host oscilloscope and at least one client oscilloscope. The host oscilloscope includes a host timebase clock configured to output a clock signal, a host digitizer including a digitizer synchronization clock based on the clock signal, and a host acquisition controller includes a trigger synchronization clock based the clock signal and outputs a run signal to begin an acquisition of an input signal. Each client oscilloscope includes a client timebase clock configured to receive the clock signal from the host timebase clock and output the clock signal, a client digitizer including a digitizer synchronization clock based on the clock signal, and a client acquisition controller includes a trigger synchronization clock based on the clock signal and receives the run signal from the host acquisition controller and begins an acquisition of another input signal based on the run signal.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A test and measurement system for synchronizing multiple oscilloscopes, comprising:
a host oscilloscope including:
a host timebase clock configured to output a clock signal,
a host digitizer, coupled with the host timebase clock, configured to determine a digitizer synchronization clock based on the clock signal, and
a host acquisition controller, coupled with the host timebase clock and the host digitizer, configured to determine a trigger synchronization clock based on the clock signal, and further configured to output, based on the trigger synchronization clock, a run signal to cause the host oscilloscope to begin an acquisition of an input signal based on the digitizer synchronization clock; and

at least one client oscilloscope, coupled with the host oscilloscope, each client oscilloscope including:
a client timebase clock configured to receive the clock signal from the host timebase clock and output the clock signal,
a client digitizer, coupled with the client timebase clock, configured to determine a client digitizer synchronization clock based on the clock signal, and
a client acquisition controller, coupled with the client timebase clock and the client digitizer, configured to determine a client synchronization clock based on the clock signal, and further configured to receive the run signal from the host acquisition controller and begin an acquisition of another input signal based on the run signal,

wherein the client acquisition controller of each client oscilloscope is configured to output an acquisition ready signal when the respective client oscilloscope is ready to begin an acquisition and the host acquisition controller is further configured to output the run signal when the acquisition ready signal has been received from each of the client oscilloscopes.

2. The test and measurement system of claim 1 , wherein the host oscilloscope and each of the client oscilloscopes further includes a trigger, each trigger configured to output a trigger signal and each of the host oscilloscope and client oscilloscopes are configured to output a stop acquisition signal based on the trigger signal, and the host acquisition controller is configured to output the stop acquisition signal to each of the client oscilloscopes in the test and measurement system based on the stop acquisition signal.

3. The test and measurement system of claim 1 , wherein the digitizer synchronization clock of the host oscilloscope and each client oscilloscope and the trigger synchronization clock of the host oscilloscope and each client oscilloscope are the same frequency.

4. The test and measurement system of claim 1 , wherein the trigger synchronization clock period of each client oscilloscope is a multiple of the digitizer synchronization clock period of the host oscilloscope.

5. The test and measurement system of claim 1 , comprising at least two client oscilloscopes and wherein the trigger synchronization clock period of the host oscilloscope is a smallest common multiple of all of the digitizer synchronization clock periods in the at least two client oscilloscopes.

6. The test and measurement system of claim 1 , wherein a phase of each digitizer synchronization clock is advanced until a rising edge of the digitizer synchronization clock is halfway between a high output of each trigger synchronization clock.

7. The test and measurement system of claim 1 , wherein a phase of each trigger synchronization clock is set based on a calibration signal.

8. The test and measurement system of claim 1 , wherein the trigger synchronization clock frequency of each client oscilloscope is further based on an absolute delay between the host oscilloscope and each client oscilloscope.

9. A method of synchronizing a plurality of oscilloscopes, the method comprising:
outputting, from a host oscilloscope, a host clock signal to a client oscilloscope:
setting, by the host oscilloscope, a host digitizer synchronization clock based on the host clock signal;
setting, by the host oscilloscope, a host trigger synchronization clock based on the host clock signal;
receiving, by the host oscilloscope, an acquisition ready signal from the client oscilloscope;
in response to receiving the acquisition ready signal, generating, by the host oscilloscope, a run signal based on the host trigger synchronization clock;
outputting the run signal to the client oscilloscope to cause the client oscilloscope to begin acquisition of a first input signal; and
starting an acquisition of a second input signal at the host oscilloscope based on the host digitizer synchronization clock.

10. The method of claim 9 , further comprising:
receiving a trigger signal at the host oscilloscope; and
outputting, by the host oscilloscope, a stop acquisition signal to the client oscilloscope in response to receiving the trigger signal, the stop acquisition signal to cause the client oscilloscope to stop acquisition of the first input signal.

11. The method of claim 9 , further comprising:
receiving, by the host oscilloscope, a trigger signal from the client oscilloscope; and
outputting, by the host oscilloscope, a stop acquisition signal in response to receiving the trigger signal, the stop acquisition signal to cause the client oscilloscope to stop acquisition of the first input signal.

12. The method of claim 9 , wherein the host oscilloscope outputs the host clock signal to at least two client oscilloscopes and the host trigger synchronization clock period is a smallest common multiple of all of the client digitizer synchronization clock periods of the at least two client oscilloscopes.

13. A method of synchronizing a plurality of oscilloscopes, the method comprising, at a client oscilloscope:
receiving a host clock signal of a host oscilloscope;
setting a client digitizer synchronization clock based on the host clock signal;
setting a client trigger synchronization clock based on the host clock signal;
outputting an acquisition ready signal to the host oscilloscope, the acquisition ready signal indicative of a readiness of the client oscilloscope to begin acquisition of an input signal;
receiving a host run signal from the host oscilloscope in response to the acquisition ready signal;
based on the client trigger synchronization clock, generating a client run signal; and
starting an acquisition of the input signal based on the host run signal, the client run signal, and the client digitizer synchronization clock.

14. The method of claim 13 , further comprising, at the client oscilloscope:
generating a trigger signal;
outputting a first stop acquisition signal in response to the trigger signal;
receiving from the host oscilloscope a second stop acquisition signal; and
stopping the acquisition in response to the second stop acquisition signal.

Assignees

• Tektronix Inc

Inventors

• Hickman Barton T
• Andrews Jed H
• Mucha Jeffrey W

Classifications

• G01R13/32 Primary

  Circuits for displaying non-recurrent functions such as transients; Circuits for triggering; Circuits for synchronisation; Circuits for time-base expansion · CPC title

• G01R13/0254 Primary

  for triggering, synchronisation · CPC title

• H03L7/24

  using a reference signal directly applied to the generator · CPC title