High-speed 5 Gsample/sec PCIe digitiser cards
These cards have real-time sampling rates up to 5 Gsample/sec and high bandwidth making it possible for them to measure signals, edges and pulses down into the sub nanosecond realm.
Models are available with one, two or four channels, and come with 4 GB on-board memories, advanced acquisition modes, and software tools that allow easy integration into any system. The cards can replace conventional test instruments (such as digital oscilloscopes and spectrum analysers) whenever measurement speed, flexibility, size or channel density becomes an issue. They can be used inside a PC, when the technology needs to be embedded or outside the PC (with an expansion box) if bench-top access is required.
Spectrum’s M4i series is based on the PCIe bus and the products are designed to allow the fastest possible data transfer. For example, using the cards PCI Express x8 Gen2 interface data can be transferred directly to a host PC at speeds of up to 3.4 GBytes/sec. All Spectrum digitisers support transient recording and data streaming modes. Streaming allows the capture of extremely long signals that are passed directly into the PC, where they can be stored or analysed, without the loss of vital information. The M4i series also includes on-board FPGA technology so that optional firmware packages can perform on-the-fly functions such as signal averaging and peak detection. Pre-processing waveforms reduces data transfer times and greatly improves measurement speeds.
The digitisers are equipped with fully calibrated front-end signal conditioning circuits that offer input ranges from ±200 mV up to ±2.5 V full scale. Further signal conditioning can also be provided through the use optional amplifiers. Signal conditioning allows signals to be scaled correctly so that they use the full 8-bit dynamic range of the digitiser, optimising measurement accuracy and resolution.
To allow the capture of complex and rare events, the cards also feature an array of flexible trigger modes. Triggering is possible on any channel or either of the two external trigger inputs. All the trigger sources can be logically combined to enable conditional triggering on specific input patterns. The trigger modes are further complimented by a variety of acquisition modes that allow memory segmentation as well as fast trigger time stamping. The re-arm time between triggers can be as low as 80 samples (16 nsec @ 5 Gsample/sec) making it possible to capture and time stamp pulses and signal bursts even when the events are extremely close together.
For applications requiring more than four channels, it is possible to run up to eight M4i cards in one system. The cards can be connected together using Spectrum’s Star-Hub option that distributes the clock and trigger signals between each card. By using Star-Hub it is possible to make systems that have from 8 to 32 fully synchronous channels.
To control and operate an M4i series digitiser, Spectrum offers its SBench 6 program that supports all the key functions of the digitiser as well as providing display, storage and analysis. The program provides both oscilloscope and transient recording modes, including data streaming. A special feature of SBench 6 is the segmented view that is ideal for burst type signals. Segments can even be acquired with two different time bases (ABA mode) together with trigger time stamping information. SBench 6 can also measure parameters, perform FFT’s and run a variety of math functions. Data can be exported into a number of formats such as ASCII, Wave and MATLAB, making it easy to use a variety of third party software tools.
Users who want to program the M4i series cards by themselves can use the Spectrum drivers (available for Windows and Linux), which are included in the delivery. A set of standard programming examples is provided to illustrate the cards’ main signal capture functions. Support includes Visual C++, Borland C++, Gnu C++, LabVIEW, Visual Basic, VB.NET, C#, J# and Delphi code.
Prices for the cards start from €4,000.
Spectrum GmbH; www.spectrum-instrumentation.com
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