Tektronix tidies up designer’s desk: six instruments in one box
The MDO3000 unites multiple instruments in one single box: An oscilloscope (an MDO / Mixed-Domain Oscilloscope, to be exact), a spectrum analyser, an arbitrary function generator, a logic analyser, a protocol analyser and a digital voltmeter – the latter one can also be used as a frequency counter. Some of these functionalities are optional, but with this diversity, Tektronix in any case takes account of the fact that the act of developing an electronic device has changed drastically over the last decade or so.
For instance, electronic designs today extend to multiple domains: RF, digital, some analog signal processing and, in most cases, power. This makes developing and debugging a challenging act. The MDO3000 therefore enables measurements and signal generation in all these domains, reducing the amount of space needed on the engineer’s desk and relieving the department budget for measurement instruments. "Oscilloscopes incorporating multiple instruments are beneficial for the user for several reasons," says Dave Farell, General Manager, Mainstream Oscilloscopes at Tektronix. "Besides being more cost-effective than separate instruments they have a much smaller footprint at the engineer’s desk, and they offer improved usability since it has the same control elements for several instruments, and it keeps all these separate instruments constantly in the reach of the user".
The MDO3000 is available with two or four analog input channels. Bandwidth depends on the version ordered; the entry level version offers 100 MHz, maximum is 1 GHz. The innovation is that the instrument can be field-upgraded just by buying a dongle which activates the respective performance level by software. One exception is the upgrade to the highest performance level which requires exchanging an internal PCB; the device therefore needs to be turned in to the Tektronix service.
Particular emphasis in the MDO3000 has been put on debugging capabilities – after all, debugging today accounts to up to 60 % of the development work. With the ‘FastAcq’ function, the instruments can scan up to 280.000 signals per second. A large number of trigger options and combinations allow automated analysis of serial and parallel digital data buses. Optional a number of protocol analysis software functions is available; examples are I2C, SPI, RS-232, CAN, LIN, FlexRay and USB2.0.
Available from €2700, the instrument comes with a voltage probe with extremely low capacitance of just 3.9 pF as additional goodie.
For more information, visit https://www.tek.com/mdo3000
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Debugging High-Performance Designs with Mixed Signal Oscilloscopes
Digital trigger system with minimum trigger jitter
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