Evaluation Engineering - 2

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Oscilloscope features and specs evolve
to match engineers' environment
An EE-Evaluation Engineering article
from December 2018 describes how the
definition of "mainstream oscilloscope" is in
f lux, with "high-end" features becoming
"mainstream" or even appearing in entry-level
scopes. It's not surprising that last year's highperformance specs become this year's mainstream performance specs-such as frequencies reaching 16 GHz, as described in our
report beginning on p. 6 of this issue. But
other features, too, are becoming prevalent
in the mainstream category.
"Examples include jitter, eye diagrams, and
FFT, which are now 'standard,'" according to
Steve Sandler, founder and CEO of Picotest.
"Some oscilloscopes now offer time-correlated spectrum analysis, including time-independent center-frequency, span, and resolution-bandwidth controls. The introduction of
frequency-response-analyzer (FRA) features
for the oscilloscope started with Johnnie
Hancock at Keysight almost a decade ago.
In the past year, almost every oscilloscope
company has added the ability to perform
Bode-plot stability measurements and powersupply rejection-ratio measurements."
Michael Rizzo, general manager at RIGOL
USA, concurs and provides an example.
"With the introduction of our new MSO8000
Series oscilloscope, we have brought advanced jitter analysis and real-time eye
capability to the mainstream market," he
said. "Customers in the space are demanding greater performance and more advanced
analysis capabilities."
In some cases, features can migrate upwards from lower end scopes. "We introduced
frequency-response/Bode plotting with our
budget SDS1000X-E platform about a year
ago and just recently introduced it on our
SDS5000X, which is our flagship oscilloscope
line," said Jason Chonko, applications marketing manager at SIGLENT Technologies North
America. "This cross-platform functionality
keeps development costs low and provides really useful functionality for customers across
the budget spectrum."

2

When asked if she has observed the trend
of high-end features moving into the mainstream, Kaitlyn Franz, test product manager
at Digilent, responded, "In a way, yes. The
'power creep' of oscilloscopes is natural-
people will always want bigger and better
specs, but is that always the best option?"
Commenting on one of her company's pocketsized USB scopes, she said, "Of course there
are applications that require very high bandwidth, etc., but what the Analog Discovery 2
lacks in high-end specs, it makes up for with
versatility, being mindful of resources and
user experience (one of its main selling points
is the software-WaveForms SDK-that is
constantly updated based on user feedback)."
User experience is, of course, a key concern, and one way to provide an enhanced
UI is through a large screen. "In the past
year, 4K UHD displays became much more
affordable," said Trevor Smith, business development manager at Pico Technology.
"They are being widely adopted for use with
our PC-based oscilloscopes, which gives
users more clarity when viewing, analyzing, and measuring complex waveforms."
The good news for users of USB scopes is
that they needn't buy a new instrument to
take advantage of improved display and PC
technology.
Also evolving is the way in which instruments such as oscilloscopes are being used.
Franz identified a trend away from traditional
offices toward distributed teams where a
centralized lab space is not available or at
least not readily accessible. In such an environment, affordability can be increasingly
important. "More and more companies are
starting to become distributed in both their
soft skills teams, but also in engineering," she
said. "With a distributed team, you can't necessarily have an entire bench for each different office or each at home office. So, it's really
helpful for the engineers to have something
on their desk that they can reach for to solve
problems without having to go find a lab that
has all of that equipment."

24%
Nano-Imprint-lithography
equipment market CAGR
between 2018 and 2024

146 MILLION
Nano-Imprint-lithography
equipment market in 2024
Source: Yole Développement

40 BILLION
Estimated global commercial
drone market by 2024
Source: Financial Times

95%
Year-over-year increase in
global unit volumes for wearable
technology market in Q3 of 2019
Source: IDC

36.6 BILLION
Worldwide sales of
semiconductors in October 2019

13.1%
Year-over-year decrease
in semiconductor sales
in October 2019
Source: SIA

EVALUATION ENGINEERING FEBRUARY 2020
http://www.TWITTER.COM/EE_ENGINEERS
Evaluation Engineering

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