Relationship Between Bandwidth and Rise Time

Hardware: Modular Instruments>>High-Speed Digitizers (Scopes)

Problem:
I would like to digitize a square signal with a specific rise time, but I am not sure what the recommended bandwidth
would be and what devices could achieve it.

Solution:
To satisfy the Nyquist theorem, we need to sample at least twice as fast as the maximum bandwidth of the signal (or
about 10 times to have a proper shape).

This statement has been seen in other documents (see related links for more information), but square signals have
sharp edges and therefore the total bandwidth of the signal is not straight-forward to calculate.

The following is a general equation relating bandwidth and rise time:

BW = 0.35 / Tr

Where BW is bandwidth and Tr is the rise time of the signal.

For example, if you need to measure a square signal with 100 ns rise time, your bandwidth will be about 3.5 MHz
(0.35 / 100E-9). Therefore, you should choose a digitizer that can sample at least twice as fast or, for shape
purposes, 10 times faster: ~35 MS/s (Samples per second). For example, the NI 5112 or NI 5122 is a good choice
because they have a sampling rate of 100 MS/s. Additionally, be sure that the anti-alias and noise filters on your
digitizer are not enabled, as these can reduce the measurable bandwidth.

For more information about the products, please refer to the High-Speed Digitizers product page in the Related Links
section below.

Rise time

In electronics, when describing a voltage or current step function, rise time is the time taken by a signal to change
from a specified low value to a specified high value. Typically, in analog electronics, these values are 10% and 90%
of the step height: in control theory applications, according to Levine (1996, p. 158), rise time is defined as "the time
required for the response to rise from x% to y% of its final value", with 0%-100% rise time common for underdamped
second order systems, 5%-95% for critically damped and 10%-90% for overdamped.[1] The output signal of
a system is characterized also by fall time: both parameters depend on rise and fall times of input signal and on the
characteristics of the system.
 Contents
[hide]

1 Overview

2 Simple examples of calculation of rise time

o 2.1 Gaussian response system

o 2.2 One stage low pass RC network

o 2.3 Rise time of cascaded blocks

3 Factors affecting rise time

4 Rise time in control applications

5 See also

6 Notes

7 References
[edit]Overview

Rise time is an analog parameter of fundamental importance in high speed electronics, since it is a measure of the
ability of a circuit to respond to fast input signals. Many efforts over the years have been made to reduce the rise
times of generators, analog and digital circuits, measuring and data transmission equipment, focused on the research
of faster electron devices and on techniques of reduction of stray circuit parameters (mainly capacitances and
inductances). For applications outside the realm of high speed electronics, long (compared to the attainable state of
the art) rise times are sometimes desirable: examples are the dimming of a light, where a longer rise-time results,
amongst other things, in a longer life for the bulb, or digital signals apt to the control of analog ones, where a longer
rise time means lower capacitive feedthrough, and thus lower coupling noise.
[edit]Simple examples of calculation of rise time

The aim of this section is the calculation of rise time of step response for some simple systems: all notations and
assumptions required for the following analysis are listed here.

is the rise time of the analyzed system, measured in seconds.

is the low frequency cutoff (-3 dB point) of the analyzed system, measured in hertz.

is high frequency cutoff (-3 dB point) of the analyzed system, measured in hertz.

is the impulse response of the analyzed system in the time domain.

is the frequency response of the analyzed system in the frequency domain.

The bandwidth is defined as

and since the low frequency cutoff is usually several decades lower than the high frequency cutoff ,
 All systems analyzed here have a frequency response which extends to 0 (low-pass systems),
thus

exactly.

All systems analyzed are thought as electrical networks and all the signals are thought
as voltages for the sake of simplicity: the input is a step function of volts.
[edit]Gaussian response system
A system is said to have a Gaussian response if it is characterized by the following frequency
response

where is a constant, related to the high frequency cutoff by the following relation:

The corresponding impulse response can be calculated using the inverse Fourier
transform of the shown frequency response

Applying directly the definition of step response

Solving for t's the two following equations by using known properties of
the error function

the value is then known and

since

and then

[edit]One stage low pass RC network

For a simple one stage low pass network, rise time is
proportional to the network time constant :
The proportionality constant can be derived by using the
output response of the network to a step function input
signal of amplitude, aka its step response:

Solving for t's the two equations

the times and to 10% and 90% of steady-

state value thus known

Subtracting from

which is the rise time. Therefore rise

time is proportional to the time constant:

Now, noting that

then

and since the high

frequency cutoff is equal
to the bandwidth

This formula implies

that if the bandwidth
of an oscilloscope is
350 MHz, its 10% to
90% risetime is 1
nanosecond.
[edit]Rise time of
cascaded blocks
Consider a system
composed by
cascaded non
interacting blocks,
each having a rise
time and
no overshoot in
their step response:
suppose also that
the input signal of
the first block has a
rise time whose
value is . Then
its output signal has
a rise time
equal to

This result is a
consequence of
the central limit
theorem, as
reported
in Valley &
Wallman 1948,
pp. 7778 and
proved
by Henry
Wallman in Wall
man 1950.[2]
[edit]Factors
affecting rise
time

Rise time
values in a
resistive circuit
are primarily
due to
stray capacitan
ce and inductan
ce in the circuit.
Because
every circuit ha
s not
only resistance,
but
also capacitanc
e and inductanc
e, a delay in
voltage and/or
current at the
load is apparent
until the steady
state is
reached. In a
pure RC circuit,
the output
risetime (10%
to 90%), as
shown above, is
approximately
equal
to .
[edit]Rise time
in control
applications

In control
theory, for
overdamped
systems, rise
time is
commonly
defined as the
time for a
waveform to go
from 10% to
90% of its final
value.[1]
The quadratic a
pproximation for
normalized rise
time for a 2nd-
order
system, step
response, no
zeros is:

where is
the dampin
g ratio and
0 is
the natural
frequency
of the
network.
However,
the proper
calculation
for rise
time from 0
to 100% of
an under-
damped
2nd-order
system is:

where
is
the
dampi
ng
ratio
and
0 is
the
natura
l
 freque
ncy of
the
netwo
rk.

Bandwidth (signal processing)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This article is about the concept in signal theory and processing. For use in computing and networking,

see Bandwidth (computing). For other uses, see Bandwidth (disambiguation).

Baseband bandwidth. Here the bandwidth equals the upper frequency.

Bandwidth is the difference between the upper and lower frequencies in a continuous set of frequencies. It is

typically measured in hertz, and may sometimes refer to passband bandwidth, sometimes to baseband bandwidth,

depending on context.

Passband bandwidth is the difference between the upper and lower cutoff frequencies of, for example,

a bandpass filter,

a communication channel, or

a signal spectrum.

In case of a low-pass filter or baseband signal, the bandwidth is equal to its upper cutoff frequency.

Bandwidth in hertz is a central concept in many fields, including electronics, information theory, digital

communications, radio communications, signal processing, andspectroscopy.

A key characteristic of bandwidth is that a band of a given width can carry the same amount of information,

regardless of where that band is located in the frequency spectrum.[note 1]For example, a 3 kHz band can carry a
 telephone conversation whether that band is at baseband (as in your POTS telephone line) or modulated to some

higher frequency.

Contents

[hide]

1 Overview

2 X-dB bandwidth

3 Antenna systems

4 Photonics

5 See also

6 Notes

7 References

[edit]Overview

Bandwidth is a key concept in many telephony applications.

In radio communications, for example, bandwidth is the frequency range occupied by a modulated carrier wave,

whereas in optics it is the width of an individual spectral line or the entire spectral range.

In many signal processing contexts, bandwidth is a valuable and limited resource. For example, an FM

radio receiver's tuner spans a limited range of frequencies.

A government agency (such as the Federal Communications Commission in the United States) may apportion the

regionally available bandwidth to broadcast license holders so that their signals do not mutually interfere.

Each transmitter owns a slice of bandwidth, a valuable (if intangible) commodity.

For different applications there are different precise definitions. For example, one definition of bandwidth could be the

range of frequencies beyond which the frequency function is zero.

This would correspond to the mathematical notion of the support of a function (i.e., the total "length" of values for

which the function is nonzero). A less strict and more practically useful definition will refer to the frequencies where
the frequency function is small.

Small could mean less than 3 dB below (i.e., power output < 1/2 or voltage output < 0.707 of) the

maximum value, or more rarely 10 dB below, or it could mean below a certain absolute value. As with any definition
of the width of a function, many definitions are suitable for different purposes.

Bandwidth typically refers to baseband bandwidth in the context of, for example,

sampling theorem and

Nyquist sampling rate, while it refers to passband bandwidth in the context of Nyquist symbol rate or Shannon-

Hartley channel capacity for communication systems.

[edit]X-dB bandwidth

A graph of a bandpass filter's gain magnitude, illustrating the concept of 3 dB bandwidth at a gain of 0.707. The
frequency axis of this symbolic diagram can be linear orlogarithmically scaled.

In some contexts, the signal bandwidth in hertz refers to the frequency range in which the signal's spectral density is

nonzero or above a small threshold value. That definition is used in calculations of the lowest sampling rate that will

satisfy the sampling theorem.

Because this range of non-zero amplitude may be very broad or infinite, this definition is typically relaxed so that the

bandwidth is defined as the range of frequencies in which the signal's spectral density is above a certain threshold

relative to its maximum.

Most commonly, bandwidth refers to the 3-dB bandwidth, that is, the frequency range within which the spectral

density (in W/Hz or V2/Hz) is above half its maximum value (or the spectral amplitude, in V or V/Hz, is more than

70.7% of its maximum); that is, above 3 dBrelative to the peak.[1]

The word bandwidth applies to signals as described above,

but it could also apply tosystems, for example filters or communication channels. To say that a system has a certain

bandwidth means that the system can process signals of that bandwidth, or that the system reduces the bandwidth of

a white noise input to that bandwidth.

The 3 dB bandwidth of an electronic filter or communication channel is the part of the system's frequency response

that lies within 3 dB of the response at its peak, which in the passband filter case is typically at or near its center

frequency, and in the lowpass filter is near 0 hertz. If the maximum gain is 0 dB, the 3 dB gain is the range where the
gain is more than -3dB, or the attenuation is less than + 3dB. This is also the range of frequencies where the
amplitude gain is above 70.7% of the maximum amplitude gain, and above half the maximum power gain. This same

"half power gain" convention is also used inspectral width, and more generally for extent of functions as full width at

half maximum (FWHM).

In electronic filter design, a filter specification may require that within the filter passband, the gain is nominally 0 dB

+/- a small number of dB, for example within the +/- 1 dB interval. In the stopband(s), the required attenuation in dB is

above a certain level, for example >100 dB. In a transition band the gain is not specified. In this case, the filter

bandwidth corresponds to the passband width, which in this example is the 1dB-bandwidth. If the filter shows

amplitude ripple within the passband, the x dB point refers to the point where the gain is x dB below the nominal

passband gain rather than x dB below the maximum gain.

A commonly used quantity is fractional bandwidth. This is the bandwidth of a device divided by its center frequency.

E.g., a passband filter that has a bandwidth of 2 MHz with center frequency 10 MHz will have a fractional bandwidth

of 2/10, or 20%.

In communication systems, in calculations of the ShannonHartley channel capacity, bandwidth refers to the 3dB-

bandwidth. In calculations of the maximum symbol rate, the Nyquist sampling rate, and maximum bit rate according

to the Hartley formula, the bandwidth refers to the frequency range within which the gain is non-zero, or the gain in

dB is below a very large value.

The fact that in equivalent baseband models of communication systems, the signal spectrum consists of both

negative and positive frequencies, can lead to confusion about bandwidth, since they are sometimes referred to only

by the positive half, and one will occasionally see expressions such as , where is the total

bandwidth (i.e. the maximum passband bandwidth of the carrier-modulated RF signal and the minimum passband

bandwidth of the physical passband channel), and is the positive bandwidth (the baseband bandwidth of the

equivalent channel model). For instance, the baseband model of the signal would require a lowpass filter with cutoff

frequency of at least to stay intact, and the physical passband channel would require a passband filter of at

least to stay intact.

In signal processing and control theory the bandwidth is the frequency at which the closed-loop system gain drops

3 dB below peak.

In basic electric circuit theory, when studying band-pass and band-reject filters, the bandwidth represents the

distance between the two points in the frequency domain where the signal is of the maximum signal amplitude

(half power).
[edit]Antenna systems

In the field of antennas, two different methods of expressing relative bandwidth are used

for narrowband and wideband antennas.[2] For either, a set of criteria is established to define the extents of the

bandwidth, such as input impedance, pattern, or polarization.

Percent bandwidth, usually used for narrowband antennas, is used defined

as . The theoretical limit to percent bandwidth is 200%, which occurs

for .

Fractional bandwidth or Ratio bandwidth, usually used for wideband antennas, is defined as and

is typically presented in the form of . Fractional bandwidth is used for wideband antennas because of the

compression of the percent bandwidth that occurs mathematically with percent bandwidths above 100%, which

corresponds to a fractional bandwidth of 3:1.

[edit]Photonics

In photonics, the term bandwidth occurs in a variety of meanings:

the bandwidth of the output of some light source, e.g., an ASE source or a laser; the bandwidth of ultrashort

optical pulses can be particularly large

the width of the frequency range that can be transmitted by some element, e.g. an optical fiber

the gain bandwidth of an optical amplifier

the width of the range of some other phenomenon (e.g., a reflection, the phase matching of a nonlinear process,
or some resonance)

the maximum modulation frequency (or range of modulation frequencies) of an optical modulator

the range of frequencies in which some measurement apparatus (e.g., a powermeter) can operate

the data rate (e.g., in Gbit/s) achieved in an optical communication system; see bandwidth (computing).

A related concept is the spectral linewidth of the radiation emitted by excited atoms.
Bandwidth computing
In computer networking and computer science, the words bandwidth,[1] network bandwidth,[2] data
bandwidth,[3] or digital bandwidth[4][5] are terms used to refer to various bit-rate measures, representing the
available or consumed data communication resources expressed in bits per second or multiples of it (bit/s, kbit/s,
Mbit/s, Gbit/s, etc.).
Note that in textbooks on signal processing, wireless communications, modem data transmission, digital
communications, electronics, etc., the word 'bandwidth' is used to refer to analog signal
bandwidth measured in hertz. The connection is that according to Hartley's law, the digital data rate limit
(or channel capacity) of a physical communication link is proportional to its bandwidth in hertz.
 Contents
[hide]

1 Network bandwidth capacity

2 Network bandwidth consumption

3 Asymptotic bandwidth

4 Multimedia bandwidth

5 Bandwidth in web hosting

6 Internet connection bandwidths

7 See also

8 References
[edit]Network bandwidth capacity

Bandwidth sometimes defines the net bit rate (aka. peak bit rate, information rate or physical layer useful bit
rate), channel capacity, or the maximum throughput of a logical or physical communication path in a digital
communication system. For example, bandwidth tests measure the maximum throughput of a computer network. The
reason for this usage is that according to Hartley's law, the maximum data rate of a physical communication link is
proportional to its bandwidth in hertz, which is sometimes called frequency bandwidth, spectral
bandwidth, RF bandwidth, signal bandwidthor analog bandwidth.
[edit]Network bandwidth consumption

Bandwidth in bit/s may also refer to consumed bandwidth, corresponding to achieved throughput or goodput, i.e., the
average rate of successful data transfer through a communication path. This sense applies to concepts and
technologies such as bandwidth shaping, bandwidth management,bandwidth throttling, bandwidth cap, bandwidth
allocation (for example bandwidth allocation protocol and dynamic bandwidth allocation), etc. A bit stream's
bandwidth is proportional to the average consumed signal bandwidth in Hertz (the average spectral bandwidth of the
analog signal representing the bit stream) during a studied time interval.
Channel bandwidth may be confused with data throughput. A channel with x bps may not necessarily transmit data
at x rate, since protocols, encryption, and other factors can add appreciable overhead. For instance, a lot of internet
traffic uses the transmission control protocol (TCP) which requires a three-way handshake for each transaction,
which, though in many modern implementations is efficient, does add significant overhead compared to simpler
protocols. In general, for any effective digital communication, a framing protocol is needed; overhead and effective
throughput depends on implementation. Actual throughput is less than or equal to the actual channel capacity plus
implementation overhead.
[edit]Asymptotic bandwidth

The asymptotic bandwidth for a network is the measure of useful throughput, when the packet size approaches
infinity.[6]
Asymptotic bandwidths are usually estimated by sending a number of very large messages through the network,
measuring the end-to-end throughput. As other bandwidths, the asymptotic bandwidth is measured in multiples of bits
per second.
[edit]Multimedia bandwidth

Digital bandwidth may also refer to: multimedia bit rate or average bitrate after multimedia data compression (source
coding), defined as the total amount of data divided by the playback time.
[edit]Bandwidth in web hosting

In website hosting, the term "bandwidth" is often[citation needed] incorrectly used to describe the amount of data
transferred to or from the website or server within a prescribed period of time, for example bandwidth consumption
accumulated over a month measured in gigabytes per month. The more accurate phrase used for this meaning of a
maximum amount of data transfer each month or given period is monthly data transfer.
[edit]Internet connection bandwidths

This table shows the maximum bandwidth (the physical layer net bitrate) of common Internet access technologies.
For more detailed lists see

list of device bandwidths

bit rate progress trends
list of multimedia bit rates.

56 kbit/s Modem / Dialup

1.5 Mbit/s ADSL Lite

1.544 Mbit/s T1/DS1

2.048 Mbit/s E1 / E-carrier

10 Mbit/s Ethernet

11 Mbit/s Wireless 802.11b

44.736 Mbit/s T3/DS3

54 Mbit/s Wireless 802.11g

100 Mbit/s Fast Ethernet

155 Mbit/s OC3

600 Mbit/s Wireless 802.11n

622 Mbit/s OC12

1 Gbit/s Gigabit Ethernet

2.5 Gbit/s OC48

9.6 Gbit/s OC192

10 Gbit/s 10 Gigabit Ethernet

100 Gbit/s 100 Gigabit Ethernet