Cathode-Ray Oscilloscope

Cathode-ray oscilloscope

The cathode-ray oscilloscope (CRO) is a common laboratory instrument that provides accurate time and aplitude measurements of voltage signals over a wide range of frequencies. Its reliability, stability, and ease of operation make it suitable as a general purpose laboratory instrument. The earliest and simplest type of oscilloscope consisted of a cathode ray tube, a vertical amplifier, a timebase, a horizontal amplifier and a power supply. These are now called 'analog' scopes to distinguish them from the 'digital' scopes that became common in the 1990s and 2000s. Before the introduction of the CRO in its current form, the cathode ray tube had already been in use as a measuring device. The cathode ray tube is an evacuated glass envelope, similar to that in a black-and-white television set, with its flat face covered in a fluorescent material (the phosphor). The screen is typically less than 20 cm in diameter, much smaller than the one in a television set. Older CROs had round screens or faceplates, while newer CRTs in better CROs have rectangular faceplates.

Dual-beam oscilloscope A dual-beam oscilloscope was a type of oscilloscope once used to compare one signal with another. There were two beams produced in a special type of CRT. Unlike an ordinary "dual-trace" oscilloscope (which time-shared a single electron beam, thus losing about 50% of each signal), a dual-beam oscilloscope simultaneously produced two separate electron beams, capturing the entirety of both signals. One type (Cossor, UK) had a beam-splitter plate in its CRT, and single-ended vertical deflection following the splitter. (There is more about this type of 'scope near the end of this article.) Other dual-beam 'scopes had two complete electron guns, requiring tight control of axial (rotational) mechanical alignment in manufacturing the CRT. In the latter type, two independent pairs of vertical plates deflect the beams. Vertical plates for channel A had no effect on channel B's beam. Similarly for channel B, separate vertical plates existed which deflected the B beam only.

On some dual-beam scopes the time base, horizontal plates and horizontal amplifier were common to both beams (the beam-splitter CRT worked this way). On more elaborate scopes like the Tektronix 556 there were two independent time bases and two sets of horizontal plates and horizontal amplifiers. Thus one could look at a very fast signal on one beam and a slow signal on another beam. Most multichannel 'scopes do not have multiple electron beams. Instead, they display only one trace at a time, but switch the later stages of the vertical amplifier between one channel and the other either on alternate sweeps (ALT mode) or many times per sweep (CHOP mode). Very few true dual-beam oscilloscopes were built. With the advent of digital signal capture, true dual-beam oscilloscopes became obsolete, as it was then possible to display two truly simultaneous signals from memory using either the ALT or CHOP display technique, or even possibly a raster display mode. Analog storage oscilloscope Trace storage is an extra feature available on some analog scopes; they used directview storage CRTs. Storage allows the trace pattern that normally decays in a fraction of a second to remain on the screen for several minutes or longer. An electrical circuit can then be deliberately activated to store and erase the trace on the screen. The storage is accomplished using the principle of secondary emission. When the ordinary writing electron beam passes a point on the phosphor surface, not only does it momentarily cause the phosphor to illuminate, but the kinetic energy of the electron beam knocks other electrons loose from the phosphor surface. This can leave a net positive charge. Storage oscilloscopes then provide one or more secondary electron guns (called the "flood guns") that provide a steady flood of low-energy electrons traveling towards the phosphor screen. Flood guns cover the entire screen, ideally uniformly. The electrons from the flood guns are more strongly drawn to the areas of the phosphor screen where the writing gun has left a net positive charge; in this way, the electrons from the flood guns re-illuminate the phosphor in these positively-charged areas of the phosphor screen. If the energy of the flood gun electrons is properly balanced, each impinging flood gun electron knocks out one secondary electron from the phosphor screen, thus preserving the net positive charge in the illuminated areas of the phosphor screen. In this way, the image originally written by the writing gun can be maintained for a long time many seconds to a few minutes. Eventually, small imbalances in the secondary emission ratio

cause the entire screen to "fade positive" (light up) or cause the originally-written trace to "fade negative" (extinguish). It is these imbalances that limit the ultimate storage time possible. Storage oscilloscopes (and large-screen storage CRT displays) of this type, with storage at the phosphor, were made by Tektronix. Other companies, notably Hughes, earlier made storage 'scopes with a more-elaborate and costly internal storage structure. Some oscilloscopes used a strictly binary (on/off) form of storage known as "bistable storage". Others permitted a constant series of short, incomplete erasure cycles which created the impression of a phosphor with "variable persistence". Certain oscilloscopes also allowed the partial or complete shutdown of the flood guns, allowing the preservation (albeit invisibly) of the latent stored image for later viewing. (Fading positive or fading negative only occurs when the flood guns are "on"; with the flood guns off, only leakage of the charges on the phosphor screen degrades the stored image. Analog Sampling Oscilloscope The principle of sampling was developed during the 1930s in Bell Laboratories by Nyquist, after whom the sampling theorem is named. The first sampling oscilloscope was, however, developed in the late 1950s at the Atomic Energy Research Establishment at Harwell in England by G.B.B. Chaplin, A.R. Owens and A.J. Cole. ["A Sensitive Transistor Oscillograph With DC to 300 Mc/s Response", Proc I.E.E. (London) Vol.106, Part B. Suppl., No. 16, 1959]. The first sampling oscilloscope was an analog instrument, originally developed as a front-end unit for a conventional oscilloscope. The need for this instrument grew out of the requirement of nuclear scientists at Harwell to capture the waveform of very fast repetitive pulses. The current state-of-the-art oscilloscopeswith bandwidths of typically 20 MHzwere not able to do this and the 300 MHz effective bandwidth of their analog sampling oscilloscope represented a considerable advance. A short series of these 'front-ends' was made at Harwell and found much use and Chaplin et al. patented the invention. Commercial exploitation of this patent was ultimately done by the Hewlett-Packard Company (later Agilent Technologies). Sampling oscilloscopes achieve their large bandwidths by not taking the entire signal at a time. Instead, only a sample of the signal is taken. The samples are then assembled to create the waveform. This method can only work for repetitive signals, not transient

events. The idea of sampling can be thought of as a stroboscopic technique. When using a strobe light, only pieces of the motion are seen, but when enough of these images are taken, the overall motion can be captured [2] Digital oscilloscopes While analog devices make use of continually varying voltages, digital devices employ binary numbers which correspond to samples of the voltage. In the case of digital oscilloscopes, an analog-to-digital converter (ADC) is used to change the measured voltages into digital information. Waveforms are taken as a series of samples. The samples are stored, accumulating until enough are taken in order to describe the waveform, which are then reassembled for display. Digital technology allows the information to be displayed with brightness, clarity, and stability. There are, however, limitations as with the performance of any oscilloscope. The highest frequency at which the oscilloscope can operate is determined by the analog bandwidth of the front-end components of the instrument and the sampling rate. Digital oscilloscopes can be classified into three primary categories: digital storage oscilloscopes, digital phosphor oscilloscopes, and digital sampling oscilloscopes.[3][4] Digital storage oscilloscope The digital storage oscilloscope, or DSO for short, is now the preferred type for most industrial applications, although simple analog CROs are still used by hobbyists. It replaces the unreliable storage method used in analog storage scopes with digital memory, which can store data as long as required without degradation. It also allows complex processing of the signal by high-speed digital signal processing circuits. The vertical input, instead of driving the vertical amplifier, is digitised by an analog to digital converter to create a data set that is stored in the memory of a microprocessor. The data set is processed and then sent to the display, which in early DSOs was a cathode ray tube, but is now more likely to be an LCD flat panel. DSOs with color LCD displays are common. The data set can be sent over a LAN or a WAN for processing or archiving. The screen image can be directly recorded on paper by means of an attached printer or plotter, without the need for an oscilloscope camera. The scope's own signal analysis software can extract many useful time-domain features (e.g. rise time, pulse width, amplitude), frequency spectra, histograms and statistics, persistence maps, and a large number of parameters meaningful to engineers in specialized fields such as telecommunications, disk drive analysis and power electronics.

Digital oscilloscopes are limited principally by the performance of the analog input circuitry and the sampling frequency. In general, the sampling frequency should be at least the Nyquist rate, double the frequency of the highest-frequency component of the observed signal, otherwise aliasing occurs. Digital storage also makes possible another unique type of oscilloscope, the equivalenttime sample scope. Instead of taking consecutive samples after the trigger event, only one sample is taken. However, the oscilloscope is able to vary its timebase to precisely time its sample, thus building up the picture of the signal over the subsequent repeats of the signal. This requires that either a clock or repeating pattern be provided. This type of scope is frequently used for very high speed communication because it allows for a very high "sample rate" and low amplitude noise compared to traditional real-time scopes. To sum this up: Advantages over the analog oscilloscope:
 

Brighter and bigger display with color to distinguish multiple traces Equivalent time sampling and Average across consecutive samples or scans lead to higher resolution down to V Peak detection Pre-trigger (events before the trigger occurs can be displayed) Easy pan and zoom across multiple stored traces allows beginners to work without a trigger
 

  

This needs a fast reaction of the display (some scopes have 1 ms delay) The knobs have to be large and turn smoothly

 

Also slow traces like the temperature variation across a day can be recorded The memory of the oscilloscope can be arranged not only as a one-dimensional list but also as a two-dimensional array to simulate a phosphor screen. The digital technique allows a quantitative analysis (E.g. Eye diagram) Allows for automation, though most models lock the access to their software

A disadvantage of digital oscilloscopes is the limited refresh rate of the screen. On an analog oscilloscope, the user can get an intuitive sense of the trigger rate simply by looking at the steadiness of the CRT trace. For a digital oscilloscope, the screen looks exactly the same for any signal rate which exceeds the screen's refresh rate. Additionally, it is sometimes hard to spot "glitches" or other rare phenomena on the black-and-white screens of standard digital oscilloscopes; the slight persistence of CRT phosphors on analog scopes makes glitches visible even if many subsequent triggers

overwrite them. Both of these difficulties have been overcome recently by "digital phosphor oscilloscopes," which store data at a very high refresh rate and display it with variable intensity, to simulate the trace persistence of a CRT scope.

A related type of analog sampling 'scope for displaying very fast, repetitive waveforms sampled very quickly (fractional nanoseconds) and held the samples long enough to be displayed by a narrow-band vertical amplifier and a modest-performance CRT. A comparatively slow sweep on the CRT corresponded with progressive tiny advancing sample times, so that many samples created a waveform of the fast signal. Later designs sampled at random times within the time span represented by one sweep; the samples were displayed at horizontal positions corresponding to the delay from sweep start. Triggering used tunnel diodes and frequency dividers. Digital sampling oscilloscopes Digital sampling oscilloscopes operate on the same principle as analog sampling oscilloscopes and, like their analog counterparts, are of great use when analyzing highfrequency signals; that is, repetitive signals whose frequencies are higher than the oscilloscope's sampling rate. These scopes can measure signals an order of magnitude larger than any other scope. For measuring repetitive signals, this type can have bandwidth and high-speed timing up to ten times higher than any other scope. The architecture of the digital sampling oscilloscope is different from other scopes. In this case, the sample is taken from the input signal before it is amplified or attenuated. Since the sampling bridge converts the signal to a lower frequency, a low-bandwidth amplifier is used. This configuration allows the maximum bandwidth to be attained. The high bandwidth, however, induces limitations on the dynamic range of the oscilloscope. No amplifier or attenuator is present before the sampling bridge, thus the signal can not be scaled and the sampling bridge must be able to handle the full signal. The maximum input voltage for digital sampling scopes is only about 3 V, while other types can handle 500 V or more.[5][6] Digital phosphor oscilloscopes Digital phosphor oscilloscopes (DPOs) are the most recently developed type of digital scope. These were introduced by Tektronix in June 1998[5]. DPOs continue to grow in popularity due to their unequaled abilities.

DPOs employ a unique processing architecture in order to overcome the limitations of DSOs and digital sampling oscilloscopes. This unique architecture is a parallel processing setup rather than the serial processing setups of the other two types of digital scopes. This allows the ability to capture transient events while maintaining a large bandwidth. Also, unlike other digital scopes, the use of parallel processing allows the display to resemble that of analog scopes, permitting intensity information to be seen in real time. The first stage of the parallel-processing unit is a vertical amplifier, like that of digital storage oscilloscopes. The second stage, continues to mimic that of a DSO in that the signal is sent to an ADC. After the ADC however, the processing architecture varies greatly from that of a DSO. A DSO captures waveforms in a serial manner, which gives a sizable holdoff time in which the scope can not record any activity. In this case, the speed of the microprocessor limits the rate at which waveforms can be captured. A DPO operates differently in that the digitized waveform is rasterized into a digital phosphor database. Then about every 1/30th of a second, an image of the signal is sent to the display. By directly rasterizing the data and copying it to display memory from the digital phosphor database, the rate determining step is no longer the speed of the microprocessor. Though the name may lead one to believe that the DPO relies on a chemical phosphor as does the analog oscilloscope, the phosphor is purely electronic. A continually updated database is composed of many cells which correspond to single pixels within the display. This way, each time the cell is touched by the waveform intensity information is allowed to build up. Also, the DPO can display this information in terms of contrasting colors, unlike its analog counterpart. The DPO allows the same information to be gained as an analog scope with the advantage of having the data in a digital form. These scopes are finding many applications in which they are now preferred.[5][6] Mixed-signal oscilloscopes A mixed-signal oscilloscope (or MSO) has two kinds of inputs, a small number (typically two or four) of analog channels, and a larger number (typically sixteen) of digital channels. These measurements are acquired with a single time base, they are viewed on a single display, and any combination of these signals can be used to trigger the oscilloscope.

An MSO combines all the measurement capabilities and the use model of a Digital Storage Oscilloscope (DSO) with some of the measurement capabilities of a logic analyzer. MSOs typically lack the advanced digital measurement capabilities and the large number of digital acquisition channels of full-fledged logic analyzers, but they are also much less complex to use. Typical mixed-signal measurement uses include the characterization and debugging of hybrid analog/digital circuits like: embedded systems, Analog-to-digital converters (ADCs),Digital-to-analog converters (DACs), and control systems. Handheld oscilloscopes Handheld oscilloscopes (also called scopemeters) are useful for many test and field service applications. Today, a hand held oscilloscope is usually a digital sampling oscilloscope, using a liquid crystal display. Typically, a hand held oscilloscope has two analog input channels, but four input channel versions are also available. Some instruments combine the functions of a digital multimeter with the oscilloscope. Usually lightweight with good accuracy. PC-based oscilloscopes (PCO)

Oscilloscope software running inWindows that uses the computer's sound card as an ADC A new type of "oscilloscope" is emerging that consists of a specialized signal acquisition board (which can be an external USB or Parallel portdevice, or an internal addon PCI or ISA card). The hardware itself usually consists of an electrical interface providing isolation and automatic gain controls, several high-speed analog-to-digital converters and some buffer memory, or even on-board Digital Signal Processor (DSPs). Depending on the exact hardware configuration, the hardware could be best described as a digitizer, a data logger or as a part of a specializedautomatic control system.

The PC provides the display, control interface, disc storage, networking and often the electrical power for the acquisition hardware. The viability of PC-based oscilloscopes depends on the current widespread use and low cost of standardized PCs. Since prices can range from as little as US$100 to as much as US$3000 depending on their capabilities, such instruments are particularly suitable for the educational market, where PCs are commonplace but equipment budgets are often low. PCO acquisition hardware, in certain cases, may only consist of a standard sound card or even a game port, if only audio and low-frequency signals are involved, though in many cases it will be considerably more robust. The PCO can transfer data to the computer in two main ways - streaming, and block mode. In streaming mode the data is transferred to the PC in a continuous flow without any loss of data. The way in which the PCO is connected to the PC (e.g. IEEE1394, Ethernet, USB etc.) will dictate the maximum achievable speed and thereby frequency and resolution using this method. Block mode utilizes the on-board memory of the PCO to collect a block of data which is then transferred to the PC after the block has been recorded. The PCO hardware then resets and records another block of data. This process happens very quickly, but the time taken will vary according to the size of the block of data and the speed at which it can be transferred. This method enables a much higher sampling speed, but in many cases the hardware will not record data whilst it is transferring the existing block, meaning that some data loss will occur. The advantages of PC-based oscilloscopes include:


Lower cost than a stand-alone oscilloscope, assuming the user already owns a PC. Professional-grade PCO hardware (e.g. with bandwidth in the MHz rather than in the kHz range) tends to be more expensive than e.g. a typical PCI sound card, and some can even cost more than a new PC (pco-chart). Easy exporting of data to standard PC software such as spreadsheets and word processors. Or power tools like numerical analysis software and tailored software. Ability to control the instrument by running a custom program on the PC and thereby automate tests etc. Or simple control the setup from a remote location. Use of the PC's networking and disc storage functions, which cost a lot extra when added to a self-contained oscilloscope. PCs typically have large high-resolution color displays which can be easier to read than the smaller displays found on conventional scopes. Color can be utilized to differentiate waveforms. It can also show increased information including more of

the waveform or extras like automatic waveform measurements and simultaneous alternative views.
 

Portability when used with a laptop PC. Some are much smaller physically than even handheld oscilloscopes.

There are also some disadvantages, which include:



Power-supply and electromagnetic noise from PC circuits, which requires careful and extensive shielding to obtain good low-level signal resolution. Data transfer rates to the PC, which are dependent upon the connection method. This affects the maximum sampling rate and resolution achievable by the PCO when streaming. Need for the owner to install oscilloscope software on the PC, which may not be compatible with the current release of the PC operating system. Time for the PC to boot, compared with the almost instant start-up of a selfcontained oscilloscope (although, as some modern oscilloscopes are actually PCs or similar machines in disguise, this distinction is narrowing). Shorter life expectancy of compatible PCs and OSes, compared to hardware scopes

As more processing power and data storage is included in oscilloscopes, the distinction is becoming blurred. Mainstream oscilloscope vendors manufacture large-screen, PCbased oscilloscopes, with very fast (multi-GHz) input digitizers and highly-customized user interfaces. Software for a PC may use the sound card or game port to acquire analog signals, instead of dedicated signal acquisition hardware. However, these devices have very restricted input voltage ranges, limited precision/resolution, and very restricted frequency ranges. The ground reference for these inputs is the same as the ground for the PC logic and power supply; this may inject unacceptable amounts of noise into the circuit under test. However, these devices can be useful for demonstration, hobby use, or specific setups where these factors won't interfere. Ground reference can also be eliminated with capacitor AC coupling or a signal transformer. If a sound card is used, frequency response is usually limited to the audio range, and DC signals cannot be measured without hardware modification. The number of inputs is limited by the number of recording channels and the inputs can handle only audio linelevel voltages (usually ~1 Vpp) without the risk of damage.

If the game port is used as the acquisition hardware, the possible sampling frequency is very low, typically below 1 kHz, and the input voltages can only vary over a range of a couple of volts. In addition, the game port cannot easily be programmed for a specific sampling rate, nor can it be easily assigned a precise quantization step. The analog to digital conversion is accomplished by triggering the discharge of a capacitor and then measuring how long it takes to charge it to a fixed threshold that is seen as a "0" to "1" transition on the PC ISA bus. This means a huge resistance at the input takes longer to measure than a low resistance, which results in asymmetrical sampling intervals.[6] These limitations only make it suitable for low-precision visualization of low frequency signals.