Application Notes
Introduction
Electronic technology permeates our lives. Millions of people use electronic devices such as cell phones, televisions, and computers on a daily basis. As electronic technology has advanced, the speeds at which these devices operate have accelerated. Today, most devices use high-speed digital technologies.
Engineers need the ability to accurately design and test the components in their high-speed digital devices. The instrumentation engineers use to design and test their components must be particularly well-suited to deal with high speeds and high frequencies. An oscilloscope is an example of just such an instrument.
Oscilloscopes are powerful tools that are useful for designing and testing electronic devices. They are vital in determining which components of a system are behaving correctly and which are malfunctioning. They can also help you determine whether or not a newly designed component behaves the way you intended. Oscilloscopes are far more powerful than multimeters because they allow you to see what the electronic signals actually look like.
Oscilloscopes are used in a wide range of fields, from the automotive industry to university research laboratories, to the aerospace-defense industry. Companies rely on oscilloscopes to help them uncover defects and produce fully-functional products.
Electronic Signals
The main purpose of an oscilloscope is to display electronic signals. By viewing signals displayed on an oscilloscope, you can determine whether a component of an electronic system is behaving properly. So, to understand how an oscilloscope operates, it is important to understand the basic signal theory.
Wave properties
Electronic signals are waves or pulses. Basic properties of waves include the following.
For a sine wave, the RMS amplitude is equal to 0.707 times the peak amplitude.
Waveforms
A waveform is the shape or representation of a wave. Waveforms can provide you with a great deal of information about your signal. For example, it can tell you if the voltage changes suddenly, varies linearly, or remains constant. There are many standard waveforms, but this section will cover the ones you will encounter most frequently.
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