Pico Technology has introduced a display-less 30 GHz sampling oscilloscope for use with a PC.

According to Pico, sampling oscilloscopes do not capture a whole waveform in one shot. Instead, they work with repetitive waveforms only, using a fast sampling gate at a slow sampling rate to build up a waveform one sample at a time. Consequently, they are suited to displaying the shape of high-speed waveforms, particularly eye-diagrams.

Source: Pico Technology

To look at sampling scopes, users have to put up with the repetitive-signal-only restriction. However, for a given amount of money, users can get higher bandwidth and better fidelity compared with real-time oscilloscopes that can capture non-repetitive transients.

The 30 GHz model, as well as the 20 GHz version, are part of Pico Technology’s PicoScope 9300 range and are direct-to-sampler sequential sampling oscilloscopes.

They sample with 16 bit ADC resolution and timing resolution down to 64fs (equivalent to 15 Tsample/s real-time) which is “more than adequate detail for transitions and impulses down to 12 ps or 24 ps respectively,” according to Pico.

For reference, the 5 GHz and 16 GHz models (PicoScope 9400 types) are more traditional real-time scopes that rely on ‘random equivalent time’ sampling. They sample at 12 bit ADC resolution and at intervals down to 200 ps (2.5Tsample/s) — “plentiful detail to address transition and impulse capture down to 22 ps or 44 ps,” explained Pico.

With the 30 GHz scope comes software for Gbit comms physical layer test and characterization including: serial data eye diagram display with auto set-up and mask alignment, histo-gramming plus statistical measurements to support NRZ and RZ eye characterizations, and 160 standard protocol masks with hit count, alarms and acquisition control.

There is also pulse and waveshape characterizations with IEEE 181 compliant pulse, impulse, transition and waveform auto-measurements; algebraic, trigonometric, logarithmic, derivative and Boolean trace math functions; imaginary and vector Fourier transforms with six window functions.

Then there is broadband modulated envelope characterization, which is “particularly valuable to broadband pulse or data modulator and envelope track amplifier debug and verification,” explained Pico.