EEVblog Electronics Community Forum
Electronics => Beginners => Topic started by: fonograph on September 24, 2017, 09:55:31 pm
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What is the difference between arbitrary wavegorm generator and pulse/patern generator? When looking at all the products Keysight makes,they have these two units descibed as patern/pulse generator,what are these things? What are they used for? How are they different from your normal arb gen?
I specificaly have Keysight 81150A - 81160A in mind
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A pulse/pattern generator is generally designed for digital systems: You set the high and the low level, and the signal will vary between those levels at intervals and rates that you specify. Signals will generally be some sort of pulse train. In the case of a pattern generator, this can be a complicated signal (e.g. simulating a digital signal from a sensor). An arbitrary waveform generator is more aimed at analog signals: You specify the voltage level the signal should have at every point in time. This can lead to all kinds of analog signals like sinusoidal signals or ramps. This flexibility will limit the performance: the edge rates and memory depth will generally be lower than a pulse generator at a similar price point.
The Keysight 811x0A series confuses matters by an analog output, in addition to the pulse output.