A Digital Pulse Generator (DPG) option has been released for Spectrum Instrumentation’s line-up of high resolution, medium speed, Digitizer and Arbitrary Waveform Generator (AWG) products. The option allows the units to produce digital pulses, and pulse streams, on up to four front panel Multi-Purpose I/O connectors; while simultaneously performing their regular tasks of acquiring, or generating, analog signals and waveforms. The new feature is ideal for a variety of automated test and measurement applications, including experiment control, AI and robotics, ATE, stimulus-response testing, system and machine control, component or sensor testing and more.
AWG card of the 65xx-series, digitizer card of the 59xx-series and 4 digital pulses generated by the new DPG-option – captured with Spectrum’s measurement software SBench 6.
All the DPG functionality is implemented by using the on-board FPGAs of the PCIe-cards or LXI/Ethernet-instruments, so the new option runs parallel to the unit’s other tasks. Control is via a simple programming structure that allows adjustment of the pulse characteristics for each of the four outputs, whether it is generating single pulses, pulse trains or continuous pulse streams. Key parameters, such as the pulse width, period, phase, or the number of pulses in a pulse train, are all programmable.