ASICs enhance 12-bit oscilloscopes

The in-house-developed Centaurus ASIC chipset is at the heart of two new high-definition oscilloscope series with a vertical resolution of 12 bits.

The HDO1000 series has a sampling rate of 2 GSa/s and is offered as a 2-channel as well as a 4-channel solution in bandwidths of 70, 100 and 200 MHz. The maximum memory depth is 100 Mpts.

In addition, the HDO4000 series is designed for the 200, 400 and 800 MHz bandwidths with a higher sampling rate of up to 4 GSa/s, contains four analogue channels and offers a memory depth of up to 500 Mpts.

The minimum vertical adjustment is 100 µV/DIV for the HDO4000 series and 500 µV/DIV for the HDO1000 series.

Two different impedances (1 MΩ, 50 Ω) can be set for the HDO4000 series.

The two new ASICs achieve a very low noise level of approx. 18 µV_rms (for HDO4000) or 50 µV_rms (for HDO1000).

As with other RIGOL oscilloscope classes, the focus here was on the combination of high sampling rate, deep memory and very high measurement speed. Even the smallest amplitude deviations can be measured thanks to the vertical resolution of 12 bits.

A high-resolution mode of up to 16 bits can also be activated for both devices. This means that very high resolutions in both the horizontal and vertical areas are combined with a very deep memory, thus expanding the variety of analysis.

Typical applications include analysis such as switching performance measurements in the power domain, automated tests in factories, protocol analysis for serial buses in vehicle electronics, electronic circuit measurements, applications in development and many more.

With "Ultra Acquire", RIGOL has integrated a new form of analysis into both series, with which a very fast trigger rate of 1,500 million wfms/sec. is reached.

This makes it easy to measure very fast or sporadic and short events. All devices have a very large 10.1 inch HD colour capacitive touchscreen (1024x800) with 256 intensity levels and colour tones for precise and clear signal display. In order to ensure maximum flexibility, the HDO4000 series allows the integration of a standard 18650 battery in order to carry out measurements without mains connection.

Trigger, math and display options (extended FFT of 1 million points, mask test and power analysis), an integrated signal search function are available as well as all the usual serial bus protocol analysis and trigger functions. The integrated voltmeter and a frequency counter round off the complete range of measurements.

Various interfaces such as USB3.0-Host, USB3.0-Device, HDMI, LAN (10/100/1000 Base-T) and AUX OUT are available.

An extensive range of accessories, such as active and passive probes, high-voltage probes (differential/single-ended), different current clamps (up to 500 amps), 19-inch installation frame, software drivers for known packages and high-level languages as well as a modern and fast web remote control via LAN is also available.

The hardware contents photoelectric encoder operating knobs that generate very low wear which resulting in a long service life.

As a special feature, RIGOL offers many extensions, such as higher bandwidths, or memory expansion via software upgrade. Serial triggering and decoding (SPI, I2C, RS232/UART, CAN und LIN) are standard implemented in the scope.