Tektronix adds new RF analysis tool for 5 and 6 Series MSO mixed-signal oscilloscopes

By Gina Roos, editor-in-chief

A new firmware update for the 5 Series and 6 Series MSO mixed-signal oscilloscopes from Tektronix adds a new analysis tool called Spectrum View. This free upgrade allows engineers to perform mixed-domain analysis on the high-resolution displays of the 5 and 6 Series MSO scopes. The new feature can be added to any 5 or 6 Series MSO just by installing the firmware, and all new instruments will feature this functionality out of the box, said Tektronix.

Tektronix said that until now, the Tektronix MDO4000C mixed-domain oscilloscope has been the only oscilloscope to offer synchronized time- and frequency-domain analysis with independent control over waveform and spectrum views. This is done by incorporating a full-spectrum analyzer with its own dedicated input channel.

But the company needed to take a different approach to address the need for RF analysis in its higher-performance 5 and 6 Series MSO mixed-signal oscilloscopes. In this case, it doesn’t require a separate input channel but offers similar capabilities. Hardware in the instrument enables users to simultaneously look at the analog waveform view (on the left in the image below) and spectral views (on the right) with independent controls in each domain.

A new firmware upgrade for the 5 and 6 Series MSO enables simultaneous analog and spectrum views with independent controls in each domain.

“Independent controls let you adjust the spectrum with familiar center-frequency, span, and RBW controls without affecting the time scale in the waveform view,” said Tektronix’s scope designer, Gary Waldo. “The opposite is also true — changes to the horizontal scale do not impact the spectrum. Independent controls make it easy to correlate frequency-domain activity with other time-domain phenomena.”

Independent controls let users adjust spectrum with familiar controls.

Each of the FlexChannel inputs in the 5 and 6 Series MSO may be used as a single analog channel or eight digital channels. With the Spectrum View, any analog signal may be viewed as a time-domain waveform, a frequency-domain spectrum, or both at the same time, said Tektronix. Digital channels are enabled by attaching a TLP058 logic probe to any input, so any input can be used to look at analog waveforms, frequency spectra, or digital waveforms.

Flex Channel controls mean that any input can be used to look at analog waveforms, frequency spectra, or digital waveforms.

The image below shows a view of analog waveforms, frequency spectra, and digital waveforms:

Channel 1 shows the output of an 8-bit digital-to-analog converter as both a waveform and spectrum. Channel 2 shows the input to the DAC as eight logic waveforms.

Mixed-domain analysis can also be performed on more than one channel at the same time, as shown in the image below. Each of the two color-coded analog waveforms has a corresponding spectrum. The small bar below each waveform indicates the time at which the spectrum occurs within the time domain, said Tektronix, and the spectrum time can be moved through the waveform to see the synchronized spectrum at any point in the waveform.

Mixed-domain analysis can be performed on more than one channel at the same time.

For more information, Tektronix’s Waldo offers a short demonstration of mixed-domain analysis using the new Spectrum View, comparing it to traditional FFTs. Free firmware downloads are available for Windows OS (5 Series and 6 Series ) and non-Windows OS (5 Series and 6 Series).