Test and Measurement Forum

Why is the maximum output frequency of AWGs is limited to 20MHz if there are 125MS/s and 200MS/s available in 5000 and 6000 series, respectively?

Well, I think it just because you want to have enough points for your sine wave.
But one could increase the maximum frequency by putting an analog lowpass filter at the output. Is there one already in your AWG? If not, do you think it's possible to add one at the output?

Hi,

I put your question across to one of our hadrware engineers and here is what he said:

"The AWG on the 5000 and 6000 products has an output amplifier with a bandwidth of ~40MHz.

Signals faster than 20MHz will show decreased amplitude (triangle and squarewaves become quite rounded) and increased jitter.

As an example we can generate a 100MHz sinewave from a 6000 by importing a csv file with these values;

1
-1
1
-1
1
-1
1
-1
1
-1

The amplitude measures ~370mV when terminated with 50ohm."

I hope this helps.

Kind regards

Thanks for the answer!
So, it seems to be straightforward to generate sine waves up to 40MHz without loosing amplitude - higher harmonics will be damped by the amplifier. One could still add a lowpass filter to suppress them completely.
By the way, specification for the amplitude is +/-2V: does it mean 4V peak-to-peak?

Hi yes it would be 4V peak to peak.

Kind regards

Thanks!