Streaming of pulsed data

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nickhay
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Joined: Thu Jun 28, 2012 6:25 pm

Streaming of pulsed data

Post by nickhay »

Hi,

I am considering purchase of a 6000 series USB scope or similar. The application requires the continuous storage of short duration waveforms to PC. Guideline requirements are:

# channels: 1
Trigger rate: 10 kHz (external TTL)
Waveform length: 500 samples
Sampling rate: 1 GS/s
Vertical resolution: 8 bit
Bandwidth: >300 MHz

So... the average data rate is 500 samples x 10 kHz trigger x 8 bits per sample = 5 MB/s.

This is well within the data streaming capture rate but the waveforms are not continuous. Is it possible for me to capture this data to PC with no gaps (no missed triggers)? Perhaps I need to transfer the data after each trigger - is it possible to do this in <<100 microseconds and so be ready for the next trigger?

An alternative is to use the onboard memory. In theory a 1 GS memory could store 1e9/500 = 2,000,000 of my waveforms (200 s at 10 kHz). However the datasheets say that the waveform memory is limited to 10,000 waveforms (1 s at 10 kHz). Are the datasheets correct?

Martyn
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Joined: Fri Jun 10, 2011 8:15 am
Location: St. Neots

Re: Streaming of pulsed data

Post by Martyn »

There are three modes of operation :-

Block Mode
A block is captured, downloaded to the pc and then the trigger is rearmed which can take between 1ms and 50ms depending upon the PC and other software running. Not suitable for you requirements

Rapid Block Mode
A number of blocks, up to maximum buffer segments, are captured to the scopes memory before they are all downloaded to the PC. Trigger re arm between blocks is 1us and there is a limit in the PicoScope 6 software of 10,000 segments. The 6000 series scopes are capable of collecting between 125,000 and 1,000,000 waveforms depending on model. Check Maximum Buffer Segments on the specifications page http://www.picotech.com/picoscope6400-s ... tions.html

Streaming Mode
Data is continually streamed from the device to the PC, at rates up to 10MB/s for the latest Beta release of PicoScope software.

The streaming mode may fit your data requirements but you will have more data than you actually need.

Alternatively a simple application to collect data in rapid block mode and save it to disk for processing, utilising the maximum memory segments, may provide the best solution.

I would suggest contacting support@picotech.com to discuss this in more detail
Martyn
Technical Support Manager

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