Agilent Technologies 93000 SOC Series Training Manual page 557

UTP = Unit Test Period
The Unit Test Period (UTP)
For a periodic signal, the UTP is a time interval over which unique
information is spread.
Example: Let us take 10 equally spaced samples of a signal which
comprises two cycles. Obviously, the sampled pattern repeats after
5 points.
The Unit Test Period
That means, we will not learn much about the signal, because the
samples 6 to 10 carry no additional information. The UTP is the
time for taking 5 samples. The remainder is redundant.
The reason is, that the number of signal cycles (M) and the
number of points (N) have a common divisor (which in this case is
2).
If we would take one more sample in the same time span, each
sample would carry unique information—the UTP would include
both signal cycles.
As soon as M and N have no common divisor, the UTP covers the
whole test period, and the sampled data points altogether describe
exactly one signal cycle.
Moreover, as each sample carries unique information, the amount
of total information is proportional to N and independent of M.
The following should be well understood:
• A UTP can be of arbitrary duration.
A UTP can comprise many signal cycles and many more samples.
•
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