Creating Arbitrary Waveforms (Option 002) - Keysight 33210A User Manual

Chapter 7 Tutorial

Creating Arbitrary Waveforms (Option 002)

Creating Arbitrary Waveforms (Option 002)

Note: Arbitrary waveforms are optionally available with the 33210A
(Option 002). To upgrade your 33210A to include arbitrary waveform
www. keysight .com/find/33210U.
functionality, go to
The Keysight 33210A allows you to create custom arbitrary waveforms of
up to 8 K points (8,192 points), and provides five built-in examples of
arbitrary waveforms. You can create an arbitrary waveform from the front
panel, or you can use the Keysight IntuiLink software provided on the
CD-ROM included with the Keysight 33210A. The Keysight IntuiLink
software allows you to create arbitrary waveforms using a graphical user
interface on your PC, and then download them into the Keysight 33210A.
You can also capture waveforms from your Keysight oscilloscope and
import them into IntuiLink. Please see the online help included with the
Keysight IntuiLink software for further information.
For most applications, it is not necessary to create an arbitrary waveform
with a specific number of points since the function generator will repeat
points (or interpolate) as necessary to fill waveform memory. For example,
if you specify 100 points, each waveform point will be repeated an
average of 8,192 / 100 or 81.92 times. For the 33210A, you do not have to
change the length of the waveform to change its output frequency.
All you have to do is create a waveform of any length and then adjust the
function generator's output frequency. However, in order to get the best
results (and minimize voltage quantization errors), it is recommended
that you use the full amplitude range of the waveform DAC.
When entering waveform points from the function generator's front panel,
you are not required to enter the points at evenly-spaced intervals in time.
You can always add additional points as needed where the waveform is
more complex. From the front panel only, you can also use linear
interpolation to smooth the transition between waveform points.
These features make it possible to create useful arbitrary waveforms
using a relatively small number of points.
With the 33210A, you can output an arbitrary waveform to an upper
frequency limit of 3 MHz. However, note that the useful upper limit is
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usually less due to the function generator's bandwidth limitation and
aliasing. Waveform frequency components above the function generator's
bandwidth will be attenuated.
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