Creating Arbitrary Waveforms - Agilent Technologies 33220A User Manual

Chapter 7 Tutorial

Creating Arbitrary Waveforms

Creating Arbitrary Waveforms
The Agilent 33220A allows you to create arbitrary waveforms of up to 64 K
points (65,536 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 Agilent IntuiLink software provided on the CD-ROM
included with the Agilent 33220A. The Agilent IntuiLink software allows
you to create arbitrary waveforms using a graphical user interface on your
PC, and then download them into the Agilent 33220A. You can also
capture waveforms from your Agilent oscilloscope and import them into
IntuiLink. Please see the online help included with the Agilent 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 16,384 / 100 or 163.84 times. For the 33220A, 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 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 33220A, you can output an arbitrary waveform to an upper
frequency limit of 6 MHz. However, note that the useful upper limit is
usually less due to the function generator's bandwidth limitation and
aliasing. Waveform components above the function generator's -3 dB
bandwidth will be attenuated.
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