3458A Datasheet, PDF (8/27 Pages) Keysight Technologies – Shattering performance barriers of speed and accuracy

For High Resolution Digitizing
– 16 bits at
100,000 samples/sec
– Effective rates to
100 Msamples/sec
– Signal bandwidth of
12 MHz
– 10 ns timing with < 100 ps
jitter
Easily acquire waveforms
Simple, application-oriented commands
in the Keysight Multimeter Language
(ML) make the task of waveform
digitizing as easy as measuring DCV.
Simply specify the sweep rate and
number of samples.
Integration or track-and-hold
paths
The 3458A gives you the choice of
two configurations for high speed
measurements: a 150 kHz bandwidth
integrating path with a variable aper-
ture from 500 ns to 1 second or a
12 MHz bandwidth path with a fixed
2 ns aperture and 16-bit track-and-hold.
Use the integration path for lower
noise, but use the track-and-hold path
to precisely capture the voltage at a
single point on a waveform.
Direct sampling function
The 3458A has two sampling
functions for digitizing wave-forms:
direct sampling and sequential or
sub-sampling. With direct sampling,
the 3458A samples through the
12 MHz path followed by the 2 ns
track-and-hold providing 16 bits of
resolution. The maximum sample rate
is 50,000 samples/second or 20 µs
between samples. Samples can be
internally paced by a 0.01% accurate
timebase with time increments in
100 ns steps. Data transfers directly
to your computer at full speed or into
the dmm’s internal reading memory.
Waveform reconstruction consists of
simply plotting the digitized voltage
readings versus the sampling interval
of the timebase.
Sequential sampling function
Sequential or sub-sampling uses
the same measurement path as
direct sampling; however sequential
sampling requires a periodic input
signal. The 3458A will synchronize
to a trigger point on the waveform
set by a level threshold or external
trigger. Once synchronized, the dmm
automatically acquires the waveform
through digitizing successive periods
with time increment steps as small
as 10 ns, effectively digitizing at rates
up to 100 Msamples/second. All you
specify is the effective timebase and
the number of samples desired, the
3458A automatically optimizes its
sampling to acquire the waveform in
the least amount of time. Then, for
your ease of use, the 3458A automati-
cally re-orders the data in internal
memory to reconstruct the waveform.
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