Bench Talk

The 14-Bit Difference

New Tech Tuesdays

Join Rudy Ramos for a weekly look at all things interesting, new, and noteworthy for design engineers.

I am a big proponent of using the right tool for the job. My father instilled this in me, and I have instilled it in my son. Failing to do so will lead to valuable, albeit hard-earned, experience. Trust me, I’ve learned this lesson the hard way. Your future self will thank you.

As Abraham Maslow wrote, “If all you have is a hammer, everything looks like a nail."^[1] Working without the proper tools often leads to frustration, delays, increased costs, quality issues, and accidents. For example, a house inspector using a smartphone light instead of a proper flashlight could result in costly repairs for the new homeowner. Likewise, a mechanic who exclusively uses a 12V tester to diagnose an electric vehicle's (EV) problems is likely to experience prolonged troubleshooting, only to arrive at an incomplete diagnosis.

It is no different for engineers needing to test, characterize, and debug their latest circuit designs, especially because devices have become exponentially smaller and operate at ultra-low voltages. Using the proper test equipment is crucial early in the product design and development stages. Otherwise, engineers risk affecting signal integrity and causing delays, cost overruns, quality issues, or even product recalls.

In this week’s New Tech Tuesday, we look at high-performance test equipment from Keysight that enables engineers to design, test, and debug their newest designs with confidence and precision.

The Newest Products for Your Newest Designs^®

The Keysight InfiniiVision HD3 Series (Figure 1) marks a significant technological leap with its advanced 14-bit analog-to-digital converters (ADCs).^[2] These ADCs are capable of encoding analog inputs into 16,384 distinct levels, providing four times the resolution compared to the traditional 12-bit ADCs, which manage only 4,096 levels. This enhanced resolution is crucial in capturing finer details in waveform signals, particularly in complex electronic circuit designs.

Figure 1: The newest generation of Keysight’s InfiniiVision oscilloscopes, the HD3 Series, offers precision measurements from 200MHz to 1GHz in a portable form factor. (Source: Mouser Electronics)

One of the standout features of the Keysight InfiniiVision HD3 oscilloscope is its exceptionally low noise floor of 50µV_RMS at a bandwidth of 1GHz. This low noise floor minimizes the oscilloscope's impact on measurements, allowing for more accurate and reliable data. Engineers can also utilize bandwidth limiting and waveform averaging to reduce noise further, thereby enhancing the quality of the signal analysis.

Tuesday’s Takeaway

As miniaturization of electronic components advances, the importance of using the right test equipment becomes crucial. High-performance testing tools like the Keysight InfiniiVision HD3 series oscilloscopes enable engineers to tackle modern circuit design challenges with precision. The HD3 equips them to capture, analyze, and debug minute signal anomalies, ensuring optimal functionality and reliability in complex devices.

Sources

[1] https://www.memic.com/workplace-safety/safety-net-blog/the-right-tool-for-the-job
[2] https://www.keysight.com/us/en/products/oscilloscopes/infiniivision-2-4-channel-digital-oscilloscopes/infiniivision-hd3-series-oscilloscopes.html