Soft answers for problem signals

Abstract

This paper introduces a new approach to finding signal-integrity issues in high-speed electronic designs. The new approach is most concisely described as the use of event-identification software. Essentially, it is smart software that scans each waveform acquired by the oscilloscope and looks for various signal-integrity issues or events of interest in the signal. The software-based approach has a number of potential benefits. The use of software to pick up issues means that multiple events can be monitored simultaneously. Hardware triggering is limited to identifying a single event of interest. The hardware trigger circuit is setup to trigger on a specific type of event and is prohibited from monitoring for other types of event at the same time. Event-identification software does not suffer from such a limitation. It can be programmed to scan for five events at the same time on any channel or combination of channels. This can significantly reduce the time it takes to narrow down the potential causes of a signal integrity problem or isolate nasty interdependent events.