The term “domain” is cropping up a lot lately—notably, often with regard to the Tektronix MDO4000 multi-domain oscilloscope, which offers a frequency-domain channel along with traditional time-domain channels. Senior Technical Editor Tom Lecklider comments on the MDO4000 and other instruments in “Crossing Domain Boundaries” from the October issue, where he notes, “Traditionally, signals were defined as a spectrum in the frequency domain or a waveform in the time domain. Neither of these representations is adequate when the information content is related to the signal’s variation with time.”
Another instrument in the news carrying the term domain in its description is Advantest's U3800 Cross Domain AnalyzerTM family. Rohde & Schwarz announced that it is showcasing the instrument this week at the European Microwave Week event and will also highlight it at Productronica next month. Rohde & Schwarz said its representatives will offer the instrument in select countries.
Advantest, which introduced the U3800 series in June, describes it as “the industrys's first metrology tool to offer phase measurement of two high-frequency signals in a single instrument, allowing operators to determine the phase difference. This new functionality enables quick and accurate detection of reception problems caused by inter-circuit interference or radio wave reflection….” The instrument, the company says, can serve in broadcasting and communications applications and can help users solve electromagnetic interference (EMI) problems.
Advantest notes that the U3800 incorporates utilizes a new “X math” (pronounced “cross math”) function (not to be confused with X-parameters) to support “comparative analysis of inputs from two channels. This function displays the waveforms of both signals on a single coordinate plain, enabling operators to see the phase difference between the signals at a glance.”
Posted 10/14/2011 2:40 PM.