DSO Oscilloscopes : Teledyne LeCroy WavePro 715Zi

WavePro 7 Zi excels in the way it offers general purpose utility never before seen in oscilloscopes from 1.5 to 6 GHz. All WavePro 7 Zi oscilloscopes contain selectable 50 Ω and 1 MΩ input capability. The 4 and 6 GHz models include both ProBus and ProLink input types which means eight probes can be attached and then multiplexed from the front panel or by remote control. The result— it’s easy to hook up a passive probe even on 4 or 6 GHz models—no more frustration and hassle of trying to find a 1 MΩ input adapter. Plus, any existing investment in LeCroy probes, such as current probes, single-ended or differential active probes, or high voltage probes, is fully leveraged. Perfect.

A powerful combination of high bandwidth Edge and 10 different SMART triggers allow you to isolate the problem quickly and begin to focus on the cause. Most SMART triggers allow triggering on pulse widths or features as small as 200 ps. A high-speed serial trigger enables triggering on up to 2.7 Gb/s serial patterns of up to 80-bits in length. Built-in hardware clock recovery is also included.

TriggerScan uses high-speed hardware triggering capability with persistence displays to capture only the signals of interest and provide answers up to 100X faster that other methods. Traditional fast display update modes work best on frequent events occurring on slow edge rates while TriggerScan excels in finding infrequent events on fast edge rates.

The best trigger won’t find all unusual events—a more powerful capability is sometimes needed. WaveScan provides the ability to locate unusual events in a single capture (i.e., capture and search) or "scan" for an event in many acquisitions over a long period of time. Select from more than 20 search modes (frequency, rise time, runt, duty cycle, etc.), apply a search condition and begin scanning. When an event is found, WaveScan highlights the error on screen and displays a table listing the errors.

Add Mixed Signal Oscilloscope (MSO) operation using the MS Series mixed signal options. These convenient add-ons connect to the LeCroy LBUS and quickly and simply provide capability to acquire up to 36 digital lines time-correlated with analog waveforms. No time is wasted in trying to learn how to connect, synchronize or operate a complicated logic analyzer since the MSOs are already completely integrated into the scope operation. In addition to acquiring digital lines, they are also helpful for monitoring low-speed signals, such as serial data clock, data, and chip select signals, thus preserving the analog channels for higher speed requirements.

LeCroy has found a way to make long acquisition memory seamless and pain free to use. The WavePro 7 Zi Series’ proprietary X-Stream II architecture supports capturing, zooming, measuring and analyzing multiple waveforms at 256 Mpts deep. What you experience is performance gains of 10–20X over what is available today. Whether looking at the acquired signal or while analyzing several screens of statistics, tracking a frequency or identifying complex patterns the WavePro 7 Zi is designed to perform.

The first time you use the Zi oscilloscope you will experience responsiveness that you’ve never seen before. Acquiring and manipulating the longest record lengths and the most complex WaveShape Analysis are all easily handled at the same time. Whether you use the front panel or choose to make adjustments with a mouse or the touch screen, the system performs.

Designed for long memory operation and responsiveness X-Stream II technology enables high throughput of data—even when the oscilloscope is performing multiple 100 Mpts waveforms. It does so by eliminating the trade-offs between long memory length and quick processing. WavePro 7 Zi’s proprietary architecture design is augmented with an Intel® Core™ 2 Quad processor, high-speed serial data buses, a 64-bit OS and up to 8 GB of RAM.

By using variable waveform segment lengths to improve the CPU cache memory efficiency the WavePro 7 Zi is designed for the fastest processing of long waveform records. The result—10-20 times faster processing compared to other oscilloscopes.

By dynamically allocating buffers where to maximize memory availability the WavePro 7 Zi Series embodies the fastest front panel responsiveness. Waveform previewing shows interim calculation results while a built in processing abort make front panel control changes instant by stopping the current process and allowing new waveforms to be positioned or zoomed—all without a lengthy recalculation.

DFP2 lets you implement Finite or Infinite Impulse Response filters to eliminate undesired spectral components, such as noise, and enhances your ability to examine important signal components. You can choose from a standared set of FIR or IIR filters. You can also design your own filters.

The spectrum converts the controls of your oscilloscope to those of a spectrum analyzer. Adjust the frequency span, resolution and center frequency. Apply filtering to your signal and watch the frequency signature change in real time. A unique peak search labels the spectral components and presents frequency and level in a table. Touch any line jump to that peak.

The Mixed Signal option allows the WavePro 7 Zi to convert to a mixed signal oscilloscope with up to 36 digital channels. Channels are sampled at 2 GS/s up to 50 Mpts/Ch. Having up to 36 digital inputs timesynchronized with four analog channels extends the oscilloscope's use to provide a total system view.

Specialized timing parameters measure period, cycle-cycle, half period, width, etc. jitter on a variety of signals. Use the three views of jitter (statistical, time, and frequency) to understand root cause and to debug problems. Histograms provide understanding of statistical distributions. Tracks provide a means to show time-correlated peaks of jitter, and compare to other signals. FFTs provide the ability to debug root causes of high in-circuit jitter.