TABLE OF CONTENTS Andreas Pfaff
Agilent Technologies
B blingen, Germany
The first part of this chapter describes what a pulse generator basically is and explains a couple of terms that are often used in conjunction with these instruments or their applications.
A pulse generator is an instrument that can provide a voltage or current output whose waveform may be described as a continuous pulse stream. A pulse stream is a signal that departs from an initial level to some other single level for a finite duration, then returns to the original level for a finite duration. This type of waveform is often referred to as a rectangular pulse or pulse stream.
A pulse generator may be used to stimulate a device, such as an integrated circuit (IC), a multichip module (MCM), or a passive component like a connector or a cable. In some cases, it can even stimulate a complete system, such as the clock distribution network of a personal computer (PC) or a workstation. The reactions of these devices, when properly measured, can be used to describe or specify many of their characteristics.
In order to achieve meaningful results, the suitability of the measuring device, along with the method of measurement, is as important as the suitability of the pulse generator. In most applications, the measuring device will be either a real-time or a sampling oscilloscope (see Chap 14), because oscilloscopes can conveniently display a wide range of voltage levels on one while representing time on the other axis.
