ATS9350 User Manual_V1_2_Inside Manual V1 2
User Manual:
Open the PDF directly: View PDF 
.
Page Count: 66
ATS9350 User Manual
12 Bit, 500 MS/s
Waveform Digitizer for PCI Express Bus
Written for Hardware Version 1.3
September 2010 Edition
Part Number: 9350-USR-2
ATS9350 User Manual i
Copyright © 2010 AlazarTech. All rights reserved.
AlazarTech Contact Information
AlazarTech, Inc.
6600 Trans-Canada Highway
Suite 310
Pointe-Claire, QC
Canada H9R 4S2
Telephone: (514) 426-4899
Fax: (514) 426-2723
E-mail: info@alazartech.com
Web site: www.alazartech.com
To comment on the documentation for ATS9350, send e-mail to
support@alazartech.com.
Information required when contacting AlazarTech for technical support:
Owned by: ___________________________
Serial Number: ___________________________
Purchase Date: ___________________________
Purchased From: ___________________________
Software Driver Version: ___________________________
SDK Version: ___________________________
AlazarDSO Version: ___________________________
Operating System: ___________________________
ii ATS9350 User Manual
Important Information
Warranty
The ATS9350 is warranted against defects in materials and workmanship for a period of
one year from the date of shipment, as evidenced by receipts or other documentation.
AlazarTech, Inc. will, at its option, repair or replace equipment that proves to be
defective during the warranty period. This warranty includes parts and labor.
The media on which you receive AlazarTech, Inc. software are warranted not to fail to
execute programming instructions, due to defects in materials and workmanship, for a
period of 90 days from date of shipment, as evidenced by receipts or other
documentation. AlazarTech, Inc. will, at its option, repair or replace software media that
do not execute programming instructions if AlazarTech, Inc. receives notice of such
defects during the warranty period. AlazarTech, Inc. does not warrant that the operation
of the software shall be uninterrupted or error free.
A Return Material Authorization (RMA) number must be obtained from the factory and
clearly marked on the outside of the package before any equipment will be accepted for
warranty work. AlazarTech, Inc. will pay the shipping costs of returning to the owner
parts that are covered by warranty.
AlazarTech, Inc. believes that the information in this document is accurate. The
document has been carefully reviewed for technical accuracy. In the event that
technical or typographical errors exist, AlazarTech, Inc. reserves the right to make
changes to subsequent editions of this document without prior notice to holders of this
edition. AlazarTech, Inc. may also make improvements and/or changes in the products
and/or programs described in this document at any time. The reader should consult
AlazarTech, Inc. if errors are suspected. In no event shall AlazarTech, Inc. be liable for
any damages arising out of or related to this document or the information contained in
it. The latest user manual can be found on the AlazarTech, Inc. web page at
www.alazartech.com/support/downloads.htm.
EXCEPT AS SPECIFIED HEREIN, ALAZARTECH, INC. MAKES NO WARRANTIES,
EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, AND SPECIFICALLY DISCLAIMS ANY WARRANTY OF
MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. CUSTOMER’S
RIGHT TO RECOVER DAMAGES CAUSED BY FAULT OR NEGLIGENCE ON THE
PART OF ALAZARTECH, INC. SHALL BE LIMITED TO THE AMOUNT
THERETOFORE PAID BY THE CUSTOMER. ALAZARTECH, INC. WILL NOT BE
LIABLE FOR DAMAGES RESULTING FROM LOSS OF DATA, PROFITS, USE OF
PRODUCTS, OR INCIDENTAL OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES, EVEN IF ADVISED
OF THE POSSIBILITY THEREOF. This limitation of the liability of AlazarTech, Inc. will
apply regardless of the form of action, whether in contract or tort, including negligence.
Any action against AlazarTech, Inc. must be brought within one year after the cause of
action accrues. AlazarTech, Inc. shall not be liable for any delay in performance due to
causes beyond its reasonable control. The warranty provided herein does not cover
damages, defects, malfunctions, or service failures caused by owner’s failure to follow
the AlazarTech, Inc. installation, operation, or maintenance instructions; owner’s
modification of the product; owner’s abuse, misuse, or negligent acts; and power failure
or surges, fire, flood, accident, actions of third parties, or other events outside
reasonable control.
Copyright
Under the copyright laws, this publication may not be reproduced or transmitted in any
form, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, storing in an
information retrieval system, or translating, in whole or in part, without the prior written
consent of AlazarTech, Inc.
Trademarks
AlazarTech, Inc.™, AlazarTech™, alazartech.com™, ATS™, ATS9350™,
AlazarDSO™, are trademarks of AlazarTech, Inc. Product and company names
mentioned herein are trademarks or trade names of their respective companies.
ATS9350 User Manual iii
Warning Regarding Use of AlazarTech Products
1. ALAZARTECH, INC. PRODUCTS ARE NOT DESIGNED WITH COMPONENTS
AND TESTING FOR A LEVEL OF RELIABILITY SUITABLE FOR USE IN OR IN
CONNECTION WITH SURGICAL IMPLANTS OR AS CRITICAL COMPONENTS
IN ANY LIFE SUPPORT SYSTEMS WHOSE FAILURE TO PERFORM CAN
REASONABLY BE EXPECTED TO CAUSE SIGNIFICANT INJURY TO A
HUMAN.
2. IN ANY APPLICATION, INCLUDING THE ABOVE, RELIABILITY OF
OPERATION OF THE SOFTWARE PRODUCTS CAN BE IMPAIRED BY
ADVERSE FACTORS, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO FLUCTUATIONS IN
ELECTRICAL POWER SUPPLY, COMPUTER HARDWARE MALFUNCTIONS,
COMPUTER OPERATING SYSTEM SOFTWARE FITNESS, FITNESS OF
COMPILERS AND DEVELOPMENT SOFTWARE USED TO DEVELOP AN
APPLICATION, INSTALLATION ERRORS, SOFTWARE AND HARDWARE
COMPATIBILITY PROBLEMS, MALFUNCTIONS OR FAILURES OF
ELECTRONIC MONITORING OR CONTROL DEVICES, TRANSIENT FAILURES
OF ELECTRONIC SYSTEMS (HARDWARE AND/OR SOFTWARE),
UNANTICIPATED USES OR MISUSES, OR ERRORS ON THE PART OF THE
USER OR APPLICATIONS DESIGNER (ADVERSE FACTORS SUCH AS THESE
ARE HEREAFTER COLLECTIVELY TERMED “SYSTEM FAILURES”). ANY
APPLICATION WHERE A SYSTEM FAILURE WOULD CREATE A RISK OF
HARM TO PROPERTY OR PERSONS (INCLUDING THE RISK OF BODILY
INJURY AND DEATH) SHOULD NOT BE RELIANT SOLELY UPON ONE FORM
OF ELECTRONIC SYSTEM DUE TO THE RISK OF SYSTEM FAILURE. TO
AVOID DAMAGE, INJURY, OR DEATH, THE USER OR APPLICATION
DESIGNER MUST TAKE REASONABLY PRUDENT STEPS TO PROTECT
AGAINST SYSTEM FAILURES, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO BACK-UP
OR SHUT DOWN MECHANISMS. BECAUSE EACH END-USER SYSTEM IS
CUSTOMIZED AND DIFFERS FROM ALAZARTECH, INC.’s TESTING
PLATFORMS AND BECAUSE A USER OR APPLICATION DESIGNER MAY
USE ALAZARTECH, INC. PRODUCTS IN COMBINATION WITH OTHER
PRODUCTS IN A MANNER NOT EVALUATED OR CONTEMPLATED BY
ALAZARTECH, INC., THE USER OR APPLICATION DESIGNER IS
ULTIMATELY RESPONSIBLE FOR VERIFYING AND VALIDATING THE
SUITABILITY OF ALAZARTECH INC. PRODUCTS WHENEVER ALAZARTECH,
INC. PRODUCTS ARE INCORPORATED IN A SYSTEM OR APPLICATION,
INCLUDING, WITHOUT LIMITATION, THE APPROPRIATE DESIGN, PROCESS
AND SAFETY LEVEL OF SUCH SYSTEM OR APPLICATION.
iv ATS9350 User Manual
Compliance
FCC/Canada Radio Frequency Interference Compliance*
Determining FCC Class
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has rules to protect wireless
communications from interference. The FCC places digital electronics into two classes.
These classes are known as Class A (for use in industrial-commercial locations only) or
Class B (for use in residential or commercial locations). Depending on where it is
operated, this product could be subject to restrictions in the FCC rules. (In Canada, the
Department of communications (DOC), of Industry Canada, regulates wireless
interference in much the same way.)
Digital electronics emit weak signals during normal operation that can affect radio,
television, or other wireless products. By examining the product you purchased, you can
determine the FCC Class and therefore which of the two FCC/DOC Warnings apply in
the following sections. (Some products may not be labeled at all for FCC; if so, the
reader should then assume these are Class A devices.)
FCC Class A products only display a simple warning statement of one paragraph in
length regarding interference and undesired operation. Most of our products are FCC
Class A. The FCC rules have restrictions regarding the locations where FCC Class A
products can be operated.
FCC Class B products display either a FCC ID code, starting with the letters EXN, or
the FCC Class B compliance mark.
Consult the FCC web site http://www.fcc.gov for more information.
FCC/DOC Warnings
This equipment generates and uses radio frequency energy and, if not installed and
used in strict accordance with the instructions in this manual and the CE Mark
Declaration of Conformity**, may cause interference to radio and television reception.
Classification requirements are the same for the Federal Communications Commission
(FCC) and the Canadian Department of Communications (DOC).
Changes or modifications not expressly approved by AlazarTech Inc. could void the
user’s authority to operate the equipment under the FCC Rules.
Class A
Federal Communications Commission
This equipment has been tested and found to comply with the limits for a Class A digital
device, pursuant to part 15 of the FCC Rules. These limits are designed to provide
reasonable protection against harmful interference when the equipment is operated in a
commercial environment. This equipment generates, uses, and can radiate radio
frequency energy and, if not installed and used in accordance with the instruction
manual, may cause harmful interference to radio communications. Operation of this
equipment in a residential area is likely to cause harmful interference in which case the
user will be required to correct the interference at his own expense.
Canadian Department of Communications
This Class A digital apparatus meets all requirements of the Canadian Interference-
Causing Equipment Regulations. Cet appareil numérique de la classe A respecte
toutes les exigences du Règlement sur le matériel brouilleur du Canada.
ATS9350 User Manual v
Compliance to EU Directives
Readers in the European Union (EU) must refer to the Manufacturer's Declaration of
Conformity (DoC) for information** pertaining to the CE Mark compliance scheme. The
Manufacturer includes a DoC for most every hardware product except for those bought
for OEMs, if also available from an original manufacturer that also markets in the EU, or
where compliance is not required as for electrically benign apparatus or cables.
To obtain the DoC for this product, click Declaration of Conformity at
http://www.alazartech.com/support/documents.htm. This web page lists all DoCs by
product family. Select the appropriate product to download or read the DoC.
* Certain exemptions may apply in the USA, see FCC Rules §15.103 Exempted
devices, and §15.105(c). Also available in sections of CFR 47.
** The CE Mark Declaration of Conformity will contain important supplementary
information and instructions for the user or installer.
Environmental Compliance
Alazar Technologies Inc., hereby certifies that this product is RoHS compliant, as
defined by Directive 2002/95/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 27
January 2003 on the restriction of the use of certain hazardous substances in electrical
and electronic equipment. All manufacturing has been done using RoHS-compliant
components and lead-free soldering.
vi ATS9350 User Manual
Table of Contents
Important Information ................................................................... ii
Compliance ................................................................................. iv
Table of Contents........................................................................ vi
CHAPTER 1 - INTRODUCTION..................................................1
About Your ATS9350 ...................................................................2
Acquiring Data with Your ATS9350..............................................4
Optional Upgrades .......................................................................8
CHAPTER 2 - INSTALLATION AND CONFIGURATION...........9
What You Need to Get Started ..................................................10
Unpacking ..................................................................................11
Installing the ATS9350 ...............................................................12
Installing the ATS9350 in a Linux System..................................25
Compiling the ATS9350 Linux Driver.........................................26
Updating ATS9350 Driver ..........................................................27
CHAPTER 3 - HARDWARE OVERVIEW..................................29
Input Connectors........................................................................31
Signal Connections ....................................................................32
Analog Input ...............................................................................33
Amplifier Bypass Option.............. Error! Bookmark not defined.
Calibration ..................................................................................35
Master/Slave Operation............... Error! Bookmark not defined.
Optional External Clock..............................................................36
Streaming Using Data FIFO.......................................................39
APPENDIX A - SPECIFICATIONS............................................49
APPENDIX B - BENCHMARKS................................................55
ATS9350 User Manual 1
Chapter 1 - Introduction
This chapter describes the ATS9350 and lists additional
equipment.
2 ATS9350 User Manual
About Your ATS9350
Thank you for your purchase of an ATS9350. This PCI
Express (PCIe x8) based waveform digitizer has the following
features:
• Two 12-bit resolution analog input channels
• Real-time sampling rate of 500 MS/s to 1 KS/s with
internal clock and 500 MS/s to 1 MS/s with external
clock
• On-board acquisition memory buffer of up to
2 Gigasamples (4 Gigabytes)
• Streaming of acquired data to PC host memory at
1.6 GB/s (exact rate is motherboard dependent)
• 250 MHz analog input bandwidth
• Half length PCI Express (8 lane) card
• Analog trigger channel with software-selectable level
and slope
• Software-selectable AC/DC coupling and fixed 50Ω
input impedance
• Pre-trigger and Post-Trigger Capture with Multiple
Record capability
• Multi-board Master/Slave systems for up to 8
simultaneous input channels
• NIST traceable calibration
• Dual DMA engines for best latency protection against
Windows and Linux operating systems
• Fully asynchronous software driver for fastest DMA
with least CPU overhead
ATS9350 User Manual 3
All ATS9350 digitizers follow industry-standard Plug and Play
specifications on all platforms and offer seamless integration
with compliant systems.
If your application requires more than two channels for data
acquisition, you can synchronize multiple digitizers on all
platforms using a Master/Slave SyncBoard 9350.
Detailed specifications of the ATS9350 digitizers are listed in
Appendix A, Specifications.
4 ATS9350 User Manual
Acquiring Data with Your ATS9350
You can acquire data either programmatically by writing an
application for your ATS9350 or interactively with the
AlazarDSO software.
If you want to integrate the ATS9350 in your test and
measurement or embedded OEM application, you can
program the digitizer using C/C++, Visual BASIC or LabVIEW
for Windows or C for Linux operating systems.
¾ Windows operating systems supported are Windows
7 32bit, Windows 7 64 bit, Windows Vista 32 bit,
Windows Vista 64 bit, Windows XP 32 bit and
Windows XP 64 bit.
¾ Note that Windows 98SE and Windows 2000 are not
supported.
For programming in C/C++ or Visual BASIC, you must
purchase the ATS-SDK software development kit that comes
with sample programs and a reference manual describing the
API.
For programming in LabVIEW, you must purchase the ATS-
VI virtual instrument library that comes with a high-level,
easy-to-use VI that makes integrating the ATS9350 into your
own system very simple.
With the recent release of Linux drivers for ATS9350, it is
possible to program your ATS9350 under Linux operating
system. You will need to sign a Non-Disclosure Agreement
with AlazarTech and purchase the ATS-Linux software
development kit that comes with source files for the driver
(Fedora Core 12 - kernel 2.6) and C source code for a
sample program. Also supplied is the AlazarFrontPanel
graphical user interface for the ATS9350.
ATS9350 User Manual 5
Interactively Controlling your ATS9350 with AlazarDSO
The AlazarDSO Soft Front Panel allows you to interactively
control your ATS9350 as you would a desktop oscilloscope.
To launch the Scope Soft Front Panel, select
Start » Programs » AlazarTech » AlazarDSO
The following screen will be displayed. If you connect the
input to a signal generator and click on Start button, you
should see the signal on the screen.
AlazarDSO has been designed to be very intuitive and uses a
user interface similar to most of today’s digital oscilloscopes.
6 ATS9350 User Manual
ATS-SDK API
The ATS-SDK API is used for programming the ATS9350 in
C/C++ or Visual BASIC. It provides the exact same API that
is used for writing AlazarDSO software. To help you get
started, ATS-SDK comes with examples you can use or
modify.
ATS9350 User Manual 7
ATS-VI LabVIEW VI
ATS-VI allows you to integrate the ATS9350 into your own
LabVIEW program. A high level VI is supplied that requires
very few controls to get started.
ATS-Linux for ATS9350
The ATS-Linux for ATS9350 can be used for programming
the ATS9350 under Linux operating system. A source code
driver is supplied that has been compiled for Fedora Core 12
(Kernel 2.6) running on an i386 platform. Sample program is
supplied in C. The API is identical to the Windows API.
Note that you will need to sign a Non-Disclosure Agreement
with AlazarTech in order for the source code of the drivers to
be shared with you.
8 ATS9350 User Manual
Optional Upgrades
AlazarTech offers the following upgrades and accessories for
use with your ATS9350 digitizer:
• ATS9350: External Clock Upgrade
• ATS9350: Amplifier Bypass Upgrade
• ATS9350: Master/Slave SyncBoard 2 position
• ATS9350: Master/Slave SyncBoard 4 position
• AlazarDSO – Stream To Disk Module
• AlazarDSO – Plug-In Development Kit
ATS9350 User Manual 9
Chapter 2 - Installation
and Configuration
This chapter describes how to unpack, install, and configure
your ATS9350.
10 ATS9350 User Manual
What You Need to Get Started
To set up and use your ATS9350, you will need the following:
• One or more ATS9350 digitizers
• ATS9350 Install Disk
• For Master/Slave operation only:
SyncBoard of appropriate width
ATS9350 User Manual 11
Unpacking
Your digitizer is shipped in an antistatic package to prevent
electrostatic damage to the digitizer. Electrostatic discharge
can damage several components on the digitizer. To avoid
such damage in handling the digitizer, take the following
precautions:
• Ground yourself via a grounding strap or by holding a
grounded object.
• Touch the antistatic package to a metal part of your
computer chassis before removing the digitizer from
the package.
• Remove the digitizer from the package and inspect
the digitizer for loose components or any other sign
of damage. Notify AlazarTech if the digitizer appears
damaged in any way. Do not install a damaged
digitizer into your computer.
• Never touch the exposed pins of the connectors.
12 ATS9350 User Manual
Installing the ATS9350
There are four main steps involved in installation:
1. Physically install the digitizer(s) and SyncBoard, if
any, in your computer.
2. Install ATS9350 software driver
3. Install AlazarDSO software that allows you to setup
the hardware, acquire signals and view and archive
them
4. Optionally, install the ATS-SDK software
development kit or ATS-VI LabVIEW VI, which
enables you to programmatically control the
ATS9350
Thanks to the flexible nature of AlazarTech’s driver
installation software, you can either install the hardware first
or install the software driver first.
The following paragraphs will guide you through this process
in a step-by-step manner.
ATS9350 User Manual 13
1. Physically install the digitizer in your computer
Identify an unused PCI Express slot on your
motherboard. As per PCI Express specification, the
8-lane ATS9350 card is compatible with any 8-lane
or 16-lane connector on the motherboard.
Make sure that your computer is powered off before
you attempt to insert the ATS9350 digitizer in one of
the free PCI Express slots.
For best noise performance, leave as much room as
possible between your ATS9350 and other hardware.
Always screw the digitizer bracket to the chassis in
order to create a stable and robust connection to
chassis ground.
In the absence of such a connection, ATS9350 is not
guaranteed to operate within the specifications listed
elsewhere in this manual.
Some motherboards may have a 16-lane connector, but only
one of the lanes is connected to the motherboard chipset.
Motherboard manufacturers refer to this as “Mechanically
16-lane, electrically 1 lane”. ATS9350 is fully compatible
with such motherboards, but the data throughput across PCI
Express bus will be limited by the number of lanes.
14 ATS9350 User Manual
2. For Master/Slave Installation
If you are installing multiple ATS9350 digitizers that
will be configured as a Master/Slave system, make
sure that you insert all cards in adjacent slots.
The connector on the SyncBoard that is labeled as
“M” (Master), must be inserted into the Master/Slave
connector of the left-most digitizer, if you are facing
the BNC connectors of the ATS9350 digitizers.
Make sure you screw in the SyncBoard to the screw
bracket on te ATS9350 printed circuit board.
If you are installing fewer than the maximum number
of digitizers supported by your SyncBoard, the
unused SyncBoard connectors must be on the right-
hand side of the digitizers, if you are facing the BNC
connectors of the ATS9350 digitizers.
Once you have completed this step, you should
power the computer on.
ATS9350 User Manual 15
3. Install ATS9350 software driver
The following instructions guide you through the
process of installing the ATS9350 in a computer
running Windows Vista or Windows XP operating
systems.
Other operating systems, such as Windows NT,
Windows 2000, Windows 95 and Windows 98SE are
not covered here.
Note that the images of the dialog boxes shown
below were taken from a Windows XP computer.
Computers running Vista may have slightly different
dialog boxes.
Installation of Multiple ATS9350 Digitizers
If you are installing multiple ATS9350 digitizers, the
operating system will detect one card at a time and
you will have to go through the driver installation
setup as many times as you have cards.
16 ATS9350 User Manual
Installing ATS9350 Hardware First
If you decided to install the ATS9350 hardware
before installing the ATS9350 software driver, then
when you first boot up the computer, the plug-n-play
Windows operating system will detect the presence
of a new PCI card and ask you to provide the device
driver.
a) When you power on for the first time, Windows
will display the Welcome to the Found New
Hardware Wizard
Click Cancel.
ATS9350 User Manual 17
b) Insert the installation CD. If it does not auto-run,
manually run the Setup.exe program on the
ATS9350 Driver Disk.
Click Next.
c) The following dialog box will be displayed
showing the progress of installation of ATS9350
driver files in the operating system driver store.
18 ATS9350 User Manual
a) The following final screen will confirm that the driver
has been installed.
Now your ATS9350 is fully installed and is ready to
use.
ATS9350 User Manual 19
Installing ATS9350 Driver First
If you decided to install the ATS9350 software driver
before installing the ATS9350 hardware, then you
must follow the following sequence to make sure
your operating system recognizes ATS9350 as an
installed device.
b) Insert the installation CD. If it does not auto-run,
manually run the Setup.exe program on the ATS9350
Driver Disk.
Click Next.
20 ATS9350 User Manual
c) The following dialog box will be displayed showing
the progress of installation of ATS9350 driver files in
the operating system driver store.
`
d) The following final screen will confirm that the driver
has been installed.
e) Click Finish and power down your computer
f) Physically install your ATS9350 card(s).
If you are installing a Master/Slave system, also
install the SyncBoard.
ATS9350 User Manual 21
g) Power on your computer
h) Windows will display the Welcome to the Found
New Hardware Wizard
Click Next
i) The following dialog box will be displayed:
22 ATS9350 User Manual
j) Choose to install the software automatically. Click
Next
Operating system will copy the appropriate files to its
system folders. The following dialog box will be
displayed:
k) Operating system will display the Completing the
Found New Hardware Wizard message.
Click Finish. Now your ATS9350 is fully installed and
is ready to use.
ATS9350 User Manual 23
3. Install AlazarDSO software that allows you to
setup the hardware, acquire signals and view and
archive them
If you are installing from the CD shipped with the
ATS9350 digitizer:
• Insert the ATS9350 Install disk
• Use Windows Explorer to navigate to the
AlazarDSO folder on the ATS9350 Install
Disk. Run Setup.exe program
• Follow the instructions on the screen.
If you are installing AlazarDSO after having
downloaded the installation file from AlazarTech web
site:
• Download AlazarDSO installation file from
www.alazartech.com/support/downloads.htm
• Unzip the file downloaded in the previous
step.
• Browse to the folder that contains the
unzipped file, Setup.exe
• Run this executable file and follow the
instructions on the screen.
24 ATS9350 User Manual
4. Optionally, install the ATS-SDK software
development kit or ATS-VI LabVIEW VI, which
enables you to programmatically control the
ATS9350
Insert the ATS-SDK or ATS-VI CD. Software
installation will start automatically.
If, for any reason, installation does not start
automatically, run the SETUP.EXE program.
Follow the instructions on the screen.
Note that you must have already installed the
ATS9350 drivers for any of the sample programs
included with the ATS-SDK or ATS-VI to work
properly.
ATS9350 User Manual 25
Installing the ATS9350 in a Linux System
ATS9350 is fully compatible with the popular Linux operating
system.
AlazarTech supplies source code Linux drivers that have
been tested under Fedora Core 12 (kernel 2.6).
¾ Note that a Non-Disclosure Agreement must be
signed between AlazarTech and your company or
university before any source code can be released to
you.
AlazarTech does not provide software support for compiling
drivers for other versions of Linux, i.e. customers will be fully
responsible for compiling drivers for their own Linux operating
system.
To install Linux drivers in a Fedora Core 12 system, follow
the instructions listed below:
1. Copy the supplied RPM file to the target machine
2. Double-click on the RPM icon. This will install the
driver as well as associated applications.
3. Reboot the PC.
Note that if you do not reboot the PC, the driver will
not be loaded.
The RPM file will also install an application called
AlazarFrontPanel. This is a Graphical User Interface (GUI)
using which you can setup and acquire data from the
ATS9350.
Note that AlazarFrontPanel has been compiled using GTK
2.4 libraries. If you intend to use an operating system other
than Fedora Core 12, make sure that the GTK 2.4 libraries
have been installed on your machine.
1.
26 ATS9350 User Manual
Compiling the ATS9350 Linux Driver
If you need to compile the ATS9350 driver for a version of
Linux other than Fedora Core 12, follow these steps:
2. Install the Linux kernel header files.
3. Extract the driver sources using the command
"PlxLinux_ATS9350_5.6.15.tgz ". This will create a
folder names "PlxLinux" with the driver files inside.
4. Set the shell environment variable PLX_SDK_DIR to
the root location where the "PlxLinux" directory was
created. For example, if using bash and the PlxLinux
directory is in your home directory, then add the
following line to the ~/.bashrc :
declare -x PLX_SDK_DIR=$HOME/PlxLinux
5. To build the ATS9350 driver, type
cd PlxLinux/linux/driver
./make
This will create the file ATS9350.ko, the loadable
driver file. You can change build defines in
PlxLinux/linux/makefiles/Gcc.def. Copy the driver to
/usr/local/AlazarTech/bin.
6. Load the driver by rebooting the computer or typing:
cd /usr/local/AlazarTech/bin
ATS9350.rc start
You should be able to run the AlazarFrontPanel
application or Acq2Disk sample in
/usr/local/AlazarTech/samples.
7. If it is necessary to rebuild the library, type
cd PlxLinux/linux/api
make
This will create SharedLibrary/libPlxApi.so.0.0. Copy the file
to /usr/local/AlazarTech/lib and then run ldconf
ATS9350 User Manual 27
Updating ATS9350 Driver
From time to time, AlazarTech updates the device drivers for
its products. These updates may be required for product
enhancements or for bug fixes.
This section of the manual takes you through the steps
required to update the device driver for the ATS9350 PCI
Express waveform digitizer.
In other words, this section shows you how to install a newer
version of the driver, when you already have a previous
version of the driver installed on your machine.
1. Download the latest driver from AlazarTech’s web
site:
www.alazartech.com/support/downloads.htm
2. Unzip the downloaded file to a local folder
3. Run the resulting installation file (*.exe extension).
For example, the installation file for driver version
5.8.0 is called ATS9350_Driver_V5.8.0.exe.
The following welcome screen will be displayed:
Click Next.
28 ATS9350 User Manual
4. The following dialog box will be displayed showing
the progress of installation of ATS9350 driver files.
5. The following final screen will confirm that the driver
has been installed.
a. Click Finish.
ATS9350 driver has now been updated
ATS9350 User Manual 29
Chapter 3 - Hardware
Overview
This chapter includes an overview of the ATS9350, explains
the operation of each functional unit making up your
ATS9350, and describes the signal connections.
Following is a high-level block diagram of ATS9350.
30 ATS9350 User Manual
ATS9350 User Manual 31
Input Connectors
ATS9350 digitizers have one SMA connector for ECLK
(External Clock) Input, two standard BNC female connectors
for CH A and CH B analog input connections, one standard
BNC female connector for the TRIG IN (External Trigger)
input and one standard BNC female connector for AUX I/O
(Auxiliary Input or Output).
The following pictorial shows the various connectors available
on the digitizer bracket.
Identification LED
For future use
Auxiliary I/O
(Default is TRIG OUT)
External Trigger
(TRIG IN)
Channel B
Channel A
O
p
tional External Cloc
k
32 ATS9350 User Manual
Signal Connections
You can use CH A and CH B to digitize data as well as to
trigger an acquisition.
Use the EXT input for an external analog trigger only; data on
the TRIG channel cannot be digitized.
If External Clock Upgrade is installed on your ATS9350, use
the ECLK input for clocking the ATS9350 in applications that
require an external clock. Consult the chapter Optional
External Clock for details on various types of clocking
schemes available.
AUX I/O connector can be used for outputting TRIG OUT
signal, a 5 V TTL signal synchronous with the on-board
trigger signal and the sampling clock.
• Note that the AUX I/O connector can also be
configured as a Trigger Enable Input through a
software command. Contact factory for details.
ATS9350 User Manual 33
Analog Input
The two analog input channels are referenced to common
ground in bipolar mode. These settings are fixed; therefore,
neither the reference nor the polarity of input channels can be
changed. You cannot use CH A or CH B to make differential
measurements or measure floating signals unless you
subtract the digital waveforms in software.
For accurate measurements, make sure the signal being
measured is referenced to the same ground as your
ATS9350 by attaching the probe’s ground clip to the signal
ground.
The External Trigger input (labeled TRIG IN) has a fixed input
range of ±3.3 V.
The CH A and CH B inputs have a software-programmable
coupling selection between AC and DC. Use AC coupling
when your AC signal contains a large DC component.
Without AC coupling, it is difficult to view details of the AC
component with a large DC offset and a small AC
component, such as switching noise on a DC supply. If you
enable AC coupling, you remove the large DC offset for the
input amplifier and amplify only the AC component. This
technique makes effective use of dynamic range to digitize
the signal of interest.
The low-frequency corner in an AC-coupled circuit is the
frequency below which signals are attenuated by at least 3
dB. The low-frequency corner is approximately 100 KHz with
50Ω input impedance.
34 ATS9350 User Manual
Monolithic 12-bit ADC
ATS9350 uses two monolithic analog-to-digital converters
with a maximum conversion rate of 500 MS/s.
If you use an external clock, you must follow all the timing
specifications on the external clock as described in Appendix
A, Specifications.
Multiple Record Acquisition
The ATS9350 allows the capture of multiple records into the
on-board memory. This allows you to capture rapidly
occurring triggers in OCT, ultrasound or radar applications.
Note that ATS9350 allows you to acquire pre-trigger data.
Specifying Record Length
Record Length is specified in number of sample points. It
must be a minimum of 256 points and can be specified with a
64-sample resolution.
Specifying Pretrigger Depth
You can acquire pre-trigger data up to the limit of (Record
length – 256). Minimum value for pre-trigger amount is 0.
Specifying Record Count
User can specify the number of records that must be
captured into host PC memory. The minimum value must be
1.
The maximum Record Count value in single-port mode is
1000.
In dual-port memory mode, there is no upper limit on how
many records you can capture in one acquisition.
ATS9350 User Manual 35
Calibration
Calibration is the process of minimizing measurement errors
by making small circuit adjustments.
All ATS9350 digitizers come factory calibrated to the levels
indicated in Appendix A, Specifications. Note that AlazarTech
calibration is fully NIST traceable.
However, your digitizer needs to be periodically recalibrated
in order to maintain its specified accuracy. This calibration
due date is listed on the CALIBRATION sticker affixed to your
ATS9350 digitizer.
Externally recalibrate the ATS9350 when this calibration
interval has expired.
This requires three very simple steps:
1. Verify whether or not ATS9350 is still within its
specifications. If it is, then your calibration can be
extended by another one-year period
2. If not, perform calibration, i.e. make adjustments to
the circuit until it is within specifications again
3. If any adjustments have been made, verify if the
ATS9350 is within specifications
Calibration Verification procedures are available to all
registered users of ATS9350 as part of AlazarDSO software.
Calibration software can be purchased by qualified
customers and metrology laboratories.
36 ATS9350 User Manual
Optional External Clock
ATS9350 PCI Digitizer optionally allows you to supply the
ADC clock. This option is extremely important in many RF
applications in which phase measurements must be made
between the inputs themselves or between the inputs and an
external event.
Another application that requires external clock is Optical
Coherence Tomography (OCT) that sometimes requires
analog sampling to take place relative to an MZI clock,
sometimes also known as k-clock.
Driving high performance ADCs must be done carefully, as
any injection of phase jitter through ADC clocks will result in
reduction in data conversion quality.
Aside from phase noise, the clock signal for a pipelined ADC
must also have a duty cycle close to 50%. This maximizes
the dynamic performance of the ADC. See Fast External
Clock section below for more details.
External clock input impedance is fixed at 50 Ohms.
External clock input is always AC-coupled.
There are three types of External Clock supported by
ATS9350:
• Fast External Clock
• Slow External Clock
• 10 MHz Clock Reference
The following paragraphs describe the three types of External
Clock input and outline the restrictions on each of them.
ATS9350 User Manual 37
Fast External Clock
This setting must be used when the external clock frequency
is in the range of 1 MHz to 500 MHz.
It is highly recommended that the Fast External Clock signal
have a duty cycle of 50% +/- 5%. However, duty cycle
specification can be substantially relaxed at lower
frequencies.
If the External Clock supplied is lower than 1 MHz,
measurement quality may be compromised. Measurement
errors may include gain errors, signal discontinuities and
general signal distortion.
If you want to clock slower than the lower limit of Fast
External Clock, you must use the Slow External Clock range.
External Clock must be a sine wave or square wave signal
with amplitude in the range of 100 mVp-p to 1 Vp-p.
The receiver circuit for Fast External Clock is a high speed
analog comparator that translates the input signal into a
PECL (Positive ECL) clock signal that features very fast rise
times.
Since Fast External Clock is always ac-coupled and self-
biased, there is no real need for the user to set the external
clock level. However, in some cases of burst mode clocking,
the user may have to adjust this level for optimal operation.
Dummy Clock Switchover is another useful feature for OCT
applications that use Fast External Clock. In these
applications, the user-supplied clock is not of constant
frequency and may even be out of specification at certain
times.
The unique Dummy Clock Switchover capability of ATS9350
allows the sampling clock to be switched to a nominal 100
MHz clock while the user-supplied clock is out of
specification. The amount of time for which the Dummy Clock
remains in operation can be set programmatically by the
user.
38 ATS9350 User Manual
Slow External Clock
This setting must be used when the external clock frequency
is slower than the lower limit of Fast External Clock.
In this range, the input clock is tracked by the 125 MHz
internal clock and a sample is taken on every rising or falling
clock edge. As such, there will be a timing error of 0 to 8
nanoseconds. For low bandwidth signals, this error can be
considered to be negligible.
Slow External Clock signal must be a 3.3 Volt TTL signal.
10 MHz Clock Reference
ATS9350 allows the user to synchronize the sampling clock
to an external 10 MHz reference signal. This is useful in
many RF applications.
Reference clock frequency must be 10 MHz +/- 0.5 MHz.
Amplitude can be a sine or square wave from 100 mVp-p to
1 Vp-p.
It should be noted that the 10 MHz reference produces a 500
MHz clock. Users can set lower sampling frequency by
specifying a decimation value.
ATS9350 User Manual 39
Streaming Data Across the Bus
One of the most unique features of the ATS9350 is its on-
board, dual-port acquisition memory that can act as a very
deep Data FIFO and the associated Dual-DMA engine.
This combined by the advanced, fully asynchronous software
driver allows data transfer to host PC memory without any
appreciable “in-process” software involvement.
These features are particularly useful for applications that
require:
a) Continuous, gapless data capture. Also known as “Data
Streaming” to PC host memory or hard disk
or
b) Data capture from rapidly occurring triggers, also known
as Pulse Repeat Frequency Captures or PRF Captures.
In order to understand these sophisticated features, let us
first review some of the issues involved in transferring data
under Windows or Linux operating systems.
40 ATS9350 User Manual
The Effects of the Operating System
Windows and Linux are not real-time operating systems, i.e.
the operating system cannot guarantee a deterministic
response time to an event, such as an interrupt or a software
generated event.
This means that if software has to play any appreciable part
in data transfer, then the data throughput cannot be
guaranteed, as the operating system will have the last say as
to when the data collection application will get the CPU
cycles to execute the necessary commands.
Note that the above is true even if the digitizer claims to use
Direct Memory Access (DMA) to do the actual transfer, but
uses software commands to re-arm the digitizer. It is the re-
arm command that will determine the overall data throughput.
For example, it is very common for PCI digitizers that boast
very fast throughput to slow down considerably when
capturing pulsed radar or ultrasonic signals at Pulse Repeat
Frequency (PRF) of 1 KHz or so, even though each capture
is only 2048 bytes (a paltry 2 MB/s throughput).
In other words, digitizers that specify raw data throughput of
100 MB/s can hardly handle 2MB/s effective throughput due
to operating system related delays in issuing re-arm
commands.
ATS9350 User Manual 41
Real-Time Operating Systems
Some vendors claim that switching to a real-time operating
system (RTOS) can solve the problems involved in PRF data
capture.
Before switching to an expensive RTOS (such as VxWorks,
QNX or PharLap ETS), ask the vendor of the operating
system, the supplier of your PC system and manufacturer of
the digitizer board if they are all guaranteed to be 100%
compatible and interoperable with each other with
deterministic interrupt latencies and if you will get your money
back if the system does not work at your PRF rates with your
software.
Here is an excerpt from a FAQ section of one such supplier
of RTOS:
Question: How do system configuration and CPU selection
impact the interrupt latency?
Answer: Hardware platforms and the configuration of the
associated drivers that use the hardware do impact response
times. Some of the common issues include:
Video cards - some of the higher-end cards lock-out (or busy-
wait) the bus for extended periods of time to improve their
performance.
DMA devices - devices which burst DMA for lengthy period.
Power management which cycles off the CPU during IDLE CPU
periods.
Memory speeds, processor speeds, etc.
A PCI or PCI Express digitizer being used in a PRF or
streaming application is, by definition, doing “burst DMA for
lengthy period”, and is a type of product that can negatively
impact response times of the RTOS.
42 ATS9350 User Manual
As such, the claim that an RTOS can remove all timing
uncertainties in PRF application is suspect, to say the least.
Furthermore, you may not be able to get software drivers for
the selected RTOS for all the hardware components you
need for your system.
In summary, moving to a real-time operating system will not
guarantee data throughput, but will surely increase the overall
system cost, increase the cost of software development and
maintenance and limit the number of suppliers for other
hardware components.
Dual Port Memory
The basic throughput problem faced by digitizers is that
almost all of them use single-port memory, i.e. if you are
reading data from the acquisition memory, you cannot
capture into it and vice-versa.
This requires a software handshake which is heavily
dependent on the operating system response time.
ATS9350 User Manual 43
ATS9350 solves this problem by providing dual-port memory
that can act as a very deep FIFO and an advanced dual-DMA
engine that can stream data to PC host memory at up to
1.4 GB/s (exact rate is motherboard dependent).
Bottom line is that software does not have to wait until the
end of data capture to read the acquired data.
44 ATS9350 User Manual
AutoDMA
Just having dual-ported memory or a FIFO, on its own, does
not solve the problem of PRF captures or streaming
applications. Software still has to get involved in re-arming
the hardware after every capture and again for reading the
data from on-board acquisition memory.
ATS9350’s proprietary AutoDMA circuitry allows the
acquisition system to be re-armed by a hardware command
and data transfer to be initiated by the hardware itself, thus
removing virtually all “in-process” software involvement.
Of course, software still has to set up the DMA when one of
the buffers fills up, but, thanks to the dual-DMA engine and
fully asynchronous driver that uses overlapped IO, these
tasks can be paralleled.
In other words, when software is re-arming DMA channel 0,
DMA channel 1 is already transferring data to host memory.
Note that if data throughput is too high, a DMA_OVERFLOW
flag gets set and is available to the programmer.
Consumption of the captured data is, of course, under the
control of user-created software, and it is this that will
determine the maximum PRF instead of the bus throughput.
The important thing to note is that if asynchronous DMA is
used, CPU usage is no more than 5%, even if a 1.4 GB/s
DMA is going on.
ACQUIRE ACQUIRE ACQUIRE ACQUIRE
TRANSFER TRANSFER TRANSFER
ATS9350 User Manual 45
Traditional AutoDMA
In order to acquire both pre-trigger and post-trigger data in a
dual-ported memory environment, users can use Traditional
AutoDMA.
Data is returned to the user in buffers, where each buffer can
contain from 1 to 8192 records (triggers). This number is
called RecordsPerBuffer.
Users can also specify that each record should come with its
own header that contains a 40-bit trigger timestamp.
A BUFFER_OVERFLOW flag is asserted if more than 512
buffers have been acquired by the acquisition system, but not
transferred to host PC memory by the AutoDMA engine.
While Traditional AutoDMA can acquire data to PC host
memory at the maximum sustained transfer rate of the
motherboard, a BUFFER_OVERFLOW can occur if more
than 512 triggers occur in very rapid succession, even if all
the on-board memory has not been used up.
46 ATS9350 User Manual
No Pre-Trigger (NPT) AsyncDMA
Many ultrasonic scanning and medical imaging applications
do not need any pre-trigger data: only post-trigger data is
sufficient.
NPT AutoDMA is designed specifically for these applications.
By only storing post-trigger data, the memory bandwidth is
optimized and the entire on-board memory acts like a very
deep FIFO.
Note that a DMA is not started until RecordsPerBuffer
number of records (triggers) have been acquired.
NPT AutoDMA buffers do not include headers, so it is not
possible to get trigger time-stamps.
More importantly, a BUFFER_OVERFLOW flag is asserted
only if the entire on-board memory is used up. This provides
a very substantial improvement over Traditional AutoDMA.
NPT AutoDMA can easily acquire data to PC host memory at
the maximum sustained transfer rate of the motherboard
without causing an overflow.
This is the recommended mode of operation for most
ultrasonic scanning, OCT and medical imaging applications.
ATS9350 User Manual 47
Continuous AsyncDMA
Continuous AutoDMA is also known as the data streaming
mode.
In this mode, data starts streaming across the PCI bus as
soon as the ATS9350 is armed for acquisition. It is important
to note that triggering is disabled in this mode.
Continuous AutoDMA buffers do not include headers, so it is
not possible to get trigger time-stamps.
A BUFFER_OVERFLOW flag is asserted only if the entire on-
board memory is used up.
The amount of data to be captured is controlled by counting
the number of buffers acquired. Acquisition is stopped by an
AbortCapture command.
Continuous AutoDMA can easily acquire data to PC host
memory at the maximum sustained transfer rate of the
motherboard without causing an overflow.
This is the recommended mode for very long signal
recording.
48 ATS9350 User Manual
Triggered Streaming AsyncDMA
Triggered Streaming AutoDMA is virtually the same as
Continuous mode, except the data transfer across the bus is
held off until a trigger event has been detected.
Triggered Streaming AutoDMA buffers do not include
headers, so it is not possible to get trigger time-stamps.
A BUFFER_OVERFLOW flag is asserted only if the entire on-
board memory is used up.
As in Continuous mode, the amount of data to be captured is
controlled by counting the number of buffers acquired.
Acquisition is stopped by an AbortCapture command.
Triggered Streaming AutoDMA can easily acquire data to PC
host memory at the maximum sustained transfer rate of the
motherboard without causing an overflow.
This is the recommended mode for RF signal recording that
has to be started at a specific time, e.g. based on a GPS
pulse.
ATS9350 User Manual 49
Stream To Disk
Any one of the AutoDMA modes can be combined with a fast
disk drive to create a very efficient and low cost data
streaming system.
AlazarDSO Stream To Disk module (sold separately) allows
out-of-the-box disk streaming. No programming is required.
Note, however, that the speed with which data can be stored
to memory will be limited by the lower of:
1. ATS9350 Bus Throughput (1.6 GB/s)
2. PCI Express throughput supported by the
motherboard
3. Sustained Throughput of the disk drive
system
AlazarDSO includes a Disk Throughput Benchmarking tool,
using which you can quickly and easily see how fast your disk
drives are.
Files are saved as ATB format binary files, and can
automatically be converted to text files or MATLAB
compatible files.
For more information on complete disk streaming systems,
please contact the factory or your local distributor.
50 ATS9350 User Manual
Appendix A - Specifications
This appendix lists the specifications of the ATS9350. These
specifications are typical at 25 °C unless otherwise stated.
The operating temperature range is 0 to 50 °C.
System Requirements
Personal computer with at least one free x8 or x16 PCI Express slot, 256 MB
RAM, 20 MB of free hard disk space,
PCI Express revision 1.0a or higher
Transceiver speed 2.5 Gbps
Number of lanes 4 or 8
Compatibility - mechanical x8 and x16 slots
Compatibility - electrical x1, x4, x8 and x16 slots
Power Requirements
+12V 1.5 A, typical
+3.3V 1.0 A, typical
Physical
Size Single slot, half-length PCI card
(4.2 inches x 6.5 inches)
Weight 500 g
I/O Connectors
ECLK SMA female connector
CH A, CH B,
TRIG IN, AUX I/O BNC female connectors
Environmental
Operating temperature 0 to 55 o C
Storage temperature -20 to 70 o C
Relative humidity 5 to 95%, non-condensing
ATS9350 User Manual 51
Acquisition System
Resolution 12 bits
Bandwidth (-3dB)
DC-coupled, 50Ω DC - 500 MHz
AC-coupled, 50Ω 100KHz - 500 MHz
Bandwidth flatness: ± 1dB, from DC to 50 MHz with DC coupling
± 1dB, from 200 KHz to 50 MHz with AC
coupling
Number of channels 2 simultaneously sampled
Maximum Sample Rate 500 MS/s single shot (internal clock)
500 MS/s single shot (external clock)
Minimum Sample Rate 1 KS/s single shot (internal clock)
2 MS/s single shot (Fast External Clock)
Full Scale Input ranges
50 Ω: ±200mV, ±400mV, ±800mV, ±1V, ±2V and
±4V, software selectable
DC accuracy ±2% of full scale in all input ranges
Input coupling AC or DC, software selectable
Input impedance 50Ω fixed
Input protection
50Ω ±5V (DC + peak AC for CH A,
CH B and EXT only without external
attenuation)
Acquisition Memory System
Memory Size 128 MegaSamples, 1 GigaSamples or 2
GigaSamples
Record Length Software selectable with 64-point resolution.
Record length must be a minimum of 256
points. There is no upper limit on the
maximum record length.
Number of Records Software selectable from a minimum of 1 to a
maximum of infinite number of records
Pre-trigger depth From 0 to (Record Length –256)
Post-trigger depth Record Length – Pre-Trigger Depth
52 ATS9350 User Manual
Timebase System
Timebase options Internal Clock or
External Clock (Optional)
Internal Sample Rates 500 MS/s, 500 MS/s,
200 MS/s, 100 MS/s, 50 MS/s,
20 MS/s, 10 MS/s, 5 MS/s,
2 MS/s, 1 MS/s, 500 KS/s,
200 KS/s, 100KS/s, 50 KS/s,
20KS/s, 10KS/s, 5 KS/s, 2 KS/s, 1 KS/s
Internal Clock accuracy ±2 ppm
Dynamic Parameters
Typical values measured using a randomly selected ATS9350 with Amplifier
Bypass Mode. Input was provided by a HP8656A signal generator, followed
by a 9-pole, 100 MHz band-pass filter (TTE Q36T-100M-10M-50-720B).
Input frequency was set at 99.1 MHz and output amplitude was 520 mV rms,
which is approximately 95% of the 550 mVrms full scale input in Amplifier
Bypass Mode.
SNR TBD dB
SINAD TBD dB
THD -TBD dB
SFDR -TBD dB
Note that these measurements were made using raw data: no signal
averaging was used to artificially improve the results.
Further note that these dynamic parameters may vary from one unit to
another, with input frequency and with the full-scale input range selected.
ATS9350 User Manual 53
Optional ECLK (External Clock) Input
Signal Level LVTTL levels or sine wave with amplitude
between 100 mVp-p and 1 Voltp-p
Input impedance 50Ω
Input Coupling AC
Maximum frequency
Fast External Clock: 500 MHz with 50% ±5% duty cycle
Slow External Clock: 60 MHz with minimum positive or
negative pulse width of 8 ns
10 MHz Clock Reference: 10.1 MHz
Minimum frequency
Fast External Clock: 2 MHz
Slow External Clock: DC
10 MHz Clock Reference: 9.9 MHz
Decimation factor Software selectable from 1 to 100,000
Fixed to 1 for Slow External Clock
Sampling Edge Rising or Falling,
software selectable
Sample Rates Available With
10 MHz Clock Reference: 500 MS/s
Other sample rates may be obtained by
decimating the 1 GHz clock generated by the
on-board PLL
Note that the accuracy and stability of these
sampling frequencies is dependent on the
accuracy and stability of the 10 MHz Clock
Referece input supplied by the user
Triggering System
Mode Edge triggering with fixed hysteresis
Number of Trigger Engines 2
Trigger Engine Combination OR, AND, XOR, software selectable
Trigger Engine Source CH A, CH B, EXT, Software or None,
independently software selectable for each of
the two Trigger Engines
Hysteresis ±5% of full-scale input, typical
Trigger sensitivity ±10% of full scale input range.
This implies that the trigger system may not
trigger reliably if the input has an amplitude
less than ±10% of full-scale input range
selected
Trigger level accuracy ±10%, typical, of full-scale input range of the
selected trigger source
54 ATS9350 User Manual
Bandwidth 200 MHz
Trigger Delay Software selectable from 0 to 9,999,999
sampling clock cycles
Trigger Timeout Software selectable with a 10 us resolution.
Maximum settable value is 3,600 seconds.
Can also be disabled to wait indefinitely for a
trigger event
EXT (External Trigger) Input
Input impedance 10 KΩ in parallel with 30pF ±10pF or 50Ω,
software selectable
Bandwidth (-3dB)
DC-coupled DC - 200 MHz
AC-coupled 100 KHz - 200 MHz
Input range ±3.3V
DC accuracy ±10% of full-scale input
Input protection ±5V (DC + peak AC without external
attenuation)
Coupling DC, software selectable
Auxiliary I/O (AUX I/O)
Signal Direction Input or Output, software selectable
Output by default
Output Types: Trigger Output
Busy Output
Software controlled Digital Output
Input Types: Trigger Enable
Software readable Digital Input
Output
Amplitude: 5 Volt TTL
Synchronization: Synchronized to rising edge of sampling clock
Input
Amplitude: 5 Volt TTL or 3.3 Volt TTL
Certification and Compliances
CE Mark Compliance
Materials Supplied
One ATS9350 Digitizer
One ATS9350 Install Disk
One ATS9350 User Manual
All specifications are subject to change without notice
ATS9350 User Manual 55
Appendix B - Benchmarks
This appendix lists the data throughput measured by our
technicians on various computers and motherboards under
different operating systems.
¾ Given the constantly changing nature of computers,
these benchmarks are provided as a reference only
and AlazarTech assumes no liability in case the
computer you purchase behaves differently than
what was observed in AlazarTech’s laboratory.
Model Chipset Slot O/S Throughput
ASUS P6T7 X58 PCIe
x16 All 1.6 GB/s
Intel
S5000PSL Intel
5000P PCIe
x8 Win XP
32-bit 1.6 GB/s
Intel
S5000PSL Intel
5000P PCIe
x8 Win XP
64-bit 1.6 GB/s
Intel
S5000PSL Intel
5000P PCIe
x8 Vista
32-bit 1.6 GB/s
Intel
S5000PSL Intel
5000P PCIe
x8 Vista
64-bit 1.6 GB/s
Tyan
S2915-E nVIDIA
NPF3600
+
NPF
3050
PCIe
x8 Win XP
64-bit 1.6 GB/s
Dell
T3400 Intel 975
Express PCI e
x4 Win XP
32-bit 800 MB/s
Dell
T7400 Intel
5400 PCIe
x8 Win XP
64-bit 1.6 GB/s
56 ATS9350 User Manual
Dell
T7400 Intel
5400 PCIe
x8 Vista
64-bit 1.6 GB/s
SuperMicro
X7DB3 Intel
5000P PCIe
x8 Win XP
32-bit 1.6 GB/s
Intel
DG965RY Intel 965 PCIe
x16 Win XP
32-bit 840 MB/s
ALAZAR TECHNOLOGIES INC.
6600 Trans-Canada Highway, Suite 310
Pointe-Claire, QC
CANADA H9R 4S2
Tel: (514) 426-4899
Fax: (514) 426-2723
E-mail: info@alazartech.com
Web: www.alazartech.com
