AN ARBITRARY WAVEFORM GENERATOR WITH ADVANCED COMMAND CONTROL

摘要

The arbitrary waveform generator comprises at least one analog output (2a, 2b), a digital-to-analog converter (2a, 2b) connected to the analog output (2a, 2b), and a waveform source (6) connected to the digital analog converter (2a, 2b). The waveform source (6) includes a waveform memory (8), a signal player (16) and a signal processor (20). The waveform generator is controlled by a sequencer (30) having an instruction memory (32) for instructions and an instruction interpreter (34) adapted to sequentially execute the instructions. A command table unit (40), in addition to the sequencer (30), is connected to the waveform source (6) and comprises a command table memory (42) holding a plurality of commands. The commands comprise a waveform identifier for a waveform to be played and a parameter identifier describing how to modify the waveform in the signal processor (20). The sequencer (30) can trigger the command table unit (40) to execute a command therein, thereby playing the waveform with the parameter as identified by the command.