Latest Test and Measurement News

Pico Technology released PicoScope 7

06 February 2024 - Pico Technology has added four new features to its flagship PicoScope 7 oscilloscope software. The new features are designed to empower engineers who are debugging, characterizing, and verifying operational reliability of their complex electronic and automotive designs. PicoScope 7 is available to download free of charge, compatible with all current PicoScope models and many legacy models.

The latest release of PicoScope 7 T&M Stable includes:

• Rise/Fall time triggering
• Measurements Logging
• Measurements Limits & Actions
• PSI5 Decoder

Rise/Fall time triggering

Rise and fall time triggering allows users to capture and analyze signals based on their transition times, specifically the time it takes for a signal to change from a certain voltage level to another. It can be set to trigger on a rising or a falling edge. Trigger controls are used to set upper and lower threshold voltages, the transition time and whether to trigger when the signal edge transitions in greater or less than a specified time, or inside or outside a range of times.

Measurements Logging

PicoScope provides automatic measurement of 24 time-domain and ten frequency-domain parameters. Statistics, calculated over many acquisitions can be used to show average, mean and standard deviation of those parameters for the duration of a test. Statistics provide insight into the repeatability of waveform characteristics, which help to confirm reliability and performance characteristics of an electronic design before committing to production. But taken alone, they do not reveal much about the characteristics of long-term drift or response to changing operational conditions such as supply voltage, temperature etc.

PicoScope 7 now facilitates the logging of automatic oscilloscope measurements directly to a .CSV file on the host computer. This feature enables engineers to test their designs over extended durations and view the impact of variables such as supply voltage range, clock frequency stability, temperature drift and others over time.

Measurements Limits & Actions

Measurements Actions build on the standard automated measurements system by enabling the result of any measurement to be automatically tested against an upper or lower measurement limit defined by the user. An Action, also defined by the user, can be programmed to execute on violation of the test. Actions include:

•   Beep
•   Play Sound
•   Stop Capture
•   Restart Capture
•   Run Executable
•   Save Current Buffer
•   Save All Buffers
•   Trigger the Signal Generator / AWG

PSI5 Decoder

Addressing the evolving needs of the automotive industry, PicoScope 7 incorporates a PSI5 decoder, taking the number of serial decoders included as standard to 38. PSI5 is a widely-used protocol in automotive sensor applications, and its addition to the toolset expands the capabilities of engineers working on automotive electronic systems. This enhancement allows for seamless decoding and analysis of PSI5 data, empowering users to optimize sensor performance and reliability.

PicoScope 7 is available to download free of charge, compatible with all current PicoScope models and many legacy models. Users are encouraged to update their software to enjoy the enhanced capabilities.

www.picotech.com/