Keysight CXG, EXG, and MXG X-Series Signal Generators Programming Guide 207
Creating and Downloading Waveform Files
Understanding Waveform Data
LSB and MSB (Bit Order)
Within groups (strings) of bits, we designate the order of the bits by identifying
which bit has the highest value and which has the lowest value by its location
in the bit string. The following is an example of this order.
Little Endian and Big Endian (Byte Order)
When you use multiple bytes (as required for the waveform data), you must
identify their order. This is similar to identifying the order of bits by LSB and
MSB. To identify byte order, use the terms little endian and big endian. These
terms are used by designers of computer processors.
Notice in the previous figure that the LSB and MSB positioning changes with
the byte order. In little endian order, the LSB and MSB are next to each other in
the bit sequence.
Most Significant Bit (MSB)
This bit has the highest value (greatest weight) and is located at the far left of the bit
string.
Least Significant Bit (LSB)
This bit has the lowest value (bit position zero) and is located at the far right of the bit
string.
1 0 1 1 0 1 1 1 1 1 1 0 1 0 0 1
LSB
MSB
15 14 13 12 11 10 9
8
7
6 5 4
3 2
1
0
Data
Bit Position
Because we are using 2 bytes of data, the LSB appears in the second byte.
1 0 1 1 0 1 1 1 1 1 1 0 1 0 0 1
15 14 13 12 11 10 9
8
7
6 5 4
3 2
1
0
Data
Bit Position
1 0 1 1 0 1 1 1
15 14 13 12 11 10 9
8
Data
Bit Position
Big Endian Order
Little Endian Order
1 1 1 0 1 0 0 1
7
6 5 4
3
2
1
0
Hex values = E9 B7
Hex values = B7 E9
LSB
MSB
MSB
LSB
The lowest order byte that contains bits 0–7 comes first.
The highest order byte that contains bits 8–15 comes first.
Summary of Contents for X-Series
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