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Figure 3.24 - Steps to set up an Arbitrary Waveform
Setting the Frequency
The arbitrary waveform frequency is a function of the number of data points used to run the waveform
(the length parameter in the ARB menu) and the waveform execution point rate. The waveform
execution point rate is the execution time between each point in the waveform. The total time taken to
run one period of the waveform is given by:
𝑇𝑜𝑡𝑎𝑙 𝑡𝑖𝑚𝑒 = # 𝑜𝑓 𝑝𝑜𝑖𝑛𝑡𝑠 ∙ 𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑒
Because the output frequency is a function of the rate and the number of points being executed, the
output frequency is calculated as:
𝑓𝑟𝑒𝑞𝑢𝑒𝑛𝑐𝑦 =
1
# 𝑜𝑓 𝑝𝑜𝑖𝑛𝑡𝑠 ∙ 𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑒
For example, to set the output frequency to 1000 Hz, given the number of data points used for the
waveform output is 1000, the rate is calculated as:
𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑒 =
1
1000 𝑝𝑡𝑠 ∙ 1000 𝐻𝑧
= 1 𝜇𝑠
EXAMPLE: Setting the Output Frequency
To set the output frequency of a 1000-point waveform to 1000 Hz, set the rate to 1 µs:
ACTION
KEYSTROKES
Step 1. Set the output rate to 1 µs (equivalent to
1000 Hz output frequency)
PARAM
F1: RATE
1
KHz/us
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