Spectrum adds increased sensitivity option to its digitizer products

HACKENSACK, N.J., April 4, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Spectrum Instrumentation Corp. has announced an option (M4i.22xx-ir40m) for its highly successful, high-speed 22xx series of digitizer products that increases their sensitivity and therefore better absolute resolution for low amplitude signals in the ±40 mV to ±0.5 V range.  The current products are optimized to acquire, store and analyze signals from ±200 mV up to ±2.5 V.

Technical Highlights of M4i.22xx-ir40m option:

• Now provides programmable full scale ranges from ±40 mV up to ±0.5 V
• Sampling rates up to 5 GS/s with 8-bit ADC resolution and high SNR
• Available in PCIe, PXIe and LXI form factors

Oliver Rovini, Spectrum's CTO, said, "The modular way that we design and build our products means that we can provide this front-end option very easily as a new daughter board within the 22xx range.  Matching the digitizer's range to the signal under test is important as it ensures maximum dynamic range as well as better measurement accuracy and resolution. 

Rovini continued, "For example, if a signal only covers half of a digitizer's selected full scale range, then only half of the digitizer's available analog-to-digital converter (ADC) resolution is used.  Smaller, or lower level, signals will use even less of the ADC's capabilities and further reduce the digitizer's overall signal-to-noise performance.  This new option lets users select more sensitive, full scale ranges so that, even for low amplitude signals, the ADC's complete dynamic range is available."

He explained the example of a 10-bit digitizer with a lowest 50 Ω range at ±0.5 V full scale input range that has to acquire a signal with an amplitude of around 50 mV.  The 10-bit ADC offers 1,024 (2¹⁰) levels of resolution, each of about 1 mV (1V/1,024).  The signal would therefore only cover about 50 levels of the 10-bit ADC's available range. 

Spectrum's 22xx series digitizers use 8-bit ADCs that give 256 (2⁸) levels of resolution.  So, by using this new low range option, the digitizer becomes more sensitive with around 0.3 mV (80mV/256) of resolution. 

Press kit including pictures

Can be downloaded at http://spectrum-instrumentation.com/sites/default/files/download/201703_22xx_lowrange.zip

Editorial Contacts:

The Simon Group, Inc.
Beth Smith or Christina Sanchez
Phone: (215) 453-8700
E-mail: [email protected]

Spectrum Instrumentation Corp.
Klaas Vogel
Phone: (201) 562-1999
Email:   [email protected]

SOURCE Spectrum Instrumentation Corp.