Multi-channel triggering apparatus and method

An apparatus comprising:

• a first plurality of input channels, each of said first plurality of input channels generating a digital data stream comprising a sequence of digital values;
• a trigger bank comprising a second plurality of trigger processors, each one of said second plurality of trigger processors receiving a digital data stream chosen from said digital data streams and generating a trigger output having one of a plurality of possible values from said one of said digital data streams, one trigger processor output being generated for each digital value in said digital data stream received by said trigger processor;
• a trigger combiner that receives each of said trigger outputs and generates a trigger signal if said trigger outputs satisfy a predetermined criterion;
• and
• a controller that copies said digital data streams to a memory and copies said trigger processor outputs corresponding to said digital data streams to said memory in response to said trigger combiner generating said trigger signal.