Digital oscilloscope display and method therefor

A digital oscilloscope comprising:

• multiple channels for sampling different events, each channel including:
• an analog to digital converter for sampling amplitudes of the events,
• a segmented acquisition memory for storing samples from the converter over time for at least one acquisition;
• a persistence map generator for time-aligning samples of the acquisitions from the acquisition memory;
• a persistence map for storing population information for amplitude and time combinations for at least one channel;
• display rendering which visually differentiates population information from each of the channels and population ranges in response to a selected saturation population and/or threshold population;
• and
• an oscilloscope display device for displaying the visually differentiated population information.

A digital oscilloscope comprising:

• multiple channels for sampling different events, each channel including:
• an analog to digital converter that samples amplitudes of the events,
• a segmented acquisition memory that stores samples from the converter over time for at least one acquisition;
• a persistence map generator that time-aligns samples of the acquisitions from the acquisition memory;
• a persistence map that stores population information for amplitude and time combinations for at least one channel;
• persistence aging that proportionally reduces populations for the amplitude and time combinations;
• display rendering that converts the persistence map into a displayable image;
• and
• an oscilloscope display device for displaying the population information.

A method for displaying amplitude and time histogram information in an oscilloscope, comprising:

• repeatedly sampling amplitudes of events over time;
• accumulating sampled data from the events into a persistence map that contains population information for amplitude and sampling time combinations;
• enabling user identification of a range of amplitudes within the persistence map;
• generating sums of the population information within the amplitude range for various sampling times;
• displaying histograms representing the sums for sampling times;
• enabling user identification of a range of sampling times within the persistence map;
• generating sums of the population information within the range of sampling times for various amplitudes;
• displaying histograms representing the sums for amplitudes.

A method for displaying amplitude and time histogram information in an oscilloscope, comprising:

• repeatedly sampling amplitudes of events over time;
• accumulating sampled data from the events into a persistence map that contains population information for amplitude and sampling time combinations;
• enabling user identification of a range of amplitudes within the persistence map;
• generating sums of the population information within the amplitude range for various sampling times;
• and
• displaying histograms representing the sums for the sampling times.

A method for displaying amplitude and time histogram information in an oscilloscope, comprising:

• repeatedly sampling amplitude of events over time;
• accumulating sampled data from the events into a persistence map that contains population information for amplitude and sampling time combinations;
• enabling user identification of a range of sampling times within the persistence map;
• generating sums of the population information within the range of sampling times for various amplitudes;
• displaying histgrams representing the sums for amplitudes.

A method for displaying information in a multichannel oscilloscope, comprising:

• repeatedly sampling amplitudes of events over time;
• accumulating sampled data from the events into a persistence map that contains population information for amplitude and time combinations;
• determining a saturation population for the amplitude and time combinations;
• displaying information from the persistence map on a display device of the oscilloscope;
• and
• visually differentiating different population ranges, which have been defined in response to the saturation population.

A method for displaying information in a multichannel oscilloscope, comprising:

• repeatedly sampling amplitudes of events over time;
• accumulating sampled data from the events into a persistence map that contains population information for amplitude and time combinations;
• determining a threshold population for the amplitude and time combinations;
• displaying information from the persistence map on a display device of the oscilloscope;
• and
• visually differentiating different population ranges, which have been defined in response to the threshold population.