User application images for PC instrumentation cards - signal capture,
generation and digital pattern signals

Example applications - case studies - technical resources

Summarised below are examples of where the products we supplied have been used. This is just a small sample, but we hope this provides you with a useful and interesting insight. To date, the solutions have covered a wide area of applications including aeronautics, automotive testing, data bus and circuit testing, meteorology, military defence, medical imaging, particle physics research, radar design, satellite tracking, telecommunications, ultrasonic structural testing,....the list goes on!

		Measuring the performance of CPU based avionic and automotive systems is critical to their development and evolution. PC-based verification tools rely on measurement data collected from such embedded targets. The Rapita Systems RTBx digital data logger provides an efficient way to collect and time-stamp real-time data from a wide variety of embedded targets, over many weeks if necessary. Spectrum digital I/O cards were chosen as a desirable component, due to the versatility of having models with 8/16 bit and 32bit I/O ports as well as a very high data bit acquisition speeds. Read more...

		Fusion energy has long been a research area where the holy grail is to produce safe, clean, and virtually limitless energy for generating electricity. It has proved an elusive goal, however one company First Light Fusion may have the answer. Pioneering a very different approach using inertial confinement, created by launching a projectile to hyper-velocities, the energy threshold that needs to be reached for fusion gain should prove lower. Monitoring the results and control associated auxiliary systems is an essential part of this. DataQuest Solutions were given the task to supply a suitable system. Read more...

		The VivoSight® OCT scanner uses the technique of swept-source Optical Coherence Tomography (SS-OCT) for cross-sectional imaging of skin. This is a significant new tool to assist in diagnosis and treatment of skin cancers and other skin conditions. This application simultaneously uses four interferometer channels to increase depth of focus and improve contrast. A Spectrum 4 channel 20 Mega sample/sec PCI-Express digitiser card was used in its design. Read more...

More information on the products above and other interesting applications from around the world can be found here on the Spectrum Instrumentation GmbH website!

Links to informative technical resources

i) An introduction to waveform digitiser card technology.

i) Selecting the best digitiser, digging into the dynamic parameters!

ii) A guide to the methodology of signal capture and generation from MHz to GHz.

iii) Application notes for Mass Spectrometry and the modern digitser.

iv) Creating waveforms using the M4i arbitrary waveform generator (awg).

v) The high speed transfer of signal data with RAID hard drive systems.

vi) A glossary of signal amplifier design terms and related theory.

vii) Environmental considerations for rugged portable computers.