Field engineers benefit from small yet powerful test equipment. With the ADP2230, Digilent adds a high-quality metal case and a laboratory power supply to what was already an amazing line of portable tools.

USB 3.0 enabled significantly higher data transfer speeds between workstations and attached peripheral devices. In the case of the ADP2230, Digilent utilizes the additional performance for improvements in data acquisition -- the two input BNC connectors now have a bandwidth limit of 50 MHz. The sample rate of 125 MS/s and the 14-bit AD converters ensure signal fidelity, while excellent PC software permits analysis.

Thanks to the system's ample processing power, a special mode transforms the ADP2230 into a portable spectrum analyzer.

Arbitrary Waveform Generator Enables Advanced Analysis.

The left-most port of the device is connected to an arbitrary waveform generator supported by a user-friendly PC-based waveform editor. While its specifications are useful as a standalone instrument, the system's true power lies in the software's value-added features.

For example, the ADP2230 can function as a vector network analyzer for component qualification; the device under test is connected to the input and output ports in a manner similar to that shown in the figure below.

Alternatively, the configuration can be used for impedance analysis; the values returned by this special regimen tend to be especially useful for circuit dimensioning.

Benchtop Power Supply for DuT Supplying

When powered via a sufficiently powerful external power supply, the ADP2230 is capable of supplying energy to the circuit under test. In particular, the system provides two channels, each of which can cover a voltage range of 0.5 V to 5 V or -0.5 V to -5 V. The total output power is limited to 3 W per channel.

If additional interaction with the DuT is needed, the static IO function repurposes some of the logic analyzer pins to output control signals. Alternatively, a pattern generator function is available for testing more complex signal sequences.

Advanced Software Integration

Digilent has been a member of National Instruments / Emerson for some time -- the group is well-known for its metrology software. Due to this, the oscilloscope can integrate itself into a variety of commonly used scientific applications. Both MATLAB and LABVIEW are supported out of the box, and a JavaScript-programmable native control application is also provided. Should this not be enough, a dedicated SDK is available for C/C++, Python, and various .NET languages.

Conclusion

With the ADP2230, Digilent refreshes an already great piece of portable test equipment. Its low weight makes it ideally suited for traveling, while the application programming interfaces ensure that the machine can also shine in ATE situations.