A Virtual Instrument Oscilloscope for signal measurements

In this paper, we discuss about the LabVIEW based graphical applications for the measurements of signal. A virtual instrument is designed in order to serve the purpose of oscilloscope with a user friendly interface at the front panel. The designed oscilloscope is derived from a hardware instrument named Digital Phosphor Oscilloscope TDS 5104B.Firstly the original hardware device functions are examined, then a labview based VI is designed holding all the similar features like TDS 5104B.Front panel is user defined with user specific controls resulting in easy, compact and cost effective system. It is proved that the virtual instrument results in a powerful, productive, efficient, power saving and a precise measuring instrument. It provides wide range of application in future and proves to be a practical yet manipulative device. Keywords— virtual instrument, electronic measurement, LabVIEW, oscilloscope, block diagram, analysis, waveform INTRODUCTION Oscilloscope are used to perform electronic measurements of signals over time scale. Continuously varying one or two signal voltages are observed, analyzed and displayed on a 2-D plot as function of time[1]. It is basically plot of signals magnitude over time. With the increasing emergence of oscilloscope technology in various fields of science, medicine and engineering; there arises a need for a cost effective and a user friendly device. In order to find a advanced approach in this field, virtual instrumentation technique is employed in the processing of a oscilloscope architecture. Oscilloscope Tek TDS 5104B control panel is illustrated as shown in figure 1. The control panel controls the functioning of the hardware device, the start and stop controllers are used to start the acquisition process and for capturing the sequence. Acquisition status is shown with the help of lights for ready and triggered. Intensity of the signal is controlled with the help of a knob. The horizontal control maintains the resolution, position, delay, record length and scale of the signal. Zoom features is also accompanied with horizontal and vertical controls. Vertical control panel selects the input channel used according to the input terminals and adjusts the scale as well as position. Figure 1. Control panel of TDS 5104B Some of the basic functions deployed in a hardware oscilloscope is acquiring a live signal, maintaining its horizontal and vertical aspects in order to fit the display in the best possible way, changing the amplitude and frequency of the signal, analyzing the signal by measuring the waveform parameters. International Journal of Engineering Research and General Science Volume 3, Issue 3, May-June, 2015 ISSN 2091-273