Rapid Prototyping of DSP Code for PC-Based Multi-Function Oscilloscopes

This paper proposes a new approach to the implementation of digital signal processing (DSP) algorithms for personal computer (PC)-based multi-function oscilloscopes. These recently introduced devices are compact and low-cost measurement systems that typically combine a multi-channel data acquisition unit, an arbitrary waveform generator and a USB interface to the PC. Many measurement applications can be addressed with the development of specific software. The target of our approach is the user who has only a basic knowledge of computer programming and does not want to spend time on a long and expensive training with dedicated development environments. To address this issue, a novel software shell is proposed where user interface and basic functions (for signal acquisition, processing and display) are already built-in and specific DSP functions can be easily added. Application examples are reported to show the advantages of the proposed approach.