CpE 311 MICROPROCESSOR SYSTEMS LABORATORY

Week of September 9, 2017

Lab #2
Introduction to the Oscilloscope and SBC
Fall 2017
Introduction:

When introduced to new hardware, it is important that one first become familiar
with the hardwares capabilities, limitations, and basic operations. Often, the most
difficult aspect of a new assignment is overcoming the initial learning curve associated
with unfamiliar technology and equipment. This lab is designed to introduce students to
several pieces of hardware and test equipment commonly used when working with
computer systems.

Exercise 1: Oscilloscopes
The purpose of this exercise is to provide students with an introduction to the basic
operations of the oscilloscope. An oscilloscope is an electronic test instrument capable of
displaying signal voltages in the form of a two-dimensional graph. This tool will
frequently be used to debug circuits throughout the semester.

Figure 1: Oscilloscope

For most applications, the oscilloscope is configured to display a signals voltage on the
vertical (Y) axis and time on the horizontal (X) axis. This configuration makes it
possible to see how a signals voltage varies with time.
As seen below, the displayed graph is divided into several square sections. Each section
represents a voltage level and a period of time. In the example below, the vertical
component of each section represents 20V, which is shown by the text display in the
bottom left corner. The horizontal component of each section represents 10 ns, which is
also shown by a text display at the bottom of the graph.

Figure 2: Oscilloscope Display

The user has the option of changing the scale of the x and y axes. The scale of the y-axis
can be changed by turning the dial labeled VOLTS/DIV. The scale of the x-axis can be
changed by turning the dial labeled SEC/DIV. Increasing or decreasing the scale of the
axes will effectively zoom in or zoom out on the signal(s) being displayed.

Figure 3: Oscilloscope Controls

In this exercise, students will be introduced to the basic operations of the oscilloscope. A
function generator will be used to generate a voltage signal with specific characteristics.
This signal will then be viewed on the oscilloscope and the characteristics set by the
function generator will be visually verified. Follow the steps below to complete the
exercise.

1) Power on the oscilloscope and the function generator.

2) Connect the output of the function generator to the Channel One input of the
oscilloscope a BNC-to-BNC cable (found in the lab kit).
3) On the oscilloscope set the volts/div for channel one to 2 volts per division and
the sec/div arbitrarily to 250 us per division.
Depending on the frequency of the signal (which well deal with shortly),
you will have to change the sec/div to make it smaller or larger.
4) Press the RUN/STOP button on the oscilloscope to place the device in an
active Ready state or Trigd state. These states are displayed at the top
middle of the screen.
This button is located on the top-right of the oscilloscope.
You may or may not be seeing signals on your oscilloscope by this point.
Just ignore them for the time being.
5) Press MEASURE button on oscilloscope.
This button can be found on the top set of buttons.
The top-right side of the oscilloscopes screen should now be displaying
MEASURE

With the oscilloscope ready to acquire a signal, it is time to generate a signal via the
function generator. The signal to be generated is a 120 Hz Sinusoidal wave. To
accomplish this, refer to the following steps:

1) On the function generator under the FUNCTION settings area (top right), press
the button that sets the output signal as a sinusoidal wave.
2) On the function generator under the RANGE (Hz) settings area, press the 100
button.
This button can be found on the top center of the device.
This adjusts the function generators output frequency range within a
magnitude of 10 of our desired frequency range
i. Remember desire a 120 Hz frequency signal
3) Turn the FREQUENCY dial on the function generator to 1.2.
The dial is found in the bottom right section of the device.
This dial is a multiplying factor for our RANGE value we set in Step 2
that ultimate determines our output frequency.
i. That is, the function generators output frequency is now set to our
desired frequency from the button set of Step 2 and the dial: 100
1.2 = 120Hz
4) Finally turn the AMPLITUDE knob to 50% (approx. halfway between MIN
and MAX).
 This dial can be found in the upper left section of the device. This value
determines the voltage level of the output signal.

After configuring the function generator as described above, adjust the scale (volts/div on
the y-axis and/or seconds/div on the x-axis) of the oscilloscope as necessary to answer the
questions below. Note: The oscilloscope will only be able to output measurements of
frequency and period when at least a full period of a signal is displayed on screen. So,
for example, if one only sees a sinusoidal signal that is from 0 to , then the oscilloscope
will likely display a ? for the measurement of the frequency. The same goes for peak-
to-peak voltage. If the volts/div is not set correctly and the user is not able to see the full
amplitude of the signal, then there will likely be a ? displayed for the peak-to-peak
voltage metric.

Questions:

1) What is the period of the signal displayed on the screen?

2) Does the period observed on the oscilloscope match the period set by the function
generator? Note: F=1/T, where F is the frequency and T is the period.
3) What is the peak to peak voltage of the signal found on the screen?
4) Take a picture of this screen on your phone for the lab report.

Repeat this procedure and answer the questions above for the following signals:
15 kHz Square wave
60 kHz Triangular wave

Exercise 2: Toggle Switches

In this assignment a toggle switch circuit will be built, and the output of the switch will
be observed on the oscilloscope as the switch is toggled. Figure 4 contains a circuit
diagram for connecting the switch. After correctly wiring the circuit, attach the output of
the switch to the channel one input of the oscilloscope.

If we wish to observe the output of the toggle switch as soon as the switch is toggled, we
must set up the oscilloscope in a special configuration. Normally, the oscilloscope
displays the signal in real-time, so it is not possible to observe only the moment when the
switch is toggled. To do this, we will use the trigger function.

To set up the trigger function, the first step is to set the trigger level. This level will
indicate when the oscilloscope should start displaying the signal to the screen. For
example, if the trigger level is set to 2.5V, the oscilloscope will not display anything until
the input signal crosses/transitions the 2.5V threshold or trigger. After this level has
been reached, the oscilloscope will then record the signal until the screen is filled (time
can be set by adjusting the sec/div), and will then stop measuring. This function of the
oscilloscope allows us to capture and analyze any signal triggered by an event (a change
in voltage).

Follow the steps below to capture the initial output after toggling the switch:

1) Press the trigger menu button to bring up the trigger menu.

2) Set the trigger function to edge analysis, slope as rising and source to channel one.
3) Set the mode to auto and make sure the toggle switch is showing zero volts on the
oscilloscope when button is pressed down. Then the button is not pressed, the
oscilloscope should be displaying 5 V.
4) Set the mode to Normal if possible. Otherwise set the oscilloscope in ready mode
via the sequence button or run/stop button.
5) Set the coupling option to DC.
6) Set the volts/div for channel one to 2 volts and the sec/div to 250 us, and adjust
the trigger level to 4 volts (the signal on the scope should turn grey)
7) Toggle the switch from ground to five volts and analyze the acquired signal. (This
means one should release the button because when the button is pressed, the
oscilloscope reads 0V, but when it is not pressed, 5V will be read) If one does not
have the oscilloscope set to Normal mode, then after each button release one will
have to reset the oscilloscope back into Ready mode by the run/stop button.

Questions:

1) What response is shown on the scope? Include a picture of the output in your
report. If you are unable to obtain a picture, then include a sketch instead.
2) What is different between this signal and the square wave signal seen in Exercise
1?
3) What characteristic of a toggle switch causes the distortion seen when toggling
the switch? Once you have determined the cause of the distortion, briefly explain
this phenomenon in your report.
 Oscope
+5 Pin 2

Pin 26
Figure 4: Toggle Switch Circuit

NOTE: You will wire the toggle switch as shown in Figure 4. To acquire the 5 volts
and ground for this circuit you must use the J1 connector that is found at your station.
This is the 26 pin, blue device at the lab station. Please ask the TA for assistance as
needed.
 Exercise 3: The SBC

This exercise is designed to help students learn more about the Single Board
Computer (Intel D2000), which will be used frequently throughout the semester.

Answer the following questions by referring to the Intel D2000 datasheet. The
data sheet can be found on the Intel website or on eCampus.

Questions:

1) What is the clock speed of the CPU?

2) How many analog inputs and analog outputs does the D2000 have, and how
many bits of resolution is the A/D converter? If you need to sample analog values
at 50,000 times second, will the D2000 be able to meet that requirement? Explain.
3) How many digital GPIO lines are provided? At 3.3V (IOVDD), how much
current can each line sink/source?
4) Is there a hardware reset button? Where is it on the D2000?
5) How many GPIO multiplexing functions are available? Which ones is typically
used for GPIO?

Reminder:
The report on this lab is due next week, and must follow the layout found in the class
syllabus

Be sure to answer all questions contained in the lab handout.

Grading:
Weight A (90-100) B(80-89) C(70-79) D(60-69) F(<60)
Documentation and 50 Excellent Good OK organization Poorly No organization
Report organization, organization but documentation, organized,
well documented not clear that somewhat confused hand written,
and neat writer poorly put
understands the together
solution
Operation 50 Works perfectly Hardware or Software seems to Neither Nothing works
software only work but hardware hardware nor at all.
works. does not, or vice software
versa works
completely