à



V Frequency Measurement

V Fixed Time method

V Fixed Cycle method

V Power Measurement
 

 


 
 
Counting the number of pulses within a specific time
(t) window, such as 100 ms. The frequency is then
calculated by dividing the count by time (t).

This measurement approach inherently minimizes the

effect of error sources (such as jitter) by averaging many
oscillator pulses in the time window.


à 
  number 

 

 
 

.

F = Counter Value
Time

Ô

  
  




  


 

     

   

   





 
   
   
 
    
 

  




 
    
 



  

  
   




  

  
 
 
   
    

  


 





 
  à 




! 
 
Count
Frequency Input
Clock Counter

INT
 
 = Count
t
System Clock
Clock Timer

Frequency Input

INT t

System Clock

 à 
In the fixed cycle method, the number of cycles
measured is fixed and the measurement time is
variable.

The counter is started at the rising edge of the

input signal and stopped at the next rising
edge. Now the counter reading is actually the
period of the input signal in multiples of the
master clock.


ëetermine the time between a fixed number of
oscillation pulses.

Example: Measure time between four rising edges

of the oscillation signal.
! 
 
Count

System Clock Counter

Clock

INT

Frequency Input

INT

System Clock


 


Schmitt trigger can be used for converting a
sine wave to square wave signal.
V The accuracy of the frequency measurement is
directly related to the quality of the
microcontrollerǯs clock signal.

V Increasing the number of cycles measured will

increase the measurement time and reduce the error.

V Increasing Fosc will also decrease the minimum time

to resolve an edge, thereby reducing the error.
a 
 


 


V Ànalog and digital carriers are very different in
terms of the signal content and distribution of
power over the channel and therefore need to be
measured differently

V Instruments such as signal level meters that are

designed to measure only analog carriers will not
accurately measure digital carriers.
  " #
 a 
V Power is measured either as an absolute level or
relative to another power level.
V Carrier levels are absolute measurements and are
measured in power units such as dBmV.

Relative

Àbsolute
  
a a 
V Àverage power is the average of the power over a
time period.
V If the average power level varies such as in
analog video, then the average needs to be over
a long period of time to take into account the
changes.

Voltage X Current Power


  "
 a 
V The average power of an analog video carrier changes
depending on the picture content. ëark scenes have a
higher average power than bright scenes.
V ëuring the sync pulses the carrier is at its peak power
and does not change from scene to scene. For this
reason peak power has become the standard for analog
video carrier level measurements.

Peak
Sync Power

Àverage
Power
Video
content
Bright Scene ëark Scene
ë

 

 a 
V 0n digital carriers average power is not affected by the
programming content and is relatively fixed.
V Unlike analog carriers, digital carrier power is spread
fairly evenly across the entire channel, not just a one
frequency.

u
 

Power Not Effected by

Programming
Power Spread Àcross Channel
  a  
!


V ëigital signals require a specific bandwidth to transmit
information.
V The wider the bandwidth for a given peak power, the
higher the average power.
V Bandwidth must be taken into account in the
measurement of digital signals.
ë

 à
 
V The frequency shape of the carrier also affects

the average power.

ë

 

   a 
V Measuring digital signal power requires different

techniques than we are used to with analog signals.

V Measurements must measure all of the power at all

frequencies within the channel, and reject any adjacent

channel power.

Power
Meter

Broadband Bandpass ëigital

Signals Filter Àverage
Power
Ô  




Reading





ë

 

   a 

 

V SLM or Spectrum Ànalyzers do not have an IF
bandwidth wide enough to measure a whole digital
signal at once.
V To correctly measure a digital carrier, SLMs or Spectrum
Ànalyzers make multiple measurements across the
frequency range of the carrier. The powers of each of
these measurements is summed and the average power
of the whole channel is calculated.

SLMǯs and Spectrum Ànalyzers Make Multiple Measurements Àcross the

Channel and Sum the Power
à



V ëigital power measurements are made
using average power while analog
signals are measured using peak
power. à
à
 
 



V Àverage digital carrier power is not

affected by content and the power is
spread fairly evenly over the channel.

V ëigital carrier power must be

measured over the entire bandwidth of 
the channel rather than just at one 


frequency as in analog channels.
# 


V The 8051 microcontroller, Kenneth J Àyala

V ÀN929, DzTemperature Measurement Circuits for

Embedded Àpplications Dz, Jim Lepkowski
Microchip Technology Inc.

V http://www.techonline.com/showÀrticle.jhtml?art
icleIë=192200826