Coherent interleaved sampling

1 . A method for digitizing a repetitive signal having a long pattern length, comprising the steps of:

determining a clock period to be used when sampling the repetitive signal;

determining a frame period of the repetitive signal; and

selecting a sampling period that is a relatively prime integer when compared with the clock period and frame period, the sampling period comprising an integer number of time resolution periods, so that when sampling is performed in accordance with the sampling period, all time resolution periods are sampled at a same relative time position thereof.

2 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the repetitive signal is a PRBS.

3 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the time resolution periods are sampled from a plurality of repetitions of the repetitive signal.

4 . The method of claim 3 , wherein the time resolution periods are sampled in an order other than time sequentially.

5 . The method of claim 4 , wherein the order is determined in accordance with the relationship between the clock period, the frame period and the sampling period.

6 . The method of claim 4 , wherein the sampled time resolution periods are placed back in a sequential order.

7 . The method of claim 6 , wherein the sequentially ordered sampled time resolution periods are displayed on a display.

8 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the sampling is synchronized to both the frame period and the time resolution periods.

9 . An apparatus for digitizing a repetitive signal having a long pattern length, comprising:

an input for receiving a repetitive signal having a long pattern length;

a sampler for sampling the repetitive signal at predetermined time points, the predetermined time points being determined in part by a sampling strobe provided by a sampling strobe generator, the sampling strobe generator comprising:

an input for receiving a clock signal;

a first divider for dividing the clock signal;

a second divider for dividing the output from the first divider;

a phase detector for detecting phase differences from the output from the second divider and the output from a voltage controlled oscillator (VCO) driven by the phase detector, the output from the VCO first being divided by a third divider; and

a fourth divider for dividing the output from the VCO to generate the sampling strobe;

wherein the second and third dividers are fractional dividers; and

wherein the frequency of the sampling strobe is selected so that a sampling period thereof is a relative prime number as compared to a clock period and a frame period of the repetitive signal;

an analog to digital converter for converting each sample of the repetitive signal to a digital representation thereof;

a memory for storing the digital representation of each of the samples; and

a processor for placing the digital representations of each of the samples in a sequential order.

10 . The apparatus of claim 9 , wherein the samples of the repetitive signal are sampled from a plurality of repetitions of the repetitive signal.

11 . The apparatus of claim 10 , wherein the samples of the repetitive signal are sampled in an order other than time sequentially.

12 . The apparatus of claim 11 , wherein the order is determined in accordance with the relationship between the clock period, the frame period and the sampling period.

13 . The apparatus of claim 12 , wherein the samples are placed back in a sequential order.

14 . The apparatus of claim 13 , wherein the sequentially ordered samples are displayed on a display.

15 . The apparatus of claim 13 , wherein a sample timing is synchronized to both the frame period and a time resolution period so that each sample is taken at a similar location within the time resolution period.

16 . The apparatus of claim 9 , wherein the frequency of the sampling strobe is determined in accordance with the selection of the divisors of the second and third fractional dividers.

17 . The apparatus of claim 16 , wherein the relationship between the coefficients follow the rule that there is no common factor between:

factors of the coefficient of the first divider times the coefficient of the fourth divider times the numerator of the second divider times the denominator of the third divider; and

the common factors of the long pattern length and the numerator of the third divider times the denominator of the second divider.

18 . A method for selecting a sample timing for digitizing a repetitive signal having a long pattern length, comprising the steps of:

(a) determining a first estimate of a number of samples to be taken per sample clock;

(b) selecting a possible pattern length of the repetitive signal;

(c) determining whether the first estimate of the number of samples to be taken per sample clock is relatively prime when compared to the pattern length;

(d) repeating steps (b) and (c) to determine if any possible pattern length meets the condition of step (c);

(e) selecting a next estimate of a number of samples to be taken per sample clock; and

(f) repeating steps (b) through (e) until the condition of step (c) is met;

(g) determining a sample timing in accordance with the selected number of samples to be taken per sample clock and the selected pattern length of the repetitive signal.

19 . The method of claim 18 , wherein the possible pattern lengths are selected from among a possible set of pattern lengths corresponding to a type of the repetitive signal.

20 . The method of claim 18 , wherein the number of samples to be taken per sample clock define a sample period, a sampling strobe generator generating a strobe to allow for samples to be taken in accordance with the sampling period.