Method and system for analyzing signal waveforms
View Patent ↗A method and system for analyzing a signal waveform that comprises digitally sampling a signal at a periodic sampling interval, and accumulating a count of samples of the signal at a given logic level relative to a threshold value over a given period. The threshold value is stepped through a series of values while the accumulating of samples is repeated at a series of different clock offsets. The accumulated counts permit a statistical distribution of the signal waveform to be determined. A signal density can also be calculated by determining the difference between the count of adjacent samples at successive threshold values.
1. A method of analyzing a signal waveform at a receiver, comprising:
digitally-sampling the signal waveform amplitude at a periodic sampling interval to provide sampled values of the signal waveform
accumulating a count of the sampled values having a given logic level relative to a threshold value over a given period;
stepping the threshold value through a series of values and repeating the steps of digitally sampling the signal waveform amplitude and accumulating a count of the sampled values; and
modifying a skew of the periodic sampling interval and repeating the steps of digitally sampling the signal waveform amplitude at the periodic sampling interval, accumulating a count of the sampled values and stepping the threshold value through a series of values to determine a statistical distribution of the signal waveform received at the receiver.
2. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the given logic level is ‘1’.
3. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the given logic level is ‘0’.
4. The method according to claim 1 , further comprising determining the difference between the count of adjacent sampled values at successive threshold values to determine a signal density distribution.
5. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the step of accumulating comprises accumulating every Mth sample, and the method is performed M times while shifting the sampled values accumulated.
6. The method according to claim 5 , wherein the signal waveform is a periodic signal waveform.
7. The method according to claim 5 , wherein the signal waveform is an analog signal waveform representing a digital signal.