Measurement apparatus, program, recording medium, and measurement method

1. A measurement apparatus that measures a characteristic of an AD converter, comprising:

a signal supplying section that supplies the AD converter with an analog input signal having a prescribed waveform;

an acquiring section that acquires a digital output signal output by the AD converter as a result of sampling the analog input signal;

a measured histogram generating section that generates a measured histogram of the digital output signal, the measured histogram defining a plurality of frequencies of occurrence corresponding to digital values of the digital output signal; and

a range calculating section that calculates at least one of an analog value corresponding to a lower limit and an analog value corresponding to an upper limit of a prescribed digital range, based on at least one of (i) a frequency of occurrence, from among the plurality of frequencies of occurrence, corresponding to digital values of the digital output signal that are less than or equal to the digital range and (ii) a frequency of occurrence, from among the plurality of frequencies of occurrence, corresponding to digital values of the digital output signal that are greater than or equal to the digital range.

2. The measurement apparatus according to claim 1 , further comprising

an identifying section that identifies an error of the AD converter based on the measured histogram and the at least one of the analog value corresponding to the lower limit and the analog value corresponding to the upper limit of the digital range calculated by the calculating section.

3. The measurement apparatus according to claim 2 , wherein

the identifying section includes:

an ideal histogram generating section that generates an ideal histogram, which is a histogram obtained by sampling the analog input signal having the prescribed waveform, based on the at least one of the analog value corresponding to the lower limit and the analog value corresponding to the upper limit of the digital range calculated by the calculating section; and

an error identifying section that identifies the error of the AD converter based on the measured histogram and the ideal histogram.

4. The measurement apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein

the range calculating section calculates a lower limit analog value corresponding to the lower limit of the digital range and an upper limit analog value corresponding to the upper limit of the digital range, based on (i) the frequency of occurrence corresponding to the digital values that are less than or equal to the digital range and (ii) the frequency of occurrence corresponding to the digital values that are greater than or equal to the digital range.

5. The measurement apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein

the signal supplying section supplies the AD converter with the analog input signal having an amplitude larger than a measurement range of the AD converter, and

the range calculating section calculates a lower limit analog value corresponding to the lower limit of the digital range and an upper limit analog value corresponding to the upper limit of the digital range, based on (i) a frequency of occurrence, from among the plurality of frequencies of occurrence, corresponding to digital values of the digital output signal that are less than or equal to the measurement range and (ii) a frequency of occurrence, from among the plurality of frequencies of occurrence, corresponding to digital values of the digital output signal that are greater than or equal to the measurement range.

6. The measurement apparatus according to claim 5 , wherein

the range calculating section calculates, as the lower limit analog value, a value at which (i) an integrated value obtained by integrating the analog input signal over a range of values less than or equal to the lower limit analog value is equal to (ii) a frequency of occurrence, from among the plurality of frequencies of occurrence, corresponding to the lower limit of the digital range, and

the range calculating section calculates, as the upper limit analog value, a value at which (i) an integrated value obtained by integrating the analog input signal over a range of values greater than or equal to the upper limit analog value is equal to (ii) a frequency of occurrence, from among the plurality of frequencies of occurrence, corresponding to the upper limit of the digital range.

7. The measurement apparatus according to claim 5 , wherein

the signal supplying section supplies the analog input signal to have a sine waveform.

8. The measurement apparatus according to claim 7 , wherein

the range calculating section calculates the lower limit analog value “a” based on the frequency of occurrence fl corresponding to the lower limit of the digital range, using an expression a=sin {π( fl− ½)}; and

the range calculating section calculates the upper limit analog value “b” based on the frequency of occurrence fu corresponding to the upper limit of the digital range, using an expression b=sin {π(½−fu)}.

9. The measurement apparatus according to claim 8 , further comprising

an ideal histogram generating section that calculates an ideal histogram, which is a histogram obtained by sampling the analog input signal having the prescribed digital range, based on the lower limit analog value “a” and the upper limit analog value “b,” using an expression

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10. A computer program product, having computer instructions, recorded on a non-transitory computer readable medium, for enabling a computer executing the computer instructions to calculate a characteristic of an AD converter, the computer instructions causing the computer to function as a measurement apparatus comprising:

a measured histogram generating section that generates a measured histogram of a digital output signal output by the AD converter as a result of the AD converter being caused to sample an analog input signal having a prescribed waveform, the measured histogram defining a plurality of frequencies of occurrence corresponding to digital values of the digital output signal; and

a range calculating section that calculates at least one of an analog value corresponding to a lower limit and an analog value corresponding to an upper limit of a prescribed digital range, based on at least one of (i) a frequency of occurrence, from among the plurality of frequencies of occurrence, corresponding to digital values of the digital output signal that are less than or equal to the digital range and (ii) a frequency of occurrence, from among the plurality of frequencies of occurrence, corresponding to digital values of the digital output signal that are greater than or equal to the digital range.

11. The non-transitory computer readable medium on which the computer program product according to claim 10 is recorded.

12. A method for measuring a characteristic of an AD converter, comprising:

supplying the AD converter with an analog input signal having a prescribed waveform;

acquiring a digital output signal output by the AD converter as a result of sampling the analog input signal;

generating a measured histogram of the digital output signal, the measured histogram defining a plurality of frequencies of occurrence corresponding to digital values of the digital output signal; and

calculating at least one of an analog value corresponding to a lower limit and an analog value corresponding to an upper limit of a prescribed digital range, based on at least one of (i) a frequency of occurrence, from among the plurality of frequencies of occurrence, corresponding to digital values of the digital output signal that are less than or equal to the digital range and (ii) a frequency of occurrence, from among the plurality of frequencies of occurrence, corresponding to digital values of the digital output signal that are greater than or equal to the digital range.

13. The non-transitory computer readable medium according to claim 11 , wherein the computer instructions cause the computer to function as a measurement apparatus further comprising:

an identifying section that identifies an error of the AD converter based on the measured histogram and the at least one of the analog value corresponding to the lower limit and the analog value corresponding to the upper limit of the digital range calculated by the calculating section.

14. The non-transitory computer readable medium according to claim 11 , wherein

the signal supplying section supplies the AD converter with the analog input signal having an amplitude larger than a measurement range of the AD converter, and

the range calculating section calculates a lower limit analog value corresponding to the lower limit of the digital range and an upper limit analog value corresponding to the upper limit of the digital range, based on (i) a frequency of occurrence, from among the plurality of frequencies of occurrence, corresponding to digital values of the digital output signal that are less than or equal to the measurement range and (ii) a frequency of occurrence, from among the plurality of frequencies of occurrence, corresponding to digital values of the digital output signal that are greater than or equal to the measurement range.

15. The non-transitory computer readable medium according to claim 14 , wherein

the signal supplying section supplies the analog input signal to have a sine waveform.

16. The non-transitory computer readable medium according to claim 15 , wherein

the range calculating section calculates the lower limit analog value “a” based on the frequency of occurrence fl corresponding to the lower limit of the digital range, using an expression a=sin {π(fl−½)}; and

the range calculating section calculates the upper limit analog value “b” based on the frequency of occurrence fu corresponding to the upper limit of the digital range, using an expression b=sin {π(½−fu)}.

17. The method according to claim 12 , further comprising

identifying an error of the AD converter based on the measured histogram and the at least one of the analog value corresponding to the lower limit and the analog value corresponding to the upper limit of the digital range calculated by the calculating section.

18. The method according to claim 12 , wherein

the analog input signal has an amplitude larger than a measurement range of the AD converter, and

the calculating step includes calculating a lower limit analog value corresponding to the lower limit of the digital range and an upper limit analog value corresponding to the upper limit of the digital range, based on (i) a frequency of occurrence, from among the plurality of frequencies of occurrence, corresponding to digital values of the digital output signal that are less than or equal to the measurement range and (ii) a frequency of occurrence, from among the plurality of frequencies of occurrence, corresponding to digital values of the digital output signal that are greater than or equal to the measurement range.

19. The method according to claim 18 , wherein

the analog input signal has a sine waveform.

20. The measurement apparatus according to claim 19 , wherein

the calculating includes:

calculating the lower limit analog value “a” based on the frequency of occurrence fl corresponding to the lower limit of the digital range, using an expression a=sin {π(fl−½)}; and

calculating the upper limit analog value “b” based on the frequency of occurrence fu corresponding to the upper limit of the digital range, using an expression b=sin {π(½−fu)}.