PicoScope 6000 Series

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The PicoScope 6000 Series is the ultimate USB oscilloscope. High-end features such as serial decoding, mask limit testing and segmented memory are included as standard. The fastest sampling, highest bandwidth, deepest memory and fastest waveform update rate of any USB oscilloscope on the market today.

With 250 MHz to 500 MHz analog bandwidths complemented by a real-time sampling rate of 5 GS/s, the PicoScope 6000 Series scopes can display single-shot pulses with 200 ps time resolution. Equivalent time sampling (ETS) mode boosts the maximum sampling rate to 50 GS/s, giving an even finer timing resolution of 20 ps for repetitive signals.

The PicoScope 6000 Series gives you the deepest buffer memory available as standard on any oscilloscope at any price. The SuperSpeed USB 3.0 interface and hardware acceleration ensures that the display is smooth and responsive even with long captures. Other oscilloscopes have high maximum sampling rates, but without deep memory they cannot sustain these rates on long timebases. The 2-gigasample buffer on the PicoScope 6404D can hold two 200 ms captures at the maximum sampling rate of 5 GS/s. To help manage all this data, PicoScope can zoom up to 100 million times using a choice of two zoom methods. There are zoom buttons as well as an overview window that lets you zoom and reposition the display by simply dragging with the mouse.
 

Best-in-class bandwidth, sampling rate and memory depth

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Some oscilloscopes struggle when you enable deep memory; the screen update rate slows and controls become unresponsive. PicoScope 6000 Series avoids this limitation with use of a dedicated hardware acceleration engine inside the oscilloscope. Its massively parallel design effectively creates the waveform image to be displayed on the PC screen and allows the continuous capture and display to the screen of 2.5 billion samples every second.

PicoScope oscilloscopes manage deep memory better than competing oscilloscopes, both PC-based and benchtop.

The PicoScope 6000 Series is fitted with fourth-generation hardware acceleration (HAL4). This speeds up areas of oscilloscope operation such as allowing waveform update rates in excess of 170,000 waveforms per second and the segmented memory / rapid trigger modes. The hardware acceleration engine ensures that any concerns about the USB connection or PC processor performance being a bottleneck are eliminated.

An important specification to understand when evaluating oscilloscope performance is the waveform update rate, which is expressed as waveforms per second (wfms/s). While the sample rate indicates how frequently the oscilloscope samples the input signal within one waveform, or cycle, the waveform capture rate refers to how quickly an oscilloscope acquires waveforms.

Oscilloscopes with high waveform capture rates provide better visual insight into signal behavior and dramatically increase the probability that the oscilloscope will quickly capture transient anomalies such as jitter, runt pulses and glitches – that you may not even know exist.

PicoScope deep memory oscilloscopes use hardware acceleration to achieve over 170,000 wfms/s.

An important specification to understand when evaluating oscilloscope performance is the waveform update rate which is expressed as waveforms per second (wfms/s). While the sample rate indicates how frequently the oscilloscope samples the input signal within one waveform, or cycle, the waveform capture rate refers to how quickly an oscilloscope acquires waveforms.

All oscilloscopes have an inherent “dead-time” between each waveform acquisition, when it is processing the previously acquired waveform. During the oscilloscope’s dead-time, any signal activity that may be occurring will be missed. Because of oscilloscope dead-time, capturing random and infrequent events becomes a matter of statistical probability. The more often a scope updates waveforms for a given observation time, the higher the probability of capturing and viewing an elusive event.

Oscilloscopes with high waveform capture rates provide better visual insight into signal behaviour and dramatically increase the probability that the oscilloscope will quickly capture transient anomalies such as jitter, runt pulses and glitches – that you may not even know exist.

PicoScope Fast mode uses dedicated hardware to accelerate the waveform capture process. Multiple streams of data are processed in parallel to construct the waveforms that will be displayed on the screen. Fast mode is available in all PicoScope series oscilloscopes, with the following typical performance levels*:

• USB 2.0 deep memory models (PicoScope 3000/4000/5000 Series) to 80,000 wfms/s.
• USB 3.0 SuperSpeed deep memory models (PicoScope 3207 & 6000 Series) to 100,000 wfms/s.

The animation below shows a 5 MHz clock signal with infrequent glitches captured on a PicoScope 6404D. The glitches occur approximately 25 times per second. Total capture time for each acquisition is 1 µs, so the probability of capturing the glitch with each capture is just 0.000025. But with a waveform update rate of more than 100,000 waveforms per second the scope will capture this glitch within 0.4 seconds on average. In this example, the scope captured the error several times in less than 3 seconds.

 

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Pico was the first company to introduce such fast waveform update rates to PC oscilloscopes. Our waveform update rate outperforms all other PC oscilloscopes and many traditional benchtop oscilloscopes costing considerably more.

Listed below are some example specifications for maximum waveforms per second together with the test conditions used. Note that for applications that require even faster waveform capture, most of our oscilloscopes have a rapid trigger (segmented memory) mode that can collect bursts of waveforms at rates as fast as 1 million per second

Waveform buffer and navigator Ever spotted a glitch on a waveform, but by the time you’ve stopped the scope it has gone? With PicoScope you no longer need to worry about missing glitches or other transient events. PicoScope can store the last ten thousand waveforms in its circular waveform buffer. The buffer navigator provides an efficient way of navigating and searching through waveforms effectively letting you turn back time. Tools such as mask limit testing can also be used to scan through each waveform in the buffer looking for mask violations.

Waveform buffer and navigator ×

PicoScope oscilloscope software has the ability to store more than one waveform in its waveform buffer. Depending on the settings you have chosen, PicoScope can store from 1 to 10,000 waveforms in its buffer.

When you click the Start button or change a capture setting, PicoScope clears the buffer and then adds a new waveform to it every time the oscilloscope captures data. This continues until the buffer is full or you click the Stop button. Once you have stopped capturing data, you can then review each captured waveform to find the event you want. You can also save the whole buffer and examine it at a later date.
 

Signal integrity

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Signal integrity

Most oscilloscopes are built down to a price. PicoScopes are built up to a specification.

Careful front-end design and shielding reduces noise, crosstalk and harmonic distortion. Years of oscilloscope design experience can be seen in improved bandwidth flatness and low distortion.

We are proud of the dynamic performance of our products and, unlike most oscilloscope manufacturers, publish our specifications in detail. The result is simple: when you probe a circuit, you can trust in the waveform you see on the screen.

 

USB connectivity

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USB connectivity

The USB connection not only allows high-speed data acquisition and transfer, but also makes printing, copying, saving, and emailing your data from the field quick and easy.

PicoScope 6000 Series oscilloscopes feature a SuperSpeed USB 3.0 connection, making the already-optimized process of data transfer and waveform update rates even faster.

Further benefits of a USB 3.0 connection include faster saving of waveforms and faster gap-free continuous streaming of over 150 MS/s when using the SDK, while the scope is still backward-compatible with older USB systems.

 

Note 1: Test conditions. PicoScope software set to fastest timebase in persistence mode, input signal > 10 MHz. PC used running Windows 8.1 on an Intel i5-4750 @ 3.25 GHz.

Note for existing PicoScope users: you too can enjoy improved fast waveform capture rates. Simply download and install the latest version of PicoScope software.

 

The PicoScope 6000 Series Features

 

Serial bus decoding

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USB connectivity

PicoScope can decode CAN, FlexRay, I²C, I²S, RS-232/UART, SPI, and USB protocol data as standard. Expect this list to grow with future free software upgrades.

In graph format shows the decoded data (in hex, binary, decimal or ASCII) in a data bus timing format, beneath the waveform on a common time axis, with error frames marked in red. These frames can be zoomed to investigate noise or signal integrity issues.

In table format shows a list of the decoded frames, including the data and all flags and identifiers. You can set up filtering conditions to display only the frames you are interested in or search for frames with specified properties. The statistics option reveals more detail about the physical layer such as frame times and voltage levels. PicoScope can also import a spreadsheet to decode the data into user-defined text strings.

 

Serial bus decoding

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Serial bus decoding and protocol analysis - introduction

Serial communication buses are used extensively in modern electronic designs. Serial buses offer significant cost advantages and some performance improvements over parallel bus communications. First off, there are fewer signals to route on the board, so PCB costs are lower. Less I/O pins on each device are needed, which simplifies component packaging and so reduces component cost. Some serial buses use differential signalling which improves noise immunity.

There is a wide range of serial communication standards, each optimised for specific operating conditions and differing design complexity, different speeds, power consumption, fault tolerance and, of course, cost.

Although serial buses offer several advantages, they also present difficulties when troubleshooting and debugging systems since the data is transmitted in packets or frames that need to be decoded, according to the standard in use, before the designer can make sense of the information flow. Manually decoding (or “bit counting”) streams of binary data is error prone and time consuming.

PicoScope includes decoding and analysis of popular serial standards to help engineers see what is happening in their design to identify programming and timing errors and check for other signal integrity issues. Timing analysis tools help to show performance of each design element, enabling the engineer to identify those parts of the design that need to be improved to optimize overall system performance.

Decoding

Serial decoding is included in PicoScope as standard. The decoded data can be displayed in the format of your choice: In Graph, In Table, or both at once.

In Graph format shows decoded data in a bus format, aligned with the analog waveform, on a common time axis, with error frames marked in red. Frames can be zoomed and correlated with acquired analog channels to investigate timing errors or other signal integrity issues that are root cause of data errors.

In Table format shows a list of the decoded frames, including the data and all flags and identifiers. You can set up filtering conditions to display only the frames you are interested in, search for frames with specified properties, or define a start pattern to signal when the program should list the data.

 

Serial bus decoding: In Graph

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Serial bus decoding: In Graph

Serial bus decoding: In table

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Serial bus decoding: In Table

 

Serial decoding

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Currently PicoScope can decode CAN, FlexRay, I²C, I²S, LIN, RS-232/UART, SPI, and USB data. New protocols are in development, as well as support for custom serial formats.

Data can be displayed in Hex, Binary, ASCII or Decimal formats.

To help make decoded data even easier to read PicoScope enables use of a link file so that, for example, address hex 03DF can be displayed as “Oil Temperature”, or whatever the parameter means in human-readable form.

 

Analysis

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Analysis

PicoScope deep-memory oscilloscopes can capture hundreds or even thousands of serial data packets, so it is important to be able to search and analyze the acquired packets to isolate the specific packets of interest. There are several ways to do that:

Start From displays decoded packets starting from a user defined condition; unwanted packets prior to the condition are discarded.

 

Search is used to highlight specific packets in long acquisitions that meet user-defined search criteria.

 

Search

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Filter displays only those packets that match user-defined condition(s).

 

Search

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Statistics displays detailed timing and voltage information on each packet, which helps to determine safe margins, noise immunity, and design reliability over extended operating periods.

 

Statistics

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Accumulate is useful for finding intermittent errors in program execution. In this mode a communications sequence can be acquired multiple times with successive acquisitions of the scope. Graph View of the waveform, and the decoded bus, is updated with each acquisition, but the Table View is appended with data from each acquisition until you stop acquiring. Data in the Table View can then be searched for differences from one acquisition to the next.

 

Accumulate

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Cross Reference

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Cross Reference helps to speed serial analysis by translating hexadecimal address values into human readable form.

So, for example, instead of displaying "Address: 7E" in the Table View, the corresponding text “Set Motor Speed” will be shown instead, or whatever is appropriate. Cross referencing is done with a simple spreadsheet link file.

 
 

Serial Decoding: Link File

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Export: Table view data can be saved in a spreadsheet format file for off line viewing and analysis. Statistics and cross reference information from the table is preserved in the spreadsheet file.

 

Export

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Mask limit testing

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Mask limit testing

Mask limit testing allows you to compare live signals against known good signals, and is designed for production and debugging environments. Simply capture a known good signal, draw a mask around it, and then attach the system under test. PicoScope will perform pass/fail testing, capture intermittent glitches, and can show a failure count and other statistics in the Measurements window.

Mask limit testing is available for both the oscilloscope and spectrum analyzer, allowing you automate finding problems in both the time and frequency domains.

The numerical and graphical mask editors can be used separately or in combination, allowing you to enter accurate mask specifications, modify existing masks, and import and export masks as files.

 

Mask limit testing is a feature that tells you when a waveform or spectrum goes outside a specified area, called a mask.

This feature is specially designed for production and debugging environments. Capture a signal from a known working system, and PicoScope will draw a mask around it with your specified tolerance. Connect the system under test, and PicoScope will highlight any parts of the waveform that fall outside the mask area. The highlighted details persist on the display, allowing the scope to catch intermittent glitches while you work on something else. The measurements window counts the number of failures, and can display other measurements and statistics at the same time.

The numerical and graphical mask editors (as shown below) can be used separately or in combination, allowing you to enter accurate mask specifications and to modify existing masks. You can import and export masks as files.

 

FFT spectrum analyzer

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FFT spectrum analyzer

The spectrum view plots amplitude vs frequency and is ideal for finding noise, crosstalk or distortion in signals. The spectrum analyzer in PicoScope is of the Fast Fourier Transform (FFT) type which, unlike a traditional swept spectrum analyzer, can display the spectrum of a single, non-repeating waveform.

A full range of settings gives you control over the number of spectrum bands (FFT bins), window types, scaling (including log/log) and display modes (instantaneous, average, or peak-hold).

You can display multiple spectrum views alongside oscilloscope views of the same data. A comprehensive set of automatic frequency-domain measurements can be added to the display, including THD, THD+N, SNR, SINAD and IMD. A mask limit test can be applied to a spectrum and you can even use the AWG and spectrum mode together to perform swept scalar network analysis.

 

Unlike the oscilloscope views which display amplitude vs time, the spectrum view reveals new detail by plotting amplitude vs frequency.

The spectrum view is ideal for finding the cause of noise or crosstalk in a signal which often looks random in the time domain. It is also often the best mode for testing distortion, frequency response and stability of amplifiers, filters and oscillators.

The spectrum analyzer in PicoScope is of the Fast Fourier Transform (FFT) type which, unlike a traditional swept spectrum analyzer, has the ability to display the spectrum of a single, non-repeating waveform.

 

PicoScope oscilloscopes have low-noise, low-distortion front-end designs and our high-resolution scopes offer exceptional levels of dynamic range (> 100 dB SFDR for the PicoScope 4262). This makes them capable of revealing signal details that other scope and dedicated analyzers miss.

A full range of settings gives you control over the number of spectrum bands (FFT bins), window types, scaling (linear, log, log/log) and display modes (instantaneous, average, or peak-hold).

You can display multiple spectrum views with different channel selections and zoom factors, and place these alongside oscilloscope views of the same data.

A comprehensive set of automatic frequency-domain measurements can be added to the display, including THD, THD+N, SNR, SINAD and IMD.

A mask limit test can be applied to a spectrum for automated tests and you can even use the AWG and spectrum mode together to perform swept scalar network analysis.

 

PicoScope oscilloscopes software

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Arbitrary waveform and function generator

All PicoScope 6000 units have a built-in 20 MHz function generator (sine, square, triangle, DC level, white noise, PRBS etc.). As well as basic controls to set level, offset and frequency, more advanced controls allow you to sweep over a range of frequencies. Combined with the spectrum peak hold option this makes a powerful tool for testing amplifier and filter responses.

Trigger tools allow one or more cycles of a waveform to be output when various conditions are met such as the scope triggering or a mask limit test failing.

PicoScope 6000D models also include a 12 bit 200 MS/s arbitrary waveform generator (AWG). AWG waveforms can be created or edited using the built-in AWG editor, imported from oscilloscope traces, or loaded from a spreadsheet.

Arbitrary waveform and function generator

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Electronic designs require a variety of stimulus signals during test. PicoScope comes with a function generator that can deliver standard waveforms such as sine, square, triangle etc. Many models also include an arbitrary waveform generator (AWG) that supports a wide range of application needs.

You can program the arbitrary waveform generator from a text file or using the built-in AWG editor. The number of samples in the created waveform is limited only by the hardware of your chosen oscilloscope, allowing you to define complex waveforms. As PicoScope can export CSV and TXT files, you can even capture a waveform using your oscilloscope, modify it (if needed) using the AWG editor, and then play it back using the AWG.

Arbitrary waveform and function generator ×	Arbitrary waveform and function generator ×
Function generator The function generator provides output of sine, square, triangle, ramp, pulse, sin(x)/x, Gaussian, half sine, noise, PRBS and DC waveforms* to your device under test. Sweep mode generates a frequency that varies between two specified limits.   * Waveform types vary by model. PicoScope 5444B illustrated.	Arbitrary waveform and function generator ×
Arbitrary waveform and function generator ×	Arbitrary waveform and function generator ×
Sweep mode: Sweep mode generates a frequency that varies between two specified limits Sweep mode ×	Trigger mode: In trigger mode the AWG waveform fires when PicoScope is triggered. Trigger mode ×
AWG controls and waveform editor The AWG can simulate complex signals and can be used to stress-test the robustness of a design with addition of noise, overshoot, spikes, dropouts and glitches that the design might encounter.
Import from scope Allows you to copy captured data from a PicoScope channel into the AWG memory. You can also copy data from a math channel, so you can create an arbitrary waveform from an equation. Import from scope ×	Import from file Allows you to import a CSV format waveform file into the AWG memory from a PC.   Import from file ×
Save waveform Once you have created your waveform with the AWG editor you can save it for later use with PicoScope.	Save waveform ×

Advanced digital triggers

The majority of digital oscilloscopes still use an analog trigger architecture based on comparators. This causes time and amplitude errors that cannot always be calibrated out and often limits the trigger sensitivity at high bandwidths.

In 1991 Pico pioneered the use of fully digital triggering using the actual digitized data. This technique reduces trigger errors and allows our oscilloscopes to trigger on the smallest signals, even at the full bandwidth. Trigger levels and hysteresis can be set with high precision and resolution.

The reduced rearm delay provided by digital triggering, together with segmented memory, allows the capture of a new waveform every microsecond until the buffer is full.

The PicoScope 6000 Series offers an industry-leading set of advanced triggers including pulse width, runt pulse, windowed, logic and dropout.

 

Save waveform

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Alarms

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Alarms

PicoScope can be programmed to execute actions when certain events occur.
The events that can trigger an alarm include mask limit fails, trigger events and buffers full.
The actions that PicoScope can execute include saving a file, playing a sound, executing a program or triggering the signal generator / AWG.
Alarms, coupled with mask limit testing, help to quickly validate signal quality in electronic system designs.

High-end features as standard

Buying a PicoScope is not like making a purchase from other oscilloscope companies, where optional extras considerably increase the price. With our scopes, high-end features such as serial decoding, mask limit testing, advanced math channels, segmented memory, and a signal generator are all included in the price.

To protect your investment, both the PC software and firmware inside the scope can be updated. Pico Technology have a long history of providing new features for free through software downloads. We deliver on our promises of future enhancements year after year, unlike many other companies in the field. Users of our products reward us by becoming lifelong customers and frequently recommending us to their colleagues.

 

The PicoScope 6000 Oscilloscope Software

 

Advanced display

PicoScope software dedicates almost all of the display area to the waveform. Using the display of your laptop or desktop the area is much bigger and of a higher resolution than with a traditional benchtop scope. This is a huge advantage when displaying 8 high-resolution channels.

With a large display area available, you can also create a customizable split-screen display, and view multiple channels or different views of the same signal at the same time. As the example opposite shows, the software can even show both oscilloscope and spectrum analyzer traces at once. Additionally, each waveform shown works with individual zoom, pan, and filter settings for ultimate flexibility.

The PicoScope software can be controlled by mouse, touchscreen or keyboard shortcuts.

 

PicoScope Software: Advanced display

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Math channels and filters

On many oscilloscopes waveform math just means simple calculations such as A + B. With a PicoScope it means much, much more.

With PicoScope 6 you can select simple functions such as addition and inversion, or open the equation editor to create complex functions involving filters (low pass, high pass, band pass and band stop filters), trigonometry, exponentials, logarithms, statistics, integrals and derivatives.

Waveform math also allows you to plot live signals alongside historic peak, averaged or filtered waveforms. You can also use math for example to graph the changing duty cycle or frequency of your signal.

With PicoScope math channels you can display up to eight real or calculated channels in each scope view. If you run out of space, just open another scope view and add more.

 

Custom probes in PicoScope oscilloscope software

The custom probes feature allows you to correct for gain, attenuation, offsets and nonlinearities in probes, sensors or transducers that you connect to the oscilloscope.

A simple use would be to linearly scale the output of a current probe so that it correctly displays amperes. A more advanced use would be to scale the output of a nonlinear temperature sensor using the table lookup function.

Definitions for standard Pico-supplied oscilloscope probes and current clamps are included. User-created probes may be saved for later use.

 
High-speed data acquisition and digitizing

The software development kit (SDK) allows you to write your own software and includes drivers for Microsoft Windows, Apple Mac (OS X) and Linux (including Raspberry Pi and BeagleBone).

Example code shows how to interface to third-party software packages such as Microsoft Excel, National Instruments LabVIEW and MathWorks MATLAB.

The drivers support USB data streaming, a mode which captures gap-free continuous data over USB direct to the PC’s RAM or hard disk at rates of up to 10 MS/s. Capture size is limited only by available PC storage. Sampling rates in streaming mode are subject to PC specifications and application loading.

 

Powerful tools provide endless options

Your PicoScope is provided with many powerful tools to help you acquire and analyze waveforms. While these tools can be used on their own, the real power of PicoScope lies in the way they have been designed to work together.

As an example, the rapid trigger mode allows you to collect 10,000 waveforms in a few milliseconds with minimal dead time between them. Manually searching through these waveforms would be time consuming, so just pick a waveform you are happy with and let the mask tools scan through for you. When done, the measurements will tell you how many have failed and the buffer navigator allows you to hide the good waveforms and just display the problem ones. This video shows you how.

Perhaps instead you want to plot changing duty cycle as a graph? How about outputting a waveform from the AWG and also automatically saving the waveform to disk when a trigger condition is met? With the power of PicoScope the possibilities are almost endless.