JP3263938B2 - Time measurement device - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a time measuring device capable of measuring waveform parameters such as a frequency, a period, a pulse width, and a duty ratio of an input signal. The present invention relates to an improvement in a transfer method when transferring.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art When a measurement data is transferred from a conventional time measuring device (mainly a universal counter) to a computer, basically, a method of transferring the data one by one is performed. Therefore, when continuously transferring a plurality of data obtained by a plurality of samples, one data transfer operation is repeated by the number of samples.

[0003]

However, the information on the sampling interval of the data group transferred in this manner is not stored in the computer using a timer or the like because the sampling interval of the time measuring device at the transfer source is not constant. Need to know sampling interval. For example, in a system in which the time measuring device 10 and the computer 20 are connected by a communication means 30 based on the GP-IB bus standard or the RS232C communication standard as shown in FIG. 5, an input signal (a) shown in FIG. When the data obtained by measuring each pulse width of the measurement signal) is sent to the computer side, and a graph (a state of the change of the measurement data (measurement value) in real time) as shown in FIG. Data on the horizontal axis (time axis) of the graph must be created on the computer side. For this purpose, a timer or the like must be provided on the computer side and the timing must be determined by detecting the timing of the measurement data to be transferred, and a graph cannot be easily drawn.

A device for solving this problem is, for example, a time interval analyzer. This analyzer has 1
Assuming that the number of samples in each processing is N, there is a function of measuring, processing, and displaying N data in a series of operations. In this case, time stamp data (measurement time data) is added together with individual measurement data. Therefore, the graph as shown in FIG. 6B can be displayed on the main body of the time interval analyzer. However,
The time interval analyzer is a very special device, and has a drawback that it is difficult and expensive to operate.

[0005] In view of the above, an object of the present invention is to provide:
Measuring data and time data are paired for a predetermined number of times
Provide a time measurement device that has a communication function that can transfer data as a block and that can inexpensively graph the changes in measured values in real time, which was previously only possible with expensive time interval analyzers. Is to do.

[0006]

According to the present invention, there is provided a waveform parameter measuring mechanism for measuring a waveform parameter of an input signal in accordance with a measurement start instruction, and a time data generating mechanism for generating time data. , A measurement data number counter for counting the number of measurement samples, a memory for storing the measurement value of the waveform parameter measurement device and time data from the time data generation mechanism, and interpreting and executing communication commands from an externally connected computer. A communication mechanism having a function of transferring data stored in the memory to a computer, and a control mechanism having a function of controlling the operation of each unit, upon receiving a measurement start command from the computer, starts a waveform parameter measurement mechanism. Time data at the end of measurement from the time data generation mechanism Measurement sample number a sequence of operations stored in the memo <br/> Li this as a pair of data obtained repeatedly until a predetermined number of times, a pair of data of a predetermined number of times after the
Are transferred to the computer as a lump .

[0007]

When the measurement start command is received by communication from an external computer, the measurement is started by the waveform parameter measurement mechanism. The time at the end of the measurement is obtained from the time data generation mechanism and stored in the memory together with the measurement data. A series of operations from the start of the measurement to the storage of the data together with the time data in the memory is repeated a predetermined number of times, and then the collected data is collectively transferred to the computer. Since the measurement data accompanied by the time data is sent to the computer, a graph or the like representing the change in the waveform parameter such as the pulse width in real time can be easily created.

[0008]

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG.
FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram showing an embodiment of the time measuring device according to the present invention. In the figure, 1 is the frequency and cycle of the input signal,
Time measurement mechanism to measure waveform parameters such as pulse width,
2 is a time data generation mechanism, 3 is a measured data number counter,
Reference numeral 4 denotes a memory for storing measured values and time data, reference numeral 5 denotes a communication mechanism for transferring the measured data and time data to a computer (not shown), and reference numeral 6 denotes a control mechanism for controlling each unit.

The time measurement mechanism 1 starts measurement in response to a measurement start signal given from the control mechanism 6. Note that the internal configuration of the time measurement mechanism and its detailed operation are not directly related to the present invention, and thus description thereof is omitted here. The time data generating mechanism 2 generates elapsed time data, but is reset by a measurement start signal provided from the control mechanism 6. The measurement data number counter 3 is a counter for counting the number of measurement data (in other words, the number of samples), the number of measurement data is preset by the control mechanism 6, and the data measurement is completed by the time measurement mechanism 1. Count down one by one. Communication mechanism 5 has a function of ability to communicate interprets the command and control mechanism 6 are converted to instructions and data that can be understood, and several samples of the measured data in the lump interprets the command to be transferred to a computer running from the computer.

The operation in such a configuration will be described next with reference to the flowchart of FIG. When a communication command for data measurement is received from the computer (step 1), the communication mechanism 5 interprets the command and gives the control mechanism 6 the number of measurement data and a measurement start instruction. The control mechanism 6 writes the number of measurement data in the measurement data number counter 3 and resets the time data generation mechanism 2 (step 2). The control mechanism 6 thereafter instructs the time measuring device 1 to start measurement (step 3), and when the measurement ends (step 4),
The measured value is read from the time measuring mechanism 1 and the time data is read from the time data generating mechanism 2 (step 5).
Subsequently, these data are stored in the memory 4 as a pair of data, and 1 is subtracted from the measurement data number counter 3 (step 6). The above operation (operation after step 3 for instructing the time measurement mechanism to start measurement) is repeated until the value of the measurement data number counter 3 becomes 0 (step 7), and then the contents of the memory 4 (measured value and measured time data) Is transferred to the communication mechanism 5 and transferred to the computer (step 8).

By the above operation, the measured value measured by the time measuring mechanism 1 and the time data at the time of the measurement are made into a pair of data, and after repeating the operation a predetermined number of times, the accumulated data is transferred to the computer as one block. can do.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing another embodiment of the present invention. 1 in that a measurement interval generating mechanism 7 is added. The measurement interval generation mechanism 7 defines a measurement interval in the time measurement mechanism 1, and generates a signal instructing the start of measurement when a predetermined time has elapsed.
Steps 2 and 3 surrounded by a chain line in FIG.
2 is replaced by the operation as shown in FIG. 4, and the other operations are the same as those in FIG. In the following, only the part that has changed the operation will be described.

When a measurement start command is received from the computer, the number of data is written into the measurement data number counter 3, the time data generator 2 is reset, and the measurement interval generator 7 is reset (step 2a). Next, when a signal for instructing the start of measurement is generated from the measurement interval generating mechanism 7 (step 2b), the control mechanism 6 instructs the time measuring mechanism 1 to start measurement and resets the measurement interval generating mechanism 7 (step 3a). When the measurement is completed and the value of the measurement data number counter 3 is larger than 0, the operation from step 2b is repeated again.

According to the configuration of FIG. 3 which performs such an operation, the interval between data samples can be specified to some extent.

The change in the measured value in real time obtained by the configuration shown in FIG. 1 or 3 represents the modulation component of the signal. If the X-axis is graphed with time data and the Y-axis is measured, this graph is the modulated wave itself as shown in FIG. 6B. The measured data and time data taken into the computer can be used not only for graphing but also for FFT (Fast Fourier Transform) or to reproduce the modulation of the measured signal by sending it to a function generator that can sweep freely. It is.

Although the embodiment has been described with respect to an example in which the time measurement mechanism 1 is used for time measurement, the present invention is not limited to time measurement. As a measurement mechanism, data measurement and transfer can be similarly performed for voltage measurement and the like.

[0017]

As described above, according to the present invention, the conventional time measuring device is provided with an additional mechanism, a communication command is prepared, time data is merged with measured data, and data of a plurality of samples are collectively collected. A time measuring device that can be transferred to a computer can be realized. The use of the apparatus of the present invention not only shortens the data transfer time to the computer, but also provides a graph showing the change in measured values in real time which was conventionally obtained only with an expensive time interval analyzer or the like. Drawing can be easily performed on the computer connected to the apparatus of the present invention.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram showing one embodiment of a time measuring device according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart illustrating an operation.

FIG. 3 is a configuration diagram showing another embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart for explaining the operation of FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is a system configuration diagram when transferring measurement data to a computer.

FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating an example of a graph representing a change in a pulse width signal and a pulse width in real time;

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 time measurement mechanism 2 time data generation mechanism 3 measurement data number counter 4 memory 5 communication mechanism 6 control mechanism

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] 1. A waveform parameter measurement mechanism for measuring a waveform parameter of an input signal according to a measurement start instruction, a time data generation mechanism for generating time data, a measurement data number counter for counting the number of measurement samples, and the waveform parameter measurement. A memory for storing measured values in the device and time data from a time data generating mechanism, and a communication mechanism having a function of interpreting and executing a communication command from an externally connected computer and transferring the data stored in the memory to the computer And a control mechanism having a function of controlling the operation of each unit. When a measurement start command is received from the computer, the waveform parameter measurement mechanism is activated to obtain measurement data, and the time data at the end of measurement is obtained from the time data generation mechanism. And store it as a pair of data in memory Repeat until the number of measurement samples reaches a predetermined number,
Time measuring device, characterized in that the pair of data of a predetermined number of times after that to forward to the computer <br/> over data en bloc.