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Publications / 25 Oct 2012

Limited by your oscilloscope’s triggering options?

Modern oscilloscopes feature accurate and flexible triggering options that can include time, signal level or any combination of those parameters. These options may be used successfully in applications where the signal is repetitive and predictable. Analyses of signals that are unpredictable and complex pose a difficult problem to an analyst if accurate triggering is required. Riscure provides a solution that is able to trigger based on a complex signal that has some degree of repetition. The Riscure icWaves generates triggers based on one or two programmable reference patterns. The icWaves allows predictable synchronization and minimizes measurement overhead, for example due to randomness of timing in the signal. Operating as a standalone sampling and triggering device in your existing set-up, icWaves will not compromise sampling speed or quality of your measurement. icWaves is offered as part of the Inspector product range and is compatible with all versions of Inspector.

Independent triggering

In short, the icWaves combines two products: a digital sampling oscilloscope and programmable pattern-matching device. The digital sampling oscilloscope samples the desired signal up to 200 MS/s. Because sampling of the desired signal happens inside the icWaves it is not bound by the sampling speed of your measurement application; it generates triggers independent of the final measurement used in your application.

The on-board sample memory can hold a pattern up to 512 samples or two patterns of 256 samples with an adjustable trigger threshold and trigger parameterization. For both the pattern loaded as well as the input signal a band-pass filter can be applied. This is particularly useful in situations that require analyses of noisy signals. The band-pass filter can be used to remove the unwanted noise in the signal used for triggering.

The icWaves programmable trigger can be configured from Inspector, where it is integrated in the user interface, or any other proprietary application using the supplied SDK.

Applications

  • Measurement alignment: if you are comparing measurements with a recognizable recurring starting point, alignment of your measurements is desirable. Synchronizing the starting point will not only ease analysis; it saves you time post-processing the measurements. For Side Channel Analysis (SCA) in security research this may mean all measurements or traces are synchronized at the start of a cryptographic process.
  • Process control: applications that require process control based on specific signal characteristics in your measurement benefit from the programmable reference patterns. For example, in Fault Injection (FI) testing may require faults to be injected anywhere in time based on a pattern in the signal. The icWaves will not only let you configure the starting pattern freely, it may also detect when the target goes into an undesired state. Riscure icWaves enables accurate and repeatable control over the process based on your measurements.
  • Measurement window reduction: applications that require acquisition of complex signals often consume large amounts of data. If your measurement window also needs to factor in the randomness in timing of your signal, this might get very resource intensive and costly. The icWaves enables you to select the start of your measurement thereby decreasing the total window saving time and storage space; not to mention increasing the post-processing speed.