element14 Community
element14 Community
    Register Log In
  • Site
  • Search
  • Log In Register
  • Community Hub
    Community Hub
    • What's New on element14
    • Feedback and Support
    • Benefits of Membership
    • Personal Blogs
    • Members Area
    • Achievement Levels
  • Learn
    Learn
    • Ask an Expert
    • eBooks
    • element14 presents
    • Learning Center
    • Tech Spotlight
    • STEM Academy
    • Webinars, Training and Events
    • Learning Groups
  • Technologies
    Technologies
    • 3D Printing
    • FPGA
    • Industrial Automation
    • Internet of Things
    • Power & Energy
    • Sensors
    • Technology Groups
  • Challenges & Projects
    Challenges & Projects
    • Design Challenges
    • element14 presents Projects
    • Project14
    • Arduino Projects
    • Raspberry Pi Projects
    • Project Groups
  • Products
    Products
    • Arduino
    • Avnet Boards Community
    • Dev Tools
    • Manufacturers
    • Multicomp Pro
    • Product Groups
    • Raspberry Pi
    • RoadTests & Reviews
  • About Us
  • Store
    Store
    • Visit Your Store
    • Choose another store...
      • Europe
      •  Austria (German)
      •  Belgium (Dutch, French)
      •  Bulgaria (Bulgarian)
      •  Czech Republic (Czech)
      •  Denmark (Danish)
      •  Estonia (Estonian)
      •  Finland (Finnish)
      •  France (French)
      •  Germany (German)
      •  Hungary (Hungarian)
      •  Ireland
      •  Israel
      •  Italy (Italian)
      •  Latvia (Latvian)
      •  
      •  Lithuania (Lithuanian)
      •  Netherlands (Dutch)
      •  Norway (Norwegian)
      •  Poland (Polish)
      •  Portugal (Portuguese)
      •  Romania (Romanian)
      •  Russia (Russian)
      •  Slovakia (Slovak)
      •  Slovenia (Slovenian)
      •  Spain (Spanish)
      •  Sweden (Swedish)
      •  Switzerland(German, French)
      •  Turkey (Turkish)
      •  United Kingdom
      • Asia Pacific
      •  Australia
      •  China
      •  Hong Kong
      •  India
      •  Korea (Korean)
      •  Malaysia
      •  New Zealand
      •  Philippines
      •  Singapore
      •  Taiwan
      •  Thailand (Thai)
      • Americas
      •  Brazil (Portuguese)
      •  Canada
      •  Mexico (Spanish)
      •  United States
      Can't find the country/region you're looking for? Visit our export site or find a local distributor.
  • Translate
  • Profile
  • Settings
WorkBench Wednesdays
  • Challenges & Projects
  • element14 presents
  • WorkBench Wednesdays
  • More
  • Cancel
WorkBench Wednesdays
Documents Hands-On with PicoScope 7: Pico Technology's Latest Oscilloscope Software -- Workbench Wednesdays 86
  • Blog
  • Forum
  • Documents
  • Quiz
  • Events
  • Polls
  • Files
  • Members
  • Mentions
  • Sub-Groups
  • Tags
  • More
  • Cancel
  • New
Join WorkBench Wednesdays to participate - click to join for free!
Actions
  • Share
  • More
  • Cancel
Engagement
  • Author Author: cstanton
  • Date Created: 23 Jul 2024 4:40 PM Date Created
  • Last Updated Last Updated: 24 Jul 2024 7:26 AM
  • Views 4182 views
  • Likes 6 likes
  • Comments 6 comments
Related
Recommended

Hands-On with PicoScope 7: Pico Technology's Latest Oscilloscope Software -- Workbench Wednesdays 86

UK-based Pico Technology is a Test and measurement company best known for its USB-based oscilloscopes and vector network analyzers. The oscilloscopes work with the PC-based PicoScope software, which runs on Windows, macOS, and Linux. In the past, James has been using the older PicoScope 6 with a PicoScope 2000A.

Watch the Video

You don't have permission to edit metadata of this video.
Edit media
x
image
Upload Preview
image

PicoScope 2000A Overview (Hardware)

Picoscope

James received the tool several years ago as part of the element14 Community's RoadTest program. You can read his PicoScope 2000A review here. This particular unit has:

  • 10 MHz Bandwidth
  • 100 Megasamples per second Sample Rate
  • 8 Kilosample Memory
  • Arbitrary Waveform Generator: DC to 100 kHz
    • Sine, square, triangle, DC voltage, ramp, sinc, Gaussian, half-sine

For more information about the difference between bandwidth and sample rate, check out  What does Bandwidth mean for Oscilloscopes? - Workbench Wednesdays 47 . 

The excellent entry-level oscilloscope has been on the market for quite some time. Pico Technology has other oscilloscope models with higher channel counts, wider bandwidth, faster sample rates, and some that work with high-bandwidth active probes.

Pico Technology announced its latest line, the PicoScope 3000E, while James put this video together. These units can reach 500 Megahertz and 5 Gigasamples per second!

Most of what this video shows works on any PicoScope instrument. The flexibility to simply match the hardware with the measurement requirements means you do not need to re-learn a new user interface if you change to a higher bandwidth model.

PicoScope 7 Overview (Software)

02 - PicoScope 7 Multi-Grid

PicoScope 7 received a significant visual overall. The highly flexible waveform, or graph, area still dominates most of the application window. At the top are control boxes for the timebase (called Scope in the software) and the trigger system. These are more apparent compared to version 6's layout.

The left panel holds the instrument's channels and a variety of functions such as Measurements, Math equations, Mask Testing, Serial Decodes, and more. The sources and these functions open a sub-panel with additional controls.


James should have covered two things in the video: 1) you can place this panel on the left or right side of the application window. 2) You can pin the buttons found under "More..." to the quick-access panel.

Measurements with the built-in AWG

03 - awg 1khz setup

The first measurement James demonstrates using the PicoScope 2000A's built-in arbitrary waveform generator (AWG.) It creates a 1 kilohertz sine wave with an 800 millivolt peak-to-peak amplitude [VERIFY]. PicoScope 7 UX follows traditional PC application usage patterns. For example, James shows you can hover over the channel's control box and use the mouse wheel to change the volts per division setting without clicking. Then, he changes the trigger mode from free running to Auto-sweep with the default rising edge. The result of those few clicks is a stable waveform display!

However, looking at sine waves is boring. Next, James creates a digital pattern with almost no effort.

04 - 100d 64hex in awg editor

The AWG's user interface lets you enter binary or hexadecimal values to create a digital bit stream. For example, you can take the decimal number 100 (0x64) and just paste it into the UI.


With a varying digital pattern, James shows a unique measurement capability. PicoScope 7 has a function called DeepMeasure. It creates a table of 13 parameters for each cycle of the captured waveform. While this feature might sound like "Measure All" on other oscilloscopes, the cycle-by-cycle breakdown makes it unique. (Measure All only provides values of multiple parameters of one cycle in a single acquisition.)

05 - DeepMeasure

DeepMeasure can help configure what James calls his favorite trigger: Pulse Width. Since the PicoScope is currently triggering on a rising edge, the waveform bounces around a little bit because it depends on which edge the trigger circuit catches. The pulse width trigger lets trigger with a positive (or negative) pulse, which violates a timeout value. The example in the video sets the trigger to a width greater than 200 nanoseconds. This value causes the PicoScope 2000A to trigger (and stabilize the display) on the longest pulse width in the digital bit stream.

Check out  How to use Trigger Types on a Digital Oscilloscope - Workbench Wednesdays 57 for more information about digital triggers.

I3C (vs. I2C) Measurements

I3C is a relatively new serial protocol from the MIPI Alliance. It is a successor to I2C with several improvements. For example, it has a faster data rate, reduced power consumption (by using push-pull drivers instead of open-drain), and a dynamic addressing mode. It is backwards compatible to the extent that I2C and I3C can share the same SDA and SCL lines, and the I3C devices will still benefit from the improvements. (More on that later.)


It turns out that the only oscilloscope James has in his lab with an I3C serial decoder is the PicoScope! To capture some I3C traffic, he brings back the NXP N947 FRDM board from a previous Workbench Wednesdays video. It contains a temperature sensor that communicates with the N947 over I3C.

06 - 10-to-1 probes

Since this connection required 10-to-1 passive probes, the PicoScope software needed to multiply the input voltage by 10. James also used the Picoscope's auto-scale function, which works on a channel-by-channel basis. Then, he needed to adjust the trigger and timebase to get a single I3C transaction on the screen.

07-decodes proper

From there, he showed how PicoScope includes over 30 serial decodes at no extra cost. The only limit is whether the connected USB PicoScope has enough bandwidth and channels to capture a particular standard. In this case, we selected I3C Basic. Configuring it is easy: tell which channel is SDA (data) and SCL (clock).


By default, the waveform graph shows a decode breakdown and a table at the window's bottom shows multiple packets. To focus on the temperature readings, James added a filter to only show read transactions. Check out the video for a quick explanation of what the values are showing and why!

08-i3c decode proper

The last measurement used an I2C device. James connected a light sensor to a different microcontroller board. Both the P3T1755 and this light sensor communicated at 400 kilohertz. However, by using a Reference waveform of the I3C signal and rules on the I2C clock signal, you can see a significant difference in pulse widths.

09 - i2c vs i3c

It turns out that I2C and I3C can communicate on the same bus, although I3C has a slightly different physical (or link?) layer, which lies in this comparison. I3C uses pulse widths that are significantly shorter than those of I2C devices. If an I2C device follows the full I2C specification, it should ignore these pulses as a glitch! (The I2C has a minimum width requirement!)

PicoScope 7 Conclusion

Unfortunately, James had been using the PicoScope 6 software for so long. He was missing out on several usability improvements with PicoScope 7. This video showed basic measurements, DeepMeasure, setting up triggers, and serial decodes. However, James did not cover many other features and capabilities.

10-spec view proper

For example, there is a history mode to look at previous acquisitions, an incredibly detailed math editor with many advanced functions, a decent FFT or Spectrum view, and many more. By the way, you can download the PicoScope software even if you do not have the hardware. It has a demo hardware mode that lets you check out many of its features!

Bill of Materials

Product Name Manufacturer Quantity Buy Kit
PicoScope 2204A - USB 2 Channel Oscilloscope Pico Technology 1 Buy Now
PicoScope 3000E Series, 4 Channel, 500 MHz, 1 GSPS, 925 ps Pico Technology 1 Buy Now
 

Related Links

  • Picoscope 7 Stable Release
  • I3C Serial Decoder
  • Picoscope 2204A USB Oscilloscope Review
  •  What does Bandwidth mean for Oscilloscopes? - Workbench Wednesdays 47 
  •  How to use Trigger Types on a Digital Oscilloscope - Workbench Wednesdays 57 
  •  Hands-on with NXP’s MCX FRDM Boards - Workbench Wednesdays 84 
  •  If and When Do I²C Pull-Up Values Matter? -- Workbench Wednesdays 83       

 

Workbench Wednesday
element14 presents  |  About James |  Workbench Wednesdays 

  • picoscope 6
  • picoscope 3000e
  • e14p_JBE
  • pico scope
  • usb oscilloscope
  • test and measurement
  • usb scope
  • picoscope 7
  • oscilloscopes
  • picoscope 200a
  • pico technologies
  • picoscope
  • Share
  • History
  • More
  • Cancel
  • Sign in to reply

Top Comments

  • baldengineer
    baldengineer over 1 year ago +1
    One clarification, on the I2C/I3C demo, I said: "I changed the I2C clock to make the I3C example." I should have mentioned, I slowed down the I3C device from 1 Mbps to 400 kHz. The pulse width comparison…
  • baldengineer
    baldengineer over 1 year ago in reply to genebren +1
    I had the same experience with the very early version. I saw potential, but I uninstalled it and then forgot. Today, though, it seems to be in much better shape. I'm happy to have upgraded.
  • koudelad
    koudelad over 1 year ago

    Thank you for the review. The protocol decoder looks the best from all the oscilloscopes I have ever seen. I like portable scopes, but both bench style and portable usually have a fixed firmware with no features added over the time.

    • Cancel
    • Vote Up 0 Vote Down
    • Sign in to reply
    • More
    • Cancel
  • DAB
    DAB over 1 year ago

    I have not used my PICO scope in a couple of years.

    Thanks for alerting me to the nice upgrades in the software.

    • Cancel
    • Vote Up 0 Vote Down
    • Sign in to reply
    • More
    • Cancel
  • baldengineer
    baldengineer over 1 year ago in reply to genebren

    I had the same experience with the very early version. I saw potential, but I uninstalled it and then forgot.

    Today, though, it seems to be in much better shape. I'm happy to have upgraded.

    • Cancel
    • Vote Up +1 Vote Down
    • Sign in to reply
    • More
    • Cancel
  • Workshopshed
    Workshopshed over 1 year ago

    Looking forward to trying the new software, shame not full supported in ARM Linux just yet. Might try getting the logger working though 

    • Cancel
    • Vote Up 0 Vote Down
    • Sign in to reply
    • More
    • Cancel
  • genebren
    genebren over 1 year ago

    I tried an early version of this update with my PicoScope 5444D and it was very buggy. I might have to go back and give it another try.  Thanks for the update!

    • Cancel
    • Vote Up 0 Vote Down
    • Sign in to reply
    • More
    • Cancel
  • baldengineer
    baldengineer over 1 year ago

    One clarification, on the I2C/I3C demo, I said: "I changed the I2C clock to make the I3C example." I should have mentioned, I slowed down the I3C device from 1 Mbps to 400 kHz. The pulse width comparison was a little cleaner at 400 kHz.

    • Cancel
    • Vote Up +1 Vote Down
    • Sign in to reply
    • More
    • Cancel
element14 Community

element14 is the first online community specifically for engineers. Connect with your peers and get expert answers to your questions.

  • Members
  • Learn
  • Technologies
  • Challenges & Projects
  • Products
  • Store
  • About Us
  • Feedback & Support
  • FAQs
  • Terms of Use
  • Privacy Policy
  • Legal and Copyright Notices
  • Sitemap
  • Cookies

An Avnet Company © 2025 Premier Farnell Limited. All Rights Reserved.

Premier Farnell Ltd, registered in England and Wales (no 00876412), registered office: Farnell House, Forge Lane, Leeds LS12 2NE.

ICP 备案号 10220084.

Follow element14

  • X
  • Facebook
  • linkedin
  • YouTube