A comparative evaluation of some practical algorithms used in the effective bits test of waveform recorders

Author

McComb, Terence R. ; Kuffel, John ; Le Roux, B.C.

Author_Institution

Nat. Res. Council of Canada, Ottawa, Ont., Canada

Volume

38

Issue

1

fYear

1989

fDate

2/1/1989 12:00:00 AM

Firstpage

37

Lastpage

42

Abstract

A comparative evaluation of programs used in the effective bit test is described. Several methods of determining the best-fit sine wave were tested using computer-generated data contaminated to varying degrees with white noise. These data were supplemented with actual records of sine waves obtained using fast digitizers with 6- to 12-bit resolution and recorded lengths of 512-2000 words. The programs were evaluated for relative accuracy, absolute accuracy, and efficiency, both in terms of how often each method converged and also of how much computer time each method took to converge. It has been found that in some cases the accuracy varies with record length and preliminary investigations of this effect are reported

Keywords

automatic test equipment; computerised signal processing; electronic equipment testing; recorders; wave analysers; white noise; absolute accuracy; best-fit sine wave; computer-generated data; effective bits test; efficiency; relative accuracy; waveform recorders; white noise; Africa; Convergence; Councils; Frequency measurement; Sampling methods; Software testing; White noise;

fLanguage

English

Journal_Title

Instrumentation and Measurement, IEEE Transactions on

Publisher

ieee

ISSN

0018-9456

Type

jour

DOI

10.1109/19.19995

Filename

19995