Arbitrary Waveform Generation (AWG) ABC's
应用文章
Signal simulation
In the old days, signal generation was fairly straight-forward. Analog signals were generated as CW tones which had some amplitude, center frequency and starting phase. Signal generation became more sophisticated with the introduction of VCOs, which allowed users to dynamically vary the carrier frequency (FM) and phase (PM) over time. They could also vary the envelope of that signal (AM). Some issues that affected the quality of the generated waveform were stability and phase noise of the VCO, as well as distortion and bandwidth limits on the modulation.
Digital signal generation is different. Instead of outputting sinusoids, digital generators output a series of discrete voltage levels. This makes it possible to flexibly create a wide range of signals with a single set of hardware. Any arbitrary signal within the bandwidth of the digital signal generator can be described mathematically, stored in the digital memory and then be played out. This is the origin of the term arbitrary waveform generator (AWG).