Test Equipment Guide.com: About Waveform Generators

About Waveform Generators

Signal generators that produce repetitive periodic signals of a specific shape are called function generators or waveform generators. The frequency range of this equipment can range from 1 µHz to 100 MHz, with a sampling rate up to 200 MSa/s. There are two main types of waveform signal generators available:

Standard waveforms. Used produce the classsic testing waveforms - sine wave, square wave, triangle wave, sawtooth wave, ramp wave in addition to exponential, sinx/x, noise, cardiac waveforms and simple DC voltage.

Arbitrary waveforms. Used to create a custom-shaped waveform that you select by plotting amplitude/time points. Most such signal generators allow you to select up to 64,000 points to define the waveform.

Modulation methods for function generators include by amplitude (AM), frequency (FM), phase (PM) or burst modulation. All waveforms except for noise can be modulated.

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