A measurement device comprising a housing, a measurement channel, a trigger unit connected to the measurement channel, and an arbitrary waveform generator housed within the housing is disclosed. The measurement channel comprises an acquisition unit. The trigger unit is configured to detect a predetermined trigger event in a signal processed by the measurement channel. The trigger unit is configured to control the acquisition unit, and the trigger unit is configured to control the arbitrary waveform generator. Moreover, a measurement system and a method for operating a measurement device are disclosed.

A test and measurement instrument provides for increased transient event detection by adjusting data sampling periods. The test and measurement instrument includes a data sampler for acquiring first sampled data and a data processor structured to process the first sampled data. The data processor operates during a first data processing period. Also included in the instrument is a sample time adjustor structured to allow a user to select a time for the data sampler to acquire second sampled data. The time for the data sampler to acquire the second sampled data occurs during the first data processing period. The time for acquiring the second sampled data may be determined by generating a probability distribution function, then applying the distribution function to the available times during the first data processing period that the second sample data may be collected. Methods of use of the test and measurement instrument are also provided.

A method for measuring the phase jitter and phase noise of a signal-under-test (SUT) includes providing first and second oscilloscopes each having a timebase reference oscillator, the timebase reference oscillator of each of the first and second oscilloscopes configured to generate a timebase reference signal of a given output frequency. The method further comprises phase-locking the timebase reference oscillators of the first and second oscilloscopes together, applying the SUT to an input channel of the first oscilloscope and to an input channel of the second oscilloscope, and generating a first phase jitter measurement of the SUT using the first oscilloscope and generating a second phase jitter measurement of the SUT using the second oscilloscope. The method still further includes obtaining the phase noise of the SUT from the first and second phase jitter measurements to obtain the phase noise of the SUT.