Abstract: A method and apparatus for generating multiple ultra-fast (picosecond-range) electrical sampling apertures and pulses in response to a slewed control signal is disclosed. In one embodiment a series or sequence of sampling apertures are formed for sampling an input signal without the use of delay lines. In another embodiment, the input to be sampled is incrementally delayed to generate signals along a delay line. The delayed signals are simultaneously sampled in a sampling window to obtain a group of samples of an input signal at the same time. In another embodiment, a series or sequence of ultra-fast pulses are formed in an output signal without using delay lines. Parallel and serial sampler/pulser circuitry are disclosed.

Abstract: A method and apparatus for generating multiple ultra-fast (picosecond-range) electrical sampling apertures and pulses in response to a slewed control signal is disclosed. In one embodiment a series or sequence of sampling apertures are formed for sampling an input signal without the use of delay lines. In another embodiment, the input to be sampled is incrementally delayed to generate signals along a delay line. The delayed signals are simultaneously sampled in a sampling window to obtain a group of samples of an input signal at the same time. In another embodiment, a series or sequence of ultra-fast pulses are formed in an output signal without using delay lines. Parallel and serial sampler/pulser circuitry are disclosed.

Abstract: A method and apparatus for generating ultra-fast (picosecond-range) electrical sampling apertures and pulses, requiring only a single transition of a control signal, is disclosed. Implemented in a novel circuit architecture that is suited to fabrication as a low-cost monolithic integrated circuit, the method produces more stable, more reproducible, and more precisely shaped sampling apertures and pulses, with lower power usage and cost, than conventional techniques. The combination of speed and reproducibility enabled by the invention allows the integration of large numbers of virtually identical fast sampling apertures or pulse generators on a single IC, enabling single-shot capture of such a rapid sequence of samples that even a single cycle of a very fast, microwave frequency, electronic waveform may be precisely sampled at multiple points.