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Frequency Resolution of the NI-54XX Series

Hardware: Signal Sources (AWG/FG/AO)>>Arbitrary Waveform and Function Generators>>PXI-5411

Problem:
What are the different frequency resolutions of the NI-54XX Function Generator (FGEN) boards?

Solution:
Frequency resolution is a common specification for high-speed devices. This resolution also depends heavily on the frequency accuracy of the clock being used to generate the output signal.

Here is a list of the frequency resolution of our FGEN boards.

Generator Resolution
5401 9.31mHz
5402 0.355uHz
5404 1.07uHz
5406 0.355uHz
5411 9.31mHz
5412 1.06uHz*
5421 1.06uHz*
5422 1.06uHz*
5431 9.31mHz
5441 355nHz*
5442 355nHz*

*Frequency can be better than this but this is the maximum possible frequency resolution

For the NI 5401/5402/5406/5411/5431/5441/5442, the Standard Function mode is implemented through direct digital synthesis (DDS), which is a technique for deriving, under digital control, an analog frequency source from a single reference clock frequency. This technique produces high-frequency accuracy and resolution, temperature stability, wideband tuning, and rapid, phase-continuous frequency switching.

For the NI 5412/5421/5422, the Standard Function mode is implemented primarily in software. Instead of using separate DDS hardware to generate standard function waveforms, the NI-FGEN driver creates and downloads standard function waveforms to arbitrary waveform memory and generates them just like arbitrary waveforms. NI-FGEN automatically selects the best clock mode, sample rate, and buffer size to produce the most accurate waveform possible. The frequency resolution specification is the clock resolution and depending on the buffer size, this number can go much further down.

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Report Date: 02/09/2007
Last Updated: 12/05/2007
Document ID: 468G7IA0

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