Rigol MSO2102A

The RIGOL MSO2102A Mixed-Signal Oscilloscope is designed for engineers, technicians, research laboratories and educational institutions that need to analyse analogue and digital signals within the same time-correlated acquisition.

The oscilloscope provides two analogue channels with 100 MHz bandwidth and 16 digital logic channels through the supplied RPL2316 logic probe. This 2+16-channel configuration makes it suitable for debugging microcontrollers, FPGA designs, embedded controllers, digital buses, power electronics and mixed-signal circuits.

The MSO2102A uses RIGOL UltraVision technology to provide deep acquisition memory, waveform intensity grading, fast waveform capture and real-time waveform recording. It allows users to observe analogue waveform behaviour alongside digital logic activity, making it easier to identify timing relationships, communication errors and interactions between analogue and digital sections of a circuit.

100 MHz Analogue Bandwidth

The MSO2102A provides 100 MHz analogue bandwidth across two input channels.

It is suitable for analysing:

• Microcontroller clock signals
• PWM and control waveforms
• Sensor outputs
• Analogue amplifier circuits
• Power-supply ripple
• Switching power-supply control signals
• Communication interfaces
• Input and output waveforms
• Pulse and timing relationships
• Low-to-medium-frequency embedded systems

The calculated rise time is approximately 3.5 ns, which should be considered when measuring fast digital edges and short pulses.

Two Analogue and 16 Digital Channels

The MSO2102A combines:

• Two analogue oscilloscope channels
• 16 digital logic channels
• One external trigger input
• Time-correlated analogue and digital display
• Triggering across analogue and digital inputs
• Parallel bus analysis
• Digital channel grouping and labelling

The digital channels are divided into two groups of eight channels. Each group can be configured with a separate logic threshold.

This mixed-signal configuration is useful for examining:

• Analogue sensor output and digital controller response
• Clock, data and control signals
• FPGA or CPLD outputs
• Microcontroller GPIO activity
• Power-supply behaviour during digital switching
• Parallel bus activity
• Timing relationships between analogue and digital sections

Analogue Sampling Performance

The analogue channels provide:

• 2 GSa/s with one analogue channel active
• 1 GSa/s per channel when both analogue channels are active

The high real-time sampling rate provides more acquisition points across waveform transitions, helping users observe signal shape, overshoot, ringing, noise and intermittent abnormalities.

The analogue peak-detect function can capture pulses as narrow as:

• Approximately 500 ps in single-channel operation
• Approximately 1 ns in dual-channel operation
•  

Digital Sampling Performance

Digital sampling depends on the number of active logic channels:

• 1 GSa/s with up to eight digital channels active
• 500 MSa/s with all 16 digital channels active

The digital peak-detect capability is approximately:

• 1 ns with eight digital channels
• 2 ns with 16 digital channels

The minimum detectable digital pulse width is approximately 5 ns.

These specifications make the MSO2102A suitable for general embedded and digital logic analysis, but the digital channels should not be described as providing 2 GSa/s sampling.

Deep Analogue Acquisition Memory

The MSO2102A provides 14 Mpts standard analogue memory in single-channel operation.

Standard analogue memory allocation:

• 14 Mpts with one analogue channel
• 7 Mpts per channel with two analogue channels

The optional memory licence expands analogue memory to:

• 56 Mpts with one analogue channel
• 28 Mpts per channel with two analogue channels

Deep memory allows users to capture longer waveform intervals while retaining a useful sampling rate.

It is beneficial for:

• Serial communication analysis
• Long pulse trains
• Power-supply start-up testing
• Embedded timing sequences
• Intermittent fault investigation
• PWM analysis
• Long-duration signal recording
• Communication packet analysis

The 56 Mpts memory depth should be listed as optional unless the appropriate licence is installed.

Digital Memory Depth

Digital memory is allocated according to the number of active digital channels.

Standard digital memory:

• 14 Mpts with up to eight digital channels active
• 7 Mpts with all 16 digital channels active

Optional digital memory:

• 28 Mpts with up to eight digital channels active
• 14 Mpts with all 16 digital channels active

This memory supports longer digital captures for logic analysis, parallel bus evaluation and embedded-system debugging.

Fast Waveform Capture

The MSO2102A provides a maximum waveform capture rate of up to 52,000 waveforms per second in dots-display mode.

Fast waveform acquisition improves the probability of detecting rare signal events such as:

• Short glitches
• Runt pulses
• Unstable waveform edges
• Signal dropouts
• Timing violations
• Intermittent noise
• Communication errors
• Abnormal pulse widths

The display supports up to 256 levels of intensity grading, helping distinguish frequently occurring waveform activity from occasional events.

Hardware Waveform Recording

The oscilloscope supports hardware waveform recording, playback and analysis.

Maximum recording depth:

• Up to 65,000 frames with digital channels disabled
• Up to 32,000 frames with digital channels enabled

Waveform recording allows users to:

• Capture successive signal events
• Replay waveforms frame by frame
• Compare normal and abnormal events
• Analyse intermittent faults
• Review signal behaviour preceding a failure
• Perform measurements after acquisition

The reduction in maximum frame count when digital channels are enabled should be considered when planning long mixed-signal recording sessions.

Low-Level Analogue Measurements

The MSO2102A provides analogue vertical sensitivity from:

• 500 µV/div to 10 V/div at 1 MΩ
• 500 µV/div to 1 V/div at 50 Ω

This wide vertical range supports measurements of:

• Sensor outputs
• Power-supply ripple
• Amplifier signals
• Reference voltages
• Small analogue waveforms
• General electronic circuits

The 500 µV/div range uses digital amplification based on the 1 mV/div setting and should be considered accordingly during precision measurements.

Selectable Analogue Input Impedance

The analogue inputs support:

• 1 MΩ input impedance for general-purpose measurements
• 50 Ω termination for correctly matched higher-frequency signals

Maximum permitted input voltage differs between the two impedance settings. Users must select suitable probes and observe the input voltage limits stated in the product manual.

Digital Logic Thresholds

The digital channels support predefined and user-adjustable logic thresholds.

Available logic families include:

• TTL
• 5 V CMOS
• 3.3 V CMOS
• 2.5 V CMOS
• 1.8 V CMOS
• ECL
• PECL
• LVDS
• 0 V
• User-defined threshold

The user-defined threshold range is approximately ±20 V in 10 mV steps.

This allows the logic analyser to work with several digital voltage standards used in embedded and industrial electronics.

Trigger Functions

The MSO2102A includes several trigger modes for isolating specific analogue and digital events.

Standard trigger functions include:

• Edge
• Pulse width
• Slope
• Pattern
• Runt
• Setup and hold
• Standard video
• RS232/UART
• I2C
• SPI

Optional advanced trigger functions include:

• Window
• Nth edge
• HDTV
• Delay
• Timeout
• Duration
• USB
• CAN

The optional functions require the applicable software licences.

Serial Bus Triggering and Decoding

The MSO2102A supports serial protocol triggering and decoding across analogue and digital channels.

Supported buses include:

• Parallel bus
• RS232/UART
• I2C
• SPI
• CAN

Parallel bus decoding is included as a standard function. RS232/UART, I2C, SPI and CAN decoding may require the relevant licences, depending on the supplied configuration.

Protocol analysis allows users to:

• View decoded bus values
• Trigger on specific communication events
• Correlate data with electrical waveforms
• Identify timing errors
• Locate missing acknowledgements
• Find corrupted packets
• Analyse physical-layer signal problems

Up to two decoded buses can be displayed.

Automatic Measurements

The MSO2102A provides automatic measurements for both analogue and digital channels.

Analogue measurement categories include:

• Maximum and minimum voltage
• Peak-to-peak voltage
• Top and base voltage
• Amplitude
• Average voltage
• RMS voltage
• Frequency
• Period
• Rise and fall time
• Positive and negative pulse width
• Positive and negative duty cycle
• Overshoot and preshoot
• Area and period area
• Phase
• Delay

Digital measurements include:

• Frequency
• Period
• Positive and negative pulse width
• Duty cycle
• Phase
• Delay

Up to five measurements can be displayed at the same time. Statistical functions include current, average, maximum, minimum, standard deviation and measurement count.

Waveform Mathematics and FFT

The oscilloscope includes mathematical and frequency-domain analysis functions.

Available functions include:

• Addition
• Subtraction
• Multiplication
• Division
• FFT
• Digital filtering
• Logic operations
• Integration
• Differentiation
• Logarithmic functions
• Exponential functions
• Square root
• Sine
• Cosine
• Tangent

FFT analysis is useful for:

• Harmonic analysis
• Switching-frequency measurements
• Clock-spectrum observation
• Noise-source identification
• EMI troubleshooting
• Detection of unwanted oscillations
•  

Pass/Fail Testing

Mask-based pass/fail testing allows users to compare acquired waveforms with predefined tolerance limits.

It can support:

• Production testing
• Quality-control checks
• Signal-stability monitoring
• Component comparison
• Detection of occasional waveform deviations
• Repetitive validation

The AUX output can provide a trigger or pass/fail pulse for integration with external test systems.

Display and User Interface

The MSO2102A uses an 8-inch TFT colour display with 800 × 480 pixel resolution.

Display functions include:

• 160,000 colours
• Up to 256 intensity levels
• Dots and vector display modes
• Adjustable waveform persistence
• Y-T, X-Y and Roll modes
• Digital channel grouping
• User-defined digital channel labels
• Search and navigation
• Real-time clock

The display can show analogue waveforms, digital logic channels, measurements and decoded communication data together.

Connectivity and Automated Testing

The MSO2102A supports computer communication, laboratory networking and automated testing.

Connectivity includes:

• USB Host
• USB Device
• LAN
• LXI support
• AUX output
• Trigger or pass/fail output
• Optional USB-to-GPIB adapter

Remote programming and waveform transfer support automated production testing, repetitive validation and laboratory data collection.

No Built-In Waveform Generator

The MSO2102A does not include an integrated arbitrary waveform generator.

A dual-channel 25 MHz waveform generator is available only in the MSO2102A-S model.

Users who require integrated waveform generation should select the “-S” model rather than the standard MSO2102A.

Applications

The RIGOL MSO2102A is suitable for:

• Embedded-system development
• Microcontroller debugging
• FPGA and CPLD testing
• Mixed-signal circuit analysis
• Digital logic debugging
• Parallel bus analysis
• Serial protocol testing
• Power-supply testing
• PWM analysis
• Sensor and controller testing
• Industrial electronics maintenance
• Production-line inspection
• Quality validation
• Research and development
• Engineering education
• Service and repair applications
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Why Buy from RevineTech?

RevineTech supplies professional test and measurement equipment for electronics development, research, production, education and industrial testing.

Technical selection assistance can include:

• Mixed-signal oscilloscope configuration
• Analogue and digital memory upgrades
• Serial decoding licences
• CAN analysis software
• Advanced trigger options
• Logic-probe requirements
• Passive and differential probe selection
• Current probe selection
• Calibration requirements
• Rack-mount accessories
• Automated test integration