Design and Construction of an Arbitrary Waveform Generator

The purpose of this paper is to describe the design and characteristics of an arbitrary waveform generator, built at the Biophysical and Electronic Engineering Division of the Electrical Engineering Department of the University of Genoa, which exhibits the following features: a) The signal waveform is any band-limited periodic signal, whose frequency content ranges from 0.125 mHz up to 30 MHz. The low-frequency limit has been chosen in order to meet the needs of bioengineering, mechanical, and chemical applications. The high-frequency limit covers, for instance, TV and image processing applications. b) The noise level is at least 66 dB below the maximum signal level. c) Typical distortion is less than -66 dB. d) The generator´s performance can be easily improved, depending on the availability of up-to-date solid-state devices, without changing its design.