Loss waveform interval for the data buffering of a multiple-channel microcomputer-based oscilloscope system

Microcomputer-based oscilloscope instruments have been developed recently because they can easily process, store, and transmit various measured signals with the help of computers. Although this type of oscilloscope is workable and available, at the present time, we still do not know too much about the quantitative relationships with respect to the system bandwidth, the buffer size, the channel numbers, and the loss waveform interval in the data buffering mechanism of an asynchronous microcomputer-based oscilloscope. We propose a modified queueing model for the quantitative analysis of these relationships. The primary results from this model and the measurement of the experimental system show the higher the required bandwidth, the higher the loss of the waveform interval for the measured signals. Fortunately, our oscilloscope is used to measure repetitive "periodic" waveforms, so the loss waveform intervals due to state transition will not cause any serious problem from a steady-state point of view.