A windows-based dual-channel arbitrary signal generator

This paper proposes a design and implementation of a Windows-based dual-channel arbitrary signal generator. By using the very common GUI (Graphical User Interface) programming for our implementation, users can adjust the period and amplitude of analog voltage waveforms with mouse clicks and drags. The data of the adjusted waveforms can be sent out to a D/A (Digital to Analog Conversion) interface circuit by a very common ISA bus system. To fulfill the programmable input and output functions, we use a low-cost PPI (Programmable Peripheral Interface) I/O 8255 chip 8255 as the data controller, and use the PLD (Programmable Logic Device) as the logic controller and on address latch with the 8255 chip. The last stage of this implementation is the D/A hardware, which converts digital data into analog voltage waveforms. Currently, we implement this signal generator by using very low-cost components in comparison with the cost of professional products. The primary experimental results show that the bandwidth of the signal generator can reach 2 MHz, which is the speed limitation for sampling a frequency.