Distributed Waveform

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Brief Description: The distributed waveform generator (DWG) is a CMOS chip architecture for sub-nano-second pulse generation. Applications: Wideband waveform generation and pulse shaping are critical functions in modern communication and instrumentation systems.   In high-speed communications, pulse shaping is commonly employed to achieve the best performance and data rate within the limitations of the communication channel.  Wideband pulse synthesis is particularly important in ultra-wideband (UWB) communications.  In high-speed test and measurement applications and ultra-fast phenomenon experiments, an arbitrary waveform generator (AWG) is required to generate various waveforms.  For example, sub-nanosecond pulses with a variety of waveforms are needed to modulate the laser beam in inertial-containment fusion experiments.   The invention will potentially lead to new applications of AWGs in communications, instrumentation, radar, and other ultra-fast electronic systems. Advantages: The distributed waveform generator (DWG) synthesizes waveforms in sub-nanosecond regimes with large dynamic range and reconfigurable spectra.  An AWG needs to be highly reconfigurable in instrumentation applications to fit an experiment and to compensate for environment changes and in communications to adapt to regulatory differences and signal fading effects.   Compared to conventional AWG implementations, DAWG achieves larger bandwidth, while consuming less power.  DAWG achieves an improvement in the trade-off between the time resolution (sampling rate) and amplitude resolution (dynamic range) for an AWG and in its bandwidth.