A Capability Comparison of Measurement Automation Tools - In this white paper, we compare two software tools for automating measurement workflow – Agilent's N5467A Infiniium User Defined Application (UDA) and M1 Oscilloscope Tools (M1OT) native automation capabilities. While both products provide automation functionality, we point out some key differences which will include a number of important advantages M1OT enjoys over UDA.

Moving From Compliance Test to Debug with M1 OT™ (ASA09-04_Compliance_Breakout.pdf) - The purpose of this Application Note is to explain (by means of an example) how M1 Oscilloscope Tools™ allows you to easily transition from performing a compliance test into debugging mode if a failure occurs in the test. Special attention is given to the enhanced Compliance Breakout functionality introduced in M1 OT v6.03. The example used in this document is a DDR3-1600 compliance test, but the methods noted can be applied equally well to any particular compliance test or TestScript available. Download PDF

How to Setup and Use the Automation Capabilities of M1OT™ - This application note describes the various automation-related capabilities of M1 Oscilloscope Tools™, and explains how to use these capabilities to improve the speed and efficiency of your workflow. All aspects of creating an automation system with M1™ will be discussed, from choosing a topology to programming M1 to installing and troubleshooting the system.

Connecting M1 OT™ to your Scope: You Have Choices (ASA09-03.pdf) - The purpose of this Application Note is to outline the various configurations by which M1 Oscilloscope Tools™ can communicate with your oscilloscope and provide detailed instructions on how to set up and configure your system for each of those choices. Download PDF

Preserving Performance and Responsiveness in M1 Oscilloscope Tools(Preserving_Performance.pdf) - This ASA Application Note discusses some of the M1 OT™ and oscilloscope settings that can affect the analysis speed and PC memory requirements for M1. Also discussed will be the Performance Preferences and Performance Settings dialogs in M1, and how you can use these tools to help tune the performance and responsiveness of your M1 system. Download PDF

Enterprise Impact Summary (EnterpriseImpactSummary.pdf) - A synopsis of the enterprise-level impact an engineering organization can experience by shifting from narrow, proprietary scope tools to an integrated, scalable, approach that supports heterogeneous scope fleets and global licensing models. Download PDF

An Overview of the Automation Capabilities of M1 OT (M1OT_Automation.pdf) - M1 incorporates a number of separate and unique technologies designed to provide automation capability at both the individual scope user and laboratory levels. This capability supports a number of automation scenarios that can increase organizational effectiveness, such as speedup of repetitive measurement tasks (data gathering), creation of test suites (pass/fail testing), rapid test-authoring of your own compliance tests, measurement archiving and reuse, etc. Download PDF January 2009

Technology Overview: M1 Hidden Anomaly Location (HAL) (HAL-white-paper.pdf) - An overview of the initial-technology release (HAL-1) of M1's automatic Hidden Anomaly Location. Includes suggested best practices for deployment. Download PDF

A Discussion of RjDj Compliance Measurements and What to Do When You Don't Hit Your Numbers - presented at DesignCon 2005, Application Note ASA 05-1, 2005.

An Overview of the SEEj Accuracy Validation Process - Application Note ASA 05-2, 2005.

M1 Generic Positioning - This 2006 paper compares M1 and ScopeCo as solutions to your measurement workflow problems. While it's dated and we don't maintain all of the web links we built then, it's still relevant. ASA's product vision is clearly distinct from that of ScopeCo... vastly less predatory pricing, service your heterogeneous scope fleet as well as your total measurement needs, and innovate rather than copy. We've significantly expanded our model of what you do with scopes and our architecture that services that, as well as having created a lot of new capability but the basic large differences are well-articulated here. Download PDF

Philosophy and Innovation in the Scope Applications Marketplace - ASA doesn't "create software to move iron". ScopeCo does. The ramifications of that to you are enormous. ASA President and Cheif Product Designer Mike Williams explores the differences in the basic business motivations between ScopeCo and ASA, and proposes several formal mechanisms for comparing one portfolio vs another.

Philosophy and Innovation Synopsis - A synopsis of the previous document Download PDF

Product Charting - Describes the visual method of comparing one portfolio to another developed by ASA to help you cut through the marketing fluff. Download PDF

"Accuracy in M1/720 Time-Interval Measurement Systems"- Time-Interval Measurement Systems - When M1 first appeared in 1994, it was hailed as a breakthrough in measuring jitter and other time intervals. It was at least a 1000x improvement in precision while also providing cycle-cycle jitter measurements. One of the big factors of the day was all of a sudden, the measurement cultural practices of the operator had a huge impact on the result. Factors such as equipment positioning, the "plumbing," instrument scaling and waveform characteristics that all affect the result were first discussed in this article.

Williams, Michael K., "Distortion and Tolerance Mechanisms in High-Speed Clock Delivery", Proc. 1993 Hewlett-Packard High-Speed Digital Symposium, 1993, pp. 4-1 to 4-41. Also listed as application note ASA 93-01 from Amherst Systems Associates.

Williams, Michael K., "Timing Considerations in Clock Distribution Networks", Proc. 1992 Hewlett-Packard High-Speed Digital Symposium, pp. 2-1 to 2-21. Also listed as application note ASA 92-02 from Amherst Systems Associates.

Williams, Michael K., Timing-Environment Design: Principles & Practices (draft), advanced draft for a text, 110 pages, 1992. Also listed as application note ASA 92-03.

Williams, Michael K., "Design Tradeoffs in High-Speed Clock Distribution and Reception", Proc. 1993 Hewlett-Packard High-Speed Digital Symposium, pp. 6-1 to 6-34. Also listed as application note ASA 93-02 from Amherst Systems Associates.

Amherst Systems Associates, "Design Review: An Analysis of Timing-Environment Design Methodology, System Test Methods, and Projected System Reliability for a Multi-Level, Multi-Frequency PLL Clock-Distribution Network", Internal Report ASA 95-17, to be released as an application note.

William, Michael K., "The Measurement and Management of Jitter on Critically Timed Signals", Proc. 1995 Hewlett-Packard High-Performance System Design Conference, Day 2, pp. 3-1 to 3-31. Also listed as application note ASA 95-01 from Amherst Systems Associates.

Williams, Michael K., "Clock Design in Intel Pentium Systems", Amherst Systems Associates Application Note ASA 93-03, 1993.

Williams, Michael K. and Andreas M.R. Pfaff, "Clock Design and Measurement Issues in Intel Pentium Systems", The Hewlett-Packard Journal, December 1994, Vol 45, No 6, pp. 68-77. Also listed as application note ASA 94-01 from Amherst Systems Associates.

Williams, Michael K., "A Discussion of Methods for Measuring Low-Amplitude Jitter", presented at The 1995 International Test Conference 10/24/95. Also listed as Application Note ASA 95-27, 1995.

Williams, Michael K., Measuring Low-Amplitude Jitter in PLLs, presented at the 1996 Hewlett-Packard SuperCon '96, Application Note ASA 96-02, 1996.

Williams, Michael K., "Effective Design & Measurement Methods for Low-Jitter PLL-Based Clock Distribution", presented at the 1996 Hewlett-Packard SuperCon '96, Application Note ASA 96-03, 1996.