important. Speed is defined as the time it takes for the
DAC to change its output voltage in response to a change
at its digital input. A perfect DAC would have zero
conversion time, but reality falls short. The rise times, fall
times, and settling times of the DACs are important to the
AGI project as they define the rate that can be used to
send points to the scope screen; this, in turn, sets the
maximum number of points we can display within our
target POV window of 20 ms.
Since DAC speed is not specified in the ATMEL SAM
datasheet, I wrote a small AGI program to drive the DACs
from 0 to 4095 and then back to 0, so that I could make
my own “worst case” full-scale speed measurements.
Using an oscilloscope to monitor the DAC outputs,
Figure 4 shows that a full-scale change in output of the
DAC from 0 to 4095 in one step takes slightly over 300
ns. Similarly, the step going from 4095 back to 0 is seen to
be about 300 ns as well. Figure 4 also shows a few other
aspects of the overall timing. First off, observe that the
DMA_CLK (TP17) signal (one of the Due Counter-Timers)
drives the rate of the DMA transfers and therefore the
pace of digital-to-analog conversions.
Next, note that the X and Y conversions follow each
other in time, with the DAC0 signal (the X axis value)
changing first, followed one DMA_CLK cycle later by the
DAC1 signal (Y axis). Analog sample and hold circuits are
used to time-synchronize the X and Y signals to one
another before they are sent out to the oscilloscope as the
X-Drive (TP8) and Y-Drive (TP9) signals for display.
Finally, the Z axis signal Z-Drive (TP10) is used to turn
the CRT Spot on (logic 1 = “unblank”) every time a new
point pair is ready for display on the screen. The CRT Spot
is then turned off (logic 0 = “blanked”) just before the X-Y
signals are “moved” to the next point to be plotted.
Blanking the beam in this way keeps the display crisp and
free of DAC settling times and other point-to-point
transition artifacts.
Given the DAC rise and fall times, it’s possible to
determine the highest DMA_CLK frequency we can use.
My tests show reliable high quality graphics plotting can
be achieved at DMA_CLK frequencies up to 800 kHz.
Above 800 kHz, the DAC rise and fall time delays begin
to distort the graphics display, appearing as incorrectly
plotted points on the oscilloscope screen whenever
adjacent members in the XY list are far away from one
another.
Using a Timer to Trigger CRT
Refresh
As noted, we need to repeat the DMA transfer over
and over again to keep the CRT scope screen lit up. To do
this, the AGI uses a second timer to create a “
Time-to-Refresh” interrupt once every 20 ms. Every time we
receive this interrupt, a new CRT screen-paint cycle is
initiated. This repaints the screen 50 times per second,
above discernable POV flicker rates.
With the DMA_CLK frequency set to 800 kHz, it’s
February 2018 25
FIGURE 5. AGI power
supply circuits.