Killer App for the GA144

Well, maybe this is not really a "killer" app, but it is good enough
to get me to build something for this chip. I was looking at a site
about o'scopes and I realized that the GA144 would make a decent low
end o'scope with very little additional hardware.

With five analog inputs, one can be used as the trigger and the other
four can provide separate input channels. Heck, it can be a five
input scope if that is useful. The input may or may not need an
amplifier depending on your needs. The useful range of the ADC inputs
are only around a half volt centered at about 1 volt. As long as the
input can be AC coupled, this can be done with a passive circuit given
that the impedance of the ADC inputs are so high.

The ADC can provide more than 8 bit resolution at a sample rate of 5
MSPS which is enough for a number of applications. The resolution
increases with lower sample rates giving greater than 15 bits at 48
kSPS.

There are a number of small displays available that can be interfaced
to provide a self contained display or it can be connected to a PC
through a USB cable for control and display.

With 144 nodes there is a lot of opportunity to add real time signal
processing features.

Rick
.