The RIGOL MSO2202A Mixed-Signal Oscilloscope is designed for engineers, technicians, research laboratories, educational institutions and production teams that need to observe analogue and digital signals within the same time-correlated acquisition.
It provides two analogue channels with 200 MHz bandwidth and 16 digital logic channels, allowing users to analyse signal amplitude, timing, logic states and communication activity on one instrument. This makes the MSO2202A suitable for debugging microcontrollers, FPGAs, embedded controllers, digital buses, power electronics and mixed-signal circuits.
The oscilloscope uses RIGOL UltraVision technology to combine deep acquisition memory, high waveform capture rates, intensity-graded display and hardware waveform recording. These functions help engineers detect both repetitive signal behaviour and intermittent abnormalities such as glitches, runt pulses, unstable edges and communication errors.
200 MHz Analogue Bandwidth
The MSO2202A provides 200 MHz analogue bandwidth across two input channels.
It is suitable for analysing:
- Embedded controller clock signals
- FPGA and microcontroller outputs
- PWM and control waveforms
- Sensor and actuator signals
- Switching power-supply control signals
- Analogue amplifier outputs
- Communication interfaces
- Input and output signal relationships
- Pulse and timing behaviour
- General signal-integrity problems
The calculated rise time is approximately 1.8 ns, making the MSO2202A suitable for faster signal transitions than the 100 MHz MSO2102A.
Two Analogue and 16 Digital Channels
The mixed-signal architecture combines:
- Two analogue oscilloscope channels
- Sixteen digital logic channels
- One external trigger input
- Time-correlated analogue and digital display
- Analogue and digital triggering
- Parallel bus analysis
- Digital channel grouping
- User-defined digital channel labels
The digital channels are divided into two eight-channel groups. Each group can use a separate logic threshold.
This configuration allows engineers to examine:
- Analogue sensor signals alongside digital control outputs
- Clock, data and enable lines
- FPGA or CPLD timing
- Microcontroller GPIO activity
- Parallel data buses
- Power-supply behaviour during digital switching
- Communication signals and physical-layer waveform quality
- Timing relationships between analogue and digital sections
A compatible RIGOL logic probe is required to connect the digital channels.
Analogue Sampling Performance
The analogue channels provide:
- 2 GSa/s with one analogue channel active
- 1 GSa/s per channel with both analogue channels active
The real-time sampling architecture provides sufficient acquisition points for observing waveform shape, timing, overshoot, ringing, noise and pulse behaviour.
Analogue peak detection can capture pulses as narrow as approximately:
- 500 ps in single-channel operation
- 1 ns in dual-channel operation
Sampling performance should be considered together with signal bandwidth, rise time, probe bandwidth and connection quality.
Digital Sampling Performance
Digital sampling depends on the number of active digital channels:
- 1 GSa/s with up to eight digital channels active
- 500 MSa/s with all 16 digital channels active
Digital peak-detect performance is approximately:
- 1 ns with eight digital channels active
- 2 ns with all 16 digital channels active
The minimum detectable digital pulse width is approximately 5 ns.
The digital channels should not be described as providing 2 GSa/s sampling. The 2 GSa/s specification applies only to the analogue acquisition system.
Deep Analogue Acquisition Memory
The MSO2202A provides 14 Mpts standard analogue memory in single-channel operation.
Standard analogue memory allocation:
- 14 Mpts with one analogue channel active
- 7 Mpts per channel with both analogue channels active
An optional memory licence expands analogue memory to:
- 56 Mpts with one analogue channel active
- 28 Mpts per channel with both analogue channels active
Deep memory allows engineers to capture longer signal sequences while retaining a useful sample rate.
Typical applications include:
- Long serial communication packets
- Power-supply start-up analysis
- Embedded-system timing sequences
- PWM waveform analysis
- Intermittent fault investigation
- Communication packet testing
- Long pulse-train observation
- Production monitoring
The 56 Mpts memory depth should be described as optional unless the licence is installed.
Digital Memory Depth
Digital acquisition memory is allocated according to the number of enabled digital channels.
Standard digital memory:
- 14 Mpts with up to eight digital channels
- 7 Mpts with all 16 digital channels
Optional digital memory:
- 28 Mpts with up to eight digital channels
- 14 Mpts with all 16 digital channels
This memory supports longer digital captures for logic analysis, parallel bus debugging and embedded-system timing investigation.
Fast Waveform Capture
The MSO2202A provides a maximum waveform capture rate of up to 52,000 waveforms per second in the specified dots-display configuration.
Fast acquisition improves the probability of detecting:
- Short glitches
- Runt pulses
- Timing violations
- Intermittent noise
- Signal dropouts
- Unstable clock edges
- Abnormal pulse widths
- Occasional communication errors
The intensity-graded display uses up to 256 levels to distinguish frequently occurring waveform activity from rare events.
Hardware Waveform Recording
The oscilloscope supports hardware waveform recording, playback and analysis.
Maximum recording capacity includes:
- Up to 65,000 frames with digital channels disabled
- Up to 32,000 frames with digital channels enabled
Waveform recording allows users to:
- Capture successive signal events
- Replay waveforms frame by frame
- Compare normal and abnormal events
- Review the sequence preceding a fault
- Perform post-acquisition measurements
- Analyse intermittent problems
- Monitor signal behaviour over time
The lower recording-frame count with digital channels enabled should be considered when planning extended mixed-signal tests.
Low-Level Analogue Measurements
The MSO2202A provides vertical sensitivity from:
- 500 µV/div to 10 V/div at 1 MΩ
- 500 µV/div to 1 V/div at 50 Ω
This range supports measurement of:
- Sensor outputs
- Power-supply ripple
- Amplifier signals
- Reference voltages
- Small analogue waveforms
- General electronic circuits
The 500 µV/div setting uses digital amplification based on the 1 mV/div range and should be considered accordingly during precision measurements.
Selectable Input Impedance
The analogue inputs support:
- 1 MΩ input impedance for general-purpose measurements
- 50 Ω termination for correctly matched higher-frequency signals
The maximum permitted input voltage differs between the two impedance settings. Suitable probes, termination and voltage limits must be observed.
Selectable Bandwidth Limits
The MSO2202A provides selectable bandwidth limits of:
- 20 MHz
- 100 MHz
- Full 200 MHz bandwidth
Bandwidth limiting helps reduce unwanted high-frequency noise when full bandwidth is not required.
Typical applications include:
- Power-supply ripple measurement
- Sensor signal analysis
- Low-frequency analogue testing
- Noise reduction
- Cleaner waveform observation
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Digital Logic Thresholds
The digital channels support predefined and user-defined logic thresholds.
Supported logic families include:
- TTL
- 5 V CMOS
- 3.3 V CMOS
- 2.5 V CMOS
- 1.8 V CMOS
- ECL
- PECL
- LVDS
- 0 V reference
- User-defined threshold
The user-defined threshold range is approximately ±20 V with 10 mV adjustment steps.
This allows the logic analyser to work with several digital voltage standards used in embedded, industrial and automotive electronics.
Trigger Functions
The MSO2202A provides multiple trigger modes for isolating specific analogue and digital conditions.
Standard trigger functions include:
- Edge
- Pulse width
- Slope
- Pattern
- Runt
- Setup and hold
- Standard video
- RS232/UART
- I2C
- SPI
Additional trigger functions are available through optional software licences:
- Window
- Nth edge
- HDTV
- Delay
- Timeout
- Duration
- USB
- CAN
Trigger options help engineers isolate short pulses, timing violations, communication events and intermittent waveform problems.
Serial and Parallel Bus Analysis
The MSO2202A supports protocol triggering and decoding across analogue and digital channels.
Available bus analysis includes:
- Parallel bus
- RS232/UART
- I2C
- SPI
- CAN
Parallel bus decoding is a standard mixed-signal function. RS232/UART, I2C, SPI and CAN analysis may require applicable software licences, depending on the supplied instrument configuration.
Protocol analysis allows users to:
- Display decoded data values
- Trigger on specific bus conditions
- Correlate data with electrical waveforms
- Identify timing problems
- Locate missing acknowledgements
- Analyse corrupted packets
- Investigate physical-layer faults
Up to two decoded buses can be displayed.
Automatic Measurements
The MSO2202A provides automatic measurements for analogue and digital signals.
Analogue measurement categories include:
- Maximum and minimum voltage
- Peak-to-peak voltage
- Top and base voltage
- Amplitude
- Average voltage
- RMS voltage
- Frequency
- Period
- Rise and fall time
- Positive and negative pulse width
- Positive and negative duty cycle
- Overshoot and preshoot
- Area and period area
- Phase
- Delay
Digital measurements include:
- Frequency
- Period
- Positive pulse width
- Negative pulse width
- Duty cycle
- Phase
- Delay
Up to five measurements can be displayed simultaneously. Statistical results include current, average, maximum, minimum, standard deviation and measurement count.
Waveform Mathematics and FFT
The oscilloscope includes waveform-processing and frequency-domain analysis functions.
Available mathematical functions include:
- Addition
- Subtraction
- Multiplication
- Division
- FFT
- Digital filtering
- Logic operations
- Integration
- Differentiation
- Logarithmic functions
- Exponential functions
- Square root
- Trigonometric functions
FFT analysis is useful for:
- Harmonic analysis
- Switching-frequency measurement
- Clock-spectrum observation
- Noise-source identification
- EMI troubleshooting
- Detection of unwanted oscillations
The built-in FFT function is suitable for general engineering analysis but does not replace a dedicated spectrum analyser for demanding RF measurements.
Pass/Fail Testing
Mask-based pass/fail testing compares acquired waveforms with defined tolerance limits.
It can support:
- Production testing
- Quality-control checks
- Signal-stability monitoring
- Component comparison
- Detection of waveform deviations
- Repetitive validation
The AUX output can provide a trigger or pass/fail signal for external equipment or automated test systems.
Display and User Interface
The MSO2202A uses an 8-inch TFT colour display with 800 × 480 resolution.
Display features include:
- 160,000 colours
- Up to 256 intensity levels
- Dots and vector display modes
- Adjustable persistence
- Y-T, X-Y and Roll modes
- Digital channel grouping
- User-defined digital labels
- Search and navigation
- Real-time clock
Analogue waveforms, digital channels, measurements and decoded bus information can be viewed together.
Connectivity and Automated Testing
The oscilloscope supports computer communication, network control and automated validation.
Available connectivity includes:
- USB Host
- USB Device
- LAN
- LXI support
- AUX output
- Trigger or pass/fail output
- Optional USB-to-GPIB adapter
Remote programming and waveform transfer support production testing, laboratory automation and repetitive validation.
No Built-In Waveform Generator
The standard MSO2202A does not include an integrated waveform generator.
A dual-channel 25 MHz arbitrary waveform generator is available only in the MSO2202A-S model.
Users who require built-in signal generation should select the “-S” version rather than the standard MSO2202A.
Applications
The RIGOL MSO2202A is suitable for:
- Embedded-system development
- Microcontroller debugging
- FPGA and CPLD testing
- Mixed-signal circuit analysis
- Digital logic debugging
- Parallel bus analysis
- Serial protocol testing
- Power-supply analysis
- PWM measurements
- Sensor and controller testing
- Industrial electronics maintenance
- Production-line inspection
- Quality validation
- Research and development
- Engineering education
- Service and repair applications
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Why Buy from RevineTech?
RevineTech supplies professional test and measurement instruments for electronics development, research, education, industrial testing and production environments.
Technical selection assistance can cover:
- MSO2202A configuration
- Analogue and digital memory upgrades
- Advanced trigger licence
- Serial protocol options
- CAN analysis software
- Logic-probe selection
- Passive and differential probes
- Current probes
- Calibration requirements
- Rack-mount accessories
- Automated test integration
