As we integrate more technology into our bodies and lives, we realize that the signals that drive our biologic functionality are unique and complex. Mimicking these signals during product testing can be difficult or expensive since test equipment is required to replicate the original source (such as a human heart). Common test equipment, such as power supplies, may not be able to provide the versatility needed for thorough testing. Also, in many cases it may be useful to add noise or other anomalies to the signals to test devices under real-world and stress conditions.

Arbitrary function generators (AFGs) can recreate these real-world signals in a variety of ways and are a cost-effective solution to this problem. This application note describes some of the methods that don’t require learning special software or writing code.