Simcenter Testing Solutions How to create a post-trigger and use it for throughput time data processing
2021-09-06T10:13:51.000-0400
Simcenter Testing Solutions Marketing
Simcenter SCADAS
Simcenter Testlab
Simcenter Testlab RT
Teamcenter Share
Simcenter Testlab Apps
Simcenter Testxpress
Simcenter Tecware
Simcenter Sound Camera
Other Hardware
Simcenter Soundbrush
Simcenter IQT
Summary
For some applications, it is required to process the time data with a post-trigger. This means that the time blocks (processing segments) should begin with a certain time delay after the trigger. In the Signature Throughput Processing workbook in Simcenter Testlab Classic, it is possible to process time data with a trigger or a pre-trigger, but unfortunately not with a post-trigger. This article demonstrates how to create a post-trigger and how to use the post-trigger for throughput time data processing. Keywords: Trigger, post-trigger, Signature Throughput Processing, Simcenter Testlab
Details
Consider a throughput dataset which contains a signal for processing and a trigger signal, as shown in figure 1. Now suppose that we wish to perform block processing which begins at a certain time delay after the trigger. To do this, we have to create a post-trigger signal.
Figure 1: Trigger signal (red) and signal for processing (blue).
The post-trigger signal can be created by shifting the trigger signal along the time axis. Afterwards, the throughput time data can be processed in the normal way by triggering on the post-trigger signal. Here are the basic steps:
Step 1: Activate the “Time Data Editor - Standard” add-in, as shown in figure 2.
Figure 2: Time Data Editor add-in.
Step 2: Use the function SETXSTART to shift the trigger signal by a defined time increment, as shown in figure 3. For example with SETXSTART(CH1;0.5), the trigger signal CH1 is shifted 0.5 sec to the right.
Figure 3: Post-trigger definition using the function SETXSTART.
Step 3: Process the data in the signature throughput processing workbook using the new post-trigger signal “Trigger-time-shift (CH3)”. Although the post-trigger time delay is 0.5s in this example, it is also possible to get smaller time delays between the original trigger signal and the processing start point by applying a pretrigger. A nice way to confirm your trigger settings is to first calculate the waterfall time blocks before proceeding to further analyses, see figures 4 and 5.
Figure 4: Settings for calculation of waterfall time blocks.
Figure 5: Original trigger (red), post-trigger (green), original signal for processing (gray), and waterfall time blocks (blue).
Figure 1: Trigger signal (red) and signal for processing (blue).
The post-trigger signal can be created by shifting the trigger signal along the time axis. Afterwards, the throughput time data can be processed in the normal way by triggering on the post-trigger signal. Here are the basic steps:
Step 1: Activate the “Time Data Editor - Standard” add-in, as shown in figure 2.
Figure 2: Time Data Editor add-in.
Step 2: Use the function SETXSTART to shift the trigger signal by a defined time increment, as shown in figure 3. For example with SETXSTART(CH1;0.5), the trigger signal CH1 is shifted 0.5 sec to the right.
Figure 3: Post-trigger definition using the function SETXSTART.
Step 3: Process the data in the signature throughput processing workbook using the new post-trigger signal “Trigger-time-shift (CH3)”. Although the post-trigger time delay is 0.5s in this example, it is also possible to get smaller time delays between the original trigger signal and the processing start point by applying a pretrigger. A nice way to confirm your trigger settings is to first calculate the waterfall time blocks before proceeding to further analyses, see figures 4 and 5.
Figure 4: Settings for calculation of waterfall time blocks.
Figure 5: Original trigger (red), post-trigger (green), original signal for processing (gray), and waterfall time blocks (blue).