IEEE 1057 Jitter Test of Waveform Recorders

The jitter test of waveform recorders and analog-to-digital converters (ADCs) is traditionally carried out using one of the methods recommended in the IEEE standard for digitizing waveform recorders, i.e., IEEE Standard 1057. Here, we study the uncertainty of one of those methods, point out the bias inherent to the estimator recommended for measuring the ADC jitter, and suggest an alternate estimator. Expressions are also presented for the determination of the precision of a given estimate from the number of samples used, the standard deviation of the additive noise present in the test setup, the jitter standard deviation, and the stimulus signal parameters. In addition, an expression for the computation of the minimum number of samples required to guarantee a given bound on the estimation uncertainty is presented, which is useful in optimizing the duration of the test.