The Accuracy of Jitter Measurements

Jitter is a variation in a waveform’s timing. The timing variation of the period, duty cycle, frequency, etc. can be measured and compared to an average of multiple periods, or can be measured as a variation from one period to the next. A jitter measurement result will typically consist of a count of the number of periods evaluated over the selected time interval, a measurement of the highest value of jitter over that time interval, and a measurement of the standard deviation of all the jitter values over the selected time interval. In addition, various views, such as histograms, time vs. time plots, and frequency analysis of jitter, are utilized to aid in the understanding and troubleshooting of jitter.