Pulse width

Pulse width is the time separation of specified crossings on a pulse's leading and trailing edges. The threshold convention is essential when the edges are not instantaneous. Keysight's primary pulse-generator documentation uses the rising and next falling 50-percent crossings, and allows a duty-cycle setting as an alternative control.^[ref]

For low and high levels $V_L$ and $V_H$, define the fractional threshold as $V_L+a(V_H-V_L)$ with $0<a<1$. A positive pulse's width at that level is $\tau (a)=t_{\downarrow }(a)-t_{\uparrow }(a)$. The half-height convention is related to full width at half maximum for an isolated positive pulse above a defined baseline; it is not necessarily the duration of the flat top.

For an original asymmetric trapezoid, let a full linear rise take $t_r=2\mu \mathrm{s}$, the plateau last $H=8\mu \mathrm{s}$, and a full linear fall take $t_f=4\mu \mathrm{s}$. These ramp durations refer to the full low-to-high excursions, not the commonly quoted 10–90 percent rise interval. The crossing times giveThe 50-percent width is $11\mu \mathrm{s}$, while the first departure from the low level to final return lasts $14\mu \mathrm{s}$. At a 90-percent threshold the width is only $8.6\mu \mathrm{s}$. All describe the same waveform under different conventions.

For a repeating pulse train, duty cycle compares the specified width to the repetition period. Finite ramps mean that width times peak amplitude alone need not give the waveform integral or energy. Electrical loading and bandwidth also change the delivered crossings; the pulse generator setting must be checked at the actual load.

A measurement records both edges on an oscilloscope with a common level definition. Pulse-width uncertainty from correlated edge timing depends on $\mathrm{Var}(t_{\downarrow }-t_{\uparrow })$, including their covariance. A common trigger-time translation can cancel from width while remaining in absolute arrival time. Ringing with several crossings, hysteresis, negative pulses, or multiple peaks needs an explicit crossing-selection convention rather than an unspecified single duration.