Abstract Jitter is the deviation of a signal's transitions from ideal time positions. Excess jitter is undesireable in a communication system, as it can lead to increased bit error rate and degraded signal quality. This paper begins with an overview of the present state-of-the-art with respect to jitter analysis of data waveforms: The main characteristics of jitter are described, and corresonding measurement techniques are discussed. Waveform capture using both real-time and equivalent time...