Apparatus and methods are provided for reducing coherent noise in measurements
of repetitive analog signal waveforms by digital signal averagers. Coherent noise
is repetitive and synchronous with the signal waveform and is therefore undiminished
by conventional signal averaging techniques. A major source of coherent noise is
the repetitive voltage transitions that occur within the digital signal averager
itself. The apparatus and methods of the present invention introduce a known and
variable phase offset during the signal averaging process between the signal waveform
being measured and the internally generated coherent noise, thereby allowing such
coherent noise to be averaged, and therefore reduced, during the signal averaging
process. Consequently, the apparatus and methods of the present invention allow
greater signal-to-noise ratio and signal dynamic range than with the prior art.