BER test solution speeds design verification

22nd January 2014

Keysight Technologies (formerly Agilent)

Mick Elliott

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Datasheet

Agilent Technologies has introduced the M8000 Series BER test solution, an integrated and scalable bit error ratio test solution for physical-layer characterisation, validation and compliance testing for receivers used in multigigabit digital designs. With support for a wide range of data rates and standards, the new solution provides accurate and reliable results that accelerate insight into the performance margins of high-speed digital devices for computer, consumer, server, mobile computing and data-center products.

When R&D and validation teams characterise next-generation designs, they face several test challenges. The faster data rates of the emerging next-generation digital computer buses, such as PCI Express 4 (with a bit rate of 16 GT/s) and USB 3.1 (with a bit rate of 10 Gb/s), present new signal integrity test challenges. New 128/130-bit and 128/132-bit coding formats complicate error detection and loopback pattern creation.

In addition, widespread adoption of mobile computing devices means more and more R&D and test engineers need to test different implementations of MIPI ports, with new data formats, termination models, multiple lanes and built-in error counting.

And with the surge in data-centre traffic, servers and storage designs must support much higher bandwidths on their backplane and networking ports. Data rates of 25Gb/s and more on multiple lanes over PC boards, cable or optical interconnects are required by most of the latest industry standards, such as 100GbE, CEI and Fibre Channel. Testing such 25Gb/s receiver ports requires new test capabilities to characterize device tolerance for interference, channel losses and crosstalk.

The first model in the new M8000 Series is the high performance J-BERT M8020A. It enables fast and accurate receiver characterisation of single- and multilane devices operating at data rates up to 16Gb/s and 32Gb/s. It accelerates insight into designs by: Streamlining receiver test setup by providing the highest level of integration. It offers built-in jitter injection, 8-tap de-emphasis, interference sources, reference clock multiplication, clock recovery and equalisation; Ensuring accurate and repeatable measurements by automating in situ calibration of signal conditions; Reducing the effort required to bring devices into loopback test mode because the M8020A behaves like a link partner for the device under test and supports interactive link training for PCIe devices.

The new BERT is scalable and expandable to meet future test needs. It supports one to four BERT channels and offers data rates of up to 8.5Gb/s and 16Gb/s with an extension to 32Gb/s.

It is based on AXIe, which is the industry standard for high-performance modular test equipment and is controlled from a user interface via USB. All options are upgradeable