Agilent Claims Breakthrough Chipset for Next-Generation, High-Bandwidth, Real-Time Oscilloscopes

Engineers working with high-speed serial data links such as USB, SATA or PCI Express® use oscilloscopes to measure jitter and other parameters to ensure compliance to industry standards for interoperability. In the next few years, as data rates extend beyond 8.5 Gb/s, engineers will need oscilloscopes with true analog bandwidths greater than 16 GHz. In addition, the upcoming IEEE 803.2ba 40/100G standard will drive the need for high-quality, real-time signal analysis capabilities to 16 GHz and beyond.



Other vendors claim they can achieve higher bandwidths using bandwidth-enhancing techniques such as digital signal processing (DSP) and frequency domain interleaving (sometimes referred to as digital bandwidth interleaving or DBI). However, the additional noise and jitter generated with these techniques can interfere significantly with an oscilloscope's measurement accuracy and impact its frequency response.



Silicon process technologies commonly used today are unable to achieve true analog bandwidths above 16 GHz. Other vendors are using silicon technologies with transistor switching frequencies in the 100-GHz range. This frequency limit presents significant barriers to delivering higher true analog bandwidths. Agilent's investment in the InP process extends the capabilities of the company's well-established InGaP HBT (heterojunction bipolar transistor) IC technology, enabling high-frequency capability with transistor switching frequencies up to 200 GHz. InP technology offers the same capability without sacrificing the reliability and manufacturability associated with Agilent instrumentation.



The InP process technology also has superior material properties compared with Agilent's prior-generation gallium arsenide (GaAs) process. InP technology provides higher saturated and peak electron velocities, higher thermal conductivity, lower surface recombination velocity, and higher breakdown electric field. These benefits mean true analog bandwidths can be pushed to new limits.



In addition, InP technology provides the following measurement benefits compared with other technologies available today:



* significantly flatter response at high frequencies;

* higher measurement accuracy because of the low-noise, nonconductive substrate ; and

* higher reliability due to lower power consumption.



Agilent implemented an in-house fabrication facility to gain ultimate control of precision in the InP process. Our expertise in microwave semiconductor technology has proven key in tuning this breakthrough Indium phosphide process to deliver leading specifications for real-time oscilloscopes, said Bob Witte, vice-president of Agilent's Technology Leadership Organization.