Agilent Introduces Industry's Lowest-Priced USB 2.0 Signal-Quality Test Option

For years, oscilloscopes have been the primary measurement tools used by electrical engineers to verify the signal integrity of their USB designs. With the new DSOX4USBSQ signal-quality test option on Agilent's InfiniiVision 4000 X-Series oscilloscopes, engineers can now quickly verify the analog quality of their signals generated by USB hubs, hosts and devices based on USB-IF compliance standards.

Engineers who work with embedded electronics do not usually perform official USB-IF testing, because USB-IF certification is not typically required for non-PC products. However, to ensure reliability, embedded-systems designers often test the physical layer of their designs based on USB-IF standards as a reality check to insure signal-quality standards are met before releasing their products to production. Agilent's new USB 2.0 signal-quality test option offers a low-priced way to perform these tests.

In the traditional computer/peripheral industry, engineers typically do perform USB-IF physical-layer certification and testing. However, smaller companies may not be able to afford a complete suite of high-performance test equipment to conduct precompliance physical-layer testing. With Agilent's USB 2.0 signal-quality test option licensed on an InfiniiVision 4000 X-Series oscilloscope, engineers now have a more affordable solution they can use to perform important signal-quality physical-layer tests before running their final product through complete certification testing at a USB-IF workshop.

The USB 2.0 signal-quality test option generates HTML pass/fail reports for eye-diagram mask testing, jitter analysis, end-of-packet bit width, signaling rate, edge monotonicity and rise/fall times-all based on official USB-IF algorithms embedded in the oscilloscope.

The Agilent DSOX4USBSQ signal-quality test option is priced at $1,020 and will be available Feb. 15. The entry-level price of an Agilent 200-MHz-bandwidth InfiniiVision 4000 X-Series oscilloscope for USB 2.0 low- and full-speed applications is $5,611. For USB 2.0 hi-speed applications, Agilent recommends the four-channel, 1.5-GHz-bandwidth InfiniiVision DSOX4154A oscilloscope, which is priced at $19,237.