T&M partners produce PCI Express 4.0 test system

The Anritsu/Teledyne LeCroy solution can be easily expanded to 32Gb/s, making it the first end-to-end solution to address PCI Express 5.0 (PCIe Gen5) requirements. The system will also support PCI Express 3.0 (PCIe Gen3) transmitter, receiver and link equalisation testing for complete PCI Express ecosystem coverage.

“Anritsu and Teledyne LeCroy share a common goal of providing engineers early availability of highly accurate and efficient test solutions required to verify their leading-edge designs. Our combined solution integrating the SQA MP1900A and LabMaster 10Zi-A oscilloscope fills the market void for a complete physical layer PCIe Gen4 test system that can be easily expanded to PCIe Gen5 as the market continues to develop technologies for high-speed networks,” said Paul Innis, Vice President and General Manager, Anritsu Company.

“PCIe Gen4 represents a significant test challenge for design engineers. Our collaborative test solution leverages two best-in-class instruments to accurately measure and validate product performance in accordance with the PCI-SIG standards. Recognising that PCIe Gen5 is expected to emerge within two years, we have protected our customers’ investments by creating a clear and efficient upgrade path that will control test costs,” said Conrad Fernandes, Vice President of Sales, Teledyne LeCroy.

A high-speed BERT that supports 2.4Gb/s to 32.1Gb/s, the SQA MP1900A can conduct highly accurate link training/equalisation and Link Training and Status State Machine (LTSSM) analysis.

It combines an internal pulse-patter generator (PPG) with integrated 10-tap emphasis and built-in high input sensitivity error detector (ED) with clock recovery, and variable 12dB continuous time linear equalisation (CTLE) and Link negotiation functions required for PCI Express receiver tests.

Its ability to produce high-quality waveforms allows the MP1900A to conduct reliable jitter and noise tolerance tests.

The LabMaster 10-25Zi-A oscilloscope provides the necessary 25GHz bandwidth for PCIe Gen4 transmitter testing and receiver test calibration, and may be upgraded in bandwidth to support next-generation serial standards at 32 Gb/s and higher. The oscilloscope and the forthcoming QPHY-PCIe4-Tx-Rx software option performs all necessary automation and control for PCIe Gen4 transmitter, receiver, and link equalisation test in conjunction with the Anritsu MP1900A.

Debugging of PCI Express interfaces is simple and intuitive with integrated eye diagram and jitter analysis tools and PCI Express decoding with waveform annotation and tabular analysis.