Equivalent-time-sampling scope improves accuracy of characterizing high-speed designs
Dan Strassberg, Senior Technical Editor -- EDN, July 15, 2010
Agilent Technologies
has expanded its
DCA (digital-communications-analyzer) portfolio
with the introduction of the
86100D DCA-X (extended)
wide-bandwidth equivalent-time-
sampling oscilloscope.
The instrument provides the
tools you need to easily and
accurately characterize highspeed
digital designs. The
DCA-X mainframe platform
lets you make next-generation
measurements that
incude integrated
de-embedding. The unit is
backward-compatible with
all previous DCA models
and is fully code-compatible
with the 86100C mainframe.
Future models will support 16
channels, which will enable
you to efficiently test parallel
designs and will achieve
higher throughput in manufacturing.The DCA series’ high analog bandwidth, low noise, and low measurement jitter help you to see the true performance of your designs on signals whose data rates range from 50 Mbps to more than 40 Gbps. You can configure the modular DCA platform for optical, electrical, TDR/TDT (time-domain-reflectometry/ time-domain-transmission), and S (scattering)-parameter measurements. The DCA-X improves on the accuracy and ease of use of the 86100C DCA-J (jitter) by integrating de-embeding and embedding using the 86100D-Sim InfiniiSim-DCA software license.
Usability enhancements include graphical-signal processing and dual user interfaces: the FlexDCA, a new, customizable, vector-based interface for scope, eye, and jitter measurements, and the DCA-J. The device also features as many as 64 simultaneous measurements and data-dependent pulse-width-shrinkage, uncorrelated-jitter, and pre- and de-emphasis measurements.
Hardware enhancements include vertical-gain and offset controls for all channels and functions, a user-defined multipurpose button, a user-defined analog-control knob, a faster CPU, and support for as many as 16 measurement channels.
As data rates increase, fixtures and probes play a larger role in degrading waveform fidelity and reducing measurement margins. During verification or compliance testing, you must often remove these unwanted effects to see your devices’ true performance. It is common to measure a clean transmitter output and to simulate this signal at the output of a typical channel-loss model. The 86100D-Sim InfiniiSim-DCA waveform-transformation tool set, a new 86100D software option, allows you to quickly and accureately perform both of these tasks.
Agilent has also upgraded its N101A FlexDCA remote-access software, so that it now supports both the 86100C DCA-J and the 86100D DCA-X mainframes. The N1010A, a PC-based version of the DCA-X user interface, extends control of the scope through a LAN to a remote lab or home-office PC and allows you to analyze waveforms offline. US prices for the 86100D DCA-X start at $21,500. US prices for the 86100D-Sim InfiniiSim-DCA waveform-transformation software start at $5000.
Agilent Technologies
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