Instrument makes many signal-integrity measurements

Wavecrest's new 9×17×25-in., 40-lb, rack-mountable SIA-3000 instrument packs many state-of-the-art capabilities that should prove useful to designers of high-speed systems as well as those who design production-test setups for those systems (Picture). Moreover, the instrument's modular design not only allows expansion to 10 channels, but also enables configurations tailored to unique requirements. The device measures jitter, rise and fall times, frequency, and skew. The unit also performs complex serial measurements on FibreChannel, Gigabit Ethernet, and other systems.

The unit, which operates with clock frequencies as high as 3 GHz and data rates to 4.5 Gbps, delivers a wideband jitter-noise floor of 2 psec and provides one-shot time-measurement resolution of 200 fsec (2×10^–13 sec). Peak-to-peak sensitivity ranges from 200 mV to 1.1V. Input impedance is 100Ω differential and 50Ω single-ended. The unit includes provisions for internal, external, and dc calibration. Accuracy is traceable to NIST (National Institutes of Standards and Technology).

Wavecrest based the user interface on that of Microsoft Windows, and the unit incorporates a full-color, 10.4-in.-diagonal, 1024×768-pixel display. An IEEE 488 interface is standard, and high-speed Ethernet and USB ports are available. A test-list software option enables users who are not experienced test-software designers to design their own test routines. Prices start at $104,000 for a two-channel version.

Wavecrest, 1-800-733-7128, www.wavecrest.com.