BER testers include many tools for high-bit-rate serial-data analysis

Agilent says its N4900-series serial BER (bit-error-ratio) testers are the first such instruments to provide built-in true-differential, 50Ω inputs and outputs, CDR (clock-data recovery), and enhanced jitter analysis (Picture). These capabilities enable R&D, design-verification, and manufacturing engineers to perform full parametric measurements across a wide range of data-communications technologies and applications. The new instruments can perform BER tests and can analyze signals through eye diagrams and jitter measurements. The N4901A covers 150 Mbps to 13.5 Gbps, and the N4902A covers 150 Mbps to 7 Gbps.

The user interface is based on that of the company's Infiniium digital scopes. Like the latest Infiniium units, the BER testers run under Windows XP, but, unlike the Infiniium units, the OS is an embedded version, which provides faster boot-up without compromising the instruments' ability to run Windows-based applications of a user's choice.

Prices for the N4901A start at $165,000, prices for the N4902A start at $128,000, and prices for the 3.6-Gbps N4906A start at $89,000. Should you purchase the 7-Gbps instrument and later find that your designs need 13.5-Gbps capabilities, you can return the instrument to the factory for an upgrade. The approximately $54,000 upgrade cost makes the cost of starting with the narrower bandwidth instrument and then upgrading only 110% of the cost of starting with the wider bandwidth unit.

Agilent Technologies, 1-800-452-4844, www.agilent.com/find/smartbert.