High-speed modular logic analyzers capture as many as 512M samples

By Dan Strassberg, Contributing Technical Editor -- 11/9/2006

Agilent Technologies has expanded its logic-analyzer line with a new modular mainframe; two new modules, including one that provides four times the memory of the deepest memory logic-analyzer modules available from any manufacturer; and new applications for developers who use the PCI Express high-speed serial bus and Altera FPGAs.

Design teams in the computer, communications, semiconductor, aerospace, defense, automotive, and wireless industries continue to produce ever more complex high-speed hardware designs. Validation and debugging of these designs necessitate increasingly capable logic-analysis tools. The 16900 product family addresses these requirements.

 The two-slot, modular 16901A mainframe, with prices starting at $14,000, comes with a 15-in. display and a touchscreen interface that works well in applications in which limited bench space hinders the use of a mouse and keyboard. The mainframe allows connection and cross-triggering of other 16900-series mainframes in applications that require more than one logic analyzer.

The 16950B 68-channel logic-analyzer module, with prices starting at $23,500, offers state-analysis capture to 667 MHz at a maximum data rate of 1066 Mbps with as much as 64M samples of acquisition memory. The module offers the performance necessary to validate such leading-edge interfaces as DDR3 (double-data-rate 3) and front-side bus designs.

The $65,000, 68-channel 16951B logic-analyzer module offers the same acquisition capabilities as the 16950B but quadruples the maximum memory depth to 256M samples, improving the probability that captured data will contain the flaw that caused a failure. Moreover, if you use only half of the channels, the memory depth doubles again—to 512M samples.

Two new applications speed the development of PCIe (PCI Express) and Altera FPGA-based designs: The FSI-60112 PCIe Gen 1 probe, with prices starting at $24,700, supports the PCIe standard in one-, two-, and four-lane widths. When you use it with the 16800 portable logic analyzer, the probe offers what the manufacturer calls the market's lowest cost logic-analyzer-based PCIe-test approach. The B4656A FPGA dynamic probe, with prices starting at $3000, provides visibility into designs based on Altera FPGAs, thus speeding debugging and validation.

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