Series Sampling Oscilloscope Is the First Software in the World for
Advanced Jitter, Noise and BER Analysis
BEAVERTON, Ore., Aug. 10 - Tektronix, Inc. (NYSE: TEK), a leading worldwide provider of test, measurement and monitoring instrumentation, announced the 80SJNB Advanced Jitter, Noise, and BER Analysis Software package for the TDS/CSA8000 Series sampling oscilloscopes. The 80SJNB is the first analysis package providing jitter and noise analysis as well as highly accurate 3D BER Eye model, viewable as eye contours, color coded eye, or a pseudo-3D image. Engineers will find these new capabilities useful for design validation and characterization of electrical and optical communications and computer circuits, backplanes and interconnects for data rates from 1 to 60 Gb/s. With the addition of 80SJNB Advanced Jitter, Noise, and BER Analysis Software, the TDS/CSA8200 oscilloscopes provide engineers with the most comprehensive and highest performing equivalent time oscilloscope in the market.
Increasing serial data rates in computing and communications architectures continue to create demand for advanced testing methods that enable engineers to better understand and improve BER performance of their designs. Companies designing or manufacturing components, interconnects, and backplanes which are based upon ultra-fast serial standards need the most accurate jitter analysis, noise analysis, and the total BER Eye information. The 80SJNB software provides this information, enabling engineers to both evaluate the performance and quickly find the root cause of any problems.
"The trend toward higher speed and lower power signals is creating a need for higher fidelity test equipment with advanced analysis capabilities," said John Taggart, General Manager, Electrical Optical Product Line, Tektronix. "The addition of 80SJNB for advanced analysis of jitter, noise, and BER enables the most accurate vertical and horizontal eye closure characterization available, and the ability to provide a new and unique view of BER performance, the BER Eye. This powerful new analysis tool shows BER limitations due not only to jitter, but also those due to noise, bringing a new level of precision to BER analysis. 80SJNB provides jitter and noise separation, resulting in highly accurate estimate of eye closure, and predicted BER to 10-24. 80SJNB is the prime oscilloscope-based application for data rates from 1 Gb/s to 60 Gb/s."
Innovative Approach Provides Most Accurate Total Eye Closure Analysis
The 80SJNB package utilizes a comprehensive and mathematically rigorous approach to the measurements of essentially all of the data impairments, resulting in detailed analysis from which the software builds a probability waveform. This is in contrast to existing approaches that simplify the eye and BER picture with just the horizontal analysis or working from the complete data incompletely analyzed as is typically done with bit error rate test (BERT) and BERT-like solutions. Unlike existing products, the 80SJNB allows the view and measurement of both the aggregate result -- the BER eye -- and the components of any impairment.
The rigorous treatment of both jitter and noise components requires resolving an old issue of jitter measurements on data streams. At issue is the dependency of jitter magnitude on the slope of the edge on which the jitter is measured. Due to the presence of noise on a signal's edges any local jitter measurement reveals lower jitter on a fast edge than on a slower edge. Typical jitter analysis solutions ignore this effect. The 80SJNB Advanced Jitter, Noise, and BER Analysis Software package has resolved this challenge by separating the noise-on-edge effects from jitter effects, preserving the accuracy of the Probability Waveform and of the BER eye, offering additional insight.
Availability
The 80SJNB Advanced Jitter, Noise, and BER Analysis Software is currently available for purchase and will run on any TDS8000, TDS8000B, TDS8200, CSA8000, CSA8000B or CSA8200 oscilloscope with Windows 2000(R) operating system. An operating system upgrade kit is available for 8000 series units running earlier versions of Windows. 80SJNB requires firmware version 4.x or newer on the TDS/CSA mainframe and the new 80A06 PatternSync module. Firmware upgrades are available free of charge from http://www.tektronix.com.
About Tektronix
Tektronix, Inc. is a test, measurement, and monitoring company providing measurement solutions to the communications, computer, and semiconductor industries worldwide. With more than 55 years of experience, Tektronix enables its customers to design, build, deploy, and manage next-generation global communications networks and advanced technologies. Headquartered in Beaverton, Oregon, Tektronix has operations in 19 countries worldwide. Tektronix' Web address is http://www.tektronix.com.
NOTE: Tektronix is a registered trademark of Tektronix, Inc. All other trade names referenced are the service marks, trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective companies.
