Test of fast serial Interfaces up to 5 Gbit/s

10 May 2017 - The new test options for the R&S RTO2000 series oscilloscopes of Rohde & Schwarz with a bandwidth of 6 GHz make these instruments ideal for testing fast communications interfaces. The new options support the 5 Gbit/s SuperSpeed USB and PCI Express (PCIe) 2.0 interfaces. There is also a new solution for USB power delivery (USB-PD).

Fast serial communications interfaces such as USB and PCIe have found their way into the designs of many electronic circuits. When testing and debugging circuits, developers need easy-to-use tools that provide comprehensive support for these interfaces. The most compact complete solution available today is offered by Rohde & Schwarz and consists of the following components: the R&S RTO2064 oscilloscope, the test options for the various interface standards, and modular R&S RT-ZM60 broadband probes for contacting the DUT. Rohde & Schwarz is expanding its offering with the following new test options: triggering and decoding software options for SuperSpeed USB (USB 3.1 Gen1), PCIe 1.1/2.0 and USB-PD, plus a compliance test option for PCIe 1.1/2.0.

Detailed protocol analysis practically presented

All the new triggering and decoding options support users looking for faults that occur during SuperSpeed USB, PCIe 2.0 and USB-PD transmission. The options trigger on user-defined protocol trigger events and decode the transmitted serial protocol, enabling the R&S RTO2000 to display additional time- and frequency-domain measurements time-correlated to the protocol trigger event. The cause of a fault is often recognizable at a glance. The analysis results can also be displayed in a table with all protocol details and associated timestamps. The ability to analyze at different protocol levels is another unique feature. For example, users can select between a simple bit view, a symbol view or a specific protocol view with frame start, address and data in order to track down protocol errors to the lowest bit level. Now developers have a powerful tool for fast analysis and debugging.

Compliance tests for PCIe 1.1/2.0

For PCIe, Rohde & Schwarz expanded its compliance test suite to include compliance tests for PCIe 1.1/2.0. Software options based on the PCI-SIG standard postprocessing analysis software assess the signal integrity against this standard. The test option permits automated compliance verification of the physical layer up to 2.5 Gbit/s.

The new R&S RTO-K61 USB 3.1 Gen1 T&D, R&S RTO-K72 PCIe 1.1/2.0 T&D and R&S RTO-K81 PCIe 1.1/2.0 compliance test software options are specifically designed for the R&S RTO2000 oscilloscope with 6 GHz bandwidth. These options as well as the R&S RTE/RTO-K63 USB-PD T&D options are now available from Rohde & Schwarz.

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