News - Other T&M

Oscilloscope Platform for Interconnect Technologies

12 October 2023 - Quantifi Photonics, a photonics test and measurement instrument manufacturer, has announced a new line of digital sampling oscilloscopes to launch in 2024. Quantifi Photonics’ new oscilloscope platform is designed to offer cost-effective performance and enable manufacturers of next-gen interconnects to overcome the critical testing roadblock of scaling production to high volumes. With ultra-low jitter performance and unparalleled instrument density it is ideally suited to perform high-precision measurements in parallel for optimized test throughput and reduced cost-of test in high-volume manufacturing applications.

The new DSO-1000 Series targets applications across 100-800G and 1.6T Ethernet, emerging Co-Packaged Optics and In-package Optical I/O, and computer interfaces such as PCI Express and USB. A demonstration of the first instrument in the new product lineup was on display at the ECOC exhibition.

Oscilloscopes are critical for transmitter testing, with eye diagrams and derived analysis such as TDECQ relied on as primary performance measurements. Traditionally, their high cost remains a significant bottleneck in high-volume testing and manufacturing and is becoming more challenging as ultra high-density interconnect technologies begin to emerge from R&D labs onto production lines.

These next-generation high-speed optical interconnects as well as novel, densely packed compute and switch ASICs will play a critical role in the roll-out of hyperscale Cloud data centers and emerging HPC and AI applications. These devices can have hundreds of channels and due to their pivotal role in communication networks cannot be deployed before being tested thoroughly.

The DSO-1000 Series will enable high density, parallel testing for high-volume manufacturing, and can be easily integrated into existing assembly and alignment equipment used to manufacture next-generation interconnects.

Dr. Andy Stevens, CEO of Quantifi Photonics says, “The missing link in high-volume testing and manufacturing for optical and electrical interconnects has been an accurate oscilloscope platform that is scalable. This class of instruments needs to meet a strict set of requirements and we believe Quantifi Photonics is the first company to deliver this with the DSO-1000 Series. We are working closely with lead customers on final specifications and will be releasing our first models with additional capabilities in 2024. These products have the potential to be a true game changer for the industry by substantially reducing the total cost of ownership for oscilloscopes.”

Dr. Klaus Engenhardt, Director Broadband Products at Quantifi Photonics says, “Testing presents significant cost and technical obstacles for high-volume manufacturers of modern interconnect devices with few commercially attractive test solutions available to the industry. We have been working hard to develop a robust and high-performance platform that helps our customers design and implement efficient test systems that fundamentally change the throughput versus cost ratio, and we are very excited to provide a preview of the capabilities of our new oscilloscope platform at ECOC.”

Quantifi Photonics’ DSO platform is in development and the company is engaging with lead customers on final performance specifications. The company is on track to unveil additional products in Q1 2024.

www.quantifiphotonics.com/